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The Dark Type	By : Manifest Destiny Category: Pokemon > General Views: 36310 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is copy write by GameFreak, INC. and Nintendo. I make no money from this story, nor do I seek any.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
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Chapter 6: Confirmation
—————
[“… I don’t see why you keep complaining to me about this. I’m not who decides these things.”]
“I know, but I just don’t understand why you always get all the good work, while I’m up here freezing my ass off,” Dalton yelled into the microphone of his PokéGear. The high winds and poor reception made for terrible signal quality. “I told you I wanted to interrogate those old codgers.”
[“The relative interest of our assignments is irrelevant. Both are equally important, and suited to our own specific skill set. If it were you in my place, I doubt you would have been able to glean any useful information while still going unnoticed.”]
Dalton stopped walking for a moment to rest against a frost-covered tree, “Well mister ‘specific-skill-set’, did you ‘glean’ useful information?” He rolled his eyes, anticipating a smug report about his mission.
[“I’m afraid not. It seems as though our target does not hail from Blackthorn, nor does their Dratini have any origins here. A fruitless endeavor, but not a costly one. How are things on your front?”]
He clenched his fist, moments from exploding at the person on the other end of the line, “Well, let’s have a quick rundown: it’s cold as hell up here, there’s very little oxygen, and I don’t think it fucking ever stops snowing! I can’t see shit in this!”
[“Give me useful information Dalton, not a weather forecast.”]
“What the hell do you want from me, a damn floor plan? It’s a fucking mountainside. It’s rocky, snowy, and windy, there are a couple trees, and it’s damn cold.” He started walking forward again, and the voice on the other end of the line repeated its question. Dalton responded, “Well, from what I can tell, if anything happened here it’s all covered up now. I mean, it’s been three… Whoa…”
[“Dalton, repeat. You’re breaking up.”]
“Hey, Sebastian… The side of a mountain shouldn’t be peppered with craters the size of large mini-vans should it?”
The terrain of Mt. Silver had always been known to be treacherous—between dangerous paths, drop-offs, and various hidden features, there were many ways of swiftly finding yourself at the bottom of the mountain. The entire mountain seemed intent on being a threat to one’s health. Now, however, the surrounding area looked much more like an ancient war-zone than a desolate mountaintop.
Accompanying the large craters were columns of earth, sharp and covered with jagged stones, reaching into the air. The pillars were covered in ice from the near-constant snow. Dalton walked up to the closest one, and was surprised to see the group of spikes nearest him crumble into a pile of dirt at his approach. Continuing his investigation, he found large, spiraling vine formations similar to the earthen obelisks. He noticed that a few with scorch marks on them, seemingly from the same direction as their origin.
“Sebastian, I wish you could see this… It’s incredible! The sheer force and power required to cause this damage…” Dalton surveyed the damaged area of the mountainside further, stumbling upon something he could hardly believe. “Wait! I found some live embers! And here, open flame! How can these even still be up here in this weather? It’s been days…”
[“Don’t be absurd, there can’t really be—”], he paused. Looking at the image his partner had just sent him. [“Well now… my apologies. What would it take for something to generate flames that last three days in almost pervasive snowfall?”]
“Something in the high ninety’s, at least. A legend might have an easier time at it, but it’d still be a considerable amount of effort. I know that my—”
[“And those vines that appear opposite the spires of earth, what do you make of those?”]
“Coralis would be a better botanist than I am, but off-hand, it has Frenzy Plant written all over it. But there’s something odd about them…”
[“How so?”] asked Sebastian.
“These vines are still alive… Oh, I get it!” he motioned towards the pines that still stood in the high altitude. “The surrounding foliage was leeched for their vitality! Whoever launched the attack drained the life from… hell, probably the whole damn mountainside to power this attack! They’re probably helping keep the fire burning too.”
[“I have to say, considering your initial reaction, I’m surprised you’re not more worried for your own wellbeing at the moment.”]
