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Nefastum	By : Bartimeaus Category: Pokemon > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 7370 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon or any part of it and I certainly am not making money from my works. There I said it.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
A/N: Sorry about the delay in this chapter guys. Like i explained on my Livejournal...I changed my phone which had all my little plot notes and points and chapter names and everything...which I lost. That set me back a long ass time. Another thing is that I always want quality...i can churn out shit plot at speed but i want to ensure quality for you my dear readers. So it takes a bit of time. Enjoy.
Word count: 8883
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He sighed slightly, greeting the warm night air that blew over him as he stood on the high balcony; naked from the waist up; listening to the nightly buzzing of bird and bug pokemon from the surrounding fauna. Slow and soft footsteps sounded behind him but he didn’t turn; he didn’t need to. He already knew that it was his mate who he had thought to be sound asleep. She put an arm around him, pulling herself closer to him; relishing the contact. She caught his line of sight, following it to look at the glimmering lights that were the bug pokemon flashing iridescent lights off in the distance.
[They are very pretty aren’t they master?]
“Pretty? Yes.” He said turning towards her.
She smiled at his candid humor; arching a fine brow in question.
He smiled back at her.
Just like May had told them, Jane’s heat cycle had been acting up and both of them had spent most of their time holed up in their bedroom. They rarely took break from their activities, much to the amusement of their team. When Jane had been sleeping, he had taken the opportunity to explain to his team what was going on, though the ralts had not understood much, she understood that their alpha female needed some attention. The others who were more matured and evolved understood right away and gave space to the couple, knowing they would not like to be interrupted. He had only told them secretly so as to spare the blaziken some embarrassment though he did think, more than once that it would have been funny to tease her a bit in front of their team. But then again with the blaziken’s fluctuating moods he vetoed that idea.

As the whole team gathered down in the living room for dinner with the blaziken cooking an extravagant meal for the team; everyone took their usual positions with the boy and blaziken sitting in one corner of the sofa, their plates on their laps with the blaziken usually feeding the boy; much to his chagrin. The rest of the couch was occupied by the luxio who perched comfortably on it; her own snack bowl in front of her. She rolled her eyes at the over amorous couple, hissed and scratched when the boy tried to change the television channel; her bloody show was on but other than that she left the couple alone. The ralts had taken the liberty to sit on her trainer’s lap, right next to his plate of food, taking small bites from it when she felt like it.
The pupitar who was too big for the sofa was sitting of the ground watching the television show with meagre interest. One plate was too small for a huge pokemon like him so he had been given the whole container but in all likeliness even this would be short for the giant pokemon and he would most likely sneak off sometime during the training to eat some dirt and soil. The only pokemon not part of their team was May’s medicham who was sitting on a chair, opposite to the pupitar, not bothering to watch the television. His psychic mind could provide better entertainment for him than anything the human contraption could muster. All in all, the picture was one of peace and quiet with only small but affectionate squabbles breaking out between the boy and the luxio.

Aman however noticed that the medicham was wary of him, almost scared as if the psychic pokemon expected for him to bite him or something. And pupitar for some reason seemed…subdued and rather apologetic to the blaziken. He had asked the rock type of his hesitation towards his mate but pupitar brushed it off as his imagination. He didn’t push it. Pupitar had always been the responsible one in the pack so he trusted him and even if he was hiding something he would have good reason to hide it…right?

After dinner everyone had gone on to their sleeping places except the blaziken who stood in the living room waiting for one specific person of her pack. As pupitar entered the living room to sleep in his regular place he noticed the blaziken standing there, looking out the window into the faintly lit pool in the compound of this house.
His resolve wavered. He didn’t want to face her. He had disobeyed her and disappointed her when he hadn’t told her about master. As a pack member it weighed heavily on him to displease the alpha of the pack; his instincts almost threatened for his hierarchy in the pack.

[Pupitar?]
He turned, apparently he had been standing there in his own thoughts for far too long and the blaziken had noticed him.
He nodded at her.
She too looked uncomfortable, almost hesitant to the point.
[I’m sorry.] Both of them said at the same time, surprising both of them.
[No I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about master. You are his mate. You had every right to know. I just…]
[No. Whatever might have been the reasons, I shouldn’t have attacked you pupitar. I am sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I…I wanted to say that the next time if anything happens like this just talk to me please. There’s no need to hesitate because I will always do what is good for you and for our master.]
Pupitar nodded. Grateful that he had been forgiven and was accepted back into the pack. Even then he had to admit that she was probably the most forgiving and generous person he had ever seen.
She gave him a quick hug, surprising the pupitar before she walked past him,
She turned around the corridor and looked at the pupitar with soft eyes.
[You might grow up huge and powerful tyranitar someday but for me you’ll always be the crying little larvitar that we found in a cave.]
He smiled back and nodded before the blaziken turned to go towards her own sleeping quarters.

She frowned as she saw the room empty, she expected him to be here. Was he still down in the other bedroom putting the little ralts to sleep? She almost turned to go downstairs to check again but stopped looking at the open window that had metal stairs to the roof. Was he up on the roof? She steadily climbed the stairs only to see him lying on the hammock they had discovered the day before when they had come up there to get some fresh air.

