Moving On

[Carmen Lopez]

OOC: The next fic. I hope it's free of the newbie mistakes of my first ^^

Stepping off the ship was like a sigh of relief to Carmen Lopez. It seemed as though she’d been away from land forever, but finally she was in Goldenrod City, Johto. Carmen stretched toward the cloudless blue sky as her silver eyes surveyed her beautiful and magnificent new environment. She saw immediately that Goldenrod City lived up to its name. Many of the buildings were made of materials that reflected the golden rays of the sun or of yellowish bricks. Even parts of the street were made of golden bricks giving the city a very sunny mood.

Though it probably didn’t show on the outside, it was very emotional to Carmen to be in Johto. Sure she had been far from the home, the actual house, in which she grew up, but she was always in Sinnoh. Now she was in a completely different region where everything seemed to be different on the surface. It was a mysteriously lonely feeling being so far from home that even Carmen herself didn’t expect. But that was only part of what was on her mind…

Carmen was in the port area of the city where many people were going from ship to ship and workers were unloading cargo. Just from noticing their very presence, Carmen saw that the people of Johto seemed to be of a different caliber than the people of Sinnoh. They seemed to be more emotional as shown by their speech: be it when they were upset, happy, friendly, or mean.

However they were certainly more polite than the people of Sinnoh. A young girl dressed in a pale yellow sundress and a straw hat only gently brushed Carmen’s arm as she ran past with her Sentret. Realizing what she had done, she stopped.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized with a slight bow. Then she ran off with her black hair blowing in the wind.

Well, that was certainly different, thought Carmen. Back home something like that would have gone unnoticed by everyone involved. Interesting…She was conscious of the fact that she was drawing a certain amount of attention to herself even from the trainers, but it was more curious than scornful.

As Carmen left the port area, she realized that she was in the largest city in the world. There seemed to be nothing but a sea of skyscrapers and people. Ramón, her older brother had wanted to her to meet as soon as possible at Goldenrod Park. He told her that even though the city was gigantic, it was well marked by signs so the park would be easy to find. Luckily, she was used to, and liked large cities so she had no trouble wading through the sea.

There certainly was a lot to see and do as she walked. Apparently Goldenrod was also the shopping capital of the world because Carmen saw store after store and huge department stores that she knew her sister would be in heaven in. Not to mention the prices were much cheaper than in Sinnoh. Oddly enough, for a large city there sure were a lot of restaurants offering home cooked meals or ingredients “fresh from the farm” that were normally only seen in rural areas.

As Carmen walked, something caught her eye. Running towards her at a very high rate of speed was a young boy with flaming red hair. As soon as he drew level with Carmen, he tripped over his own untied shoelaces and fell to the ground, skinning his knee. He got up quickly and dusted off his blue t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, as many people laughed. Looking around, the boy found Carmen and quickly pointed.

“HEY! You tripped me!” he accused in a very loud voice with fire in his deep blue eyes.

“No,” said Carmen calmly yet uncomfortably aware that people had stopped and started to stare. “I believe you tripped over your own shoelaces,” she pointed out.

Apparently the boy was expecting Carmen to get upset as he looked very much taken aback by her calm response. But he rallied back at once.

“No excuses! We’re going to battle right here, RIGHT now!” he yelled and Carmen imagined a cartoonish background of flames in the absurdity of it all.

“Wait, what?” asked she half amused and half annoyed. He reminded her of Reina in her younger days. She’d stop random people in the streets who’d merely made eye contract with her and demand a battle. She gave a small smile at the thought.

“WHAT ARE YOU SMILING AT?! GET YOUR POKEMON OUT NOW AND LET’S BATTLE,” he shouted with a Pokéball in his outstretched arm.

A few of the passers-by laughed. A couple of teenagers even said “Awww, isn’t he cute?”

The boy looked outraged. “Who do you think you’re calling cute?!?” And he started to argue with the two girls who honestly couldn’t take him seriously.

Carmen thought she was off the hook and began to walk away. But before she could take three steps, the boy was back in front of her.

“Oh, here you are again,” said Carmen with a slight smile.

“And yet you’re STILL smiling,” he said mutinously. “We battle now.”

“Hey kid,” said a teenaged boy who was in the crowd. “See that ring on her finger? That’s not to look pretty. That’s the ring you get after becoming a Sinnoh League Champion. She’d own you in battle for sure.”

A few people in the crowd laughed and catcalled making the boy flush maroon. He quickly regained his composure and put his Pokéball back at his waist and turned to Carmen.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time,” he lectured. “But don’t think you’ll be so lucky next time!” And he took off once more.

Carmen was speechless. The rest of the crowd laughed before dispersing. Well that was odd, she thought.  Putting that random scene behind her, Carmen looked for the signs to the park once again. It turned out that she was a lot closer than she thought because before she knew it, she was found herself standing at the gates of the park.

It was like an oasis in the middle of the city. Trees, flowers, and lush grass flourished here as did bird Pokémon and grass types. The park was full of people relaxing by spending time with their Pokémon, reading, or playing games. Carmen took a deep breath and found that the air here smelled like the country side. She would’ve actually believed she was in the country if she didn’t see the tall buildings surrounding the park in the distance.

All that was left to do now was find Ramón, so Carmen set of fon the sidewalk that wound its way around the park. About half way around, she stopped. Up ahead was a dark haired young man sitting on a bench who was attracting a good amount of attention to himself. For one he drawing some strange looks due to the Claydol, a seemingly ancient enormous book he was reading, and the fact that girls seemed to find him very attractive with his long dark eyelashes as his most prominent feature.  However the man didn’t seem to mind the interest people were showing him.

“Hey Ramón!” Carmen called as she walked over to him. Ramón looked up from the book he was reading and smiled. He was dressed simply in a T-shirt and jeans and wearing a gold necklace with charm that resembled the diamond shaped apparatus on the mythical, at least in Carmen’s eyes, Pokémon Suicune. It had once belonged to her grandfather who passed it down to his daughter, her mother, who passed it on to Ramón. At the bottom of the charm was a Pokéball that she knew held Suna.

“Wow,” Ramón said vaguely. Many people describe him as being very spacey and it very much showed in the way he spoke. “It was hard enough to believe that you’d actually said yes to my offer. I thought you were only joking with me, yet here you are.”

“Of course,” Carmen said, sitting down beside him on the bench. His Claydol, named Nendoru, rotated once as though to acknowledge Carmen before staring down two small children who walked away nervously. Carmen groaned when she saw the book he was reading. It was simply called Legendary Beasts of the Johto Region. The book really did look old and as Ramón turned a page, dust flew out of it.

“Um, Ramón, are you sure you should have that book out in the elements like this?” Carmen asked.

Ramón shrugged. “Eh, it’s tougher than it looks. Would you like to read it when I’m done?”

“I think I’ll pass,” said Carmen dismissively. “I’ll read it when there is clear-cut evidence that these legendary Pokémon actually exist.”

“We’ve only been together for a few minutes and you’re already starting with that,” said Ramón, slightly amused. “I’m not going to argue with you right now, but one day you’ll see the light.”

As if, thought Carmen.

“In the mean time why don’t we just head to my house? We can talk there,” he said.

“All right,” said Carmen sighing.

Ramón closed his book and put it in the messenger bag under the bench. What’s bothering you,” he asked when they had started walking again with Nendoru floating beside its trainer. “I know something is because I can see it in your eyes.”

Carmen sighed. Both she and Ramón were both described to be enigmatic and hard to read, yet good at reading others. However, out of the two, Ramón was more mysterious and more perceptive—to the point where even Carmen had trouble figuring him out. Yet he could read her like one of his books, something that was slightly unnerving to her and that she still wasn’t used to.

“You relish messing with Reina with your emotion reading, but you don’t like it when I do it to you,” Ramón said.

“Heh,” said Carmen. “It’s not that I like messing with her. It’s just that it’s easy because she’s so dense. But as to what’s bothering me? It’s a little complicated.” As in, I really don’t exactly know myself.

Ramón dropped his head and smiled. “I’ve heard that line before. Well, I’m here when you actually sort out your words and feelings.”

“All right…” Carmen trailed off. She had the feeling that he already knew what was on her mind, but was just waiting on her to say it herself and it was almost like a test of sorts. It was really ironic that she could help others get over what was bothering them, but often had trouble expressing what was troubling her very soul. Before it could get her down, she changed the subject. “It seems to be really nice here.”

“It really is,” said Ramón. “Sometimes I wonder why Mom and Dad left for Sinnoh, but I always remember why.”

“Yeah,” said Carmen. Her Sinnoh-born father had spent a significant portion of his life in Johto where he met their mother, but they had got caught up in the wrong kind of life…

A light breeze played with Carmen’s long, thick wavy hair as they walked back into the city. It was warm, unlike the cool winds that usually blew around Sinnoh. Watching the people of Johto was fascinating. The clothing among the non-trainers was different with brighter colors than were seen in Sinnoh, but as it was warmer. There was no need to wear dark colors to absorb and hold heat. Carmen also noticed that the trainer gear here was different as well.

“So that’s the Pokégear I’ve heard so much about,” remarked Carmen, looking at the cell phone like device that most of the trainers seemed to have.

“They’re really interesting devices,” said Ramón distantly.  “They have maps, phones, GPS, and a host of other functions. But its most important function is the radio.”

“The radio?” asked Carmen. “Somehow I expected something a bit more high tech.”

“Johto is unique in that the radio is just as important than TV, if nor moreso. That’s another reason why I like it here,” Ramón responded. “The radio programs here are pretty interesting. There’s even one that explores the old stories and mythology.”

“So people here talk about what will be on the radio more than they talk about the TV? I like it,” said Carmen. Maybe people here won’t be so obsessed with looks.

“That’s the Goldenrod Radio Tower right there,” said Ramón pointing at a tall black building with a huge antenna on its top. “There are always a lot of people there trying to get their five seconds of fame by being on the radio. You know,” he added, “I don’t think I feel much like walking. Would you like to see an aerial view of the city before taking off?” They had reached a sort of miniature park that offered some open area with benches and some vending machines where people could rest from all their walking.

“What? Oh, yes I would,” said Carmen excitedly. When Dragonite had evolved and she rode him for the first time, she realized that the weight she always carried on her mind to lessen when she was in the open sky.

Like her and their younger sister Reina, Ramón also had a dragon that he used to get around. He pulled the Pokéball from the necklace and released Suna, his Flygon and recalled Nendoru Suna stretched her magnificent diamond shaped wings wide to the amazement of some young children, ready to fly. Carmen followed suit and released her Dragonite.

“Ready?” asked Ramón as he climbed on Suna’s back. To everyone except Ramón, Suna seemed to be a very stand-offish Pokémon. She was never outwardly aggressive, but she made it clear that only Ramón was allowed to enter her space. Their father had given Ramón Suna when she was a Trapinch and he was very young. Since they grew up together, they shared a close bond. Carmen was always amazed at how Suna was so at ease and relaxed when she was around Ramón. She attempted to nuzzle her trainer who returned the friendly gesture with a pet on the head. “Right, Suna. It will be fun to travel around the city.”

Carmen climbed on Dragonite’s back immediately and already felt the weight lift off her heart. Dragonite stretched his wings out to the delight of some of the small children in the area. “Exactly where are we flying to, Ramón.”

“Oh, around the city, and then to my house,” he responded.

Fine by me, thought Carmen. Dragonite rose into the air on wings that seemed too small to support himself and his trainer. Carmen looked down at her brother who was still on ground. “Catch me if you can!” she called, getting out of herself.