“What do you mean— Oh shit! He’s here still, isn’t he?!” Dalton let go of his PokéGear, letting it dangle by its strap around his neck, “Fuck off you silent bastard! Hamath, get out here and—”
[“Dalton! Stop!”], he heard from the device, [“Do not call upon that right now…”]
“Why not?! I could be blown to bits in a second and you’re telling me—”
[“Precisely. Red wouldn’t hesitate in engaging any hostile activity, and if he were there, we wouldn’t be having this little argument.”]
The Fire type specialist stood still in the snow, breath heavy and ears straining to hear so much as an errant spark or stone being overturned. Satisfied with his own personal safety, he calmed himself down. “I guess you’re right… Plus it wouldn’t do us any good to reveal one of our aces now anyway, huh?”
[“You’re learning, I feel so proud.”]
“And your cocky ass is starting to grow a sense of humor. I can’t say I’m the same, though…”
[“In any case, continue your investigation of the scene. Once you reach the summit, report back should you find any more evidence.”]
“Can do, but what else should I be— Ah, fuck!”
He found himself face-first in a large, half-pipe of a crevice and slowly sliding down the side of the mountain. He quickly reached to his belt of Poké Balls, and released one at random: upon release, a large, bipedal avian appeared. His Blaziken ran alongside him and made a nimble leap for the sliding trainer. Successfully grabbing hold, he pulled his trainer to safety, landing on the other side of the small gorge.
He wiped his face with a gloved hand, removing the stinging snow. He spat out a mouthful of gravel, “Holy—”, he coughed for a minute, “Holy shit…”
[“…-ton! Dalton! Respond! What happened?”]
He grabbed the PokéGear, which had remarkably survived the fall, from around his neck, “Oh, don’t worry about me; just almost fell off a goddamn mountain. No need to get worked up, I’m perfectly fine.”
[“Calm yourself, now what happened?”]
“I fucking fell into this— this long-ass crater on the mountain. Holy… It looks like it fucking goes all the way to the top! Hold on…” he crawled forward towards the large depression in the ground. One Flamethrower from his Blaziken later, he found himself looking at a steep scar in the mountainside. He removed a glove, feeling the stone that was once hidden, “Sebastian, this whole fucking trough was carved out of solid rock and soil, but it’s as smooth as marble! No wonder I nearly slid to my death on this shit!”
[“What do you think caused it?”]
“Who cares what the fucking cause was? Sebastian, seriously, why am I risking my life in this frozen hell while you’re off cozy in Blackthorn?! Do some real field work for once, dammit!”
[“As I said, you were the most appropriate for this situation, as determined by the mission plan. Don’t get upset with me if you’re given assignments that aren’t satisfactory. Listen, I’m done here, and I shouldn’t linger. Finish your sweep of the area, and record what you find. And seek any medical attention should you need it.”]
“I can feel the love from here…” he said sarcastically.
[“Sebastian out. … … …”]
Dalton stuffed his PokéGear back inside his coat, and got to his feet. His Blaziken caught his arm as he slipped on an icy patch of ground, eliciting another litany of curses from the already angered trainer, “Fucking hell, this place… Thanks Rel, you’re a lifesaver.”
The tall Blaze Pokémon acknowledged the praise his trainer gave him and helped pull him to his feet.
“Stay out with me, will ya? I’ve still got to get to the top of this damn mountain before we can get out of here, and I’d rather not fall to my death again.”
Rel nodded his affirmative, and he lit his wrists aflame, bringing some warmth to the surrounding area. The two set off towards the summit of Mt. Silver, following the curiously smooth depression in the ground.
