Strike of Team Aero

A vision passed Cynthia’s sleeping mind that night as she cuddled with the ball of her new acquisition. She was standing in the middle of a field of bright flowers, the town of Floraroma came to her mind to describe it. Suddenly, the skies darkened as each of the colorful flowers turned black. She stepped back as the fiendish dragon, Giratina, appeared again. //You never were the type of girl who would listen to reason, were you?// It questioned.

“Still going on about that?” She blinked. “I’ve been forgiven.”

//But that doesn’t mean you’re free from consequence.// It lectured. //There will be problems in the near future for your capture.//

“I’m sorry, what?”

//When you wake up in the morning, open that ball.// He stated before disappearing again.
Cynthia sat up in shock to see the first lights of day. Slowly remembering the previous day’s events, she cradled the crimson ball in her hands. With a lazy flick, she released the mechanism on the Pokeball as something that was definitely not a small pink kitten.

Well… It was small, but it was blue…

“Where…” The form stumbled. “Where am I?”

“Aria?” She blinked. “What are you doing in a Pokeball?”

“I’m in Kanto, aren’t I?” She turned. “How did I get here?”

“Well, it looks like I captured you, so…”

“Are you on crack?” She leered. “You can’t capture huma…” She looked down and gasped. “When did I get breasts?!”

“Well, when a girl starts to grow up…”

“You do understand I was male yesterday, right?”

“No, I’m pretty sure you were a girl when we met two days ago.”

“I’m sorry…” Aria blinked. “We’ve met?”

“Yes… Two days ago, and you were a girl.”

Aria shook her head. “I have no clue what is going on. Could you call this number?” She sketched a number down and handed the note. “He always knows what to do at this point.”

“Right.” She nodded as she reached for the phone. “Hello?” She posed. “Oh, yes, I’ll answer the door…” With the phone in hand, she opened the door to the new Aero leader. “Thanks for coming over.”

“Uncle~” Aria moaned. “What’s going on?”

The leader sighed. “You were knocked out for quite a while. It was something I planned for back when I placed your soul in your brother’s body, honestly. What was the last thing you remembered?”

Aria paused. “I remember Winny’s Swablu evolving.”

He turned to the champion in a whisper. “She can only remember up to last year, we’ll be changing some history.” Turning back, he nodded. “You’ve been out for a year then. Your situation got worse, so we had to get you your own body. Due to the ritual, it made it so you could be captured like a Pokemon. We were doing pretty well, but Miss Cynthia here managed to capture you. Fortunately, her family and mine go far back.”

“And where’s Winny?” She pressed.

“We’ll meet up with her later today.” He announced. “But you should rest for a while. I need to speak with our blonde friend for a moment.”

“Okay, I’ll just be here until you return.”

In the center of the region, Winona was enjoying a nice dream. In a false Lilycove, she spent her time with a copy of herself that seemed to know a lot more about training than she did. The curious thing was, when she asked earlier, her double said that she was “What Winona wanted.” This made her wonder when she asked for another of her, but the girl started in apologizing.

“Forgive me, Winona, I didn’t capture it.” She bowed.

“Capture what?”

“I couldn’t capture the Mew.”

“That’s alright.” She smiled. “I don’t train psychic types anyways.”

“No, there’s something about Mew you don’t know.”

“What’s so important about it?”

“Aria’s the Mew.”

“WHAT?!”

The dark half sighed. “I received a letter yesterday delivered by some spirit saying that the Mew in the contest was actually Aria, and it specifically stated that the transformation happened when she was backed down by an army of Raticate. So not only did I lose a Pokemon, I lost one of our closest friends.”

Winona looked into the sea. “So, what should we do?”

“I have a plan.” The dark half turned. “All we need is that Pokemon egg we found this summer.”

Walking along the Safari Zone’s zoo, the Aero leader was lecturing the Sinnoh champion. “Listen, do you really understand how hard it is to keep a Mew’s soul in ANYTHING?” He roared. “This entire thing was to have her live an entire lifetime before returning to her Pokemon form upon her natural death. No Raticate attacks, no flying over Celadon, and I’ll be damned again if you ruin my plans!”

“Then why did you have a competition?”

“It was a way to address the situation, while limiting the entrance of people trying to capture her. Since Sinnohians would normally NEVER CAPTURE A GOD, that would leave a bunch of people who would get scared if a huge dragon made out of bone appeared. In short, this was a very elaborate trick to get Winona to capture her.”

“Well, whoever was handing out pardons really screwed you over.” Cynthia laughed.

“Can I see that document again?” He prodded as he took the letter. “If I can trace it…” He stopped.

“So, who’s giving these out?”

“Him…” He growled. “Only he’d mess up an important mission for shits and giggles.”

“So, who?”

“Arseus.”

