The Night of the Storm

It wasn’t until that night, that night of the thunderstorm that he realized he cared for her. Oh, he had once felt that way about Eusine, but that was fleeting, a simple flame that was extinguished the moment he had walked out the door in pursuit of the legendary cat, Suicune. That was the moment he realized the two of them would share nothing more than a friendship, and truth be told, he was fine with that; Eusine cared more about his precious Suicune than the few human friends he had in his life.

But with Karen it was different. Up until tonight he had thought of her as just a friend, a younger sister, even. But it was a simple visit that changed his entire perspective on her forever. She was here in Ecruteak City on a break from her position on the Elite Four and Morty had said he would be willing to come check on her if she was lonely. It was late by now, probably already nearing midnight, but now was as good a time as any to check on his old friend.

He slipped into the traditional wooden sandals he had left at the door to his house and started outside; the clouds were a gathering purple again, it was going to storm before the night was over. Somewhere out there, Morty knew, Raikou was stirring… As he walked down the steps, his eyes transfixed on the violent sky above him, the silver bells in the shrine steeple just above him began to chime. Could it be…after all these agonizing years of waiting…?

The bells fell silent. No, just a false alarm, as all the chiming silver bells had been over the past year or so. I know you’re out there, Morty thought almost threateningly. Why don’t you come and ease my doubt that you even exist? He gritted his teeth and pounded on the grass in frustration at Eusine, at himself for holding back his sudden feelings from Karen until this point, at the creature silently whispering in the back of his mind, “You can’t catch me, I will never show myself to you even though you’ve been waiting for so long.” He took a breath, swore, and turned to Karen’s house. Seize the moment; he was always living for the moment. The moment was now.

As the thunder reached its’ loudest volume yet, Morty let himself into the house, knowing she always left the door unlocked. Her Umbreon and Houndoom, who were sleeping at the foot of the staircase, bounded over to receive his affection before he turned and started slowly, almost trancelike, up the stairs. It was the longest walk he had ever taken in his life.

A crack of lightening vibrated through the house just as he reached the second floor landing, almost causing him to lose his balance. He paused, leaned over the banister as he watched the lightening crack outside the large window on the ground floor. How can one Pokemon balance power and grace with such ease? That question wasn’t worth answering now, besides he wanted to find out for himself the secrets that these Pokemon held.

He crossed the open area between the top of the stairs and the single bedroom on the other side of the room, creaking open the door. There was another window in this room, causing lightening to cross Karen’s features every so often. Her skin was already pale enough, but when the lightening struck her cheeks it made her appear ghostlike in the darkness. Her silvery-blue eyes were shut, and she was still fully dressed, too tired to change into proper nightclothes.

Morty was hesitant, he had never been very good at the art of romance, not even with Eusine. Seize the moment, he thought again, edging closer to her bed every second until he was finally standing over her sleeping form. The thunder raged once more, but Morty was focused on nothing but her. He lifted his hand, paused, and finally settled on caressing her cheek for several minutes.

“You’ve worked so hard, Karen, I just wanted to thank you for it.” Without totally comprehending exactly what he had in mind, he placed a swift kiss on her cheek. She stirred, rustling the sheets, and Morty thought it best to slip away. She might remember it in the morning, she might not, it didn’t matter.

As he readjusted his sandals outside the closed door of Karen’s room a few minutes later, the thunder quieted…and the shrine bells were beginning to chime. As Morty raced down the stairs and out into the wet, damp air, he caught a glimpse of a rainbow wing from behind a puff of cloud, and it looked like it was about to descend…right on top of the shrine.

Ho-Oh, the rainbow bird of legend, had come.