—————
Far beyond the mountain range that marked the border between Johto and Kanto, Mahogany Town was at its peak of midday activity. People were out in the streets, hurrying from place to place to escape the bitter January cold. The day had been persistently cloudy, nearly doubling the impact of the already-chilly weather. The remains of the large snow system that had moved through the area just days prior were still prevalent around the town. Street signs were surrounded with gray, particulate-filled drifts of plowed snow, and the walkways slushed along with every footstep. In the residential part of town, the less frequented sidewalks still held a fair amount of fluffy powder. The yards throughout most of the neighborhood held drifts of snow nearing one’s waist; an enticing sight to the young, and the young-hearted.
Despite the less-than-favorable temperature, Iruni couldn’t help but long to escape the confines of his house. He could only stare longingly out the window whenever a moment allowed it, contemplating his impending journey. His entire morning was a near constant set of orders from either his sister or father. After days of skipping out on helping prepare, he was made to work a great deal to make up for it wherever he could. The house was a flurry of activity and movement with barely a moment’s rest to be found.
Throughout the day, Azula would often get in his way when he carried heavy boxes—Iruni assumed this was not accidental. Ruby spent every moment lying lazily on the stairs to the second floor of the house, silently watching him dart back and forth around the house. Karros and Vester hadn’t been seen since breakfast, and were likely hiding out in an attempt to escape any mundane tasks that could be handed to them. Tom was absent for the majority of the morning, but reappeared once lunchtime rolled around—a fact that Iruni couldn’t help but point out to Kate.
Rikalia, the newly named Sneasel, had been helping where she could; carrying small things, searching through boxes for some misplaced necessity, cutting appropriate lengths of string and helping tie boxes up securely. Iruni leaned back on the kitchen counter and watched her as she quickly moved about the house, making sure she showed no persisting ailments. Her leg had healed perfectly, it seemed. She moved about with an impressive speed, and Iruni realized that he had not seen her walk on her own before today, let alone run deftly through a house. A couple of times, accidental collisions with Azula resulted in a sudden chase around the living room, in which Rikalia always managed to out-maneuver her serpentine opponent. After each victory, she would leap up onto Iruni’s back, hiding behind him while laughing at the annoyed dragon.
“Rika, be nice to Azula,” he said, scratching her ear, “she’s a sore loser.” His last comment resulted in a prompt slap in the face from Azula’s long, blue tail.
‘Girls don’t enjoy it when you insult them, you know,’ Ruby remarked from her perch.
“And I don’t enjoy being slapped in the face while I’m paying back a favor either,” he glared at the Dratini, who slithered away into the next room. He turned back to Ruby, “Why aren’t you helping anyway?”
‘I am helping. I’m making sure you don’t sneak off to your room to dodge more work. So, more work is being done because of my efforts. That’s helping, isn’t it?’
“Who taught you logic, I swear…”
“I did,” Kate said, walking in with another set of empty cardboard boxes. She threw them down at Iruni’s feet, “And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop annoying Azula and finish packing up this silverware! I leave tomorrow, and there’s still the furniture to pack into the truck, and we haven’t even gone through the attic for my old clothes and—”
“Calm down sweetie,” their father said as he came into the room. He bent down and started gathering the boxes up, “We’ll get everything ready in time, and your brother’s doing the best he can.”
She sighed, “I know, but this is just—everything at once. It’s all been pushed back to the last minute, and our train leaves in less than a day, and we’re not nearly done with everything, and—”
“Katelyn, I mean it. You’re not helping anything by stressing out over every little thing. If everything doesn’t make it this trip, we can get the rest later, or I can mail you some things. We’ll be fine tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she turned to Iruni. “I’m sorry, I’m just—”
“It’s fine. I’d probably be a lot less organized than this. How about we take a break for supper? I think we all need it.”
Bruce chimed in, “Good idea. What should we do about cooking?”
Kate and her brother looked to each other, arguing the possible options, before they both agreed that cooking anything would take too much time. They ended up ordering pizza, and to take a break during the delivery time.
