The Arcean Reflex
Bulbafreak9000 

AN: This is Bulba again, with a... erm... what is this, seventh? I think a seventh fanfic 
that I got big plans for, but never get around to doing them. So, anyway, this will be my 
fateful return to the Pokemon Tower! Yes, I too am excited. My last few ventures of 
fanfiction, into Kim Possible and my unseen Metroid fic, and my starting over...er of A 
Rockets World haven't really... ah, hell, they aren't going anywhere. But this I have 
hope for. I got the idea for it by my characters on Diamond and Pearl. *people groan* 
Don't worry, its not going to be the usual kind of story... hopefully. If you read the 
prologue, you'll know I have big ideas for this. Anyway, onto the fic! 

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GAME START:  EMOTIONAL SPIN 
      
      "God, what time is it? Er..." The boy rolled over and turned off his alarm. "Eight 
o'clock already? Geez..." He climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He 
looked into the mirror. Who am I again? Matt Digeranimo. Fourteen years old. Son of 
Vincent Digeronimo and Cynthia Lane. Arranged to be married to Julia Thomson, who 
lives over 2,500 miles away, in another continent. 
      He hated it. His family, along with every other, deciding their child's fate right at 
birth. It'd been happening for many, many years. Used to be an old ritual. Now it was a 
huge burden. Not to mention a law. It was made a law during the Ash Ketchum VS 
Deliah Ketchum case, about ten years ago. He was arranged to marry some girl he'd 
never met in some place called Fiorre, but he was somewhat of a gigolo. He had girls on 
about four other continents. Everyone thought he'd win the trial, but the judge was a 
supporter of arranged marriages. Not to mention the most influential member of the 
World Council. So, when this "appalling" case was brought to him, he banged his gavel 
and it was decided. Why was he recalling this? He didn't know. He just liked random 
facts. 
	He'd seen his fiancé on a video phone once, about three years ago. She was a 
pretty girl, his age. She seemed shy. Julia was fine, he guessed. Didn't really seem his 
type. Matt liked girls with a bit more energy.  Someone who at one moment could be 
screaming her head off because something really cool happened, and then bored the next 
because nothing cool was happening now. Julia didn't seem to fit that description. He 
didn't know her though. And only what, two more precious weeks until he was required 
to travel to... what was it again... Sinnoh? He'd already gotten his ticket for the boat ride 
over. Time passed too fast for him. He had things he wanted to finish beforehand. And, as 
he had finally gotten an adult Pokemon license, he'd be able to do them. No more school 
for him. 
	He silently made a list of things to do, adding things on with everything he 
finished. Brush teeth. Take shower. Oh, I gotta go to the Pokemart. Get dressed. Did I 
ever get the money he owed me for all those burgers? Grab Pokeballs. Greet parents. I 
gotta take everything out of my savings account before I go, don't I? Grab waffle. Grab 
sweatshirt and hat. Walk out door. Say another word to Sara than hi...
	"Hey Matt!" Sara cheerily waved back. He smiled and weakly said "H-hi..." 
before quickly walking off. He did it again. Sara, of course, was the girl next door. 
Seventeen years old, blonde, beautiful, and was at least a double E. She wasn't a proud 
girl. She was actually the nicest person he'd ever met. But, God, did she like wearing 
those low cut shirts. And it was almost impossible to refuse everytime she invited him to 
go swimming over her house. He always hated to. But occasionally he'd see her from his 
bedroom window, in her bikini, just getting out of the pool. She was so beautiful... 
That's one thing he had to do before he left. Go swimming with Sara. 
	What was there to do in Ecruteak City, or left to do, he wondered, as he walked 
the street, his Quilava following him. There was that old burned down tower, but he'd 
already explored with that place a while ago. Morty'd never let him challenge his gym, 
even if he had three badges. He never was able to sneak past those creepy bald priests 
that guarded the Tin Tower. He could try that again. Shrugging, he decided he'd give it a 
shot. 

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      "God, I am having the worst hairday!" yelled Julia from the bathroom. Her hair 
was going every which way that morning. Disrobing, she stepped into the shower. 
Grabbing the shampoo, she swished it around in her hands and put it in her hair. 
      "Who put honey in my shampoo?" screamed Julia. Her younger brother, sitting at 
the table, snickered as he spread honey on his toast. Their mother had spent another night 
at "grandma's", so he could get away with any pranks he pulled. She'd come home a hell 
of a lot happier than she was when she left. Combee hid under his chair, the top right 
head laughing, the top left crying, and the bottom face indifferent, thumping its abdomen 
up and down, awaiting something else to do. 
      A little later Julia walked into the kitchen, fully dressed. She popped some toast 
into the toaster and sat down. 
      "What's with the white winter hat thing?" asked Ben, smiling, thinking how bad 
her hair must have looked underneath that hat. Torturing his sister is what he was born 
for. He was sure of it. 
      "Like you don't know, you brat," she replied, lifting a certain finger in the air. 
"Anyway, what you actually don't know is that winter wear is in. Not only am I wearing 
this hat, but I'm also wearing a scarf and snow boots. So your stupid prank affected my 
life in exactly zero ways." 
      "Then what was that scream? I obviously got to you somehow. That means I won! 
Ha! I beat you!" He began to laugh wildly.