He was shirtless again, his reasoning as he had told her that it was too warm for him to keep it on. Not that the blaziken was complaining. He was a sight to behold when shirtless for the blaziken. He was reclined back on the hammock staring idly at the twinkling starts in the inky darkness of the sky. She smiled at the scene. The moon seemed bigger than usual or maybe it was because of their height on the roof. The pale light casting shadows against the wall making him look even paler than usual. He turned his head to acknowledge her and shifted in the hammock; turning to make space for her. She approached and laid down beside him, the hammock protesting with noise, straining to hold both their weights.

His warm skin brushing against her soft feathers was enough to make her sigh in anticipation but she didn’t make a move. Partly because she was still shy and embarrassed about initiating their lovemaking, partly because she didn’t want to do that right away. She just wanted to lie down with him and look at the moon today. It seemed too romantic of a scene to not take advantage of.
[I think I’ve seen this in your human box master.]
“The television.” He corrected.
She smirked.
[The television. The boy and the girl look at the sky at night, then stare lovingly into each other’s eyes and confess their love.] she said, snuggling more tightly against his body, nudging him suggestively.
“Yeah. The moon looks really beautiful tonight. Just like you.”
He held her closer, remembering all the times they had been so close to losing each other, so close to sacrificing their own lives for the sake of the other. He had always wondered what was it that made people ignore and give up their own life for the sake of someone else. He smiled as he realized the answer. Love. The most powerful and the most dangerous thing in the world. Love. It could open your eyes and make you blind at the same time. It could make you laugh and cry at the same time. It could bind your heart and free you in a single moment.
He brushed the freely dancing strands of golden hair back into their place as he kissed her, slowly but deeply and she leaned back into his kiss. There was something different about the kiss, this one; it was sweet, not something that signaled lust and desire but love; something delicate and sweet. And the boy stroked her cheek softly as if she was not a battle hardened blaziken but a soft gentle thing. A glass sculpture that he didn’t want to scratch or mar its beauty.

He look at her intently, almost scrutinizing with his gaze but the blaziken flinched and withdrew her gaze.
“Hey are you okay?”
She nodded.
Aman sighed. Was she still not going to tell him?
“Is this about what you and pupitar talking about downstairs?”
She gasped, looking back at him again.
He had heard them talking. Then why hadn’t he said anything?
The boy realizing that the blaziken was too shocked to answer back, replied.
“Of course I heard you guys. You don’t think that I’ll think something weird is going on when I get attacked by a pack of mankeys and you guys don’t explain anything?”
[Master…I…I didn’t mean to…]
“But then again if you didn’t want to tell me…then I probably don’t need to know it anyways.”
The blaziken looked at him even more perplexed.
“Like I said before…I trust you.” He said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled, almost humorously as if he had told the punch line to a joke and was waiting for her to burst out into laughter.
Instead she cried, tears welling up in her big blue eyes as they streamed down her face.
“Hey…”
He embraced her but she kept sobbing into his shoulder as he softly patted her, softly kissing her forehead to reassure her that everything was fine.
[I feel so…I feel so bad master. You gave me your love, your trust master and I lied to you. I lied to my own mate.] she sobbed, gasping words escaping her throat.
“Hey you didn’t lie. You simply hid the truth. Now I’m sure you had your reasons. So that’s fine. Anything you don’t want to tell me I don’t want to know.”
[It’s not supposed to be like that master. I am your mate. We are not supposed to hide anything from each other.] she said, her brow furrowed with anger and sadness, her tears glistening in the moonlight.
“Its fine.” he replied as he softly patted her, holding her tight to himself.
[I’m not doing so good am I master?] she sniveled.
“Well you are in heat. Your hormones are driving you nuts, so I’d say you’re doing pretty damn well.”

She suddenly wiped her tears and sat up, looking him in the eyes. No more. No more hiding the truth from master. She would tell him. She would tell him everything.
[Master I need to tell you. Everything.]
He nodded interestingly, his hand still stroking the side of her arm as if trying to console a child.
So she told him recounting how they had heard his scream, arrived at the scene, saw his wounds only to watch them disappear with the sinister aura that pulsed through him. She told him what pupitar had told them. The tale of how he had apparently changed and killed that powerful electivire.
The boy listened patiently and burst out laughing at the end.
“Ahahah. Sure. I killed that giant electivire. Did you and Delia cook this up together? Come on guys. At least make your story believable.”
He looked back at his mate to find no humor in her, only stern seriousness which meant…
“Jane this is not a good joke…Accusing someone of murdering someone…even a pokemon or especially a pokemon…”
Her expression didn’t change, if only it became even more serious.
“You kidding me right?” he said almost harshly, all humor drained from his face.
[Master…It’s true. We all felt that aura…when you healed and…]

