Foolish Games
Part 1: The Mind and the Eye
Chapter 3: An Experience To Remember
Date:

-_-; No reviews!! T_T shame, people, shame. Lol, just kidding. I?ll keep updating, just veeeeeery slowly. REVIEWS! anyways, Celeifa from the last chapter is MINE, and so?s the gang, the new regions, etc. You can use ?em with my permission, though. Lord knows I?ve got enough regions to spare X} Ah likes regions. Anyways, new chapter, new stuff... and a surprise!! Maybe even, *gasp*, a CLIFFHANGER!! O btw, the parts NOT including Umi Aisaki etc., but the Legends, don't worry about understanding those parts ;) just part o' the plot. Gotta read! Chao!

~Shirasham

Disclaimer: Naw, I don?t own Pokemon ?^?

We stood in front of what seemed to be the gym. Its shape was odd, like two big, perfectly round hills, the smaller one about half the size of the other. It made me think of a Squirtle?s head and shell bobbing in water, except with a soft dirt-ish color.
?Well... this is the first step to defeating the Champion!? said Jas with awe.
?...?
?... you DO know who the Champion is now, right??
?........?
?...............?
?Okay, okay!! So I forgot his name!!?
?0o0 It?s not even a guy!! That was the LAST Champion!!?
?>_< well- my mom wanted to watch some homemaking show during the battle!! For pete?s sake, that battle was two years ago!!?
?I don?t believe it!! You?re a TRAINER!! You don?t know!! The CHAMPION, Umi, the CHAMPION!!?
?Smite me, why don?t you!!?
We must have looked like lunatics standing out in front of the weird-looking gym, screaming our heads off at each other. After about half an hour, though, we quit and went inside. Somehow, our argument had ended up about whether or not peaches were fattening.
?Well, I don?t care, they?re too much for- ah!? As soon as we stepped in we flew to the ground, just barely missing a ?watch your step!? sign planted about two feet away. Unfortunately, since it WAS a ground gym, we got a faceful of dirt. Our first competitor ambled up to us, a young sandy-haired boy with amber eyes, in casual dress.
?Do you wish to challenge the leader of this gym?
?er- *cough*- yes..? the gym was shaped like one of those 8-balls, with a flat sand-covered floor. The man grinned.
?You will have to fight me, then.?
I took a deep breath, and enlarged Scout?s (that?s what I nicknamed Celeifa due to his ?spectacular? guiding skills) Pokeball. My opponent was fast, though, and had let out his Pokemon already.
?Let?s see if you can beat my Stadune!? Ah, I remember Stadune. My Pokedex droned before I could collect my thoughts:
?Dunami...a Stadune... a ground/steel type... the desert shell Pokemon... Stadune are very commonly found in or near sand, except when it?s on a beach. They bury down into the sand to escape the heat, and hunt at night. Stadune are closely related to Sandshrew, and are thought to be a hybrid of them. Trainer: Lanis Diganic.?
-_- great, a half steel-type. The Pokemon didn?t look that menacing, though. It?s cute kangaroo-ish face and ears betrayed the hard look in its amber eyes, and its neck arched gracefully up from its pure steel shell. It was in a sitting position, with its long tail in the air to balance, and its extremely powerful arms, tipped with dangerously metal-like claws that resembled long, pointed fingers just skimming the ground. Its legs were no comparison to its arms, though, and while they had claws they had no ankles, and sitting or walking seemed to be their only use. Scout scoffed quietly behind me and took flight.
"All-out?" I asked him soberly, but he wasn't paying attention to me.
"Isn't that a grade B Pokemon?"
"Uh..." I silently wished I had checked with my Pokedex.
"It is!" He finished for me. "Wow, where did you find him?" I frowned.
"In the jungle, like, two minutes from here! Right on the edge of it!" He laughed for a moment, but cut short.
"But... there ARE no Celeifa here. None. At all."
"-_- riiiight."
"No, really! I've checked ALL the Pokemon here grades B and up, and there's no Celeifa! I'd know! I love grass-types, but this guy was my first Pokemon." He indicated to his Stadune. "I'm going to get a grass-type the first chance I get. And besides... even if there WERE one or two near here, why would one be on the very edge of the forest at that precise moment, when you were there?"
"0_0 Well, jeez! I don't know! I saw it and caught it, end of story! What do you want from me??"
"^_^;; oh, sorry. I sort of tune out to other people when I'm trying to figure something out."
"Riiight. Anyways, I guess you had at least one in the forest. I'll ask him about it once I get a translator."
"Cool! Could you do me a favor?"
"-_-; what's the favor?"
"Call me and tell me what he says? Here's my number. The name's Lanis."
"^_^ oh, is that all? Sure!... You know, I'm really itching to get a translator. Maybe after this I'll have Nao send one over. Oh, the battle?"
"Right! Okay, let's start!" Scout awoke on my shoulder with a prod.
"Get out there!" I whispered, and he floated exasperatedly in front of Lanis' Stadune.