Dragonite rose even higher before shooting off into the cloudless blue sky. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have a clue where she was going. All that mattered was that she felt the sweet adrenaline surge. The people on the ground were just little spots on the ground as she and Dragonite flew above the level of the higher skyscrapers to avoid being seen. This time she decided not to use Dragon Dance or else she’d lose her brother for good. He did eventually catch up and pulled up next to her.

“You know,” he said. “We should be thankful you don’t have wings because if you did, you’d never come back down.”

“Maybe you’re right…” Carmen said thoughtfully.

“Anyway, follow me!” he said going in front of her.

Goldenrod City was very, very large and it seemed to take a very long time to reach the outer borders of the city—not that she didn’t enjoy it. It was like something out of the movies as they flew around the buildings and bird Pokémon in flight. Looking back on it, it was amazing they weren’t stopped by the police when they finally reached the boundaries of the city and the buildings began to fade to trees.

“We can walk the rest of the way,” Ramón called out as he and Suna landed on the ground.

“All right,” said Carmen, who really wasn’t ready to land but she did so anyway, then both siblings recalled their Pokémon. Carmen felt her adrenaline surge fade away into nothing.

Though they were in the woods, the distant sounds of the big city still reached their ears yet it was still very peaceful.

“I should start my research when we get back,” said Ramón in a far away tone.

Carmen was almost afraid to ask, but she did so in spite of herself. “What are you researching?”

“It doesn’t involve legendary Pokémon if that’s what you’re thinking,” he replied. “It’s something…a bit harder to research than legendary Pokémon….” Ramón trailed off.

“And you’re not going to tell me what it is yet?” asked Carmen. She hated it when he left her hanging like that.

“No, I’ll explain everything later…when we reach the house.”

Carmen knew it was no use in pressing him so they just walked on. They were silent for most of the way as they wound their way along the twisting path along the way. However, the walk wouldn’t be totally uneventful. As they reached the top of the hill…

“HEY! I knew I’d find you again!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” sighed Carmen. “You again?”

“Yes! Me again!” said the red haired boy as he stepped from behind a tree. ”And I’ve changed my mind! We battle NOW!”

“Okay, how on earth did you find me?” said Carmen slowly.

“HOW?! Well, that’s really none of your business,” he said loudly, pulling out his Pokéball once more.

“What’s your name anyway?” asked Ramón calmly as though he were meeting a well-behaved child.”

He paused for a few moments as though thinking about his next move. “That is also none of your business!” he screeched, Pokéball still outstretched.

Ramón thought for a second. “Well, if you don’t tell us your name then I’ll simply have to call you Nemo.”

“WHAT?! That’s stupid! Don’t EVER call me that again,” he said, outraged.

“Then what’s your name?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Then I’m sticking with calling you Nemo,” concluded Ramón.

The boy was almost shaking in anger. “You know what? I DON’T have to take this!” and with that he stormed off into the woods from whence he came.

Ramón looked mysteriously intrigued at the boy almost as though he saw something in him. “Bye Nemo,” he called before turning to Carmen. “Exactly how did you meet him anyway?  He’s rather loud,” he added, stating the obvious.

“It was totally random. He tripped over his own shoelaces, blamed me for tripping him, then demanded a battle,” said Carmen. “And he was that loud the whole time, not to mention I'm slightly afraid at how he found me. But let’s head to the house before this headache worsens.”

“All right,” said Ramón who looked deeply amused by the whole thing.

Ramón's house and a second smaller house was just over the hill in a small clearing. It was a simple, yet nice house that looked cozy and comfortable. The trees that surrounded the clearing shaded the area and filtered the sunlight into little squares. It had a large back porch that would be great for just sitting and thinking. A soft wind played with the wooden wind chimes making a gentle sound.

The inside proved to be just the same, yet very open. The light colors and the skylight gave the impression that the house was bigger than it was. As they walked into the living room, Carmen saw a simple sofa table, some shelves and a few comfortable chairs. There was a fire place in the corner and a door way to her right lead to the kitchen.

“Right,” said Ramón. “The house isn’t that big so you can look around by yourself. I’m going to sleep now.”

“You said you were going to explain what you were researching when we got here,” Carmen pointed out.

“And I will—after I sleep. There will also be someone coming that I really want you to meet,” he said. “I think you may find her interesting. And I have a secret as well. Hmm, you know, it’ll be nice to tell someone about this…well, see you in a little while…” He headed off down the hallway and in one of the bedrooms.

Carmen plopped herself down onto the sofa, realizing her head was hurting worse. Sometimes her brother’s mysteriousness and his stream of consciousness made her brain bleed, but there was nothing to be done about that. She pulled out her cell phone and began to play a slot machine game, wondering what secrets her brother held for her.

OOC: Not sure what nemo means? Click here ^^

 

[Plapti]

Very nice start. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I love the opening. Nice work. I can't wait to see/read more.

 

[Cody]

Awesome Carmen! Can't wait to see more, and how you interpret Johto. I love it, and will follow it all the way through.

 

[Secad MS]

A fic about Johto. Sweet! I can't wait to read battles.

 

[D]

This is really good, Carmen! I'm definitely hooked to the story and can't wait to read more.

 

[Midnight Shadows]

This is awesome Carmen ^_^
Keep it up

 

[Pokepok]

That's a great beginning to the fic! I liked it. Plus, it's a fic about Johto, so you have me on the list of people who'll read this regularly.
Keep it up!!!!

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Lol Nemo XD. First thing that came to my mind was the fish. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him.

Anyways, nice fic. I can't wait for chapter 2.

 

[Stark]

Loving Nemo

Can't wait for the next installment, and I love it as usual.

 

[pohatufan1]

Maybe it's just because I love Johto so much that I immediately got a great feeling about this story. No, actually, that's not why. It's because I could tell in a matter of paragraphs what a good writer you are. There are some wonderful little touches, like the confrontation in which Carmen does practically nothing but stand her ground (sidestepping the easy "in-your-face hotshot" characterization), and the description of Johto residents dressing differently from Sinnoh citizens. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of this story. But I wouldn't be Pohatu if I didn't get busy with the nitpicking -- just ask Elliot -- and so I must begin my sorry task.


(1) Overall, a few more commas would ease my mind. A sentence like "It was a mysteriously lonely feeling being so far from home that even Carmen herself didn't expect" wants at least one, maybe two commas, depending on how you structure it. Whatever works. I too enjoy the strategic omission of commas from time to time, but especially in a sentence like that, with three clauses, the lack of commas just makes it hard to read.

(2) "The people and skyscraper sea" at the end of that paragraph would be better written as "the people-and-skyscraper sea" for clarity. But I think you would do even better to take out the "people and skyscraper" entirely, and just write "Luckily, she was used to big cities and liked them, so she had no trouble wading through this sea" (or "navigating", perhaps, or another appropriately marine verb). You've already given us the "sea of people and skyscrapers" metaphor, so we'll know what you're talking about if you just refer to the sea.

(3) "That she knew her sister would be in heaven in" -- very minor thing -- change it to "where she knew her sister would be in heaven". Or something similar. I'm sure you can sense the awkwardness of those two "in"s.

(4) "Running towards her at a very high rate of speed" is awful stilted, huh? You're definitely going for a smart, well-spoken characterization with Carmen, but a smart, well-spoken person would see people running toward her "quickly", or "swiftly". A nerdy person would break out a phrase like "at a very high rate of speed". Nerdy peeps are great and all, but I don't think that's what you wanted for Carmen.

(5) Careful with those capital letters. Capitalizing individual words for emphasis is no big deal (even if I do very much prefer italics in the context of fiction), but capitalizing whole sentences like "WHAT ARE YOU SMILING AT?!? GET YOUR POKEMON OUT NOW AND LET'S BATTLE"... not good. In his grammar topic, Elliot said:

3) When a character is shouting. Not every time a character is shouting, but when you want to get across that the character is shouting especially loudly. This really shouldn't be abused, though.

For example, when you want a character to be shouting very loudly, you don't want this:
"Give me back my pokemon!" Patrick roared.

You want this:
"GIVE ME BACK MY POKEMON!" Patrick roared.

...and yet as much as I like Elliot and respect his writing, I think he's wrong on this point. Stringing together whole sentences of capital letters looks pretty amateurish. An exclamation point and a verb choice like his "roared" or your "shouted" is more than enough to suggest the speaker's tone.

(6) On a related note, consider taking out strings of exclamation points and question marks like "?!?". Again, not professional at all. You should never need more than one question mark or one exclamation point. If you find yourself combining them, you're trying too hard to suggest volume.

(7) The sentence "Many people describe him as being very spacey and it very much showed in the way he spoke"... Originally I was going to advise you to change "describe" to "described" to keep everything in the past tense, but the more I look at it, the more I feel as though you could just as easily take that whole sentence out. Why not? If you want us to think of him as spacey, just write him spacey, don't tell us "This is how you should think of him". You know. The whole "SHOW DON'T TELL LOL" gig your English teachers always hammer you with.

( Not a writing nitpick, but a conceptual thing: Ramon says, "We've only been together for a few minutes and you're already starting with that." And yet, he brought that book to the place where they had arranged to meet. It's a super old, dusty, noticeable tome and he can't have thought she wasn't going to ask about it. It looks to me like he's trying to goad her into getting onto the subject of legendary Pokemon, if for no other reason than his own amusement. Maybe you don't want that to be true, but I think you should at least have Carmen consider the possibility, whether or not she says it aloud. It really seems unreasonable for him to make that comment in dead earnest, having legitimately expected her not to start her usual rant.

(9) A follow-up: See, and Ramon says "There's even one that explores the old stories and mythology" when he's talking about the Johto radio programs. He's clearly tossing her a bone, albeit subtly. She refuses to take the bait in this case, of course (if I may mix metaphors quite hideously), but you can see how hard it is for me to believe that Ramon actually wants her to shut up about the whole "legendaries aren't real guys" thing.

(10) Actually this one is conceptual too: "Okay, how on earth did you find me?" Carmen asks the red-haired boy. And he brushes the question off. A right shame that is, too, because I'm as stumped as Carmen about how he suddenly shows up after they've flown past the outskirts of the city to the hills. I get that you want him to reappear so that Ramon knows about him. But why does he have to do it now? Why can't he do it before they take off on their Pokemon, when they're still in the park, so that it makes sense that he'd see her twice within the same general area? They could even release their dragons specifically to intimidate him into leaving, unless he has some powerful Pokemon I don't know about yet. Consider moving this scene.


Man, that was more than my usual share of nitpicks, but that's only because you posted so much content in one chapter. Really I think it's fantastic stuff and, as I said, I can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[Belle]

[size=8pt]XD Pohatu, you beat me to it.
But I digress, this is really nice Carmen- and I'm not usually one for posting in the middle of someone's fic because I get obsessive compulsive about having a clean page of only story-related posts, but I think it has to be said that this fic really makes all of its aspects work. Normally I'd be scoffing at the whole 'Sinnoh League Champion' thing because it just tampers with the canon storyline, but because you made it a lot more subtle than 'DO NoT MESS, I'M CHAMPION N I'LL OWN U' it suits the style a lot better. And it makes Carmen all the more likeable.
Kudos to you for being able to pull that off :3[/size]

 

[Linkachu]

(6) On a related note, consider taking out strings of exclamation points and question marks like "?!?". Again, not professional at all. You should never need more than one question mark or one exclamation point. If you find yourself combining them, you're trying too hard to suggest volume.