He jumped off the hammock swiftly, shirtless, almost surprising the blaziken with his abruptness of the action.
He climbed down the stairs with the blaziken hot on his heels.
Pupitar who had gone to sleep against the cozy sofa side was woken up by a rough shrug.
His blurry world assembled to a picture of his trainer looking at him furiously and behind him Jane looking rather guilty and apologetic.
“Oi! Wake up.”
[Master?] he yawned.
The expression on the boy’s face was one of fury and anger. And it seemed to be directed at him. He would rarely see his trainer with these emotions. And never before directed at one person much less directed at him.
“Who killed the electivire in the Mauville power plant?”
Pupitar looked at the blaziken who immediately looked away in guilt though none of it was her fault. She simply felt guilty because she had been the one to tell him.
[Master I…]
“Who was it dammit!?”
[It was…you…but you were not yourself.]
Aman grinded his teeth. How could pupitar say such a thing? Of all the pokemon in his team he had always thought that pupitar would the wisest but…Was pupitar even telling the truth? There was no way in the universe that he would ever be able to kill a helpless magikarp let alone a powerful pokemon such as an electivire. Also his consciousness himself would stop him from doing so. He had never ever harmed a pokemon and hated the small and furtive illegal hunting practice of pokemon that existed in their world. He could never harm a pokemon he was sure of it.
[Master I’m sorry. I…I’ll leave. I no longer deserve to be in the pack.] the pupitar said. He had broken the rules, he had disobeyed both the alphas. There was no excuse for what he had done. Exile would be the only punishment that would suffix for his actions.
He picked himself up and slowly shuffled towards the main door. Part of him wanted to stay, he didn’t want to leave his pack, his family. He loved each one of them dearly, from the little ralts to the human boy but he had disobeyed them. He didn’t deserve their love. He didn’t deserve to be in the pack.

The blaziken stared in horror as the pupitar slowly limped towards the door. She stared back at her master. Stop him! She yelled in her mind and was just about to intervene when Aman spoke up.
“Hey you! Who told you to leave? Sit your ass down.”
The pupitar hesitated. The anger of his master was directed at him surely but if master didn’t want him to leave then what else would be his punishment? Would it be physical? Would it hurt? He prepared himself for any kind of pain. If that got him accepted back into the pack he would gladly trade it.
The pupitar sat down on the floor, trembling; his face lowered into submissiveness. Pupitar flinched when Aman put his hand on him, almost forgetting that any kind of force the boy applied would never be able to hurt him. The boy came around and hugged the pupitar as best as he could, shocking both the pupitar and the blaziken.
“Don’t you ever talk like that okay? We are a family and a family always stays together.”
[Master…I…] the pupitar sputtered but the words got stuck in his throat.
“Yes I am angry. Angry at you nonetheless but not for the reasons you think.”
Aman broke the hug and looked the huge pokemon directly in the eye.
“I’m angry that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me; that you didn’t think that I could handle it. I’m strong you know even though I only might be the ‘wimpy, measly human’.”
[Master…I just…] the pupitar choked again, his voice thick with emotion. He was back in the pack; accepted into the family again. He mewled, making soft noises of love and being acceptance back into the order.
“I don’t know what to say…I don’t remember anything. I just blacked out and that was it. I remember waking up in the hospital after it but other than that…”
[Master…I didn’t know what to do…who to talk to about this…so I kept quiet. I’m sorry.]
“Look I get that I’m your trainer but I’m also your friend. You can talk to me about anything…even though what you just said is kind of unbelievable …”
They all nodded in agreement and stayed silent for a moment before the blaziken came around and smacked the pupitar on the back.
[Don’t you dare leave us like that.] she said with a bit of mock anger making the pupitar laugh nervously and nod vigorously at that.
“Do May and the others know about this?”

[Yes we do.]
Aman, Jane and pupitar turned around to see the rest of their team and medicham standing in the hallway looking at them. Their loud conversation had probably woken them up.
“I don’t know what to say guys. I healed fast is kind of unbelievable but I…” he gulped “I killed that electivire is just ridiculous.”

[From what we know, you were not aware of what you were doing…Were you?] the medicham asked slyly.
“What! God No. Of course not. I don’t even remember any of it. I…I just passed out…”
[Master would never do such a thing. What are insinuating Medicham?] the blaziken asked grudgingly.
[Just checking the facts. I didn’t mean anything by it of course.]
The blaziken nodded, passing a glare around just to deter anyone else who tried to even point fingers at her master.

“We should probably go back to sleep, it’s getting pretty late and we can discuss this tomorrow.” Aman said, if only to deter his mate from giving them all a death glare.
Everyone nodded and exchanged polite goodnights and gathered in their respective beds.