"I'm warning you, I'm first in line for the gym leader position. Don't take it easy on me!"
"I wouldn't worry about that" I said with a grin, and before I realized what happened, Dunami the Stadune had vaulted himself towards Scout, claws glistening in an unseen light, for a take down attack that Scout nimbly dodged.
"No fair! Scout, Leech Seed!" with a scowl, he obeyed, and with the flip of a wing, two yellowish green seeds collided with Dunami's forearm, and two small vines wrapped themselves around in a death-grip. Dunami clawed and bit at them, but to no avail while a small ball of energy erupted from the seeds and was absorbed by Scout.
"Dunami, forget the seeds! Use a sand-attack, then bite!" Fueled by fury, he grabbed a good-sized lump of sand and flung it directly into Scout's face- well, practically his whole upper body. This caused the Celeifa to furiously spin around in circles, since he had no hands to wipe his face, but was interrupted when Dunami's jaws tore a good bit of feathers from his wing. He chirped angrily, and wavered a bit in the air, having lost some balance. Another ball of energy drifted to Scout, and a few of his feathers were restored.
"Scout, razor leaf! And dodge his attacks!" A barrage of knife-sharp leaves cut into Dunami, doing even more damage because of the slight type advantage. The Stadune endured this, though, and managed to deflect a few leaves off his shell.
"Sandstorm!" Once the razor leaf attack ceased, he faced Scout with a new light of bravery, and the air in the room seemed to vibrate and spin around him. Sensing the danger, Scout flattened himself against the ground suddenly, and just in time, as a title wave of air and sand poured down on them. It seemed to have no effect on Dunami, but it took almost all of the Celeifa's strength to keep from being flung about in the air. I shielded my eyes and screamed to Scout something only he could hear. Using the last of his resolve, he let go of the soft ground and managed to flatten himself against the wall the sandstorm seemed to be blowing mostly towards. Dunami, meanwhile, inched closer with a look of triumph mingled with fury on his otherwise cute face. But I had a plan.
At once, Scout quickly called upon the wind and started flapping manically, creating a whirlwind directly against the force of the sandstorm, which was also the direction Dunami stood. As Scout completed the attack, he slowly slid down the wall, valid of any remaining energy. He didn't need any, however. The whirlwind's force mingled with that of the sandstorm, and as Dunami looked confusedly up at his elemental creation, a miniature twister slowly formed of the colliding forces of wind, and Dunami's shape was distorted by the sandy wind. In my pocket, My Pokedex played the cute little sound it does occasionally.
"*Bum, bada dum dum dum duuum!* Scout learned Dustdevil!" Yes!!
I couldn't help but feel worried, though, as the mini twister ravaged Dunami so. But Scout couldn't control the force of nature any longer, and as it hit the rounded wall of the gym, it died down and started raining sand. Dunami was out cold.
~*~*~*~*~
"Wow, that's some Pokemon... uh- anyways-" He said nervously as I gave him my patented give-me-my-money look. "Here you go." He handed over four items. I scanned them thoroughly.
"Mmm, 300P! Nice.. TM 30! Isn't that steel wing? Thank you!!" I paused at the third item. "Is this...?"
"Yeah! See, I'm the gym leader's son. So I meant what I said about being first in line for the title of Gym Leader. While my dad's away, I take over. Only have one Pokemon, of course, but it can beat two of my dad's and still put another in the Center." I gazed at the small glossy object again. It was tan, and the same shape of the gym. I felt a surge of triumph.
"OH yeah!!! Again, another IMPOSSIBLE victory for Umi Aisaki as she conquers yet another obstacle on her path to greatness!!"
"^_^;; and this,..." He picked up the last item, a minimized Pokeball. "Is very special. My dad would kill me if he saw I had this. I was going to leave this gym, so I wouldn't only have to use ground-types, but now I see there's a whole lot more I can learn here from the challengers before I finally decide to leave."
"I... uh.. thank you, Lanis! It's a Pokemon, then?"
"Yeah! Grade A! You have no idea how hard it is for me to give it away. Now go, before I change my mind." I glanced to Jas, who had been admiring my exhausted (but still able to brag, as I'm sure he was doing by the sound of his smug cheeps) Scout. Wow- if Marcel was a grade D Pokemon, then I wonder what kind of Pokemon makes it to A? Nevertheless, I gave another thank-you grin to Lanis, grabbed Jas and Scout and left.
"H-hey! I wanted to fight him too! What's the big deal?-" I gleefully put away my badge, money and TM.
"This!!" I held out the now maximized Pokeball.
"An item?" she asked curiously.
"No, a Pokemon!"
"Which one?"
"Let's find out."
~*~*~*~*~
"Knowledge, in truth, is the great sun in the firmament. Life and power are scattered with all its beams.. Spoken by the only true human genius ever. When the mistress wake up again?"
"Soon, now. Last time, before she went to sleep, she told me it would be to help the next."
"The next?"
"The next.. chosen. You know."
"Oh, of course. Does she know everything?"