      "Had you been more maniacal you'd have a cape and fangs," she said, 
condescendingly. "And had you been smarter you'd know I don't care one bit about 
however many pranks you pull on me. Because," she stopped for dramatic, before saying 
to a catchy beat, "I'm getting married in two weeks! I'm getting married in two weeks!"
      "I thought that's when you left to meet him," he asked. 
      "Either way, I'm outta here in two weeks. And I'm also outta here now." Her 
toast popped and she caught it, putting it in her mouth, and walked out the door. 
      "Girls are weird," Ben muttered, making Combee buzz angrily. "Human girls, I 
meant," he said quickly.
      As she walked out of the front gate, she let out a whistle. A Piplup popped out of 
a garden pool and chased after her. It gave a questioning "Pip?" as it looked at Julia's 
new attire. Julia shrugged with and "Eh" and kept walking. 
      Strolling through the quiet town of Twinleaf. That's all she did anymore. Life had 
become a bore. All the guys had become jackasses since puberty, showing off their big 
Pokemon to compensate for... other things. Besides, they were all engaged with her 
friends. Only her mom would arrange for her to marry someone on another continent. But 
it was fine with her. She was looking forward to it. He was a cute and somewhat 
muscular, according to the last picture she got of him. And he seemed really nice that 
time she talked to him... when she was eleven. She had to give her mom credit. She 
knew how to pick the hunks. And what, only two more hellish weeks before he got here? 
Of course it took a day to sail here. And then the grueling trip to Hearthome. But then, 
she'd have her fiancé, her knight in shining armor, who'd she bring home, and then, after 
he met everyone here, he'd carry her off to some magical, exotic land. And only two, 
extensively long, prankfilled weeks til Matt got here. It almost made her swoon. 
      Not much left to do at all, she thought. There isn't anything famous in Twinleaf. 
No towers, no legendary Pokemon, not even a Pokemon Center or a Pokemart. There was 
Sandgem Town, across Route 201, but she was sure to see a Bidoof while going over 
there. How she hated Bidoof. One had bit here when she was a child and almost put a 
hole through her leg. She was fine now, no problems, but she still hated them. 
      There was Lake Verity. Now really only a popular swimming hole, there used to 
be a rumor about some awesome Pokemon that hid there. What was it... a red Gyarados? 
That was something to do. Find a red Gyarados. She could do that. But of course, if she 
were going to the lake, she'd have to invite Markus... Eh, what the heck, she thought, he 
isn't that bad. He's actually kinda cute. And Piplup didn't seem too bad with his Turtwig 
either. But God, if he looks up my skirt again, I'm gonna kick his ass. 

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      Sneaking in through the window, knowing one of the monks always slept by the 
door, Matt tiptoed past one with what looked like a bottle of booze in his hands. Quilava 
sniffed the bottle, and then recoiled. He swept up the stairs, stepping over the fourth stair 
from the top, which always creaked. He cracked the door at the top open just a bit, to see 
a fat priest staring at a TV, chip crumbs on his shirt and powdery cheese seasoning on his 
hands. He opened the door slowly and rolled a Pokeball over to the large, plush chair. A 
small, quite beam shot out of it, and his Drowzee materialized from it. Matt whispered 
"Hypnosis" from behind the door, then shut it and put his fingers in his ears. 
      About ten seconds later he cracked the door again, to see both Drowzee and the 
monk asleep. Sighing, he walked over, picked up the Pokeball, and recalled Drowzee. It 
was the only Pokemon that was put asleep by its own Hypnosis. Putting the Pokeball on 
his belt, he walked out another door towards the Tin Tower. This was the hard part. 
Instead of taking the usual path, he hid behind the trees on the side of the road. He slowly 
approached the tower to see a young, muscular priest guarding its front door. This was 
the guy who'd always beaten him before. He's somehow impervious to Hypnosis, and 
has the hearing of a Noctowl. 
      This time, Matt had a plan. First, he was gonna send Drowzee to try to go inside, 
and while the monk was chasing Drowzee, he'd go in. Then, Drowzee would Teleport to 
him from wherever he was. By the time the guard got back he'd never know Matt was in 
the tower. He released Drowzee and slapped him awake. Dizzily, Drowzee stumbled over 
to the front of the tower. The guard stared at the Pokemon for a bit, then stepped aside, 
and let Drowzee in, asking it to wipe its feet before entering. Matt's jaw dropped. 
      Next Matt decided to send Quilava in. When Quilava got him far enough away, 
he'd use a smoke bomb and then run back to the tower and find Matt. Quilava humbly 
made his way over to the priest and sat down in front of him. Kindly asking him not to 
use his fire in the tower, he stepped aside and let him in. This guy had to be crazy. He'd 
chased Matt off tons of times before. Deciding it was worth a shot; Matt walked up, 
wiped his shoes on the welcome mat, and tried to walk inside. The guard caught him by 
the collar of his shirt and dragged him from the door. 
      "Haven't I already told you? You aren't allowed in there, child," he said, 
annoyed. 
      "What do you mean? You just let Drowzee and Quilava in!" yelled Matt.
      "That was a Pokemon. Pokemon are allowed in the tower to give thanks and pray 
to the gods. Filthy children who have no respect aren't allowed in." He let go of the 
struggling Matt's collar, which caused him to fall to the ground.