She followed him back to their bedroom, her head swimming with questions. Though her mind wanted her answers, she was still in heat and her body reminded her of that. She stowed away such thoughts for later. First, she wanted to talk to her mate.
[Master?] she asked interrupting his walk towards their bed. He didn’t turn; his hand was trembling; his fist was clenched tightly.
She touched his shoulder softly and turned him towards her. She saw the faint glimmer in his eyes, the salty wetness of it trying to come out of his eyes.
“You know what this is about…”
She knew; better than others. She could almost read him. She had noticed it when he had been talking to the pupitar and the others…about him killing the electivire.
“I don’t want them to see me like this…crying like this but…I killed him Jane. I killed someone.”
[It wasn’t you master.]
“But it was…” he said, the anguish and pain of it rising through his throat making his voice more pitched and shaky.
“These hands killed him…”
[Stop it master.]She said hugging him desperately. His voice was becoming too panicked and painful for her to tolerate. She didn’t want to hear it.
[It wasn’t you and you know it. And the electivire attacked us first. And with me and our pack in danger…you saved us. His death is not your fault. Nor is it Wattson’s. Sometimes…bad things happen master. We only have to stay together and stay strong and face them.]
He nodded. This guilt was going to kill him if dwelled on it forever. It wasn’t neither his fault not Wattson’s; despite the old man’s claims. If anything it was Team aqua’s fault. For putting them in a situation like this. For kidnapping Wattson. For the death of Jeremy; the guy he had to put to sleep; rather to death. He knew these few faces would haunt him but there was point in trying to guilt yourself. The only thing he could do was to move forward.
He hugged her back now; his hand resting on her waist; his face buried in her blonde hair. Her sweet scent and proximity calming him down.
“You’re right. There’s nothing I can do about the past. But I know one thing for sure…Team aqua will pay…”
She looked at him. His determined expression, his steely eyed look. He looked like a warrior. She smiled slightly. He was right. Team aqua would pay; for putting her master, her pack and others in danger but that could come later. She wanted to ensure that master was safe and happy for now.
She stopped. She wanted to ask him something else as well.
[Master how do you feel about…about the whole aura thing?]
“What do you mean?”
He wanted to avoid this topic. Because talking about it would upset her. Because he hadn’t told her about it and she wouldn’t be happy with it.
[You seem to dealing well with this news. Almost too well…]
Hell she wouldn’t let it go anyways. Better just talk it out now.
He chuckled dryly. She picked that up didn’t she? But then again she was his mate, she knew him better than he did himself.
“The thing is…I…I don’t know how to explain it but…I kind of figured it out that something might’ve been wrong with me…you know with me being in all these fatal accidents and I seem to come out of them barely with a scratch.”

[Barely with a scratch? You’ve almost came close to…]she trailed off with a hint of annoyance in her voice. She didn’t appreciate how master seemed to care so less for his own life.
“Yeah but I realized that I wasn’t just luck that was keeping me alive through this…I don’t know what it was or is…I don’t even understand any of it but I realize that something might be wrong here…”
He gave her a shrug.
“You remember the nightmares that I have every night…I think they might have something to do with this…”

The blaziken chuffed in brisk anger. Great. Just more mysterious things to deal with. She did remember though that master had nightmares more than occasionally and they woke him up plenty a times. Though he didn’t talk about it much but from what he had told her, she guessed that it was just a childhood fear. Could it be that there was some more meaning to them?
“This feeling of fear and being watched by something or someone that you guys said you felt when I…when I turned…I think it’s the same feeling I feel in my dreams. I can feel something watching me from the darkness, I can feel its gaze upon me and I usually just wake up when it comes closer in the dream. Do you think we should talk to someone about this?”

[Maybe with May and the others. If you feel the same thing we felt in your nightmares then there could be a connection there.]
“Well that’s enough for one night. Let’s get some sleep.” He said punctuating his words with a wide yawn.
She nodded but her body jarred in anticipation. She cursed her luck. This heat was driving her crazy. The sex was good but it just seemed to go on forever. Master had to stretch himself over the limits to please her, she could tell that but the urges never stopped. She sighed and took a deep breath; falling back into the bed and laying against him. She would hold for tonight but tomorrow night…she would have her way with him she thought smirking slightly and closing her eyes.

Aman woke up to find the other side of the bed cold and empty. He sighed as he sat up and clutched is head. Maybe it was his imagination or his new knowledge about his weird condition but last night’s nightmare had been slightly worse; worse than the usual ones. He could feel the aura of someone; something; something watching him, coming closer with every step; his instincts on high alert as a feral bone chilling growls sounded behind him before he snapped awake; gasping for breath. Soft pit pat on the door alerted him as Delia entered the room.
[You okay? You look like you just fought a wild taillow.]
“I’m fine.”
[Your hair could actually pass for a decent rattata nest. Prune that thing and let’s go downstairs for breakfast. Jane has made us some exotic treats that I don’t want to be late for tasting.] the luxio said making short snapping noises in her throat.
He huffed at the remark but stood up, yawning as he lethargically put on his trainer jeans.
A slight electrical shock jolted him into the world of the waking.
[There. That should get things going faster. See you downstairs. Toodles.] the luxio said and exited before the trainer could reprimand her properly.