I need some clarification on that one, Pohatu (even if this isn't my fic XD). I've seen authors - professional authors - combine "!?" in extreme cases when a character is both yelling and questioning their situation (never more than one of either, tho). Are you saying this should never be done at all? Because while it might not be good to abuse it, it is something I've become used to seeing in writing.

As for the capitalization issue, two words: Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling heavily abuses caps in certain scenes. It grates my nerves after awhile, but she does get her point across... and she's made the big bucks XD

 

[pohatufan1]

I've never seen "!?", "?!" or their ilk in professional writing. You may be right, Linkachu, that they crop up once in a while, but it's still a bad idea. I'd avoid them if going for a professional tone. (Of course, that assumes one universal "professional" style -- professional manga writers drop combos like that all the time -- but you understand.)

As for caps... ah-heh... yeah. I was actually thinking of J.K. Rowling as I wrote that. I was thinking of specific scenes, even, from Book Five: Harry totally losing it at Ron and Hermione toward the beginning for not keeping him up to date during the summer, and Harry totally losing it at Dumbledore toward the end for not keeping him up to date his entire life. Suffice it to say that although I adore Rowling's writing style as much as I adore her storytelling and character building, I think those scenes went a little overboard.

 

[Linkachu]

(Of course, that assumes one universal "professional" style -- professional manga writers drop combos like that all the time -- but you understand.)

I think that's just it. To me, one "professional" all-encompassing style doesn't truly exist, and variations tend to crop up depending on each author's personal flare. Sometimes it really grabs a person, while other times the reader can't imagine why or how the piece could hold such acclaim (I know I've felt that way when reading certain texts). I do agree that grammatical standards exist and should always be followed, but writing techniques such as those two mentioned above are the sorts that I'm iffy on. It's nice having another perspective, though.

While I'd love to discuss this further, me thinks I'll stop high-jacking Carmen's thread and let the story-telling flow ^^;

 

[Yoshimitsu]

...and yet as much as I like Elliot and respect his writing, I think he's wrong on this point. Stringing together whole sentences of capital letters looks pretty amateurish. An exclamation point and a verb choice like his "roared" or your "shouted" is more than enough to suggest the speaker's tone.

This is actually my bad, here, since I don't think I explained it well enough. If a character is simply shouting, then normal use of capital letters is fine. However, I feel that when you're trying to describe a character who is literally shouting so loud his throat is threatening to tear in two, then you need something else to portray just how loud a character is yelling. Since bold words generally aren't used in fiction writing, and in some cases you need italics for emphasis, I think capital letters are the way to go.

The rest of your point I agree with, though, as I can't imagine a kid shouting so loud for no decent reason.

That said, I do like this fic and enjoyed reading it :3 I expect moar

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Wow thanks for posting everyone ^^

That was really nice critiquing Pohatu and I really appreciate. I'll be making the edits when I post chapter two (which will be either later tonight or tomorrow).

In regards to this:

(Cool Not a writing nitpick, but a conceptual thing: Ramon says, "We've only been together for a few minutes and you're already starting with that." And yet, he brought that book to the place where they had arranged to meet. It's a super old, dusty, noticeable tome and he can't have thought she wasn't going to ask about it. It looks to me like he's trying to goad her into getting onto the subject of legendary Pokemon, if for no other reason than his own amusement. Maybe you don't want that to be true, but I think you should at least have Carmen consider the possibility, whether or not she says it aloud. It really seems unreasonable for him to make that comment in dead earnest, having legitimately expected her not to start her usual rant.

This was my fault for not making this part clear enough, but it was entirely intentional. I'll go back and make it clearer when I do the edits.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

OOC: Plunge...

Monster…

Monster…

You freak…

No…this isn't…it can't…

No…

Kill…

"Carmen?"

She sat bolt upright and realized she had fallen asleep on the sofa. Yet again she was haunted by the dream that had plagued her for nearly two years now. The same words would echo in her mind followed by blurred images and warped screaming. And when she awakened, she would have the sensation of horror and fear. For the next few moments she would actually feel like a monster. But the worst thing was that Carmen had no idea what the origin of this dream was…

"Oh, good you're awake," said Ramón when he walked back to the sofa.

"How long was I sleeping?" asked Carmen, trying to dispel the inexplicable emotions from her nightmare.

"For about a half an hour," he replied. "You weren't supposed to fall asleep too, and you certainly weren't supposed to be playing those gambling games on your cell phone," he added, holding it up.

Carmen was slightly annoyed. "I don't use real money anymore! Doesn't that satisfy you?"

"No," he said distantly. "Gambling like that is dangerous and it's unnatural."

Before Carmen could make a retort, her phone began to ring. Ramón handed it back to her and she saw that she had gotten and e-mail from Porygon-Z saying it was ready to come back. Carmen had let it roam cyber space by allowing it to digitize into her cell phone. She opened the email and out of the infrared port at the top of the phone came a stream of red energy, zeros, and ones. The mess of data then reformed itself into Porygon-Z.

"It's about as unnatural as that," said Ramón, pointing at the Pokémon. There was no other way to describe Porygon-Z than to say it was a glitched Porygon2. It was as if someone had taken off its limbs and flipped them upside down and haphazardly reattached them. It also had a curious way of moving as well; it hovered like a humming bird but didn't use any of its limbs for movement.

At Ramón's words, Porygon-Z made a horrible sound almost like an electronic screech before freezing up completely as a computer did when it was infected by a virus. Ramón sighed, he was never really outright mean to Porygon-Z but he did have strong opinions about it.

"Now you've hurt its feelings," said Carmen, recalling it. Out of all of her Pokémon, Carmen found Porygon-Z to be the most intriguing. Her Gardevoir could pretty well sense the emotions of her teammates, but not Porygon-Z—even Reina's Lucario sometimes have problems reading it. The only reason Carmen could give as to why was because it wasn't an organic life form.

"I wasn't trying to," he said. "You know I've always been slightly leery of man being able to create Pokémon and the entire Porygon line gives me probable reason to be so. The whole world should be alarmed that these Pokémon are showing behavior that is not in their programming. I mean what else could they—

"So you're saying that my Porygon-Z is a threat to the world?" said Carmen, putting her cell phone down beside her. She was not upset or fretful, but she believed in Ramón's conspiracy theories as much as she believed in legendary Pokémon.

"I'm merely saying that there is somewhere in the world where people are trying to artificially create so-called super Pokémon," Ramón began. "These scientists think they have complete control over them, but as the Porygon line and the legend of Mewtwo prove, they really don't."

"Not again," Carmen rolled her silver eyes but her voice showed no signs of irritation. "Please tell me this isn't what you're researching."

"Well, I'll never stop researching it completely. It's just taking a backseat to what I'm doing now" he said. "What I'm researching now doesn't really have anything to do with Pokémon…it has to do more with my secret."

"Huh?" said Carmen. "What do you mean?" This was one of the few times he was getting straight the point so she was all ears.

"I started to wonder what it was that made psychic Pokémon tick. What is the source of their psychic power? Is it the same kind of Psychic power that humans have?" he questioned.

"Psychic power? Where did this come from?" Carmen asked because it seemed completely random and totally not his usual realm.

"I have had psychic power for years, but only recently have I researched it. But lately I've been feeling more and more that it was I needed to be doing," he nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, Carmen was floored. "Wh-what? What do you mean you've had psychic power for years," she said, mystified and thoroughly confused.

"I guess I should explain."

"Please do so—for my benefit."

Ramón smiled. "I'll start at the beginning. I've always known that I've been unusually perceptive of the people around me, but that in itself isn't unheard of. After all, you have the same characteristic yourself, Carmen. However as I got older, I realized that my gift in particular was unnatural because I could actually sense the emotions of people close to me across long distances…"

It suddenly dawned on Carmen. In her early days of training, whenever she was feeling down or discouraged, Ramón would call her. And most recently when she felt the need to leave Sinnoh, he offered let her travel with them.

"Of course it isn't perfect," he continued. "Reina is actually more difficult to read across long distances and Isabel is the easiest to sense, I guess because we're twins. But at any rate, that also isn't unheard because there are many tales of people who somehow sense that a loved one is in danger. The thing that really convinced me was…"

He held out his hand and Carmen's cell phone zoomed into it without any visible means of doing so.

"Wow," said Carmen, stunned. Unlike with legendary Pokémon, there was real conclusive proof of psychic power, but it was still shocking to see it right before her eyes. "When did this happen?"

"About three years ago," he said. "Up until now, however, I decided to keep it a secret and not to look into it for reasons unknown, even to myself. I haven't looked into it too deeply yet, but I've pretty much found the boundary between what makes a person psychic or just abnormally perceptive like you yourself, Carmen."

"There's probably no need to tell you I'm still in shock," said Carmen faintly.

"Yeah, I know it's a bit overwhelming," he said. Suddenly he looked up and stood still, as though he sensed something…which he probably just did. "She's coming…." And he walked out of the front door.

Wondering what her brother saw, Carmen followed him out onto the porch. Ramón was looking down the path, and at first, Carmen couldn't see anything. But after a few moments what looked like an Arcanine with someone on its back appeared at the top of the hill and began to run towards the house. It was always said that Arcanine were famous for the way they seemed to run on the wind and the one that charged toward them was nothing short of magnificent.

The sun that was streaming through the trees seemed to illuminate the mane and the fur of the Arcanine so that they almost shone. But as they drew closer, it was the trainer's long familiar looking white hair blowing in the wind that caught Carmen's eye. The girl and her Arcanine stopped gracefully in front of Carmen and Ramón.

"Good to see you," said Ramón.

"And you," she answered back. She made an elegant dismount off her Arcanine and onto the ground. She was wearing jeans, a purple camisole, sandals, and a wooden hairclip. "Oh, you must be Carmen. My name is Cate Porter Valentine" she said. "Ramón told me you know my cousin, Giselle." She had a soothing voice that seemed as though it would calm anyone who listened to her.

"I do," said Carmen.

The only thing Cate and Giselle had in common was their long white hair. Cate was taller and more willowy than Giselle. She was also about two shades darker which made her gray eyes stand out more. Their demeanor seemed to be different as well; Cate seemed to be in touch with her soul more than Giselle. Carmen could already guess what brought her and Ramón together.

"She probably wouldn't know of me though," said Cate, speaking of Giselle. "Not with all our family problems…but there's no need to bore you with that." She turned to her Arcanine. "Would you like to stay out here in nature, Hakan?" The Arcanine gave a low growl in approval and the headed back into the house.

"Your Arcanine is very well trained," said Carmen, noticing how Hakan's coat was even shinier than most coats of the Arcanine she'd seen in pictures.

"Thanks, we've been together for a long time," Cate said as she ran her fingers through Hakan's mane.

"I'm glad you were able to make it, Cate," said Ramón. "She's helping me with my research and she also happens to know a lot about the legendary Pokémon of Johto."

"Should've known," said Carmen under her breath. "How did you two meet anyway?"

"Remember that radio program that I was telling you about? Well, she was on it one day. I decided to that I should meet her so I went to the Goldenrod Radio Tower before the show ended and waited for her," he said.

"Ramón, do you have any idea how very stalkerish that sounds?" Carmen asked, slightly amused and Cate smiled.

"Well, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get things done. Not that I really care what people think." he said. "But anyway, not only did I find out that she was an expert on legendary Pokémon, but she is also another psychic."

It was still difficult for Carmen to grasp how casually threw the word "psychic" around and it gave her funny feeling whenever he said it. She wasn't surprised that Cate was also psychic; in fact she suspected that all along.

"So, you've already told her everything about your powers?" said Cate as they both sat down on the couch. "I guess I should explain mine. I have a combination of remote viewing and precognition."