      Getting up gracefully and brushing himself off, Matt snapped back, "I am not 
filthy or disrespectful. Just curious." 
      "Well," said the monk, "I recommend you go be curious at some other place. 
Disrespectful deviants aren't allowed here."
      "I'm not a deviant!"
      "Did you not just try to sneak into the sacred temple?"
      "That's totally different than being a deviant! And I wasn't sneaking!"
      "So if I go in the other building I'll not find Monk Gawasen asleep?"
      "He's always asleep!"
      "You are a disrespecting deviant, and aren't allowed her. Get out!" 
      "I am not a deviant!"
      "I believe I'm the deviant here."
      They both turned to see a strange looking boy wearing a scarf and a large cap, 
leaning on the door frame. He had a strange monkey like Pokemon standing next to him, 
who jumped up and down, holding a pair of bells. 
      "The sacred bells!" yelled the monk. "You stole them! Return them at once!" 
      "Not likely, bald dude," he said, sneering. The monk took a fighting position, but 
the boy just stayed loose. 
      "Give those back, child, or I'll be forced to harm you." The monk was serious. 
Fire was burning in his eyes. 
      "Nah, I think I'm fine," he replied, as the monkey Pokemon spun the bells on his 
finger. The monk lashed out, and the boy bent back dodging. Another attack came from 
seemingly nowhere from the monk. The boy dodged this too. This evolved into a dance 
of sorts. Matt sat and watched. It was amazing. He'd been kicked by this monk many 
times, and it always felt like lightening coming at him. 
      As time went by, the dance got slower, the performers moving slower and slower, 
until the monk and the boy stopped entirely. Matt looked around him, and time had 
stopped. He turned back to the frozen fight, and the boy was gone. From behind him, the 
boy's voice came. 
      "Well, what are you waiting for?" he yelled. He stood a few feet away from Matt. 
"Go get the crystal bells!" 
      "Wait," replied Matt, "what? What crystal bells?" 
	The boy sighed. "At the top of the tower. There's two more pairs of bronze bells, 
like Chimchar had, and then there's a pair of crystal ones. Go get them while I hold this 
guy off."
	"W-why?" Matt asked, confused.
	"Trust me. Just go!" replied the boy.  Matt nervously nodded and darted into the 
building. He was compelled to listen to this boy. He felt time come back, and he could 
hear the struggle outside. 
	Looking up to the top of the tower, he saw it was all a big winding staircase, with 
shrines at certain intervals. He began to run up the steps as quickly as he could. A few 
floors up, he found Drowzee, asleep, spooning an also sleeping Gastly, and Quilava, 
curled up a little ways away from them. Looking around, he tapped a Pokeball onto the 
Gastly, which opened, consumed it, shook three times, and pinged. He let it out, into the 
exact same position it was in before. Gastly wasn't a bad Pokemon to get, he thought to 
himself. He left his two Pokemon there and continued up the steps. They seemed to go on 
forever. About ten floors up, his thighs began to burn. Twenty floors up, his ankles killed 
him. Thirty-five, he was surprised his legs didn't fall off. He was almost there now. 
Snores echoed in the tower, and small, smothered grunts could be heard from outside. 
Forty floors up, he made it. In the corners of the room were three pairs of bells, one 
crystal. Matt could see the place where the other pair hung. Not hesitating, he grabbed the 
bells and raced down the steps, getting about two floors down before he couldn't go any 
further. He let out a whistle, and Drowzee teleported to him, with Quilava and the now 
confused Gastly. He recalled the other two and told Drowzee to teleport him back to the 
first floor. It nodded, yawned, and closed its eyes. They now stood near the front door, 
and Matt hurried out to see how the boy was doing. Drowzee collapsed there, sleeping 
again. 
	The boy was definitely getting tired, but not as much as the monk. His moves 
were less subtle now, and seemed to be controlled more by his rage than by his mind. The 
boy flipped backwards, monkey climbing on his shoulders, and snapped. Time froze 
again. 
	"So you... got them... huh?" he panted. "Cool. Now... your trip to Sinnoh... has 
been moved up."
	Matt was dumbfounded. "What do you mean my trip to Sinnoh? How did you 
know about that t?" 
	"No time... I'll give you a ten minute head start to go home and get your ticket. 
Run to Olivine after that. Should take no more than an hour. Trade your ticket in for the 
closest trip. I'll explain to your parents. Recall Drowzee and go." 
	Matt stared at him. "Are you crazy?" he asked.
	"After all this time, maybe. Now go. Trust me. Oh, and keep those bells with you, 
no matter what."
	There was something in this guy's eyes that made Matt want to believe him. So 
Matt took the chance. After recalling Drowzee, he started to run, legs still aching. He 
jumped down the stairs of the monks' house, over the boozer, and out into the time-time-
frozen streets. Minutes later he burst into his house, ran to his room, and grabbed the 
tickets. Almost diving down the steps and out of the house, he rushed down the sidewalk. 
Time was starting to move again. He took one last look at Sara. Sadly, this wasn't what 
he wanted to remember her for: her breasts bouncing in slow motion as she jumped in 
excitement because her new plant began to bloom; but he didn't mind really. 