All of the residents ate quietly and quickly. An unprecedented silence had settled over them. They knew that Aman had to talk about all the things they found out tomorrow but waited quietly as they ate.
“So…the food is pretty good huh?” he said to break the awkward silence that was prevailing over everyone.
The luxio and the blaziken exchanged incredulous looks and the medicham gave him a condescending look. Only the pupitar and the ralts didn’t bother. The pupitar because he was sympathetic towards the boy and the ralts because she was too innocent to realize that the question had been purely rhetorical.
[We need to talk…about your…condition.] the medicham spoke up, no longer willing to dodge around the subject.
Aman nodded.
[You killed the electivire when you…became that thing. Also I sensed a change in your aura when you transformed. Human aura is always light and somewhat fading but the aura I felt from you was dark. It was strong and unrelenting. I don’t even know what kind of pokemon gives off that kind of aura.]
“Well…you guys know that I have nightmares sometimes but I kinda didn’t mention that I feel the same way in my dreams. I always feel some kind of overpowering, dark presence in my dreams. I always thought it was a childhood nightmare but now…”
[Do you think there’s a connection between these two?] the blaziken asked the medicham, her brow furrowed in irritation.
[It doesn’t seem like a coincidence. It seems to me that Aman’s nightmares and this change might be related.]
[Is there any way we can be sure about this?] the pupitar spoke up.
The medicham nodded.
[I will monitor him in his sleep and see what happens. Until then I will keep my senses keen. If I sense a change in his aura; I will teleport all of you away.]
[No.] the blaziken said flatly. [I will stay with master and help him.]
[It’s too dangerous even for you. You felt the aura. He could actually hurt you.]
[No, I’m his mate. I…]
“Jane…” Aman interrupted her and grabbed her hand gently. “He’s right. It could be really dangerous. If I lose control, I could hurt you…”
[Master but…]
“Please…” he said pleading with her. If these guys really meant that he could transform into something that was dangerous for all of them, then maybe leaving him alone could be the best possible solution for the problem. At least he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone but himself if he entered that stage.
The blaziken relented grudgingly. She hated when she had to leave master’s side; let alone in a time where he would need her the most. But he was just doing the right thing and trying to protect all of them.
[What about you?] Delia asked.
“I’ll be fine I think. You did say I healed superfast didn’t you?”
[But we don’t know how and why you healed. What if you seriously hurt yourself when you are…in that state?]
“Hmmm…Guess there’s one way to find out.” He said, standing up and looking around. His eyes landed on his pocketknife on the table. He walked around over to the table, picking it up.
[What are you…] the medicham started but the boy acted before medicham could complete his question.
He eyed the edge keenly and swiftly cut himself on his index finger.
The blaziken visibly winced and started to walk over to him with a cross look on his face but Aman stopped her with his other hand. He held out his now slightly bleeding hand as if for everyone to see. Everyone waited with abated breath, solely looking at his hand.
Then he felt it, jarring his own body the feeling, the sensation of something sinister, something utterly repugnant. He felt nauseated, almost choking; swallowing back the bile. But his blood flow stopped almost immediately, his skin started coming together as it healed. It healed so fast that Aman thought he might have just imagined cutting himself if not for the slight burn that the cut on his finger left. But it had only lasted for sliver of a second. He looked up to see fearful and reeling faces of his pokemon. So this is what they meant when they said about the aura they felt. How could it be? How could he exude such a vile aura? He was shaking slightly, trembling. Hearing about it was one thing but seeing it, feeling it on his own; it was disturbing on a very basic level to the boy and the fact that it was coming from him made it even worse.
[Master!? Do you know how dangerous that was?] the blaziken said crossly, hurrying over and softly cradling his hand in her own, looking worriedly at his finger.
[She’s right. What if you had transformed? It would’ve been a dangerous situation for us and for you Aman.]
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was putting you guys in danger. I just…I didn’t think about it. I’m sorry.”
[It’s fine but we don’t what is going on with you so it would be better if you try to be more careful about it. Until we find out more about your…condition…I would recommend that you keep yourself out of exceptionally dangerous situations…if you know what I mean Aman.]
Aman nodded and gripped Jane’s hand, who was busy inspecting his hand; in his own. Medicham was right. Even if he could heal this fast, they didn’t know how or why this was happening or whether it could trigger his transformation. He would have to be careful about it from now on.

The next couple of days were uneventful, with Jane’s heat cycle almost over; the blaziken and the boy were relieved not to have to fall prey to their urges anymore, though the boy did say that he was going to miss that a little bit; with a naughty wink. So the pokemon usually spent most of their day splashing around in the shallow end of the pool with Delia getting banned from it after she thunder shocked everyone in the pool once. The medicham noticed however that even though May might be powerful at the moment; with Swampert in their team. Aman’s team was getting stronger at a far faster rate than May’s. He would estimate a year or so before Aman’s team altogether became stronger than May’s. He appraised each pokemon individually.