"Let's see if I remember correctly," said Carmen. "The remote viewing is obvious, that means you can see something happening in a place where you aren't present, but you can also see the future?"

"Correct," Cate said. "It's complicated though. In the movies and TV shows, remote viewing and precognition are supposed to let you see people in trouble or terrible events so that you can help. However, most of the time, that isn't the case for me. I see rather mundane things like someone doing their shopping or two trainers battling; things like that. Well, once I did help find a missing little girl and her Pokémon."

"Interesting," murmured Carmen and for a while after that, she remained silent, and looked down at her hands while Cate and Ramón discussed more conspiracy theories and outlandish ideas, including an inter-dimensional portal in Altering Cave in both Hoenn and Outcast Island.

Truthfully, she envied Ramón and even Cate at this moment. They knew with certainty what they wanted to do with their life presently. Sure, she said she'd wander around looking for strong trainers, but, wow, how vague did that sound? And even worse, she lacked the will to do anything right now—like her battling spirit had vanished. It was one of the things that was both weighing on her and frightening her. She had felt it for a while now, but, oh, how she had tried to fight it and the bizarre shame that came with it. The silence was only making things worse because it allowed these thoughts to gain an even greater grip on her.

Silence?

She looked up and realized that both Ramón and Cate had stopped talking and were watching her as if she were an interesting TV show.

"You got quiet," said Cate. "What's wrong?"

"I'm normally this quiet," said Carmen softly.

Ramón continued to look at her intently. "You want to say what's on your mind?"

Carmen thought for a second. Exactly what was stopping her from saying it? Shame? And did she always have such a hard time expressing herself? No, that couldn't be it.

"Should I leave?" asked Cate.

"No...no, it's fine," said Carmen.

"Once again," Ramón said distantly. "You're thinking about taking to the skies for a bit to clear your head, but that only temporarily helps you. So I'd advise against it right now."

"You can read minds now?" said Carmen wryly.

"Not yet," he said simply. "I can read you, remember? There is something I'd like to show you though. It's a great place if you ever want to get away to think." And he left out of the front door for the second time.

Carmen sighed and Cate giggled again. "So he's been like that all of his life?" Cate asked.

"Pretty much," Carmen answered. "We should go or we'll lose him in this forest."

They found Ramón and Hakan standing in front of what looked like just another ordinary patch of forest. When he looked up and saw them, he disappeared into forest and Carmen, Cate, and Hakan followed. It turns out there was a hidden path very well concealed by the large trees and tall plants. Despite being well hidden, it was wide enough so that Hakan had enough room to comfortably walk.

The trail was tough to transverse at times because of the tree roots, but it was very tranquil. It was a lot cooler and darker here because of the large trees that were blocking the sun. Carmen marveled at the way Ramón could find hidden areas, trails, and passages. She'll never forget the crystal filled cavern he'd found near their hometown.

"Hey Ramón," said Carmen who was behind him. "How did you find this trail?"

"Call it Ramón's intuition," he said and Carmen was annoyed with herself for expected a straight answer.

The trail sloped downward for a while before evening out. But what Ramón wanted to show was just around the bend…

It was two beautiful forest pools one higher, one lower. The higher pool, which contained the spring, flowed into the other creating a gentle waterfall. Colorful flowers grew at the waters' edge. The water itself was spectacularly clear and even as they watched two Furret took a drink of water before scurrying away. Beams of light rippled across the water as the trees blew in the wind.

"Ramón this is stunning," said Cate delighted. She rushed over and dipped her fingers into the water.

Carmen herself was silent as she took in the scenery. It was yet another example of nature's flawlessness. A Butterfree flew over the pool, making Carmen wonder about Giselle back in Sinnoh. Carmen breathed in the clean smelling air, thinking the whole scene was perfect.

So then why did he have to show up?

"Are you guys following me or something?" said an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Oh, hey Nemo," said Ramón, smiling.

"Didn't I tell you NOT to call me that?" he said loudly. Pidgey flew out of the trees at the loudness of his voice.

"Can you keep your voice down?" said Carmen. "You're disturbing the peace."

"Whatever," he said. This time he had a small black backpack that he'd picked up somewhere.

"Oh, Cate, I forgot to introduce you," said Ramón. "This is Nemo."

Nemo rolled his eyes.

"We met him earlier today. By the way Nemo, how did you find this area?" asked Ramón.

"You keep asking questions that are none of you business. I'll answer you just this once—but only if SHE battles me!" he roared, pointing at Carmen.

"You just won't quit! I change my mind; you're worse than my sister Reina!" said Carmen in disbelief.

"Caaarmen," said Ramón. "Battle him. I really want to know how he found this place."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"All right," said Carmen, knowing Ramón would bug her if she didn't say yes.

"Finally," said Nemo, throwing up his hands. Once again, he whipped out that Pokéball.

"We're not battling here," said Carmen. "We'll have to walk back."

"Fine, fine," said Nemo hurriedly. And with that, he flew back up the trail.

"Energetic young man, isn't he?" said Cate.

"He's certainly interesting…" said Ramón.

When they had reached the clearing, the found Nemo tapping his foot and looking at his Pokégear impatiently.

"About time!" he shouted when he saw them. Without even waiting for Carmen to face him, he released his Pokémon. "COME ON OUT ESPEON!" he yelled.

Most Espeon were sweet and graceful creatures; so much so that they were renowned for it. Nemo's Espeon couldn't have been farther from that characteristic. The Pokémon crouched low and gave a feline snarl. There was a hardened look in her eyes as though she'd had a tough life—and not from Nemo.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" said Nemo impatiently.

Carmen took a deep breath. She felt a feeble flicker where she once felt a huge rush from the anticipation of battle, no matter how big or small. Carmen gave a sad smile as she pulled a Pokéball from her waist. "Go, Blaziken!"

Blaziken. Her starter and the Pokémon she was closest to. Flames exploded out of his wrists as he got ready for battle.

"Ha! You use a Fighting type against my Espeon? A Psychic type?! I thought you were the Sinnoh champion!" Nemo bragged.

"Type matching means nothing if one Pokémon has far more experience than the other," said Carmen. "I should also tell you that I won't hold back. So why don't you make the first move?"

"Hmph, fine then. Use Psybeam Espeon!"

Espeon held her head low as purple rings of psychic energy emerged out the red jewel on her forehead in a rather beautiful display. The rings grew larger and larger as the approached Blaziken, but when they made contact with the fire Pokémon, Blaziken barely flinched. Nemo was shocked.

"HEY! What happened?"

"Please don't make me repeat myself," Carmen said. "Use Flamethrower Blaziken!"

A ball of orange and red flame formed in Blaziken's beak. The resultant jet of flame seemed to blister the air as it took in oxygen. Espeon attempted to dodge the flame but the attack was too fast. The flames fully engulfed Espeon but Carmen immediately saw that something was up, that something wasn't right.

Carmen had seen too many battles that seemed simple enough, but had many surprises. Therefore, her face did not betray the shock she felt when the Flamethrower dissipated. Espeon had shielded herself in a ball of the same purple psychic energy as her Psybeam was made. It took a lot of power to shield against a Flamethrower as powerful as Blaziken's. This was no ordinary beginner's Espeon.

"Impressive," said Carmen, and Nemo looked so proud of himself he should've been shot. "But try blocking this. Double Team and then Shadow Claw, Blaziken!" Nemo face fell in dramatic fashion but Carmen wanted to test something.

Ghostly energy surrounded Blaziken's claw as he seemed to move so fast it was creating, blurred illusionary copies of itself as it moved erratically and very quickly before Espeon's eyes. Carmen knew the Pokémon had been successfully confused and was getting frustrated. As soon as Blaziken saw an opening, he attacked Espeon from the right instead of head on like the Espeon thought. She took the full brunt of the attack and fainted.

Nemo was shocked and he quickly rushed over to his Pokémon. Carmen was even more intrigued by this Espeon than before. Espeon could read air currents to predict their opponents' moves. To defeat a Pokémon who used tactics like this, Carmen would generally just hit them with something they couldn't avoid. They could often see the attack coming, but they just couldn't defend against or dodge it. However Nemo's Espeon was odd. She looked as though she couldn't predict attacks at all, yet her psychic power was strong…

Cate rushed over as well with a bottle of some kind of herbal medicine in hand.

"Take this," she said to Nemo. "Just open her mouth and sprinkle in a bit."

Nemo did as she told without thinking and after a few seconds, Espeon stirred and held her head up.

"Feeling better?" asked Nemo is a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Espy," she said quietly.

Nemo looked around and blushed when he saw Ramón, Cate, and Carmen looking at him while he had his guard down.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?!" he screamed.

"You," said Ramón. "Now since Carmen battled you, you have to tell us how you found the forest pools."

"Fine, fine," grumbled Nemo. "I followed Suicune there."

The stunned silence of disbelief followed this proclamation, but Carmen sighed.

"Suicune doesn't exist," she said.

"ITDOESTOOIKNOWWHATISAW!" screamed Nemo rapidly. "I was just walking through the woods on a deserted path with Espeon when I saw it up ahead. Well, of course I got excited so I decided to follow it. It led me through the woods, but at one point I tripped and fell. When I got up it was gone but it had led me to the beautiful pools. And that's the story."

"Amazing Nemo," said Ramón. "That was a spectacular encounter you had. I'll tell you what. You see the smaller of the two houses? That's mine too. You can stay the night there and you can go to Ecruteak City with us tomorrow."

Nemo just looked at Ramón. "You know what? You're weird!" and he and Espeon rushed off into the woods again.

"Bye Nemo," said Ramón.

"He's right," Carmen said to her brother. "You are weird. And why are we going to Ecruteak City?"

"I just think you'll find it interesting," he said shrugging.

"It really is an awesome place," Cate said. "You'll find it very enlightening."

"All right then," said Carmen.

Hakan and Blaziken were speaking to each other a short distance away. Carmen and Blaziken had been together so long that, though she didn't exactly know what he was saying, she could pick up on his mood. By the sound of it, and by Blaziken's body language, Hakan was just as mystical as his trainer.

"I think I'm going to try out your back porch for a while and think. Blaziken you can stay here if you like," said Carmen, and she left everyone behind as she went back into the house.

Ramón and Blaziken watched her retreating back in worry.

"So you noticed too, huh," Ramón said to Blaziken. "She still isn't back to her normal self."

 

[Plapti]

Okay. Quit keeping me in suspense. You're killing me. Quit it before something bad happens.

Either way, it's win.

 

[pohatufan1]

I always had the sneaking suspicion you really did intend it. Awesome. I'm sorry for not crediting you with enough subtlety to get the point across the way you did.

As for the new chapter, lovin' it. Perfect translation of a Porygon-line monster into a real life context (sending emails! Of course!). And the very inclusion of a Porygon-Z goes a long way toward offsetting the slight overuse of Lucario, Gardevoir, Blaziken and Dragonite in Pokemon fanfic -- keeps us assured that you're charting largely unexplored territory. Similarly, I dig the fresh spin on the typically sleek and refined Espeon.

And "Nemo looked so proud of himself he should've been shot" induced lulz.

A very great few nitpicks, two of them quite tiny, and one of them not really a nitpick.


(1) Ramon's "spacey" gig definitely comes across in the way he casually drops his psychic powers into the conversation. But his subsequent detailed explanation of his psychic history is... I don't know. Too meticulous? Kind of hurts the "spacey" angle. I appreciate that he's probably been preparing for a couple of years the moment when he would share his powers with Carmen, but... hmm. What am I saying? I guess I'm saying that even though he might have rehearsed this whole monologue in his head, if you want us to think of him as "spacey", it might help to consider how to make the monologue seem as if it isn't coming out quite how he rehearsed it. Or something. You know what I mean? It's kind of hard for me to express, myself.

