I'm not sure how long I'd been asleep, or what I was dreaming about. All I know is that it hurt to move. It hurt to think, too, but nothing will stop me from that. With that piece of resolve, I summoned more, and used them to push myself off the bed. Why was I having difficulty standing up? At least my breathing was regular. I must have been in a coma or something. Who's voice was that?
"Thank goodness you're finally awake." It was my mom. She was in the room with me. Did she know what's going on? She was trying to push me back to bed.
"I'm fine," I tell her. "Where am I?"
I didn't notice how hard it was to see until I asked that question, but just as I thought that, my vision cleared. I was in my room in Castelia. Mom confirmed this, and that I'd been sleeping for a very long time.. No wonder I felt so weak. Then she began adding details.
"You were found in some cave on Route 3, by yourself. You'd looked as though you had been in a fight. You didn't have any pokemon on you, either..."
That struck a nerve. All the friends I had made since deciding to be a Pokemon Trainer were gone off to who knows where. But I cast the thought away. There isn't much I could do, as weak as I was. "Keiko was travelling with me at the time. What happened to her?"
Silence. She didn't answer. I assumed the worst. More strength welled up, and I looked up to see the burnt, smeared piece of paper that was her birth certificate. Then I saw the writing on it. Keiko's DNA is far too different on a fundamnetal level to the rest of the Toumei family for her to be a member of it biologically. So, she wasn't my sister, after all. But I cast that thought, aside, too. If I was knocked into a coma and had all of my Pokemon stolen, something worse must have happened to her.
"I need a moment alone. Is that alright?"
Mom took the bait and closed the door, leaving me to my own devices. My body ached, but more sleep wouldn't help me. Suddenly, I could feel how hungry I was, but I tried to ignore it as I got dressed and started packing. I needed a lot of things then, but the only thing I was worried about getting was answers.
"I've got stuff to do."
I was almost at the elevator when Mom caught me, but that phrase bought me enough time to start heading down. As I rode the elevator down, my mind started racing. I couldn't go to Route 3 without Pokemon, so I needed to go somewhere that I could get some. It was crazy, but the only solution my mind wanted to come to was returning to Mt. Silver and performing a mission for Team Snagem. Johto was a bit more navigatable by non-trainers than Unova was, so I decided to buy a ticket to sail to Vermilion City in Kanto, at which point I would buy a ticket to ride the Magnet Train to Goldenrod. I would make my way to Mt. Silver from there.
SubonicXP
~*~
By the time I bought a ticket and got aboard the ship, my muscles felt tired from all the walking. Fortunately, the ship offered meals to the passengers, and I was able to get some rest I needed more than I thought I would. I woke up the next morning feeling better, but not quite at 100% yet. My dreams refelcted my thoughts, but I ignored them once I awoke. I looked out my window shortly after to see the sunrise over Vermilion City, but the city itself was in the distance. It would be a few hours before the ship disembarked.
By the time I got off the Magnet Train and walked into Goldenrod City, it was mid-afternoon. Wearily, I started walking north when a familiar voice caught my curiosity.
"You look like ~/~, fairy boy."
"I came out of a year-long coma yesterday. A disheveled appearance is the least of my worries," I told Chaos, before turning to face the muscular psychopath. Although he seemed a little less muscular than what I remembered of him.
"So, that's where you've been. Yeah, considering that, you look alright. So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"
I gave him an odd look. "You live here?"
"Have for a while. It got to the point where I had to get out of the game to make sure my kid would be alright. Sure, she had fun in the team, but it wasn't in her best interests, ya know?"
...wait, what? "You have a kid?" I asked, looking rather shocked by the news.
This elicited one of Chaos's infamous malevolent grins. "I bet she's older than you think," he said. Of course he would know, since he raised her.
"I didn't know you were legally allowed to raise children," I retorted.
To this, Chaos shrugged. "Nobody's ever tried to stop me. You want to meet her?"
My first instinct was to decline, but as long as the boat and train took to get me here, my little quest could wait for a few minutes. I guess some part of me just had to see for myself how this was possible. But then, a memory of my time with Team Snagem emerged, and with it, a question that I just had to ask. "Are you and Heine..." I started to say before realizing the risk of asking such a question.