	By the time Matt got to the city limits, time had all but come back. He made his 
way through the City Border Building, almost tripping an old lady and getting some bad 
looks from a security guard. The bells were small enough to fit into his pocket, so they 
were safe from his view. When he got to the route he slowed down. It wasn't far from 
Olivine City. None of the cities were that far away from each other, if you took the 
recommended routes. He walked the rest of the way, denying at least four random 
trainers in their requests for battles, making one very pretty lady cry. To make up for it, 
he gave her about $20 dollars, and she said something about how it wouldn't get him too 
far, and from there he just walked away. In a half hour he was at Olivine. He walked 
through the streets to the port, passing the old, shut down gym, whose leader had left for 
other places to train. 
	From his entrance into the city to the port, it took him twenty minutes. Olivine 
was a fairly large place, and very busy. It was full of sailors and merchants, including 
some guy wearing a trench coat who offered him cheap prices for supposedly top of the 
line Poketchs. Matt didn't buy, and the guy stormed off, offended. When he reached the 
counter for commercial boat rides, he found the woman behind it to be asleep, a 
magazine covering her face. He knocked on the glass, and she almost fell out of her chair. 
She sighed and picked a card which she was supposed to read from.
	"Hello valued customer. How am I, insert name here, able to help you?" 
	With an eyebrow raised, Matt said, "I'd like to exchange this ticket for the next 
ship to Sinnoh." 
	She searched around for another card. Once she found it, she read, "I, insert name 
here, can do that for you. Take other ticket. Give new ticket."
	The two sat there staring at each other for a second. Then, the woman's head 
started to bob. Matt couldn't believe it. "God, could you just give me my new ticket?" 
	"Huh? Oh, yeah." She took his ticket and, as the card said, gave him the new one. 
He read the ticket, as she most probably wasn't going to give him any information on it. 
	"Wait a second, this ship leaves in five minutes!" he yelled. 
	The woman shrugged. "You wanted to get on the next ship to Sinnoh."
	He ran off to find which one was his. The S.S. um... Ship? He looked around for 
it. There were about twenty boats in the harbor. Hurrying down the docks, he read each 
one. S.S. Pidgey, S.S. Nickel, S.S. Pebbles, S.S. Jum'blia... and then he saw it. A large 
white ship, pulling slowly out of the harbor. Matt sprinted towards the harbor and 
jumped, hands outreached. Splashing into the water, he managed to just get his fingers 
around a piece of rope hanging off of the ship. 
	Panting, Matt looked up towards the deck of the ship. A Chansey was looking 
down upon him. A green haired woman hurried over next to it. 
	"Oh my!" she yelled. She turned to the rest of the boat. "There's someone 
hanging off the side of the boat! Help get him up!" 
	A few minutes later Matt was shivering in a plastic deck chair, a towel wrapped 
around him. The woman who had found him, along with her Chansey, stood near him, 
arguing with a sailor who was looking for a ticket. Shakily, he lifted his ticket out of his 
sweatshirt. The sailor grabbed it from him, looked it over for a second, then shrugged and 
walked away. 

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 	"Why don't you walk faster?" yelled Markus, at least eighty yards ahead of Julia. 
His Turtwig and her Piplup were walking beside him, having a conversation about 
whatever Pokemon talk about. Julia assumed it was about the Gyarados, and how they'd 
take it down, but who knows. Unless they were directly trying to get a point across to a 
human, no one could understand Pokemon. No one could understand Markus either. 
Sometimes he was a spaz, running and hurrying everywhere he went. Sometimes he was 
a perv, sneaking into girls locker rooms and using a long stick to lift girls' skirts up. 
Other times he was quiet, deep in thought. And sometimes, even, he could be the 
sweetest guy in the world. 
	"C'mon, hurry it up!" he yelled, now stopped over one-hundred and fifty yards 
away. Julia hadn't noticed how slow she'd been walking. Immediately, she burst into a 
run, taking Markus by surprise. It put him in a ten second daze, by which time Julia had 
past him. He ran after her, leaving their Pokemon struggling to catch up with their short 
legs. 
	"This fast enough for you?" Julia yelled back to Markus, still about five yards 
away. 
	"Its fast enough to blow your skirt up!" he hooted back. She came to a quick, 
skidding halt, hands holding her skirt down. Markus, still at top speed, crashed into her, 
sending them flying forward in a tangled web. Markus grabbed hold of Julia and turned, 
making it so he'd hit the ground, with her on top of him. She cringed as they both 
smashed into the ground. Opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with her 
sandy-haired savior, his arms still around her. Right then, he looked breathtaking. He 
slowly opened his eyes and asked her if she were alright.
	"I'm... I'm fine..." she replied, looking into his deep green eyes. 
	"Good," he said quietly. 
	"Yeah," she replied. Their faces slowly moved closer. 
	Pinch.
	Punch. 
	Moments later Julia stood pinching the bridge of her nose, while Markus lay 
curled on the ground, wind knocked out of him. 
	"I can't believe you'd do that! Such a wonderful moment, and you pinch my 
butt!" she yelled as he slowly got up. Julia looked at him, and he was no longer her 
handsome hero, but a perverted little boy with dirt on his face. 
	He got up laughing, wiping the dirt off of his shirt. "Okay, okay, let's do that 
again, this time, I won't pinch you, so long as you don't punch me." 
	She shook her head in amazement. "No!" 