(2) I'm trying equally hard to think of what I want to say about the way Ramon points out twice how abnormally perceptive Carmen is. She's abnormally perceptive, but in all this time she never guessed what a huge secret her brother was concealing. Now, I'm not saying "Ah! Wrong! Plot hole! Better take that 'abnormally perceptive' out because it's clear Carmen is no such thing!" I just think there's some irony there, and it would be nice to see Carmen register that irony on some level (not necessarily aloud). Surely it must occur to her how strange it is to hear her brother compliment her on her powers of insight after blasting her with a totally unexpected revelation three years in the making.

(3) "Their life" -- Well, maybe you wanted that singularity in recognition of their relationship, but it just reads as a grammatical error. I don't think it would hurt any to change this to "their lives".

(4) "She'll never forget": Same issue as with "describe"/"described" in the first chapter. Better make it "she'd". Keep this all in tenses aligned with the past.

(5) You've made a point so far of showing other trainers giving their Pokemon nicknames (although not Espeon), while not allowing any evidence that Carmen has nicknamed any of her Pokemon. This isn't really a problem, it's just something that has caught my attention. It's highly unusual -- most Pokemon fanfic, it seems, either doesn't invoke nicknames at all or certainly gives nicknames to the main character's team. So I'm just wondering why you've taken your interesting route, unless that's going to become clear in later chapters.


Keep up the wonderful work.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Grammatical errors aside, all I can say is that there's a reason for everything ^^

 

[Cody]

...I swear..if Jetters doesn't get to you first, I will......stupid...cliffhangers.....


But really, it's a great story. I loves it. Keep it comin', please!

 

[Chibi]

*locks Jet and Cody in a force field and swallows the key* HAHA!! Now I can get to her first!!

And seriously, Espeon taken down by just one Shadow Claw? Just wow. Lovin' it though, all the same.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

OOC: I'm sorry this took so long

The next morning Carmen had arisen before anyone else after being awoken by that dream. Rather than just stay in bed and stare at the ceiling, she found her way back to the forest pools. It was chilly outside, much more reminiscent of Sinnoh, which was a comfort to Carmen. It faintly reminded her of the shores of Lake Verity in the early morning. For reasons unknown she felt drained—as though she had completed some difficult mental task. By now, she was starting to wonder what on earth was wrong with her.

"Told you this was a good place to think," said a voice behind her.

"In this case I didn't doubt you," said Carmen who wasn't surprised to see her brother, but she was surprised to see him in a jacket.

"Don't tell me the warm weather here has already spoiled you," she teased.

"You can say that," he shrugged. "By the way I'm making breakfast; you should come back to the house and get something to eat."

"No thanks," said Carmen. Ramón's cooking, to put it bluntly, was horrible.

"My cooking has gotten better," said Ramón.

"You mean there are people besides you and your Pokémon that can eat it?"

Ramón smiled. "That was a low blow. I was only kidding anyway. Cate tasted my cooking last night while you were off being antisocial. Then, she volunteered to cook for us from while she was there. That's so nice of her," he finished.

"Yes, it's nice for all of us," said Carmen, and our stomachs as well.

"Anyway, you should hurry back and eat. Then we can set off for Ecruteak City," Ramón said thoughtfully. "…Unless you have something you wanted to talk about; you left awfully early."

"Heh," said Carmen. Now that Ramón had revealed his secret, he used his powers without reservation.

Carmen listened to the sound of the water and the wind in the trees for a while without saying anything. She wasn't intentionally ignoring him, just trying to find the right way to say it. After a while, Ramón started humming while using his power to manipulate the water.

"I've lost my will to battle and at this point also to travel." Carmen was surprised when the words came out.

"Every trainer reaches that point," said Ramón. "Why do you feel shame as well? I could hear it in your voice."

"I guess it's because that battling and training is my life and my passion, and with that passion gone…I feel empty…" she trailed off. "I tried to hide it from everyone because that feeling scares me. My relationship with my Pokémon hasn't been affected yet, but…"

Flower petals that approached the base of the waterfall were pushed under the water, only to resurface when they were floated away.

"Oh, Carmen," Ramón sighed. "Do you know why you came here?" And when she was silent, "You do remember, right?"

"I thought a change of scenery would help," she answered. "And...it just seemed like the right thing to do. I don't know why."

Ramón smiled. "You remember what you said to me? You said you were afraid of being complacent and wanted to battle stronger trainers and see new things. I knew there was something more to it."

"And you were right," Carmen said.

"Well, never fear little sister. I agree with you on one thing: a change in scenery will help," Ramón said. "You realize that it's the feeling that has you worried the most, so don't worry. You'll be fine."

"Thanks," said Carmen, feeling slightly better.

"Then let's head back," her brother said.

Together Ramón and Carmen returned to the house back through the forest while he talked about Olivine City, the hometown of their mother, Abigail. By the time they returned, Carmen felt a slightly more hopeful, but the feeling hadn't went away completely. When they entered back into the house, the found Cate sitting in one of chairs with her eyes closed. She seemed to be in a trance, so Carmen didn't want to interrupt her, but she seemed to notice them anyway. Cate opened her eyes which had a misty, milk white film over them. With her gray eyes it was almost hard to see.

"Oh, good you're back!" she said as though nothing were out of the ordinary. Since Cate nor Ramón for that matter, didn't seem to want to explain, Carmen decided to bring it up.

"Your eyes…"

"Oh, that," said Cate. "It happens whenever I'm remote viewing or seeing the future. Flashes of things pass before my eyes."

"What are you seeing now?" asked Carmen. Even if what she was seeing was mundane, it was still very interesting.

"Hmm," sighed Cate. "I see trainers battling on a beach, and I see the Lilycove skyline in the distance. Let's see…I see a couple of children at a playground…some sort of festival…a pack of Houndour. Now, this image is clearer. I see a really beautiful woman who's completely exhausted. She's resting on a sofa while a Gallade watches over her…and Carmen, she has your eyes."

"Isabel," murmured Ramón, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

"You mean your twin sister?" asked Cate.

"Right," he answered and he showed Cate a picture of the two of them.

"That's the woman I saw," said Cate. "But you don't look a thing alike.

"Well," said Ramón. "I look like our dad only I have Mom's eyes. Isabel looks like our maternal grandmother with Dad's eyes. Carmen and Reina are a mix of the two."

Cate closer her gray eyes and when she opened them again, the white film had disappeared. "My sister and I don't look alike either. I wonder where she is now. She took off from home and hasn't been seen since."

Because of the non-concern in Cate's voice, Carmen knew that the girl was all right, probably one of the wanderers.

"I made breakfast burritos so you can eat them fast," said Cate.

It turned out that Cate was a great cook as they grabbed a burrito. Her cooking reminded Carmen of Abby's cooking because of the unmistakable Chansey or Blissey eggs in it. Ramón polished off his burrito in less than a minute.

"All right, I'm done," he said after he swallowed the last bit. "Are we ready to leave?"

Carmen, who had just taken the third bite out of hers and wasn't even half way done, just looked at her brother. "Are you serious?"

"You don't eat fast enough and should really hurry," he suggested. Then he was off; probably to find something in that pigsty he called a work space.

Even Carmen had to smile through her annoyance at her brother. After all, he had made her feel marginally better, so she finished off the rest of her breakfast as fast as she could and was done by the time Ramón returned.

"Good! You're done," Ramón called. "Now we can get moving. All we have to do is collect Nemo and we're off."

"Nemo?" repeated Carmen. "You mean he came back?"

"He sure did," said Ramón with his usual vague smile. "Come on," he beckoned.

Carmen picked up her bag and followed Ramón and Cate outside and as they did so, Nemo and Espeon came strolling out of the smaller house.

"Guess what," he said to Carmen. There was no "hello" or "good morning" but honestly she was grateful he wasn't screaming. "I'm going to train until I can beat you one day."

"Do you like battling?" asked Carmen.

"Well, yeah!" he said fiercely. "It's important to be strong so no one ever mess with you or take advantage of you or a—

He broke off and flushed red. There was definitely something about Nemo that was starting to make Carmen curious and his Espeon was certainly not normal. Carmen had never seen a Pokémon that was so full of anger that wasn't directed at its trainer. But at this point neither Carmen nor Cate or Ramón pushed him for answers.

"Are we going to head out or not?!" said Nemo, his voice rising. He really seemed to dislike people trying to figure him.

"Sure," said Ramón.

"OKAY THEN!" he roared and started running.

"Nemo!" called Ramón. "Using our Pokémon to get there is much easier!"

He stopped short, turned on his heel, and ran back. "You mean you actually have a Pokémon that's big enough to carry more than one person?"

"Well, Suna wouldn't like anyone other than me riding her, but would Hakan mind another person Cate?" asked Ramón.

"Not at all," she said easily. She pulled out a kind of Pokéball that Carmen had never seen before and released Hakan.

"Nice Arcanine," said Nemo, he said in awe.

Hakan knelt down so that Nemo and Cate could get on his back. Nemo recalled Espeon and jumped onto Hakan's back before anyone could move and snatched onto the Pokémon's mane as a grip. The Arcanine tossed his head and snarled making Nemo nearly jump out of his skin.

"Good grief!" he said loudly, trying to cover his fear. "He's a touchy one!"

"Well, you'd be touchy too if someone grabbed on to your hair," said Cate coolly. "Why don't you let me have the front?"

"Whatever," he said as he let Cate on.

Carmen raised an eyebrow. "Why did you invite him along again, Ramón?"

"Well, for one he encountered Suicune," he said. "And plus he's…interesting."

Carmen made a noise in the back of her throat as she released Dragonite as Ramón released Suna. The usual thrill of flying coursed through her veins as she rose up. Carmen was eager to see if Hakan could keep up with them, and the Arcanine didn't disappoint. He seemed to fly as he wound his way through the forests. For a moment, it was no different than flying over the forests of Sinnoh only it was much warmer. And Carmen noticed something on the ground and decided to ask Ramón.

"Is that a shrine?" she asked when they were as close as they could be.

"Yes, there are many shrines to the forest guardian Celebi, the biggest one being in Ilex Forest, and many other shrines, some just for mediating. You'll see when we get to Ecruteak City," Ramón explained. "Johto isn't much different from home in that respect."

"Oh," said Carmen. Sinnoh had its share of shrines for guardians, legendary Pokémon, and reflection. Celestic Town was well known the mysticism. She generally scoffed at it all; that was more Reina's and Ramón style, although she did like to visit the haunting, silent, beautiful Foreign Building in Hearthome City.

They flew along for about twenty minutes when they found the main path. Ramón descended and Carmen followed him. Dragonite looked more disappointed than Carmen to stop flying. In fact, the only thing he liked more than flying was swimming, so Carmen wanted to take him to the ocean soon. Cate and Nemo had already dismounted from Hakan's back.

"Carmen, I wanted to ask you," said Cate once she and Ramón were on the ground. You're native to Sinnoh, so how did you get this Dragonite?"

Carmen thought back to that time. "I was in Jubilife City after I'd captured a Gible that morning in Wayward Cave. While I was there, I met a girl vacationing from Kanto named Mikayla who had a Dratini. It turned out that she was breeder, and she was actually in Sinnoh to find a Gible, so we did a trade. It made her job a lot easier, and Dratini and I really connected."

"Fascinating," Cate murmured.