The little ralts. He knew the conditions she had been found in. Infant wild pokemon barely survived without their parents in the wild. She was lucky indeed to have stumbled upon this team. He sensed that the apprehension and shyness that he had felt in her mind when he had first seen her was gone. She was getting used to having these big and strong pokemon around her. She was learning to trust them. Particularly the pupitar who she would usually hang around with when master was not available.
The luxio. Carefree and wild. Maybe she hadn’t faced the life and death situations the other pokemon usually faced in wild that usually hardened other pokemon. Maybe that’s why the luxio was so carefree and childlike. But he had to admit she was potent and certainly not someone to be taken lightly. For her age she was strong and even though she may act like a child and play pranks he had firsthand seen that her battle tactics and strategies made her a formidable opponent. But what made this luxio more dangerous was her speed. Her ability to run through almost everything. He had seen her trade blows with that mighteyana and even with the mighteyana being stronger than her; her ability to dodge almost everything with her agility was what made her viable in a battle.
The pupitar. Frankly he was impressed with him. He had never seen any pokemon who worked harder and trained harder than this one. He could sense in the pupitar’s mind that all he wanted was to get stronger. Not uncommon for the pupitar species but even for that he was trying really hard to become more and more powerful day by day. If he kept training at the same rate he was he might even match the swampert in combat one day. And he seen the swampert take out boulders the size of houses with a single punch. If his thirst for power made him dangerous, his calm and collected demeanor in battle made him absolutely formidable indeed. Unlike the blaziken and the luxio who were swayed by emotions way too easily, the pupitar had the calm to analyze and assess the situation even in a high pressure life or death scenario. He was the one that could make rational decisions no matter what the cost would be. And even with the huge type advantage against the pupitar, medicham would not like to fight him in a straight battle.

But the one that truly intrigued him was the blaziken. He had never seen a pokemon that grew faster than this one. And he had known that Swampert had only been 5 weeks with master. She might be one out of million cases where the genes and the breeding lead to the birth of a perfect pokemon. A pokemon bred for combat. At first he had thought that it was her desire to protect her mate that made her evolve and grow so fast. Yes that was part of it but analyzing her he realized that her body adapted extremely fast, she took ten times more out her training than any other pokemon probably. The blaziken probably didn’t realize this and giving that her kind were known to be ferocious, ruthless and relentless in protecting their territory and family he wasn’t surprised that she had defeated everything that had threatened the boy until now. He was surprised she hadn’t killed a few. In the wild he had seen a mother blaziken rip open a 15 foot salamance which had been stupid enough to inch towards one of her babies. Out of all the pokemon here, she was growing fast, extremely fast. Like he thought…A year or so…She would be easily able to match swampert and other high level gym pokemon. Even with how powerful he himself was, he was sure if push came to shove she would instantly put him down. There was no doubt about her power but her emotions and her instinctual desire to protect others did make her vulnerable. She was too dependent on Aman and the others. Also she was very young and she had much to learn. But that would come with experience and age of course.

And then there was the boy. No matter how fast or how strong Aman’s team had been; they were no match for the electivire who was another one in a million, strong even for his species and with the experience that he had it was no wonder that he had defeated Aman’s team. Yet according to the pupitar Aman had killed the electivire with ease. He didn’t know how but the boy too was dangerous but it wasn’t necessary a good thing. With the kind of aura he had…it just wasn’t natural and it was the kind of dangerous that filled one with mortal fear. It was more than the feeling of staring down a predator’s throat. It was the feeling of something utterly out of place and something utterly disturbing. It was the feeling of something unnatural and something that shouldn’t be there or shouldn’t exist. But whatever it was the boy was afflicted by it.
He shook his head and waved back to Aman who had waved to him from the pool. He watched the boy hold the ralts in his hands while teaching her how to swim. The ralts initially clinged to her trainer like a child afraid of the water even though they were in the shallow end of the pool. But the boy was patient and let the ralts take her time to test the water and slowly dip her legs in it. She certainly was getting pampered and would likely be the princess of the group.

As usual the habitants of the house were having lunch, with the blaziken getting better and better at cooking with every day and making dishes that even left the medicham asking for seconds. The door bell sounded and the whole team looked up. They weren’t expecting anyone to be here.
“I got this.” Aman said rising up from his chair but the medicham stoop up too.
[I sense a strong psychic energy outside. It’s a metagross I think. A strong one too.] the medicham said from the table, his brows furrowed at it.
A metagross? The mention of metagross made everyone blink. The only metagross they knew was…
“Steven.” Aman breathed heavily and the blaziken who had been listening from the adjacent kitchen popped into the room, flinging off the huge yellow mittens she had been wearing for baking.
She nodded at him and he turned to his team; all of whom had stood up. After giving them the mission with the electivire, Steven had all but vanished, not even turning up to see if they had succeeded or not. This and their general distrust of Steven had made them wary of the trainer even though they understood that Steven was an important person and an official league agent who was obviously busy.