	Markus walked over to her and held her by the hips. "C'mon, it'll be just like 
before. I'll hold you, and slowly we'll come together..." 
	Julia pushed away from him. "No, I'm just... you ruined the moment. That was 
the moment, and you ruined it." She stood there for a second, then said, "Thinking about 
it, the whole reason we fell down is because you were looking up my skirt!" 
	He walked by her, continuing to the lake. "The reason we fell down," he stopped 
and looked back, "is because you decided to wear a short skirt today. And every other 
day." He turned back around and walked a bit further. "As a matter of fact," he turned to 
her again, "I think you like the attention." 
	She was speechless. "I do not!" She tried to pull her skirt down further, but it 
wouldn't budge. "What do you guys think?" she asked, turning around. Piplup and 
Turtwig, who had caught up while they had been fighting, pretended not to notice. 
Scoffing, she continued walking at her regular pace, muttering under her breath that 
Markus was a perverted bastard. 

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	Matt sat on the bottom bunk of one set in a cabin on the boat, in his undershirt, 
with a blanket wrapped around his waist, and in his hand the crystal bells were clenched. 
Quilava sat on the floor, it's back flaming just enough to let Matt dry off. On a table by 
the bed sat his trainer's bag and his hat. He shivered a bit, and stared at a young woman 
on top the topbunk of the other set of beds. She wore a white dress, her light brown hair 
let fallen down her back. She looked strangely familiar, but Matt couldn't put his finger 
on it. Where had he seen her? It had to have been somewhere in Ecruteak... was she one 
of Sara's friends? Maybe an old neighbor... He couldn't think well with the squeaky 
from Chansey shining her egg on the other bottom bunk. 
	Cheryl, the green haired woman, walked into the small room with his sweatshirt 
and pants hanging on her arm, now dried. She handed them to him, and he slipped his 
sweatshirt on. He stared at the other two, until they got his point and turned around. 
Chansey struggled to turn on the bed, but gave up and closed her eyes. Matt slipped his 
pants on and called all clear. Cheryl sat down beside him. 
	"Sorry you have to share a cabin with us. There's a pretty large rush to go to 
Sinnoh, lately. All the other cabins are taken up." She could tell he didn't mind though. 
He had other things on his mind. "So..." She seemed to be trying to decide how to put 
something, but couldn't find the words. 
	"You want to know why I jumped after the boat?" he asked, to her surprise. She 
nodded respectfully. "I was going to miss the boat, so I winged it. Literally." Cheryl 
giggled, but the girl just turned over and started playing with something they couldn't 
see. Cheryl ignored her.
      "So why did you need to come to Sinnoh so badly? Couldn't you wait for another 
boat?" she asked. 
	He didn't have an answer to that question. Why did he have to get on this boat 
right away? Because that guy said so. Because he had those bells. He slowly slipped them 
into his pocket so she wouldn't see them. Why did he have the bells? Because the guy 
told him to take them. Why did he listen to the guy? This he didn't know. But he couldn't 
tell her all that. Not only would that make Matt look stupid, but it would make him a 
felon. He already was, actually. So, to satisfy her question, he told her a half-truth. 
	"Er... my fiancé lives in Sinnoh. I've, uh, been waiting to meet her for a while. 
And now was finally the time, I suppose." Okay, Matt told himself, maybe it was more of 
a quarter-truth. 
	Cheryl, though, had stars in her eyes. "Wow!" she said with admiration. "That's 
so romantic! Jumping from a dock to have the slightest chance of getting on it, because 
you couldn't wait to see you're beloved any longer! It's just so romantic!" 
	The woman on the top bunk turned back and shrugged. Then he noticed who she 
was. "It's not the best story I've heard," she said. Their eyes met, and she knew he was 
hiding something. He knew she knew something about it. 
	"What do you mean, Jasmine?" Cheryl asked inquisitively. She knew there was 
something about her voice that revealed something. 
	And though there were many somethings in the room that most likely needed 
revealing, Jasmine let Matt keep his secret. "Love story," she replied. "It's not the best 
love story I've heard." 
	Matt sighed, knowing he was safe. Morty had introduced the two of them before. 
Jasmine was the leader of the Olivine gym. She used to also run the lighthouse, but after 
it was replaced by machinery, she decided that gym challenges were low enough that she 
could go train elsewhere. She was nice enough not to tell on him. But he decided for the 
moment, it would be better for him to get out of the room to think about his situation 
more. It was then he remembered a book he had in his bag. His mother wrote all kinds of 
phone numbers in it, including his fiancé's. Why? Safety, OCD, who knew? But it came 
in handy. 
	"I think," he said, reaching for his bag and pulling out the book, "I think I'll go 
call Julia now." 
	Stars came to Cheryl's eyes again. "Wow," she asked, "Is that her name? Such 
love between the two of you! And such a beautiful name too! Oh, you are so lucky to 
have someone to love! Such love is so hard to come by..." While she went on, he slowly 
snuck out. Chansey had gone back to shining her egg, and Jasmine returned to playing 
with whatever she had on the top bunk. 