Mewtwo smiled. "IF she does, she hides it well. What are you doing here, exactly? The guards shouldn't have let you in." He glared unintentionally, at the young Legend. He never liked the room, but the Oracle had always requested it for when it was time again. He sometimes wondered if she was even aware of her surroundings when she went into one of her trances. He half hoped she was, after all, he had to stay and wait with her until she woke up, if she could see him or not, which could be centuries, even. He had to be there to record exactly what she said when she woke up. They were a team. The masters of the growing Legendary community. The Mind and the Eye. It wasn't that bad, though, he could travel just as well by mind as by foot. Or flight, for that matter. One of the advantages of being psychic. He had to save his energy, though, to protect the prophet, if need be. He usually called on Popokko, the Celebi, to check on things. Although they both knew he had no reign over her with her time-traveling abilities, she was still faithful to him as a leader. The Delquatro looked around fearfully, as if wondering if he had any monsters ready to attack if she said anything wrong.
"I've brought a message." She said shakily.
"Oh? From whom?"
She lowered her voice. "Someone named Arachon." she held out a covered stone tablet, demonstrating her wing dexterity. I stared at it for a moment.
"Thank you, Delquatro." It was polite to call another legend by their species, except with Demises, a.k.a. Oriana. She turned to leave.
"Wait- could you do me a favor, Delquatro?"
"Of course, sir. What is it?"
"Could you go down to Aeria and tell Dezcinco (pronounced 'dez-sin-coh') to stay put, for once in his now shortened life?" She swallowed and said hoarsely,
"De-Dezcinco, sir?"
He looked her straight in the eye, unnerving her. "Yes, Dezcinco." He could see her pale immensely, even through her feathers.
".... yes... yes, sir." she said weakly, and left, leaving Mewtwo alone again. He skimmed through the hastily written note, and his eyes widened in the gloom of the room called Adagio.
"Please wake up soon, Mew..." he whispered to the white glowing figure in the center of the seemingly endless room, "I'm going to need your help.."
~*~*~*~*~
I threw the Pokeball with such enthusiasm I'm surprised I didn't break a window. And from a stream of energy came no other than the water-type starter of Tando, Pendoma!
"Awwwww!" Jas squealed as the cute water-type emerged. IT was much like a bird, except without wings. At the base of his neckbone, a thick ring of feathers made themselves visible in a V-shape, the color of ocean froth. His cute head was shapely, and his mouth ended in a downward-pointing peak, much like a beak. (*hay! A rhyme!*) From up its feathery collar its silky skin was pure white, but below the collar it was a deep azure, but not pure, it was like the very surface of the ocean, and its feathers seemed to reflect light. Its legs were short and scaly, ending in pointed midnight blue claws. Its tail was its most distinctive feature, the points rose up in an arc that curved towards its head, but pointed down in the end, in two parts. One point was much larger than the other, giving it a curved checkmark-like appearance. Its -^_^- face almost comically resembled Jas.
"Ohhh! These are supposed to be so strong! Oh, but wait... isn't it against the rules to trade or something?"
"To TRADE, yes, but hey, no exchange, no trade! It was a gift!" I said before I had even quenched the fear of a million Pokemon League agents swooping down on me atop angry Dragonites.
"Oh, right! ^_^ good thing, eh? You couldn't pry a PENDOMA from my cold dead hands!!" Me neither.
"Pendoma... water-type... the aqua feather Pokemon... these Pokemon usually live in icy places or mountain rivers. Colonies of Pendoma, however, are almost always found near underwater lakes or waterfalls. Pendoma usually have a cheerful disorder, and get along wonderfully with others, especially Totodile. It is extremely difficult to catch one with its herd without one of a Silower's evolutions because they are guarded so fiercely by their kind, and even known to be protected by Dewgong and Lapras... Trainers Temperament: Pendoma try very hard to please their trainers on the battlefield, but they can be a bit wandering at times... Pendoma drink water often and enjoy mushrooms, wild ferns and random gems and precious rocks."
"You're SO lucky, I can't believe it! Maybe he'll give me a SILOWER!! Probably the most powerful starter Pokemon of all time! LEMME AT HIM!" She said, and right before she stormed into the gym, the ground started to shake ever so slightly. Jas immediately froze where she was, balanced on one foot while she listened.
"What is that??" I whispered as if afraid the tiny earthquake would grow larger if it heard me. Suddenly, a great shadow passed over us. We, including Marcel and Scout, stood staring straight up with our mouths hanging open. Still in my hand, my Pokedex said calmly:
"Raphoenin... dragon/light... the color light Pokemon... this Legendary Pokemon is said to live in Armado, but no proof has ever been found even of its existence except for some ancient references to it in the Oval Library. It is said to be a female, and that she often fights for leadership of the regions with her brother, Raeborn. Raphoenin's tail is said to be the cure for all illnesses and injuries, even death."
I heard none of this, though, as I stared at the brilliant crimson goddess above me, with a long tail that could only resemble the greatest show of fireworks imaginable.