To my relief, Chaos merely chuckled softly. "~/~, no. I mean, she was good in bed, and all, but... well, let's just say my trip through Hoenn happened for a reason, and she was too much like what I was back then, but without the reason behind it. Got boring, quick."
This sounded off somehow. "You're referring to your ten-year crime spree for which you were give the title of Hoenn Terror?" I asked, all brevity thrown to the wind.
"Believe it or not, nobody in Hoenn at the time ever called me that. Sort of a little nickname I came up with for myself. But I'd rather not talk about that."
If there was one thing I learned about Chaos in the past, it was that it was never wise to push Chaos in a direction he didn't want to go, so I shut up and followed him to his appartment in downtown Goldenrod. As we passed through the threshold into his home, I felt eyes at the back of my head, and turned around. Seeing nothing, I ignored the feeling, slightly reminiscing how I hadn't felt that sensation since I'd last seen Odd and Lykas, and entered. In the living room of the unsurprisingly small apartment was a blonde woman who stood about to Chaos's shoulders. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted through the room.
'Hey, Rose. Abby around?" Chaos asked as the woman hugged him, only for her to look at him disapprovingly.
"Chaos, she's at school. Remember?" she said, almost sounding as if she were scolding him.
Chaos then looked at a calender that was hanging on a wall across the kitchen. "~/~. I've been having a rough time keeping track of what day it is. Sorry about that, er... ~/~, I can't remember what your actual name is."
I arched a slender brow at him. "Terashi?"
Chaos smirked at that. "Yeah, I thought it was something weaboo-ish like that."
Before I could reiterate, Chaos picked up the phone, which had been ringing for about a minute, now. This left me to interact with his lady friend. "Sorry about him, he's like that," she said.
"Yeah, I fought alongside him over a year ago, I know how he is," I responded.
"So you were part of that team? I remember a little bit of it, but I didn't stay there long,"
I was about to retort, and speak of the events leading up to my coma, when Chaos spoke up. "JT wants to talk to us."
"So, put it on speaker," I told him.
Chaos just shook his head and hung up the phone. "In person."
~*~
As soon as I saw JT, I recognized him as the person that got me out of the tower of Lavender Town back in my academy days. We had only ever communicated electronically after that, but here he was in the flesh. JT was Limitbreaker.
The man was all business, just as I remembered. "I don't know any other Pokemon Trainers, so I tapped the two of you. And before you say anything, Toumei, yes. I know you just got out of a yearlong coma and I know you lost all of your pokemon before that. Cooperating with what I'm about to ask you will be benificial to your return to Team Snagem. And yes, Sub knows you're on your way, even though I had to go through GRAY to send the message along. That's one artificial intelligence I'd rather not interact with again."
"Tell me about it," I quipped. JT wasn't giving me many openings to respond, but I was sure to answer that. I remembered GRAY's attitude well.
"A group of people are terrorizing trainers that pass through uptown Goldenrod. There isn't much intel surrounding them, but I know they're using Cipher-made Snag Balls, though I don't know if they're being supplied by the team or if they've acquired the balls by their own means. Ideally, you'll be able to get one for yourself and steal you a pokemon for your team, though I'd suggest not taking a ball that has a pokemon inside of it. I know for a fact that they don't use the pokemon they steal in battles. They're likely intending to sell them. Anyway, I'll lend you my Abra, so you'll be able to weaken whatever pokemon you end up taking. Chaos, you'll have to get one of your pokemon out of the Day Care, as none of my other pokemon are battle-capable."
"Yeah, I know who I'm bringing for this," Chaos retorted.
JT put a pokeball in my hand, and instantly, I felt the hairs at the back of my head rise up. "Looks like you still have a bit of Celestial Chi in your head. I would have figured it would have faded entirely from the coma. Sorry, but it looks like you'll have to get used to it."
"How will it know to obey my commands?" I asked.
"Don't worry, I've formed a bond with it. I already commanded it to obey you telepathically. He's mischievous, though, so be careful around him outside of battle."