—————
[Message received, Jan. 21, 2000, 01:34:45]
[“… … … Sebastian, I don’t know why the fuck you aren’t answering your damn phone, but you’d better get this message. I’ve reached the top of Mt. Silver… You’ll see everything thing in my report but, holy shit… I don’t know how either of them survived this… …… …”]
—————
Iruni let out a content sigh as he fell back on his bed, relishing the abrupt cease in busy motion. The sounds of his room settled him into a comfortable daze as he stared up at his ceiling. Rikalia relaxed as well, plopping down onto his chest and resting her head on his shoulder.
“Hey there, Rika. Kate’s pretty demanding when she’s stressed, huh?”
She agreed, capping off her response with a yawn. Iruni began stroking her back, eliciting an appreciative purr.
Iruni felt the bed shift as another weight joined the two. He turned his head and locked eyes with Ruby, whose intent stare shifted from him to the content feline weasel lying on his chest.
‘So, should we talk to her now? She seems pretty complacent at the moment, plus we’ve got some time.’
‘Yeah, we should.’ He looked down at the Sneasel lying so contently on his stomach. I’d hate to ruin her good mood. She looks so cute just lying there…
‘Aww, now aren’t you the sensitive one?’
‘Stop doing that, dammit!’ He shook his head reflexively, trying to break Ruby’s connection to him, but to no avail. Giving up on forcing the psychic cat out of his mind, he patted Rikalia on her head, “Hey Rika, can you get up for a sec?”
She complied, sitting up in Iruni’s lap. Rikalia looked up at him questioningly as Iruni sat himself up on the bed. Ruby joined him at his side soon after.
“Rika, Ruby and I want to talk about something we learned at the Pokémon Center,” at her instantly worried expression, he added, “Don’t worry. You’re still fine, but the nurse told us some… questionable things. I just want to know what happened before I found you.”
Catching on to the change in topic, Rikalia's expression fell into sadness, and she lowered her head somberly.
Iruni scratched his head, trying to think of a way to make the process easier.
“Ruby, can you, I don’t know, translate in real-time for us?”
‘That’d be impossible. If she were anything else, I could link your minds together temporarily, but she’s a Dark type. This’ll take a while. I’ll bring her up to speed, and I’ll replay what she told you from my memory.’
“Thanks.”
Ruby took the lead and began explaining what they had learned at the Pokémon Center. Throughout the conversation, Rikalia would look up at Iruni. Each time her expression growing more distraught. When Ruby finished telling her what they knew, she latched onto Iruni’s side in a tight embrace. She shivered a bit, and a few tears escaped onto his shirt. He rubbed her back comfortingly.
After a few moments, Rikalia turned her head—still clinging tightly to her trainer—and began relaying her story to Ruby. Iruni could see Ruby’s face don a sorrowful expression as she listened; she even shed a tear. As Rikalia spoke to Ruby, Iruni started to feel a bit light-headed, a dull pressure begin to build behind his eyes. He ignored the sensation. After a final answer from Ruby, Rikalia fell into tears once more, and began sobbing into his chest.
‘Poor thing…’
“What’d she say?”
Without warning, he felt Ruby’s presence weigh in on his mind. He closed his eyes, somewhat surprised that his new pain didn’t increase, and let her show what had transpired:
“Rikalia,” Ruby began, “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but Iruni and I want to know how came to be on your own before he found you.”
“Why? Why does it matter how I lived I was before? I’m here now, and that’s all that matters… right?”
“Because dear, we learned something at the Center last night while you were being healed. Iruni didn’t want to spoil your day, but since Katie and I leaving tomorrow, we can’t put it off any longer.”
Rikalia looked up at her trainer and shifted in his lap, the concerned look he gave her made her worried. She looked back to Ruby, “What did you find out?”
“Well… we learned that, over these past few years, Ice Path has been steadily losing its Swinub population. Without an ample source of food, most predators move on to better hunting grounds. Long story short, the rest of your species has been noted leaving Ice Path over this span of time. And…”
“A–And what?”