Then something rather disconcerting happened. Carmen saw Cate's eyes flash in the same solid milk white color as earlier, but only for a heartbeat. She shook her head briefly.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ramón and Cate at the same time.

"No, it was nothing," she answered, slightly unnerved. Did either of them notice what happened?

As they were walking along the path, Ramón was staring at Nemo, who raised an eyebrow. "You people sure do have a thing about staring and it's creepy. The two of you are brother and sister right?" he said pointing at Carmen and Ramón.

"Did anyone ever tell you that pointing was rude?" Ramón said serenely. Nemo made a "t-ch" noise. "Anyway, yes, we're siblings, but enough about us. What about you? How old are you and where are you from? And though Nemo has thoroughly stuck, what's your real name."

"Why do you need to know?" he snapped.

"And you called Hakan touchy," said Cate amused.

Nemo sighed heavily. "I'm thirteen and that's all you're getting."

"You're a closed lipped one," said Ramón, and they walked on.

Once again, it was mostly Cate and Ramón who filled the silence. This time they talked about many theories including Ramón's Porygon conspiracy and Cate brought up some interesting things about the Valentine family.

"My father's side of the family is pretty well split on that issue," said Cate. "Michel, my father, thinks the idea of sentient computer programs could bring about new and dangerous changes to our world. My uncle Claude didn't think so. He thinks that the creation of artificial life forms would benefit the world."

"Many people think that," said Ramón.

Cate continued. "He was power-hungry trainer and businessman and always on the look out for powerful Pokémon, even if it meant creating them. That was years and years ago though. And my uncle and father conflicted and fought over other things and finally had a huge falling out. Now I don't know what Claude is up to now, but it's probably...disreputable."

Carmen took in everything she said and mulled it over, losing track of their conversation. She had always known, or picked up from Giselle that, her home life was cold, but this was more sinister still. At any rate Carmen was satisfied with not being in this conversation, though she disagreed with the both of them, so why did Ramón have to bring her into it?

"…Porygon-Z is the scariest of them all. How in the world did you get a Dubious Disk anyway, Carmen?" said Ramón.

There was a reason she hadn't ever gone into detail about this very subject with Ramón—she knew he wouldn't approve despite is laidback personality. "I won it in Veilstone after the Sinnoh League battles."

"You won it," he repeated. "Don't tell me."

"I won it gambling, yes," said Carmen. "I got it in a poker game with a mysterious man who turned out to be a scientist."

"You took a corrupted piece of software…from a scientist in a casino," said Ramón slowly. "Really?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"I was in the heat of the moment and I took it," Carmen admitted. "The next day when I examined it, I realized that I knew nothing about this Dubious Disk so I called up someone who I'd met on my travels. He concluded that the Dubious Disk wouldn't harm my Porygon2, but he also didn't know what it would do." Carmen sighed.

"Go on," said Ramón.

"All right," she said. "I was a bit skeptical but Porygon2 seemed to be attracted to it, so I made up my mind and used it and you can see the results," Carmen said. "But Cate, Ramón Porygon-Z isn't as bad as you think. I'll let you spend time together later."

"Sounds interesting," said Cate. "I'm still unsure about the whole thing but I'm genuinely curious."

Well that worked, thought Carmen. She was finding she didn't like her brother and Cate talk bad about her Pokémon and decided to stand up for it.

"Nemo is quiet," said Ramón, stating the obvious.

"You and Cate are bizarre," said Nemo bluntly. "I'm glad we're almost here."

Sure enough, they were approaching the gate to the walled city. The wall itself reminded Carmen of a different era in another history. As the walked through the gates to Ecruteak City, it seemed as though the past and the present had collided in awesome beauty. Most of the buildings looked old fashioned and Carmen reminded herself that there was chance that those buildings were built long ago. Though the city was fairly large there were no skyscrapers here. The most prominent features in Ecruteak City were those two towers. One was tall and whole while the other was burned and charred.

Carmen wanted to ask about the story behind those towers but she decided not too. She vaguely remembered her mother telling her the story when she was very small but had forgotten it. Carmen wanted to ask a native citizen of Johto and learn more about the people. Like in Goldenrod City, the people here were fascinating. Many of the people were dressed in traditional clothing such as kimonos while students in their school uniforms entered a school. People pushed carts filled with all kinds of things through the streets.

Ecruteak City was bustling with activity as people went about their daily business. As they walked passed, they saw some open air markets, a studio for traditional dance, and school for Ikebana. Carmen has never seen a city quite like this back in Sinnoh. Ecruteak gave off the same atmosphere as Celestic Town, but on a larger scale. It was amazing how a city could be rooted in the past yet be so…modern.

"I've been here plenty of times and I still haven't always find something new," Cate breathed as she touched some fabric being offered in a small market.

"Where are you from, Cate?" asked Carmen.

"My family is from Kanto but I was born in Violet City which is south of here," she responded.

"Home of Sprout Tower," said Ramón. "I should make a visit there."

"Speaking of visits, where are we going next?" Carmen asked.

"I'm thinking Olivine City," he said. "I haven't been there yet and I want to see what Mom's hometown is like."

"Sounds good to me," said Carmen.

"AWESOME," Nemo screeched, suddenly, waving around a newspaper. "Johto is now officially separated from Kanto. We now have our own Elite Four and everything!" A couple of trainers nearby shouted in agreement.

"Well that took long enough." Carmen knew that Johto and Kanto had shared the Indigo League for many years which never really made sense to her. It was good that they had their own league now; Johto had been in Kanto's shadow for too long.

"Honestly I'm not sure if that little rivalry between Johto and Kanto will go away with this," Cate said. "This may even make it worse."

"Ha!" said Nemo who had apparently not heard what Cate said. "We're finally free of those Kanto blue bloods. Now we'll show those elitists snobs!"

"I rest my case," said Cate. "Nemo, do you want to challenge the league someday yourself?"

"Probably, I just have some unfinished business to take care of first," he said deviously.

"And you're not telling us anything, right?" said Ramón.

"Nope."

"You have to know that's getting old," Ramón told him. "But not to worry, we'll figure you out."

"Go ahead and try," Nemo sneered.

"And try I will," said Ramón. "But right now, why don't split up and explore the city? There's a lot to see and do here."

"Sure," said Carmen. She was looking forward to going off on her own, but that didn't go according to plan.

"I'm going with you," Nemo said to Carmen. "You're the most normal here. Then you can tell me how you got so strong in battle."

Carmen sighed. Did he really have to bring up battling? She didn't say anything but just walked away with Nemo following behind talking at top speed.

"Hey! Are you listening to me!?" said Nemo, annoyed.

"Nemo, I'm a bit weary," Carmen looked up at the building they'd stopped in front of. "I'm just going to go in here and rest for a bit, all right?"

"Suit yourself then," he said. "I'm heading to the market across the street." He pulled out Espeon's Pokéball and released her. "Come on, we're going to do some exploring," he told her brightly.

Nemo walked away, leaving Carmen to her thoughts. Nemo had a soft side, but only for his Espeon. But what on earth was he hiding because he sure wasn't telling them anything. Perhaps only Espeon knew his secrets. Carmen sighed and slid the paper door open and entered the building.

It appeared to be a combination of a small library and a resting place. It was a peaceful, open place with rich dark wood floors. It was divided into rooms with Carmen standing in what seemed to be the largest of them. A long, narrow wooden table ran the length of the wall with cushions placed in front of it. A girl with long thick black hair in an up do and her Clefable were kneeling on the last two cushions. She looked to be about Carmen's age and she was wearing a furisode. She looked to be deeply involved in the book she was reading.

Perhaps it was the norm to read with a Pokémon, so Carmen released Gardevoir. The Pokémon appeared her usual graceful, beautiful self. Gardevoir was the second Pokémon she acquired and the first one she captured on her own so she was nearly as close to Carmen as Blaziken was. In Sinnoh custom, Carmen decided to give the woman her space and picked a cushion on the other end of the table. But as she sat down, however—

"My friend and I don't bite; you can come a bit closer."

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Carmen looked up to see the girl was smiling. Her Clefable cocked her head slightly, as though apprehensive. Since it would be considered rude to remain where she was, Carmen got up and moved to the cushion beside the girl.

“I apologize if I seemed rude,” Carmen said. “This is my first time in Johto so I’m still getting used to how it is here.”

“It’s no problem,” the girl said a soothing voice. “My name is Kerry and this is my friend Zara.”

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Carmen and this is Gardevoir.”

Kerry turned her hazel eyes to Gardevoir. “I’ve never seen such a beautiful Pokémon. Is Gardevoir the species name?”

“Yes,” said Carmen. “They’re native to Hoenn and Sinnoh where I am from.”

“Sinnoh…” Kerry repeated. “What brings you here?”

“A change of scenery,” Carmen sighed. “I’m here with my brother and he thought it would be a good idea to explore the city on my own. My mother is from here as well, so I guess it would be nice to see the region where she spent her childhood. ”

“This is my hometown and I could show you around if you like,” Kerry offered.

“That sounds great,” Carmen said. Whenever she roamed around Sinnoh, she always found being with the locals helpful and very informative.

“I like showing people around,” said Kerry as she, Carmen, and their Pokémon exited the building. “I’ve always known Ecruteak City was one of the jewels of Johto and I love for people to see it.” Kerry had on a pair of geta and was adroit at walking in them rather like Carmen was adept at walking in extremely high heels which she had Isabel to thank for. Kerry was very ladylike in her movements which was common in many of the woman Carmen saw. 

The first place at which they stopped was one of the many shops in the city. Carmen wasn’t surprised at how familiar and at home she was in these surroundings. Her parents had been assimilated to Sinnoh but they didn’t leave all of their Johto history behind. In this shop she found the type of chests that decorated their home and the glass figurines that stood on shelves in living room. Carmen was about to pick up an elegant necklace with a crystal bell charm when she thought about something.

“Kerry, how do the people of Ecruteak City pay for things?” Carmen knew that Johto was also converting to only using electronic payment but wasn’t sure how far along they were.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said. “Ecruteak is like Sinnoh in that doesn’t really use hard money. Now there are only a few cities in Johto that do widely use hard money.”

“Well, that’s good,” said Carmen and without further questions she bought the necklace, some stationary, and a few other things.

The weather was simply wonderful as the quartet moved through the busy streets. A light breeze played the wooden wind chimes which were common here. Gardevoir was capturing many admiring looks from the women in kimonos. Kerry smiled.

“It would appear that Gardevoir gives off the same image, the epitome of gentleness and femininity that these women want to project” she said. “The same thing happened a while back with Mawile among the samurai admirers.”

“Heh, that reminds me of the Skitty fad back home,” said Carmen. She remembered when she kept running into the “cute” schoolgirls who were obsessing over them. It was a relief that that ended quickly and was only really centered in the larger cities.

Kerry went on pointing out different things in the city including a dojo for Pokémon battles that stirred something in Carmen that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. The other feeling didn’t go away but she was glad to feel some sort of passion for battling. Perhaps soon she would feel up to battling when she wasn’t forced to.

Eventually, Kerry and Carmen found themselves standing in front of a burned, wasted ancient tower. At one time if must have been as grand as the tower that stood in the distance.

“Well, this is the biggest attraction of Ecruteak save for the gym,” said Kerry. “This is the remainder of the once mighty Brass Tower and is the center of the biggest legend of Johto.”

Carmen now looked skeptical. This had all the makings of legendary mythical Pokémon story, but she hid her apprehension. “What is the story behind it?”