"I'll just keep him in his ball for the most part," I told JT.
"That won't stop him," he warned.
I thanked JT, then followed Chaos out into the streets. "We need to head to Route 34 so I can get Warbringer out, then we'll get to work."
Memories of a gentle Blaziken with a feminine voice - that spoke English - came to mind, but I chose not to speak on them. I'd see for myself later.
~*~
"I was wondering when you'd show up," an old man said as we approached, glaring hatefully at Chaos. "I was sure you'd abandoned them this time. I trust you won't set anything on fire while you're here."
"I can't promise anything if you keep getting in my way, y'old fart," Chaos retorted, grinning malevolently.
The old man reluctantly stepped aside. I don't know what got into me, but I kept silent until we were inside. "Okay, what the hell?"
Chaos only smirked. "Relax, he knows I'm cool. He just likes to mess with my head. I usually visit my old team monthly, so don't let what he said get to you."
Chaos then began a similar discourse with an old lady behind the Day Care center's counter, but she was far more polite about it. They both were, after a while, until she ducked under the counter, returning with a plate of eggs. "These eggs came from your Blaziken and a shiny male Lopunny belonging to a different trainer. You and the Lopunny's trainer will have to share the eggs, of course, but you can pick some up now if you'd like."
The thought of gentle, feminine Warbringer starting a relationship with a pink-furred Lopunny slipped into my head and would not get out. I managed not to show my confusion, but since Chaos started chuckling loudly, I can only assume he had the same thought.
Eventually, though he regained his composure. "I'll come back for 'em on the first. I'm here for business, right now. I just need to get ahold of Warbringer for a bit."
Deciding that Chaos was on top of things, I stepped outside for some fresh air. My body was stronger, but I still felt worn out. I had actually started to doze off in the sun when someone shouted my name. The sound of her voice snapped my mind at attention immediately, and before long, Keiko was trying to squeeze the life out of my ribcage. The hundreds of questions that led me to leave my home sprung up all at once, so I could only get a few words out. "What are... When... Are you okay?"
I don't know why that came out through all the rest of it, and neither did she. "Um... yeah? Terashi, I thought you were in a coma. Are you alright?"
Then a curveball came out of left field. "Hey, Kei."
"Hey, Chaos."
That confused me a bit. "Wait, you knew about this?" I asked Chaos.
Chaos just gave me a weird look. "Know about what?"
Reality slammed its brakes into my brain and I facepalmed. I'd forced myself into action after being in a coma for a year on the assumption that Keiko was in danger, only to find out that she was perfectly fine. I put myself through all of this for nothing. "Ugh. Nevermind."
Then a curveball came out of right field. "Ah, I get it. You thought she was in a bind because nobody told you where she was when you woke up."
If I facepalmed any harder, my hand would have punched through my skull. "I probably should have tried to talk to your mom. I'm sorry. After your dad told me my birth certificate was fake, I kinda got depressed and went back to doing deliveries for my adoptive parents. I'm sorry."
"Wait, so you two aren't... ...welp, not touching that. So, we doing this, or what?"
"What?" I asked, to both of his questions.
"We got ~/~ to kick, remember? I got Warbringer ready to go, so let's do this."
Keiko put two and two together. "Hang on a sec," she said, before heading into the Day Care center and returning a few moments later. "Okay, let's do this."
"You sure about this? Where's your team at?" Chaos asked, noticing a lack of pokeballs.
"Oh..." Keiko muttered, looking down. "I guess I'm out, then," she added dejectedly.
Chaos shook his head and patted her shoulder. "I got ya," he says, heading back into the Day Care center.
The situation gets awkward a bit as Keiko and I stand next to each other waiting for Chaos to return. "How long have you been up?" she asked finally.
"Since yesterday," I responded.
"You should still be in bed, recovering. But, you look like you're in really good shape, considering." she admitted.
"I've been exercising, walking across towns, and stuff." I told her. "So... what happened? ... a year ago."
"It was a year ago, and I've kinda been trying to forget about it. I still get really depressed whenever I remember any of the friends I lost that day.[/violet]
That saddened me right up. "Sorry, I..."