“There were—many—reports and cases of infant Sneasel being abandoned by their families because they weren’t strong enough. They were left alone, and eventually starved to death.”
“That’s… That’s…” she clung to her trainer’s side for comfort then, shivering with fear. “That’s horrible…” she buried her face into Iruni’s chest.
“I know it is dear,” Ruby said. “But you have to realize, we’re only telling you these things so you’ll understand why we want to know what happened to you.”
“…”
“Hon, did your family abandon you too?”
“Yes…”
“Do you know why? How did it happen?”
It was a few moment before she responded. She turned an eye towards her pink friend, “It… was a long time ago, or at least it feels like it… I was the youngest, I had a brother and sister. My father always helped them with hunts, but I don’t think he ever cared about me. I always had trouble sneaking up on prey; they usually got away from me. My mother would share her catch with me when I couldn’t catch anything myself… but my father didn’t like that. He sometimes stole the food my mother gave me, and made sure I never got it. I hated him for it.
“Once the cold season started, we started eating less. It was bad before, but it was a lot worse. I remember my brother and sister complaining a lot. I remember noticing less of my kind around the caves, but I never knew they were all gone. One night, after another foodless hunt, I asked my father where the others went. He said they went to ‘better lands’, and went off with my siblings. I asked my mother if we would go too, and she said they wouldn’t be going anywhere…” she began crying again, “and that she’d always be there to care for me!
“But when I woke up one morning, they were all gone! Even my mother! She lied to me, and left me there in our den. I was so scared. I waited for so long… but they never came back, Ruby! They left me… and— and— I tried so many times… I tried so hard to find them. Even just my mother, to tell me it was all an accident… but…”
“Shh, it’s okay dear. I understand…”
Rikalia sobbed quietly for a moment before asking, “R–Ruby… Did you and ‘runi find out… where the others went?”
“Yes. The nurse at the Center said they migrated to the caves of Mt. Silver, to the east.”
She turned forward to Ruby, stifling her crying as best she could, “Do you know… where ‘runi found me?”
“I think I know the general area, but I can’t be sure, hon—”
“Was I even close?! Were those months of searching even worth anything?”
“Rikalia…”
“Did I even get close to finding them Ruby?”
Ruby found herself shedding a tear at the desperation in the crying Sneasel’s voice, “No, I’m sorry hon. Mt. Silver is very far away. You still had a long way to go… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Ruby… it’s not your fault…” Rikalia’s crying renewed and she repeated her gesture of sobbing into her trainer’s chest.
After the vision ceased, Iruni looked down at Rikalia, who was still crying into his stomach. She was almost painfully holding onto his abdomen. Tears poured and dropped onto his shirt.
“Oh Rika… I—”
Rikalia surprised Iruni with a sudden, desperate outburst. She held a sharp stare with him, and waited for his response.
‘She asked, ‘Will you abandon me one day too?’ And you’d better say the right answer, dammit!’
“Rikalia,” he said, breaking her composure with her full name. She continued to look up at him, “I promise, I won’t do what your family did. I won’t abandon you, not now, not ever,” he wiped a stray tear from her face, “You may be new to our lives, but we, Karros, Kate, Ruby, and everyone here care too deeply for you to do anything like that. There are bad people and Pokémon in this world, but there are just as many good ones.”
She buried her face in his chest again, this time in a show of thanks and affection. Iruni could feel her claws snag at his skin through his shirt, but he ignored it. Iruni scratched her right ear, and stroked her ear-feather, another joyful purr greeting his action.
“You’re alright Rika. I promise to keep you safe,” he looked up to see Ruby jump off his bed and make to leave his room. “Ruby, wait.”
‘What? Kate’s calling me…’ she said, hiding her face.
“Thanks. I don’t know how I could’ve helped Rika along as much as I have without all of your help.” He sent her a thought, ‘I owe you ten favors, at least.’
She paused, sending him a warm pulse before adding, ‘Damn right you do.’