	Matt walked around the deck until he found a sign pointing him towards some 
public phones. Did he realize what he had done? He'd stolen something. He took the 
crystal bells from the tower at some random guy's request. Why again? He seemed... 
hypnotizing. He could have made anyone do it. How? Maybe he used a Pokemon. Maybe 
there was a psychic type somewhere around there. Possibly a ghost type... yeah, then it 
wouldn't have been seen. 
	Well, even if he did steal something, they wouldn't be able to get him in Sinnoh, 
unless he was specifically wanted in Sinnoh. Matt had learned about it in school. Because 
of World Council Edict 132, Amendment 3, Appendix 8, law applies to the continent its 
set in. It wasn't illegal to steal those bells in Sinnoh. It was in Johto, but not in Sinnoh. 
	"Actually, not in Johto either. That tower, and everything in it, was true public 
property. It was owned by all citizens of Johto," said a familiar voice. Matt turned to see 
the boy from before. "You were free to take anything you wanted from it. They were 
actually committing a crime by not letting you in. What has kept it in there all this time 
was religious superstition."
	Matt was at a loss for words. He said the first thing that came to mind that would 
seem intelligent. "What religious superstition?"
	The boy's smile seemed to say, "Good question." What he said was, "It has to do 
with the Legendary Pokemon named Ho-oh. You've probably heard of it, growing up in 
Ecruteak. Something along these lines, I believe. 

"'They soared the skies as king of peace,
Human and Pokemon survived as one,
Life and death were concerns of the least,
And worry's home was none.
Two towers built to show their tie,
Two towers were their homes,
One tower of tin in the raised to the sky,
One tower burned now, is three's tombs.
Greed and power, humans' desires,
They wanted legends tamed,
They stormed the bronze, with sticks of fires,
And it burned, went down in flames.
With a cry, given up on us,
One sleeps upon the waves,
But the other retaliated upon the fuss,
Three Pokemon it saved.
Before it left, upon rainbow wing,
Bells it made for human kind,
Be they taken by anything,
The beasts shall lose their mind. 
Bond broken, trust shaken, they shall hunt,
And not stop until they find,
The bells of peace, that they want,
The bells that keep peace tied.'"

	Matt no longer had any words to lose. He'd never heard anyone say the entire 
thing by memory. He'd only heard it once or twice, during a festival that came every few 
years, and by a priest who had to read it off of an old book.  "Yeah, I know," he started, 
"its kind of corny sometimes, and unclear in others, but it tells a good story none the less. 
You see, it starts out by telling about this peaceful world, where humans and Pokemon 
lived in peace. They built two towers to show this. Tin and Bronze. Two legendary birds 
supposedly lived on top of each. But humans got greedy when they began to tame 
Pokemon, and went up one tower to catch one of the birds. They ended up burning it 
down. Three innocent Pokemon died with it. The Pokemon atop the Bronze Tower flew 
away and is now said to live in the seas. The Pokemon on the Tin Tower supposedly 
brought the three Pokemon back to life and flew away from humanity, leaving those bells 
to keep the peace."
	Matt was confused. What were the beasts that would lose their mind? Surely not 
the Pokemon... right?  
	"Don't worry about it," said the boy. "Pokemon are just like humans when it 
comes to these kinda things. They keep them there for tradition. No Pokemon is going to 
get mad at you for taking them. No normal Pokemon anyway." 
	"What do you mean no-"
	He was gone. Matt was tired now. From what he could tell, they boy was saying 
that it wasn't a big deal. He pushed away any doubts he had about the boy's message and 
went back to making sure he was ready once he got to Sinnoh. Going back to Ecruteak 
would be a waste of time and money. This was going to happen anyway, Matt figured, so 
why drag it out? They'd have a bank in Snowpoint, so he could withdraw his savings. He 
left all his clothes at home, so he'd have to get more of those. He'd need some food for 
the rest his trip and he already had potions and repels. And most of all, Matt needed to 
make sure his fiancé' knew that he was coming. He'd have to call his parents later and 
make up some excuse for why he came early. He was good at that kind of stuff. But his 
parents later. His fiancé now.  He opened the book and looked up her name. Julia 
Thomson. He thumbed in the numbers and held the phone to his ear, looking into the 
screen. 
	
--------------------------------------------------------------------

	Late that evening, Julia returned home. Her mom had still not come back from 
"grandma's." She flung her wet clothes into the hamper and got into the shower. Their 
Gyarados search had been a bust. All they found was clear water, filled with nothing but 
Magikarp. Julia had kneeled down by the lake, to watch them swim, and Markus had 
tried to lift her skirt with a stick. She then reached behind her, grabbed his hand and, 
standing up, threw him into the lake. While she had been laughing at him, he managed to 
grab her foot and yank her in too. That led to a splash fight that lasted a while, whilst 
Piplup and Turtwig had a civilized conversation by the edge of the lake. After that they 
ate on the grass while the sun went down, not saying a word to each other.
	Julia scrubbed the shampoo into her scalp, using the shampoo her brother didn't 
mix with honey. She was still angry at Markus. He really ruined it. Why would he even 
do something like that? Firstly, why would he look at her? She was already engaged. He 
was too. They weren't the ones who would spend their lives together. They didn't love 
each other. Love was marriage. She was supposed to love Matt Digeranimo. She did love 
Matt. He was supposed to love who he was engaged with. Then, why would he protect 
her like that... Why would he hold her... Why, after she punched him, would he want to 
hold her and touch her again... And why would she have seen him like she did... Why 
did they almost kiss... And like that, she remembered the face of her hero, as he opened 
his eyes, holding her. 