“Once, Brass Tower was as mighty as Tin Tower,” Kerry began. “Brass Tower and Tin Tower were the hosts of the powerful bird Pokémon called Lugia and Ho-oh respectively. Then one day Brass Tower burned down killing three Pokémon, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune in process. Ho-Oh brought them back to life and gave them new power and now they roam Johto, never remaining in one place. Afterward, Ho-Oh was never seen again while Lugia made its home in the Whirl Islands.”

Carmen suddenly had a vision of her mother telling her and Reina the story and of herself telling her mother that it was silly. “Do you think these Pokémon exist?” She didn’t sound patronizing as other skeptics did.

“Well, yes,” Kerry answered. “Entei, Raikou, and especially Suicune have been sited many times and Suicune has even been photographed. And you could go down to Lugia’s cavern in the Whirl Islands right now. Not many people do because getting to Lugia is very dangerous and people have died trying. And even if you manage to reach it, there’s Lugia itself. As for Ho-Oh…it was frequently seen in the past and very well documented in scholarly works. The world is big and it isn’t unimaginable that something can roam the skies under our radar, even if for centuries.”

“Yes, but centuries—

“After all, these so called fossil Pokémon went out of out site for millennia as well, but then we found their fossils and eventually we found live specimens,” Kerry said winking.

Carmen was silent for a moment and then she said “I have to admit you have a point.” She wasn’t one to let her pride take control of her and even vowed to apologize to Nemo and her brother later. “I totally stand corrected. That doesn’t mean I believe in all legendary Pokémon, but I’m open to the fact that the ones of Johto exist.”

Kerry bowed slightly. “I’ll have to agree that some of those stories are outlandish. What is this about an alpha Pokémon that’s supposed to live above of a mountain in Sinnoh?”

Carmen laughed. “Ha! That’s one crazy story among many!”

As Kerry and Carmen laughed about some of the more odd stories of Sinnoh, they spotted two good-looking people walking towards them, a boy and a girl, who really stood out from the crowd. The girl was well toned with skin the color of honey. Her hair was only slightly darker with wild kinks. She had on a very short, black one piece bodysuit and knee high black boots like some kind of female comic book villain. The boy had on boot cut jeans, a white t-shirt which showed off his muscles and a Pokégear around his neck. He also had black boots. Carmen felt Kerry stiffen beside her. When the couple had reached them, they stopped right in front of them.

“Don’t think we didn’t see that,” said the girl getting in Kerry’s face. Since she was taller than Kerry, she dominated. Zara looked afraid.

“And don’t you think you should stand down,” said Carmen icily. She didn’t know what was going on, but that didn’t matter. She felt the atmosphere change slightly as Gardevoir readied herself against this threat.

The girl switched her focus onto Carmen. She and Carmen were the same height but her boots made her taller so that Carmen was more level with her glossed lips. However Carmen didn’t back down and the girl was forced to step back if she wanted to look Carmen in the eye.

“Hmm, should our fists or our Pokémon do the talking?” implored the boy as he rolled a Pokéball in his fingers. He had shiny, jet black hair that came just passed his chin. His eyes were two different shades of brown. The right one was medium brown while the other one was nearly gold in color.

“You’d hit a girl!?” said Kerry incredulously. Almost immediately, she regretted it saying it.

The girl had a sweetly cruel look on her face. “Aw, the prim girl is saying we have no manners. But you don’t seem to be from around here,” she said to Carmen. The boy was looking at her curiously with his mismatched eyes.

“No,” said Carmen indifferently. She wasn’t afraid to admit that. If push came to shove she could defend herself.

“Your eyes…” said the boy. “They look familiar.”

“What?” said Carmen and the girl together.

The boy and the girl exchanged a look and a look of realization dawned on the girl’s face.

“Well, we’ll let you go for now,” said the girl. “You’ll see us again. Remember our names: Sienna and Isidore.”

“See you around,” said Isidore darkly. And with one last glance at Carmen they turned and walked away.

“You know,” said Carmen. “I’m starting to get tired of the bizarre encounters. I have no clue who those people are and they say my eyes are familiar.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” said Kerry. “Those people…they usually don’t come out on the street in the daytime like this. They’re what you call the people from the underside of Johto. The girls especially take offense at what they perceive as our submissiveness so sometimes they make trouble for us. I don’t know that much about them but I do know they’re more than just thugs.”

“Wow,” said Carmen. It almost reminded her of the lives her parents had lived while in Johto.

“But you really seemed to know how to handle yourself,” Kerry said to Carmen when they had started walking again. “That was really cool.”

“My mom and dad just thought it was a good idea to teach us all self-defense,” said Carmen shrugging. She disliked fighting but she wouldn’t let herself get attacked either if she could help it.

“Either way, I should be more like you because the few times I’ve come in contact with those people, I’ve made myself look silly,” Kerry explained sheepishly.

Carmen smiled. “It’s mostly about being sure of yourself….”

They talked about self defense as they walked. Kerry also told Carmen about the traditional dances and the tea ceremonies that were performed in Ecruteak City. As they were approaching a spectacular temple, Kerry explained how it was off limits to the general public and that any trespassers would be thrown in jail. However as they came close, they saw two female temple guardians escorting Ramón and Cate out of it.

“I’m sorry we had to put you out,” said one of the guardians to Ramón, blushing.

“Oh no it’s fine. I’m grateful you didn’t call the police,” he said with that vague smile.

“Um…it was very nice meeting you,” said the other guardian, flushing red.

“Nice meeting you too,” said Ramón.

The two girls closed the heavy doors to the temple, but not before giving one last silent squeal behind Ramón’s back. Carmen sighed.

“Oh, hey Carmen,” said Cate when she spotted them. “You have no idea how lucky we were back there. Honestly I’m not sure why we aren’t under arrest right now for sneaking into that place.”

“Yeah,” said Ramón. “I guess it’s because the people of Johto are so nice…”

Carmen put her face in her hands. “Ramón, are you serious?” Sometimes his obliviousness was charming, but other times it was just unbelievable.

“About what?” he asked in complete earnestness.

“Ugh, nevermind,” said Carmen. He really didn’t realize that the only reason he and Cate weren’t in jail was that the temple guardians had a crush on him.

“All right then,” said Ramón. “Who’s your friend there?”

Carmen looked back to see that Kerry was just as enraptured by Ramón as the guardians were. Did her brother really have this kind of affect on girls? It was almost scary.

“Oh, right, I’m Kerry,” she managed to choke out when she had pulled herself out of her trance.

“This is my brother Ramón and our friend Cate,” Carmen said to Kerry. “Kerry was showing me around the city,” she explained.

“Really?” said Cate. “What was your favorite thing so far?”

“There was plenty to see but I guess the legend of the Brass and Tin Towers were my favorite,” said Carmen.

“What’s this?” said Ramón in mock disbelief. “You? You found the legend interesting after you told Mom it was silly?”

“Yes,” said Carmen as Kerry laughed. “And from the way Kerry explained it, I’m forced to admit that the legendary Pokémon of Johto exist.”

Dead silence from Ramón and Cate followed this proclamation. Then, Ramón smiled.

“This is amazing! Kerry, I want to thank you. You’ve done what I’ve never could in years,” he said happily. “I can’t believe you’re now a believer!”

“Over–dramatic much?” Carmen muttered. “And don’t push it. It’s only the legendary Pokémon here.”

But Ramón didn’t care. “This is cause for a celebration! Kerry I’d be honored if you and your wonderful Clefable would join us for dinner,” he said.

“I’d love to,” said Kerry, glowing.

“Now we just need to get Nemo and we’ll be off,” and then Ramón was off, leaving everyone else behind.

“Don’t even ask,” said Carmen before Kerry could say anything. “He just does that.”

OOC: And if anyone notices any inconsistencies between this fic and The Chronicles of Giselle Valentine specifically, PM me. Anything else can be said here ^^

 

[Plapti]

Very nice. Love ho you've introduced a new character and what takes place between Carmen and the couple that ran into her.

I can't wait for the next one. Swicked job.

 

[Stark]

So is Kerry a new team member, Final Fantasy style so to speak?

Still, I was reeeeeeally hoping for some epic double battle when Sienna and Isidore showed up, but maybe that is still to come.

Great job!

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Interlude

The room was filled with delicate things: the beautifully painted paper lanterns that hung from the ceiling, the sweet aroma of burning incense, the dried flowers in their pretty vases, the Bellossom who was acting as decoration. The fragile looking Pokémon in this room seemed to fit in with the décor perfectly. She seemed as though she would break if touched. But the Pokémon's inner strength belied her elegant and delicate looks.

Gardevoir took a break from the rest of her family and friends to be alone for just a little while. The atmosphere around them was emotionally charged: anger, happiness, annoyance, sadness, secrecy, regret, hopefulness, anxiety, curiosity, timidity. At times, Gardevoir found her empathy to be burdensome. She is far better with it than she was when she was younger; that is shown by the fact that she can handle a crowd of strangers without becoming overwhelmed. But when those who are close to her are wound up emotionally, sometimes she needed a slight interlude to get the feelings sorted out.

Gardevoir's friend, Carmen, who was also her human, was in another room of the building with everyone else. She could still feel their thoughts and emotions but from a distance. Now that she was alone, Gardevoir decided to examine the things in this room for her surroundings were still very unfamiliar. The glass figurines were particularly fascinating to her. They really were as delicate as they appeared. Gardevoir remembered a conversation that she had with Blaziken when he was just a Torchic and she, a Ralts. He wondered why humans would like things that were so delicate and so breakable. She remembered that she told him maybe it symbolized the how life was delicate and breakable. He called her silly.

Blaziken…He had been worrying her lately. All of the Pokémon were concerned about Carmen., but Blaziken probably worried most and he was being a bit moody about it. Ever since that incident in which she had been Pokénapped…She never really talked about it that much and Gardevoir had long believed she couldn't talk about it even if she wanted. Gardevoir herself didn't know all the details because she had been knocked out, but something happened. But no one would talk about it and whenever the subject came up, Gardevoir sensed the fear.

Carmen had been different since then. All of the Pokémon felt closer to her afterward, but there was now some sort of eerie presence…something Gardevoir couldn't pinpoint exactly or rationalize. Some times were worse than others, but lately the dark presence had been growing more and more. She wasn't sure if Carmen herself knew what it was, or could even feel it. Gardevoir and Blaziken certainly could and she had the feeling Carmen's brother could as well. Presence or no, it never got it the way of the close relationship they all shared.

Gardevoir closed her eyes and prepared to wipe everything from her mind, but that wasn't to last. Another life form had entered the room, and an unhappy one at that. Gardevoir had turned to face the new being, an Espeon, who was slightly irritated because of the smell of the incense and the Bellossom. Some Pokémon felt that watching their fellow Pokémon act as decoration was demeaning and an insult to all Pokémon. The Espeon gave one great menacing hiss at the Bellosom and it burst into tears before running off.

"That was rude, do you not think?" asked Gardevoir.

The Espeon jumped, startled. But her shock quickly turned to annoyance. "Don't scare me like that! Where did you materialize from anyway?"

"I was in this room before you arrived," Gardevoir replied, puzzled. "And you have the power to sense me; why did you not?" Espeon did, after all, have the same basic abilities that Gardevoir had.

"Hmph," grunted Espeon.

She seemed so full of anger and Gardevoir was shocked to sense that some of that anger was directed at her. But why?

"Get out of my head!" Espeon growled.

"I am not in your head; I am merely reading the emotion in the air. It is so second nature I do not think about it," said Gardevoir. "But the fact that you could tell I was reading something proves that your sensing ability is not completely dead."