With Ruby gone, Iruni and Rikalia sat alone in his room. He eventually lay back onto the bed, his Sneasel still with her arms wrapped around his torso. He habitually stroked the soft, pink feather on her head—each time, her purring would reach a peak, then taper off. They stayed in this manner for a while. After a few minutes, Iruni heard the doorbell ring from elsewhere in the house.
“Hey… Rika? Food’s here, we gotta—” he lifted his head, and saw that Rikalia had fallen asleep. Much to his relief, her face was calm and content. “I guess we can stay here for a little while longer,” he said.
Iruni rested his head back on the bed, feeling the pulses of his headache slowly die away. He ignored the calls from the rest of his family as he laid there. The events of the day suddenly began taking their toll on him, and he soon found that he too was falling asleep.
—————
“Ah! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!” It wasn’t the most pleasant wake-up call he could have asked for. Iruni squirmed about on the bed as something very cold was pressed against the back of his neck. He bolted straight up, immediately blinding himself as his eyes passed into a beam of sunlight streaming into his window. He shook his head to try and relive his drowsiness.
He heard laughter behind him, along with a voice he couldn’t quite place with his sleepy mind, “Haha, you were right Kar! That woke him up really fast!”
Iruni turned around, wondering who it was that was talking to his Houndour. At a cursory glance he saw no one, apart from Rikalia and Karros on his bed.
“Hey, now that you’re up, we gotta go ‘runi! Katie’s gonna leave soon!”
His attention was drawn to his Sneasel, who had somehow just spoken to him. Or at least that’s what it sounded like. From what he saw, it even looked like she said it, But that’s… impossible…
“Okay Ruby, enough with the joke,” he said, shifting to the edge of the bed. Iruni tried to shake away the feeling of having slept in the previous day’s clothes. “I’m up.”
Rikalia moved to follow him, putting her paws on his legs. “Ruby’s not here, ‘runi. Just me and Kar. Katie and your father are leaving soon! We gotta be down there when they leave.”
There was no mistaking it; he was actually hearing her talk to him. It wasn’t some psychic projection, but her words reaching him. He looked to Karros, but he didn’t show any signs that anything strange was happening, “Karros… do you… hear that?”
Karros responded in a way that Iruni expected him to, with a questioning bark and whine.
“’runi we have to hurry, or they’ll leave without you saying goodbye. C’mon…” Rikalia jumped off the bed and tugged at his hand, trying to get him up on his feet.
“Hey… Rika?” he asked, deciding to see for himself. “This might sound odd, but how are you… talking to me?”
She cocked her head a bit with a confused look on her face, “Umm… Like I always do? Am I doing anything different, Kar?”
“No Rika, that’s not— I mean, you’re talking to me right now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah?”
“And how exactly is it that I can understand you?”
Rikalia held her questioning stare for a few more moments before coming to the realization herself. Her eyes widened with shock and joy, “You can!” she exclaimed as she flung herself at him. “I can’t believe it! You can really hear what I’m saying!”
“How are you doing this, Rika? Did Ruby teach you somehow?”
She looked up and shook her head, “I’m not doing anything. I’m just talking like normal,” she glanced to her right, “Kar hears me normally, doesn’t he?”
His Houndour looked as dumbfounded as Iruni felt. “She’s still talking normally for you, right Karros?” He gave his affirmative, which Rikalia was quick to translate for him. “Rika… this is…”
“It’s great! I was so worried that we couldn’t really talk anymore now that Ruby’s leaving, but now we don’t need her!”
“Rika, this is really… I can’t even explain it. To me, you’re speaking to me like Kate or my dad would. I can really hear what you’re saying…”
“That’s good though, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I can’t understand Kar though, that’s the thing. Why can I only hear you when I never could before? Why can I even understand a Pokémon at all?” Iruni’s head was spinning with questions.
She pouted, “Why does it matter? You can talk to me now, so why bother finding out how? Aren’t you glad this happened?”