	No. Two weeks until she got married. Two weeks until her real knight came to 
her. Two simple weeks. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in towel. She 
tiptoed, dripping a bit still, into her room, put her pajamas on, and headed downstairs to 
watch TV before bed. She walked through the kitchen, grabbing herself a soda and 
reading the two notes on the fridge, one from her brother saying he was sleeping over a 
friend's house, and one from her mother saying she was going to be gone another day. 
Sighing, she walked into the living room, fell onto the couch, and turned the TV on. 
	"Today, in Oreburg, three baby Glameow were rescued from a rock slide..." Julia 
changed the channel. "So no one told you life was gonna be this way..." Click. "Sinnoh's 
Funniest Videos!" Click... Click... Click... She turned the TV off. Nothing on. She sat 
there for a second, head back, just relaxing. Then the phone rang. 
	Sighing, she walked over to the phone screen and answered it. 
	"Hello?" 
	No answer. The screen stayed blank.
	"Hello?"
	No answer. Still blank.
	"Markus, is this you again? Cause I told you last week not to-"
	"H-hello, this is Matthew Digeranimo, is Julia there!" someone on the other end 
said very quickly. The screen turned on and showed the feed of her fiancé. 
	"M-Matt?" Julia replied. "Really?" Her want for this moment for years made her 
forget Markus. Replaced by the thought of Matt, her waiting, yearning. He was her knight 
that she'd hoped for all these years. The face in the picture on her nightstand that she 
looked at every night before she went to bed. 
	Matt's feelings of his current situation also vanished, were concealed by new 
feelings. This girl... Julia... was she the same one he'd seen years ago? She had 
blossomed into this woman he now saw before him. Had Matt been nervous before, that 
was nothing to how he was now. 
	"Y-yeah, it's me. I... I called to say I was..." he stopped to get his courage up, "to 
say I was coming early." 
	Early. Julia ran this word over in her mind. Sooner than later. Sooner than two 
weeks. "Really?" she said excitedly. 
	Was she really the shy girl he'd seen? Who said barely a word to him while he 
blabbed on about Pokemon and monster trucks and whatever else he was interested in 
when he was eleven. "Yeah... I'm actually on the boat over now. I'll be in Snowpoint by 
tomorrow afternoon." 
	Julia could barely contain her excitement. "Really? Tomorrow? Wow! I mean, oh 
my god, I've got to get ready! I can't wait to meet you in person!" So much to do now. 
She had to get everything ready tonight. All her clothes, her trainer bag, oh, and she had 
to tell her mother, Ben, Piplup, Markus... 
	And it all came back. What had happened that day. Her hero. Their near kiss. Her 
feelings for Markus. His for her. Were they real? Did she want... no, they weren't real. 
Julia had feelings like that for the man on the screen in front of her, and only him. A man 
she'd never once met in person. A man she'd talked to twice. And Markus obviously 
didn't care for her. Only for what was under her skirt. Something that wasn't his to care 
about. It belonged to Julia, and Matt... wait, did it belong to Matt? She'd never really 
thought that Matt may be like Markus, may want those kinds of things. Thoughts 
continued to multiply in Julia's head, most of which that scared her. 
	At first Matt had waited for her to continue screaming. Then he waited for her to 
say something. Five minutes had passed, and nothing had happened. So, he decided it 
was up to him to restart the conversation. "Um... we're meeting in Hearthome, right?" 
	This sentence dragged Julia back out of her thoughts. She stuttered to reply. 
"Huh? Wha- Uh... y-yeah! Yeah, we're meeting in Hearthole- I mean Hearthome! 
Hearthome!" Julia sighed. Narrowly missed being awkward. Hopefully. Hurry, she 
thought, save it, save it! "So, um, how's the boat ride over? Not getting sea sick, I hope." 
	Don't be awkward, Matt thought to himself. "Uh, no, I'm feeling okay. Its pretty 
cool being on a ship. I've never been on one before. The cabins are kinda small though. I 
have to share with two other passengers." Not too bad. Breezy. That was breezy. 
	"Really?" Julia replied. Don't say something stupid. Don't say something stupid. 
"I hope its not that bad." That wasn't stupid. That was good. Not stupid. 
	"Nah, its fine," said Matt. "If I hadn't switched tickets I would have had a better 
room, but it's cool." 
	"So..." Julia was getting comfortable talking with him. Getting smoother. Good. 
"Why did you decide to come early?" 
	"Er..." What was he supposed to say? He still didn't want people to know about 
the boy and the bells. They would think he was crazy. So, he told another half-truth. "I... 
I just couldn't wait any more." Sappy. Lovey-dovey. She'll never believe it. I just cut my 
nose off despite my face. But at least it was half true. Now, since he'd seen her now, he 
did want to meet her. He looked forward to it now. And instead of the reaction Matt 
thought she'd give, Julia blushed. 
      "Really?" He wanted to see her. That cleared all fear from her mind. He did want 
to see her. As much as she wanted to see him. "You really came early to see me?"
      This almost seemed worse than the reaction he thought he would get. "Y-yeah, 
you know. I mean, I've only heard things about you my whole life. I..." Hurry, man, 
think, think! "I wanted to meet you myself, so I can see all of those things, you know, for 
myself. To get to, you know, know you." 