"No, it's... okay. I know you want to know about it, but... Look, I'll tell you everything I remember when we're not in the middle of something, alright?"
I nodded as Chaos walked out of the Day Care center, and placed a pokeball in Keiko's hands. "Deathbringer will obey your commands because I told him to. Don't let him get snagged, a'ight?"
"Thank you," she said as she strapped the ball to her belt.
~*~
It wasn't long before we found a group of trainers hanging out near an abandoned building. "Look, I'll distract them. You two get in there, get what you can get, and bail."
"Are you sure? There's so many of them," Keiko whispered.
"I ain't askin'. Now, make sure you don't see anybody inside before you move, and for ~/~'s sake, don't go through the main door. That's just asking to get spotted. Now, sit tight for a bit."
Chaos proceeded to vulgarly taunt the trainers before releasing Warbringer. The response was staggering, as Warbringer ended up having to fight nine pokemon by herself, but it seemed as though she was handling herself surprisingly well, although I'm sure the fact that she was facing unevolved pokemon helped. When I didn't see anyone else exiting the building, Keiko and I ran along the wall next to the side of the building as quietly as we could so as not to be detected. It helped that the sun was setting at the time. When we got to the edge of the building, I noticed that it was made of metal sheets, and I saw some loose ones on the side. It took some doing, but we managed to squeeze in.
Once inside, Keiko revealed a flashlight from her purse that allowed us to see where we were going in the dark building. It was pretty clear that the building used natural light to illumiate its surprisingly many rooms. Though a few of the rooms we went through were empty, we eventually came to a desk with two pokeballs atop it. Thankfully, they were empty, but upon inspecting them, I saw that the insides had been altered. I'd never looked into a pokeball that had been altered by Snagem technology, but somehow I knew we had just found two Snag Balls.
"Yeah, I kinda figured that the old guy was just a distraction," a voice called from the darkness. Quick use of Keiko's flashlight revealed two trainers that looked similar to the ones outside. I spat a curse in the heat of the moment and summoned Limitbreaker's Abra, which soon sat beside Chaos's Houndoom, Deathbringer.
"Nice 'mons," the other trainer grinned. "We'll be taking those."
"We'll see about that," I growled.
"flAAAshH"
My head hurt suddenly, and I covered my eyes. Fortunately, this protected me from Abra's Flash move, which allowed me to see the room better once my head stopped hurting. The trainers had released a Ralts and a Natu - both the same type as Limitbreaker's Abra. Unfortunately, Keiko was just as blinded as the enemies, but somehow, she recovered more quickly. "Faint Attack that Ralts!"
Deathbringer surprisingly obeyed, disappearing from sight only to strike invisibly at the Ralts before reappearing where he was. Even more surprisingly, Ralts seemed hardly affected by what should have been super effective. "The hell?"
"Looks like someone's never been to Kalos," the Ralts trainer sniggered.
"The ~/~'s a Kalos?" I blurted. Guess I'd been spending too much time around Chaos. Then my trainer instinct kicked in. A psychic type that isn't weak to Dark? Me wanty!
Abra was more interested in the Natu, however, and fired of a current of electricity (Charge Beam) at it. The psychic bird cried out in pain, but was amazingly able to continue fighting. "Use Miracle Eye, Natu!" the bird's trainer cried out, causing it to expel Celestial Chi in the shape of an eye. I'm not sure what that did, but it made Deathbringer nervous.
"Use Disarming Voice!" The other trainer shouted, causing Ralts to cry out. Its voice was somehow hauntingly beautiful, and it seemed to affect Deathbringer, too. They were teaming up on one Pokemon. I wasn't very experienced in Double Battles, but it seemed like a good strategy.
Keiko had other plans, though. "Must be half-Fairy, then. Deathbringer, Sludge Bomb!"
Half-what? Seriously, the ~/~'s a Kalos?
Anyway, Deathbringer spat a rather large glob of... something out at the Ralts, which squealed when the sludge made contact, and... exploded. Ew. Still, the little bugger was still standing. My ball-throwing hand was starting to itch. An image of JT smirking at Abra and petting him appeared in my head as Abra threw its body at the Natu. I didn't know how I knew, but I could tell it was using Return.