“I am Rika. This is really amazing, but I can’t stop myself from trying to figure out why,” he stroked her head-feather a few times. “I am glad we can talk, but finding out why might— Ow, ow, ow!”
“’runi? What’s wrong?”
“Oh my head…” he held a hand to his temple, trying to ease the pressure on his head. The sharp pains came without warning, his vision blurred and blotted out sporadically. The pain began to lessen after a few tense moments. Rikalia gripped his hand in worry, and Karros placed a paw on his shoulder.
“I–I’m okay…” Iruni blinked heavily a few times. “I’m fine.”
Karros barked some words of concern for him.
“Yeah, what happened?” Rikalia added.
“Sudden headache. Really bad. It’s probably because I haven’t eaten since… I guess lunchtime yesterday.”
“It’s your fault you didn’t get up for breakfast, luckily Kar found a way that gets you up easily,” she raised her hand in front of Iruni’s face, and showed that she could coat her claws in a thin sheet of ice. “Uncle Tommy showed me how to do it! I can’t make it last for more than a few seconds though,” as if on cue, the ice on her claws melted and dripped away as her control over the frozen water faded.
“You’re fine. It just takes practice. In time, you might actually have a pretty strong Ice Punch on your hands!”
She looked up, staring intently at him, “That was a bad joke, you know.”
“What? I thought it was tasteful,” at another painful spike from his head, and his stomach, he made to get up. “Speaking of tasteful things, I need food. Let’s head downstairs and—”
“That’s right! They’re leaving soon, we gotta go!” She leapt up to his shoulders again, gripping his hair, “Go go go go! They said it’d be just a few minutes!”
“When’d they say that?”
“A few minutes ago, that’s why we’ve gotta hurry! C’mon Kar!”
Iruni stood—being mindful of Rikalia on his shoulders—and the group went down the stairs to the rest of his house. As they passed Kate’s room, Iruni felt an unsettling sense of emptiness emanate from it. Its now-bare walls and floor seemed to push the message further along; he sped up his pace, and Rikalia gripped his head to steady herself.
“Hey, ‘runi?” Rikalia asked.
“Yeah?”
“How far away are Katie and Ruby going?”
“A place called Saffron City, in Kanto—the region to the west of here. It’s pretty far away; they’re taking a train to get there.”
“Oh…” she laid her head on his, “When will we see them again? I wanted Uncle Tom to help me with my ice some more…”
He reached up and patted her head, “Don’t worry about it, Rika. We’ll see her around the holidays, and probably for my birthday. If we want, we could even go visit them if we ever need a break.”
“Good. It’ll be nice to see them after we’ve gotten stronger too—but I doubt Azuly will ever stand a chance at catching me when I’m getting faster while she just sits around the house all day.”
“Hey, you never know; Kate might just take on the Indigo League behind out backs and pass us up.”
“It’ll be like a race! We gotta beat her now!”
He laughed a bit at the idea, “It was a joke, Rika. She’s a college student; I doubt she’d have the time.”
She frowned, “Aww, but that sounded fun…”
“We’ll have plenty on our hands without worrying about anyone else’s badge count.” Iruni walked into the kitchen, silently hoping he hadn’t missed his sister’s departure. A quick check into the living room provided no further leads. He noticed Vester coming in from his father’s workroom, “Hey Vester, do you know if my father and Kate left yet?”
The Persian growled and nodded at the front door. As Iruni went to open it, the door knob seemed to avoid his touch as it opened from the other side.
Kate looked in and noticed her brother and his Pokémon on the other side of the threshold, “Oh hey, you’re up. Dad asked me to check one last time to see if you were awake; we’re leaving now.”
“I heard from—Oh! Kate! You won’t believe it! I can understand Rika! She’s the one who told me you were leaving.”
“Right…” his sister said, eying him curiously, “You sure you didn’t just dream that?”