“The God of Creation?!” She gasped. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he gets bored, and messing with Mew is his favorite hobby.” He explained, “And Mew has always been similar, except for the fact that she’s more likely to become lone…”

“Maybe we should head back.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

In the hotel room, Aria was laying on the bed trying to piece everything together. This was the first time she’s ever been alone (as far as she knew). At least she always had her brother sitting in the back of her head, but now there wasn’t anyone around. What was worse was the thought that she was being forced into following some strange woman that apparently captured her. Since she knew Uncle, that meant that she was from Sinnoh as well. She would have to leave everything and follow her like a pet. But to leave everything… Winona… “Winny…” She sobbed. “I never got to tell you how I feel…”

The two appeared out of the shadows to find the blue-haired trainer with her skirt up and a hand down her panties. “I apologize…” The aero leader stated as he immediately turned his back to the situation. “I forgot that I shouldn’t teleport into a lady’s room.” Tossing a handkerchief over his shoulder, he continued. “But we decided that we needed to hear what you thought about everything.

Aria fixed her skirt as she stood up. “I don’t like it.” She stated bluntly. “I will not leave everything because a Yank decided to lob a pokeball at me.”

“Sounds like a terrible person.” Cynthia nodded.

Aria twitched. “I’m talking about you! You’re the Yank!”

A fight would have ensued, if there wasn’t a loud pounding on the door. “Cynthia! I know you’re in there!” A familiar voice called.

The blonde trainer opened the door to see a panting wind trainer in her battle garb.

“Good morning, Winona.” She smiled. “So, what brings you here?”

“I want to trade with you.” She stated. “I have in my bag a pure-bred Dratini egg. Since you’re obviously a dragon trainer, I’ll give you this in exchange for the Mew.”

Aria blinked. “Where’s the Mew?”

Winona looked shocked and handed the Aero leader her note. “You can explain it, right?”

He looked at the second letter and sighed. “Fucking Arseus.” He turned to the three and nodded. “I haven’t been completely honest to why I’ve been so protective of you, Aria. The truth is that you were never completely human. Before you were born, a powerful Pokemon by the name of Mew passed away, causing a series of severe natural disasters. After that, three new-born infants were chosen by each of the three dragon gods; Palkia of Space, Diagla of Time, and Giratina of the Void. After a long decision, you were chosen to house the Mew’s soul until she could be reborn.”

“Three?” She blinked. “Who were the other two?”

“That is not important anymore.” He cut. “What’s important is that as you developed, Mew would gain strength and develop in many ways. The only problem is, you died too soon the first time, which forced us to shelter you in your brother so everything doesn’t die. When this became a problem, you were given your own body by Rayquaza. In that state, there was finally a balance between your human nature and that of Mew’s. After being attacked by an army of Raticate, your Pokemon self took over. In essence, you aren’t a human anymore.”

“What the fuck, seriously.”

“The good news, however…” He offered, “The only people who know this are in this room. And if Cynthia doesn’t do what I fucking say again I’ll take care of her. Right?”

The blonde’s eyes widened. “R-right…”

“So.” Winona interjected. “Do you agree to the terms?”

The champion turned. “Fine, I’ll do this for Aria’s sake.” She recalled the girl and handed out the ball. Accepting the egg in payment, she called the transaction complete.

“Nice doing business with you.”

“Don’t call her out yet, Miss Winona.” He paused. “We still have something to talk about.”

“What else is there?”

“Aria has no memory of the past year. Her last memory is of your Swablu evolving, and for all she cares she was male yesterday. I know it’s a lot to ask, but please pretend that she wasn’t in charge of Team Aero. You holding a grudge for something she doesn’t know about will not only kill her, but the rest of us literally.”

“I’ll remember that.” She nodded. “So, what about all of those Team Aero members?”

“You leave them to me.”

As Winona touched down in Saffron, she found a secluded place to release the crimson ball. The released Aria had tears in her eyes as she looked on her friend. “Winny…”

“Is something wrong, Aria?” She had to ask.

“I… was just so scared.” She sobbed. “In the past two hours, I’ve had my entire life torn apart, and I almost had to run away with some strange woman that I didn’t know. All of this taught me one thing- that if I have anything I need to say, I should say it now. Winny?”

“What is it, Aria?”

The blue-haired girl took a deep breath. “Winona, I… love… you…” She stated, quieting to a whisper too soon.

“Huh?” She blinked. “I didn’t hear that.”

Aria’s sobs grew stronger as she continued. “I know there is… No way for… You to accept… But Winny…” She began to wipe the tears from her face. “Even though I’m not a guy anymore… I LOVE YOU.” Unable to stand any longer, she dropped to her knees. “I’ve always… loved you.”

Winona stepped back for a second. This wasn’t as surprising as the first time she heard it, but it was still a shock to her system. No matter what came to mind, she couldn’t force a single word. Instead, she kneeled down and embraced the girl. “I love you, too…” She whispered. “You’re one of the most precious people to me. I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

Aria forced a chuckle. “I hope not, the asking price is two worlds. That girl got gypped.”

“But we’re going to go visit Sabrina, she can help you with your powers.”

“Why would we do that?”

“So you can kill those Raticate.”

“Right!” She nodded. “Which way is she?”