	He likes you, she thought. He wants to get to know you, like you want to get to 
know him! Tell him! Tell him! "Um... me too!" Smooth. Not. "I want to get to know you 
too." 
	It worked? It worked! Matt did a small victory dance in his head. But better not to 
risk it anymore tonight. "So... it's getting kinda late now. Can I call you tomorrow?"
	Julia looked at the clock. It was already ten of ten. Time flies when you have an 
extremely awkward conversation. But he still wanted to talk to her. "Yeah, sure. Around 
noonish?" By then I'll be all ready to go and just about to walk out the door. 
	"That's cool," he said. With time zone changes, he estimated that'd be about ten 
or eleven, but that was fine. He'd be getting up early tomorrow anyway. "So we'll talk 
tomorrow?" Matt smiled. 
	"Can't wait!" Julia smiled back. 
	"Bye." 
	"Bye."
	Then both hung up at the same time. At that moment, they both thought the same 
thing. I can't wait. Matt walked back to his cabin, a new energy in him. Firstly, stealing 
the bell had been no big deal. That was a huge Aipom off his back. It'd still be his secret 
though, lest he be thought insane. Secondly, his fiancé was exactly what he wished her to 
be. Energetic, beautiful, kind, a nice rack... And he thought for a second why that came 
to mind. Hormones maybe? The media? The horrors of peer pressure? Whatever it was, 
he kept the rack comment in the back of his mind and focused on the first three. 
Energetic, beautiful, and kind. 
	When he got back to his cabin, both Jasmine and Cheryl were asleep. Chansey 
had rolled herself into a ball at the foot of Cheryl's bed. What looked like a cannonball 
sat by Jasmine while she slept. Ignoring it for now, he climbed into bed and slept, his last 
thought of Julia.  
	Meanwhile. Julia had two thoughts replaying in her mind. He's hot, and he likes 
me. He's hot, and he likes me. He's hot, and he likes me. She repeated this to herself 
while she got everything together she'd need for her journey to Hearthome City. Bag, 
potion, change of clothes, another change of clothes, bathing suit, tent, antidote, another 
bathing suit incase we go swimming more than once, another change of clothes, 
Pokeballs, some pajamas, a sleeping bag, another change of clothes, a clothesline, some 
makeup, feminine things, another change of clothes, good luck charm, food, another 
bathing suit in case I don't feel like wearing the other two, sandals, towels, soap, 
shampoo, another change of clothes, repel, an alarm clock, MP3 player, shoes to go with 
each of the changes of clothes, laptop, laptop charger, solar charger for laptop, latest issue 
of her favorite magazine, another change of clothes, some tissues, toilet paper, and finally 
her hat. She zipped these things up in her small trainer bag. It was amazing how small 
they could make things nowadays. He's hot, and he likes me. She repeated this over and 
over again, until she climbed into her bed, looked at his picture once more, and closed her 
eyes. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	
	"All seems like its going well," he said, sitting down. The Being kept quiet, 
glowing a deep blue. He sighed, knowing it was already feeling the pain. It had no tear 
ducts, so to show its pain it became water. 
	He tried to comfort it. "The pawn still isn't ready yet. There's still plenty of time 
left until it happens. But the game has started. All that's left is to play it." It let out a 
growl of anguish. He realized this wasn't a portion of the pain it would eventually feel. 
The pain of the moment when the game comes to an end. 
	But he also felt its excitement. It kept a hand near the plate of flames. The Being 
always has fun playing the game, no matter how much it hurt. Already, its fur on the back 
of its neck stood in excitement. It knew the game inside and out, knew its rules and fouls, 
and waited constantly for the next level. He, on the other hand, didn't know what to 
expect. He just did as he was told. He, in truth, was one of the Being's hands now. He 
moved the pieces, according to how the Being told him to. He considered it an honor and 
a blessing. 
	"So, how will we know if its time yet?" he asked the Being. The Being didn't 
answer. It instead yawned and put its head down, taking its hand off of the plate of waves, 
returning to normal. This obviously meant something. His damn sense of humor. He lay 
down near the edge, putting his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes for the first 
time in a while. 
	The Being opened one eye to look at him. Touching the plate of minds, it slowly 
pushed him of the edge. About ten feet into the darkness, the Being estimated, he started 
screaming. It counted to ten, then lifted its head up to look at the ceiling of nothingness. 
He appeared in the ceiling suddenly, and fell all the way back down. This process 
continued five more times, before he finally grabbed the edge on the way down. He pulled 
himself up and looked at the Being. It looked at him and nodded. 
	"Six. That is acceptable." said the Being. He stared at the Being for a bit, but 
then got the point. 
	"That's a decent roll." he told it. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

END NOTE: Not bad. It's long, in my opinion. I can split it into two parts if you want me 
to. Anyway, back to my notes. The mystery dude is supposed to look like Lucas, the male 
DP character. Julia is supposed to look like Dawn. Markus looks like the rival in DP. 
And, yes, Matt is supposed to look like Gold. And if you wonder where I got Matt's last 
name, it's a variation of my friend's last name. And please, review. In my opinion, none 
of my characters are very developed, so I need plenty of help.