“No. Trust me, I was surprised too, but I’ve made sure. I can prove it, just—”
“Hey, I’m all for new breakthroughs in insanity, but we’ve got a train to catch in Goldenrod. When I said we’re leaving now, I meant now,” Kate said. “Now give me a hug and I’ll call you once I’m all settled in.” Iruni gave his sister a hug, and Rikalia jumped over to Kate’s shoulder and did the same, “Hey, you’d better not claw my brother to pieces while I’m gone, or you’ll have to learn to dress his wounds when he faints.”
“Is that hard?” asked Rikalia.
“Hey… at least consider trying not to scratch me,” Iruni said.
“Wait…” Kate said, holding Rikalia out to Iruni, “Did you really just talk to her?”
“Yeah, she just asked if fixing up claw wounds would be hard,” he took his Sneasel from his sister’s arms, “but I hope she was kidding. I’d prefer keeping as few scars as possible.”
“I said I was sorry! I didn’t mean to—”
“Easy Rika,” he said, petting her head, “I was joking. I know these were all accidents.”
“Please don’t joke about that… I feel bad…”
“I’m sorry.”
Kate looked on as the scene unfolded in front of her. Her brother was talking to his Dark type Pokémon. “How’re you two doing that?”
“Oh, so now you believe me… But seriously, I have no idea. She just started talking when I woke up just now. Karros—and you obviously—don’t hear anything different, so she’s still talking normally. But the weird thing is that I can’t understand Kar, or Vester. So, I’m confused.”
Kate held a hand to her forehead, trying to think of an explanation, “That’s really… odd… But we really don’t have time for this. I gotta go,” Kate leaned in for another hug. “Like I said, I’ll call you when I get everything settled, okay? Dad said he’d be back here sometime early tomorrow; he’s taking the magnet train back since he won’t have any large luggage like we do today.”
“Alright. Let me know how the move went when you call!”
“Sure. Love you bye,” she said as she turned back outside. Iruni watched as she went to their truck, and he and Rikalia waved as Kate and his father pulled out of the drive way.
Suddenly realizing how cold the outside air was, Iruni went back inside and quickly closed the door. He went through his living room, heading for the kitchen; he hadn’t forgotten about his dire need for something to eat.
Just like the times before, the pain came without warning.
Iruni let out a pained grunt, his eyes began to water soon after. With his head spinning and eyesight temporarily a compilation of bright spots of light, his legs failed him, holding his head and steadying himself on the arm of the couch. Rikalia tumbled out of his grasp and onto the couch as he fell.
“’runi! What keeps hurting you?!” Rikalia asked frantically. She looked to Karros, who only whined and nudged his trainer’s arm. “Are you alright?”
He blinked rapidly, trying to focus his eyes. “I… I think so…” he panted. “It’s going away now…”
“You need food! C’mon, let’s go and find you something to eat.”
“Hold on Rika,” he said. “There’s something I want to take care of first. All this talk about leaving reminded me of something, I’ll be right back.”
“But—”
Iruni got back on his feet, taking a moment to gather himself, and quickly went up the stairs to his room. He rummaged through the various things piled next to his bed, and found the small device he was looking for.
Rikalia was soon to join him, “No, ‘runi! Food first, and then—well… What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry Rika, this’ll take a second,” he turned on the PokéGear he received a few days ago. He went to the contact list, and called the only listing.
[“… … … Well then,”] came the voice from the speaker. [“it hasn’t even been a week. I’m surprised you got back to me so quickly.”]
“I thought it’d do well to try and impress you. I hope I didn’t interrupt something.”
[”Not at all. But enough pleasantries, what’s the word? Are you on board?”]
“Count me in. I’ll be there before the 17th, as promised.”
[“You don’t disappoint, that’s for sure. But let’s see if you can keep your positive track record after you leave Elm’s Lab in Newbark.”]
—————
To Be Continued…
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- 5
- 6
- 7
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The Dark Type