"Alright, enough playing around. Natu, use Ominous Wind!" The Natu trainer roared, to my dismay. I knew that move, and dreaded it. Soon, a wave of Celestial Chi was crashing against the four of us, adding to my headache. Though Deathbringer seemed a little more weakened by it, Keiko and Abra were surprisingly unaffected.
"Magic Guard-having son of a..." the Natu trainer grumbled.
"Go for a Disarming Voice on the Abra!" the Ralts trainer ordered. However, the Ralts disobeyed, and... looked like it was meditating.
"Now's my chance," Keiko said, throwing the malufactured pokeball at the Natu. Taking her cue, I threw mine at the Ralts. Keiko was successful in stealing the Natu, but my ball burst shortly before it would have sealed shut. I was upset at this at first, but I found myself surprisingly content. I reminded myself that, even though I had lost all the pokemon I trained before, I left home to make sure Keiko was safe, and she was standing right beside me. I felt an odd sense of what I could almost describe happiness when I saw a Pokeball floating in the middle of the room. Did Abra do that? No, it was-
"Hurry up and do something you stupid piece of crap!" the Ralts trainer yelled impatiently at his pokemon. Ralts looked up at the pair of trainers and spoke again, though its voice was nowhere near as hauntingly beautiful this time around. The two trainers looked at it for a second, then fell on their backs. I went to check their pulses, and - sure enough - they were both still alive. What had Ralts done to knock them out like that?
"Rala," I heard. Looking down, I saw the Ralts hold up a Pokeball. I started to speak to it as I leaned down, but as soon as my hand touched the ball, I saw a very tall person walk away. Once I realized I was seeing one of Ralts's memories, things started to make sense. I went through that epiphany after my only Snag Ball broke because Ralts was looking through my emotions. It must have liked what it saw in order for it to attack its own trainers and give me its own Pokeball.
I whispered a thank you to the Ralts and recalled it and Abra just as Chaos walked on the scene. "Good work. You two got what you need?"
I showed Chaos Ralts's pokeball at the same time Keiko showed him Natu's pokeball, eliciting a smirk from him. "Good. Then, let's get out of here before more of those ~/~ show up. Ragebearer's on his last legs."
"Ragebearer?" I asked, unaware that he'd brought his Charmeleon as well.
"You didn't think I'd let War face an army by herself, did you? Now hurry the ~/~ up!"
~*~
It wasn't untill we'd healed our pokemon, gave Abra back to JT, and deposited all of Chaos's pokemon back in the Day Care center that I was able to relax. Rose offered to let us spend the night in her spare bedroom, but I declined, choosing instead to lodge at a Pokecenter for the night. Keiko followed me, and we'd taken to talking. She'd explained how we both lost our teams, and she'd fought the odds to get me back home after we were attacked by a group of Cipher gruts. From what she'd heard, Cipher's become a much larger problem since those days. She also manages to mention how worried she was that I hadn't woken up until the day before, afraid that I would end up dying. I imagined there were a few people worried like that, so I called my mom and let her know everything was alright.
"I called my parents earlier," she explained once I got back to my seat. "I'm going back to Snagem. I miss being able to make a difference in the world. I mean, delivery is necessary, but..."
"I know what you mean. It's a shame Chaos isn't coming. I mean, say what you want about the guy, but he's a hell of a pokemon trainer. Still, I don't blame him for wanting to settle down. But for me, there's too much good I can do to stop now. Besides, Sub's expecting me. Limitbreaker went and blabbed."
Keiko giggled at that, which made me smile. "But I'm just going to go to bed for now. We've got a long way to Kalos."
"Kalos?" Keiko asked.
"Yeah, Limitbreaker told me when I was giving him his Abra back. Team Snagem moved out of Mt. Silver and now has a base somewhere in Kalos."
Keiko rolled her eyes at this. "Oh, brother."
~*~
Mission Objective: Snag a Pokemon from a Cipher Grunt - COMPLETE
[Terashi obtained a Ralts]
[Keiko obtained a Natu]
[Chaos doesn't get anything since he's not a member anymore]