Aman motioned them to sit down and looked at the blaziken.
“Me and Jane will check it out. You guys can continue with your lunch.”
The blaziken nodded and both of them made their way to the front door through the living room.
Aman opened the door and sure enough there he was; Steven just as he remembered him. Silver haired, steely eyed…only this time his right arm was encased in plaster that was in a sling around his shoulder. A broken arm? And a roll of bandage running from his upper neck to the lower left of the side of his cheek. If Steven seemed banged up, the metagross looked in even a worse predicament. Aman could tell that even though metagross had been to a pokemon center and had been taken care of surely, its armor was dented in several places and the giant steel beast was not putting direct weight on of his left hind leg. It was disconcerting to see a trainer so powerful in such a state. Aman was sure Steven was one of the most powerful trainers he had ever seen. He was a well know league champion and was ranked among the top fifty most powerful young trainers in Honen. To see someone like him beaten up was just weird. It was just one of those things that you never think that you will see. He wondered what it was that had put Steven in such a state. Steven had mentioned that he was off to a mission sanctioned by the pokemon league even then…
“Hey Aman. Hello Jane. ”
“Hi Steven. You look…”
“I know.” Steven chuckled. “It’s a long story.” He shrugged nonchalantly.
[Can we come in?] the metagross’s voice boomed in both the boy’s and blaziken’s head.
The blaziken nodded and turned, welcoming them in. The guests shuffled in.
[Would you like some lunch?] the blaziken asked the duo nonchalantly .
“That would be great.” Steven said and Aman herded them into the dining room/kitchen. And the blaziken flounced off towards the kitchen.
Aman’s team appraised the new guests as they entered the room, everyone almost frowning. Aman could feel the thick tension that hung in the room.
Aman motioned Steven to sit down on the last empty chair around the table while the metagross hovered next to him.
“I guess I owe you guys an apology huh?” Steven said suddenly. It was almost as if he could sense the tension and uncomfortable looks of its occupants.
[You sent us in to fight team aqua…to fight the electivire…] pupitar started. Even though he was thankful to Steven and metagross for saving his life before he hadn’t really overcome the incident of the Mauville power plant. They all had almost died and with master changing into that thing…he indirectly blamed Steven for it. They should never have taken this mission at all. It was too dangerous for an amateur trainer with a rag tag team of new pokemon.
Pupitar was though interrupted by Steven calmly raising a hand to stop him.
“I know. It was not my intention to send you on such a dangerous task. I didn’t think that you would have to fight Wattson’s electivire. I thought that Wattson would be in a good enough shape to combine forces with you but…I was wrong. The aqua must’ve really hurt him. I regret it. I only wish I could’ve been there to help.”
Delia opened her mouth to protest but Aman silenced her.
“It’s fine. It’s a good thing that we rescued Wattson…Tom’s death was…”
“It’s sad. I helped Wattson hide him…It was your pupitar that defeated him, right?” Steven asked cooly.
Aman gulped. Should he tell Steven…that he changed…that he was the one that killed that electivire…He decided.
“Yes. Pupitar got lucky. And Jane had already done some damage to him.”
Aman noticed the metagross staring at him. Its red unblinking gaze was kind of unnerving. With a jolt he realized that the metagross was probably picking up on his nervousness about lying just now. Could he tell if he was lying?

He also noticed the medicham staring at the metagross with intent. All in all the scene between the psychic pokemon was a tense one. Even ralts was softly humming, tapping her foot to some unknown beat, reacting to the psychic presence of such strong pokemon near her.

“I see. Your pupitar is strong after all.” Steven said after a second.
Aman nodded and picked up the ralts in his hands, softly rubbing the horn on her head; which usually calmed her down. The ralts purred absently, grabbing on to her trainers hand.

Jane at this point had come over with some freshly baked pie. Everyone but metagross, medicham and pupitar dug in; the metagross and medicham were still in an unblinking staring match which the others seemingly were trying to ignore.

Aman hesitated but his curiosity urged him onwards.

“Can I ask what happened to you Steven? You and metagross seemed a little…banged up.”
Steven chuckled.
“It’s classified. I would tell you if I could.” Steven said coolly.
Aman nodded.
“So where are you going next Aman?”
“Well I was thinking of challenging the Mauville gym leader but Wattson…is in a bad shape right now. So…”

“I think you should do it…”
“Huh?”
“Challenging Wattson I mean. It would take his mind off his electivire. Maybe a battle is what Wattson needs right now.” Steven said.
Maybe Steven was right. It would certainly take Wattson’s off of Tom’s death and a battle would be a good way to distract the gym leader from his brooding thoughts.
“You didn’t get heckled by any media reporters did you?”
“No actually. Not at all. Why should I be…”

Before Aman could complete the sentence; the metagross acted. The television in the room came to life, its static only replaced by flicking through channels before coming to stop on a news channel.

“Big news about the notorious criminal organization Team Aqua…” the voice of the reporter on the news channel rang out. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the television. Even the ralts who understood nothing of the concept of news could feel the sudden change in the room and looked to the screen.
“Team aqua decidedly went after the Mauville power plant; just outside the city boundaries and it has been confirmed by mayor and gym leader Wattson that team aqua tried to take over the power plant to partially disrupt the city’s electricity supply and cause general inconvenience. We are not sure about their plans but they were stopped by Wattson and a 17 year old rookie trainer who fought them in the power plant. Wattson though injured managed to defeat over fifty of team aqua members. And the 17 year old trainer…Aman as we know his name; sustained some injuries too.”
His picture from his official trainer id flashed on the screen.
“This trainer…still being a minor is being shielded by Wattson and the police are yet to take a statement from him but Wattson has confirmed that the boy helped him defeat Team aqua.”
The other host who had been listening to his colleague go on about the story spoke up.
“Now aside from that what do we know about this trainer?”
“Well Kinsey not much is known about this mystery trainer. The police are yet to release official data on him but we do know that he is from little root town. A pretty small town trainer but our sources have also confirmed that he was also in the petalburg incident of the shroomish. He apparently helped the petalburg gym leader to rescue another civilian from the shroomish spore incident. We covered that story a week ago.”

The television switched off abruptly here, evidently by metagross.
“Seems like you are going to famous Aman.” Steven smiled with clear amusement.
Aman nodded absent mindedly. It didn’t really mean much to him. He did want to a great trainer who wanted to recognized and respected all over the world but then again…he wasn’t overtly trying for it.

“Well I think me and metagross have overstayed our hospitality. Thanks again for helping us out with Wattson.” Steven said standing up and giving a short bow.

The blaziken who had popped into the room with some other assorted dish, protested.
[Please stay for a little bit. I am almost done making the pecha cupcakes.]
Steven shook his head and politely refused.
“I think we need to go. Thank you for your hospitality. Your pie was really delicious.”
He nodded to the metagross to follow him.
“Wait. Steven…”Aman spoke up. “I know that you are a busy guy but how will I find you if I need you?”
“Don’t worry Aman. If you ever need me…I’ll find you.”

Aman nodded but didn’t further prod into the cryptic answer. The metagross had broken his staring contest with the medicham and followed his trainer.

“Good bye and good luck Aman.” Steven said, before turning and walking out the door.

The medicham exhaled loudly; almost seemingly sighing with relief.
[How do you know that person?] the medicham asked.
“Well he saved our lives…a couple of times I guess. And he’s the one who told us about the whole Wattson situation. He’s a friend.”
[He’s strong…If only you were psychic…that metagross…even though I can tell he was trying to mostly shield his power…I still couldn’t…]
“Yeah, he’s pretty strong.”
[I would be careful of him though…the metagross was trying to read you…all of you actually.]
[Is that why you were trying to stare him to death?] the luxio piped up.
[I was trying to exert some psychic pressure on him. So at least he knew that we know what he’s doing.]
So there was something going on between the two psychic pokemon in the room. Both had been trying to read each other while trying not to let the other one know. Oh well.
“Don’t worry about it. If Steven meant to harm us or anything; we’d already be dead. He’s a friend. Now let’s get back to our lunch.” Aman said, changing the subject before anyone else could raise even more doubts about Steven.

[What are we going to do now master?] the blaziken said, joining her pack at the dining table.
“Dunno. What do you guys think? Should we challenge Wattson?”
[Yup. Pretty sure we can beat that old man.] the luxio said, licking her paw.
[I don’t know master. He’s broken up about his electivire’s death. I’m not sure if we should…] the blaziken said. It was clear to see that even after everything, some part of her blamed herself for contributing to Wattson’s predicament and electivire’s death.
The boy touched her hand; just to reassure her.
“I think we should. He’s been thinking about…about his electivire’s death for way too long. A battle would distract him from those thoughts.”
[I think we should train a little longer. Battle or not…we are going up against a gym leader.] Pupitar, who had been sitting quietly this whole time spoke up.
“True. Alright everyone. We are back on line. Time to train.” Aman said, smiling goofily. His trainer brain already formulating training routines for each of his pokemon.

Just on the edge of the old park of the Mauville city; away from the hubbub of the honking vehicles and city noise; a silver haired man and his metagross sat down on the park bench.
Steven idly toyed with the coffee cup in his hand, furtively taking a sip.
[So what do you think?] the metagross asked.
A passerby wouldn’t notice anything amiss. The conversation was a psychic one and going on, over the pokemon trainer bond.
“What do I think about what?” Steven asked, smiling childishly.
[About the boy… you know he wasn’t telling the truth about what happened at the powerplant. I tried to read him but with the medicham there…I didn’t want to push it too far.]
Steven cooly ran a hand through his silver mane of hair.
“That’s fine. It doesn’t take a psychic to figure that out. I know Aman was lying; probably hiding some detail but in the end…he did save Wattson after all…And I don’t think we should concern ourselves with details metagross.”
[So you take the boy’s word even though you know he’s not trustworthy?] the metagross’s voice rang out a bit harsher than ususal.
“I’ll take a chance.” Steven replied simply.
[They are taking us for granted. They don’t have proper respect for their betters.]
“Well we are the ones who barged into the home and they still invited us for some lunch. And let’s not forget that they put their lives on the line for us back at the power plant.”

A moment of silence passed as the metagross grudgingly accepted his trainers view. Steven was too kind for the world and metagross never really bothered to impose his rougher and harsher worldview onto his trainer. His trainer looked at the world with different eyes than his.

“I’m more worried about the other thing… We barely escaped…If he had chased us…we’d be dead I think.”
[He’s gotten a lot stronger than I expected. And with team rocket chasing after him…]
“The rockets can’t get to him right now…even with everything they have…he’s just too strong to be defeated head on.”
[What was it that Team rocket called him again?]
Steven mouth tightened into a grim line. Recalling the name of the pokemon sent him back into memories of the articles and data files he had read on him. If even half of them were true…even if the rockets had performed half the experiments he had heard about…no wonder he wanted to kill everyone.
“Mewtwo.”
- 10
- 11
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