For a moment Espeon looked stunned—as though someone had told her she was the most horrible Pokémon on the planet. She growled again.

"Why are you so angry at me?" asked Gardevoir, for the Espeon was now even looking at her with intense loathing.

"Because I hate you all that's why!" Espeon screeched. Gardevoir was glad that the other humans and Pokémon were too distracted to notice what was happening here.

"That still is not telling me why," said Gardevoir calmly.

"I hate all of you creatures with that power!" Espeon said viciously.

"Power? You mean my psychic abilities? At least, that is what humans call it," Gardevoir said. "And that is self-hatred is it not?"

"No, not really. Outside of battle, I don't use those abilities," said Espeon with unhealthy pride. "I hate even using it then, but I do for my master."

"Why?" was Gardevoir's simple question, and what an answer she received.

"The thought of using the weapons," she practically spit out the word, "that those monsters used to hurt us is disgusting."

"Wait," said Gardevoir. "Who was it that hurt you?"

"Those humans," Espeon began. "I mean the ones that only used us for making money and for hurting people. We never understood why they did it. They treated us like we were less than living creatures with all the abuse they heaped on us. And when any of us would try to rebel against the humans, they had their Psychic power Pokémon to get in our heads to shut us up. Some Pokémon ended up getting messed up in the head.

"When we were both Eevee, my younger brother and I were among those Pokémon," Espeon continued. "And sometimes the humans would abuse him just for the fun of it. I couldn't even do anything about it because they'd just sick those Pokémon on the both of us if I tried."

Gardevoir didn't say anything. She had decided to just let Espeon talk because this was probably the first time she had ever told anyone this. This would also make Espeon feel better.

"I made two vows to my little brother," Espeon said sadly. "One was to escape these humans, and the other was to evolve into Umbreon so that those Pokémon would never touch us again. I only managed to fulfill one of them and you can tell which it was. My brother and I escaped while the humans were transporting us in this disgusting truck. We ran into the woods, not sure if they'd send those Pokémon after us, so we hid for a while.

"After about two weeks we went back into the open. I was so happy I was able to keep my promise to my brother and for the first time in a great while, we were able to do what we want without worrying about the abuse. Then one day at twilight while we were gazing at the rising moon, I started to evolve, but I immediately knew something was wrong. I'd heard rumors of Pokémon being strong enough to stop evolution. Apparently I was one of the weak ones because the next thing I knew I was this creature."

Gardevoir looked at Espeon intently. She knew about the Pokémon that regretted evolving into the Pokémon they'd evolved into. In fact her own brother was torn about whether he should evolve into a Gallade or a Gardevoir. He was still in doubt even after he'd made his decision, but eventually he came to terms with and enjoys being what he had become.

"I've never been so angry and disappointed in my life. I saw the moon so why wasn't I an Umbreon? Then I felt the heat from the setting sun on my back. I've been pissed about it ever since. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. Not long afterward we were caught in a flood that came out of no where, a-and we were separated." Espeon looked down at the ground. "I searched and searched but I haven't seen him since. Something is telling me that he's still alive, but I can't find him."

Espeon didn't speak for a bit after that and she still looked irritated. But nevertheless, the atmosphere changed subtly. The anger Espeon felt was no longer directed at Gardevoir, so she felt it safe to speak again.

"How did you meet your human?" Gardevoir asked.

Espeon looked up and for an instant, Gardevoir saw her eyes soften. "I used to hate all humans, but my master helped me when I was close to death. I told myself I'd leave him as soon as I got back strong, but I realized that he had issues just like I did. I couldn't bring myself to leave him so we stayed together."

"Why do you call him master?" said Gardevoir. "He doesn't seem like the "master" type," she added as she listened to Espeon's human scream at Carmen's brother for teasing him.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to call your human?" asked Espeon, annoyed.

"Well, it is contingent on your relationship and the beings involved," said Gardevoir thoughtfully. "Some Pokémon call their humans teacher; other's pack leader; still others refer to their human as their partner in crime and I have even heard owner as if they were but pets and nothing more to their human. There are many other descriptions out there. But master is harder to define. Usually the relationship is cold and that does not describe your relationship with your human. You clearly feel something for him."

Espeon thought for a second. "Then what do you call your human?" she asked Gardevoir.

"I call her friend," said Gardevoir and Espeon scoffed.

"You call a human friend?"asked Espeon who nearly laughed.

"Our relationship fits the definition of friendship," said Gardevoir methodically. "We aren't blood related but we're still close. We go out our way to help each other—even risking our lives for each other. We keep each other's secrets and we talk and spend together. Carmen and I make each other feel better emotionally. That constitutes a friend to me."

Espeon was speechless for a while, perhaps thinking about the relationship with her human. "I guess that would make Nemo and me friends. He helped me when no one else would, and I stayed with him when no one else would. I also keep his secrets, like his real name."

"Sounds like a friend to me too," agreed Gardevoir. "But I assume he does not know about all the terrible things you went through."

"No," said Espeon. "He's a human. I can't really communicate with him well."

"Ah," Gardevoir breathed. "That is where you are wrong. We Pokémon can become so close to our humans that we can understand each other. But we have an added advantage of being Psychic."

At the word psychic, Espeon sneered.

"Espeon, Dark types like Umbreon may have the best protection against psychic power, but that does not mean we are completely vulnerable to it ourselves," Gardevoir explained.

"What do you mean?" asked Espeon quickly.

"When two Pokémon face each other with their psychic abilities, the one with the more powerful abilities prevails," Gardevoir said. "Do you know what that means?"

"Yes," said Espeon, an epiphany breaking over her. "That means if I let my abilities get stronger, Pokémon with psychic power will have a harder time getting into my head."

"Correct," said Gardevoir happily. "So become one with your abilities and use them more. As you gain more experience with them, they will grow stronger. You would be a more efficient battler and you could better protect Nemo and yourself."

Espeon looked hopeful at the prospect of being more useful and being able to better defend the ones she loved. "And just maybe if I can sense things better, I could find my brother."

"Just maybe," repeated Gardevoir. "And I would be happy to help you get stronger."

"That would be…helpful," Espeon said.

Just then, Carmen entered the room. "Ah, here you are! I've been looking all over for you and Espeon. Dinner is finally ready, so come join us."

"We are coming, Carmen," said Gardevoir as she and Espeon followed her back to the rest of the family.

 

[Plapti]

Interesting spin Carmen. Love the idea you took. Very sweet.

Nice job. What's next?

 

[Chibi]

Oooh. Me likes the pokemon POV. It is very intresting, and for me, fun. I also like how you explained what some pokemon call their trainers, partners-in-crime was the funniest ^^ Will you be doing any more pokemon POVs?

 

[Carmen Lopez]

It's a secret, Chibi :3
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This is not a four word post[/size]

 

[Midnight Shadows]

Pokemons POV....awesome

Espeons view is interesting

 

[Haileyvoir]

I love this story. Completely. I shall now read it like it's a school assignment that costs an entire grade. But more fun.

And you made a chapter with Gardevoir as a central character. ILU

...ANYWAYS, I know I didn't read the first story, but I don't care. This story seems good enough that I don't NEED to read it...Kinda...Lemme be right.

I also love the concept of people not believing in Legendaries. In pretty much every fic I read Legendaries exist, no ifs-ands-or buts. I like your take on the matter.

...You also made a chapter with Gardevoir as a central character. ILU MORE.

 

[Stark]

...ANYWAYS, I know I didn't read the first story, but I don't care. This story seems good enough that I don't NEED to read it...Kinda...Lemme be right.

You're wrong, go read it It's so worth it.

Great new chapter, interesting that you used the Psychic's viewpoint instead of the humans. It created a nice effect and a good break from human chatter

 

[Pheonix]

Carmen, you amaze me with your writing ability!

You put together such great character development and the fact that you can even do an aside like this to show everything from a perspective we really aren't used to seeing is absolutely stupendous. Keep up the great work! I am anxiously awaiting the next chapter.

...ANYWAYS, I know I didn't read the first story, but I don't care. This story seems good enough that I don't NEED to read it...Kinda...Lemme be right.

You are right, you don't need to read it, but you really should! Considering this story is essentially a continuation of the previous one, taking on the adventures of one of the main characters after the fact, you might come to appreciate even more what is going on here. That and Carmen is one of the best fanfic writers I have seen.

 

[Picnicker Virgil]

I guess I haven't posted in here. Anyways, just wanted to say that I've been reading this and that it's really good stuff.


It seems to me that you really study the Pokémon that appear in your fics before putting them in, which is cool. I like the part with Gardevoir and Espeon, it explained a lot.

 

[Teapot]

Wow, that's an awesome spin - I loved the insight into the Pokémon's minds.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

I almost died laughing when even Espeon called the kid Nemo. But I see there's a reason for that now. What's up with that boy anyway?

Pokemon perspective is win and a nice change of pace. It's always nice to see what our 'partners-in-crime' are thinking. I look foward to more Ms. Carmen.

 

[Carmen Lopez]

After Carmen had found Gardevoir and Espeon, she returned to the dining room with everyone else. Dinner was very pleasant that night. The restaurant was very nice and had the biggest dining room that Carmen had ever seen. Even better, the place was nearly empty so they had most of it to themselves. Kerry had told them that this was not a traditional restaurant because people didn't kneel on cushions to eat, and that it was one of the best in the city. They all found the waiters and waitresses very polite, but they were slightly alarmed that they had let some of their Pokémon out.

"Well, here in Johto it isn't heard of for people to actually eat with their Pokémon in civilian restaurants," said Kerry. "At private residences or for a trainer on the road, it's a bit more common."

"I figured that out when I first got here," said Ramón serenely. "More than a few people were afraid of Claydol when we were eating at a restaurant. But I never let that bother me."

"In Sinnoh and, from what I know, Hoenn, it's very common," said Carmen who was watching Drapion, the largest of the Pokémon in the room, steal a piece of chicken from her plate. "The Pokémon follow the same rules as humans: as long as you're civilized, you can stay. Right Gardevoir?" and she agreed.

"I remember reading a story in one of Ramón's books about that subject," Cate said. "It stated that there was once no difference between humans and Pokémon. I can definitely see how Sinnoh's modern culture reflects that. I think Johto is trying to emulate Sinnoh and Hoenn in that respect for two reasons. The first is that people are really starting see that that is the respect that we need to have for Pokémon. The second is that Johto is trying to fully separate from Kanto."

"And we should. Besides, Espeon has been more of a help than humans have a lot of the time," said Nemo fiercely as Espeon hissed in agreement.

Carmen was thoroughly enjoying the conversation but she couldn't help but feel that there was still a sort of weight she was carrying. But how could that be? When she had found Gardevoir and Espeon, she noticed that the atmosphere around them was more hopeful. Gardevoir seemed happier and even Espeon didn't seem as angry. Alas, Carmen decided to put it behind her and focus on the dinner. In addition to Drapion and Gardevoir, Porygon-Z was also floating around, just as Carmen had said. She wished she had a laptop with her to really show off its abilities, but that didn't stop everyone from being curious anyway.

"I don't think I've ever seen you battle with it before," said Ramón. "Does it battle anything like it did as a Porygon2?"

"For the most part, yes," answered Carmen. "But its attacks are far more powerful now. Tomorrow…at that dojo, I can show you in a battle." And the little spark was there again.

Ramón smiled at her words. "Sounds like a good idea. And Porygon-Z isn't all that bad. It just goes with the flow." He poked it and it drifted aimlessly in the opposite direction. "But I'll never like the idea of man made Pokémon, I'm afraid."

"Ah, well," said Carmen. "I guess that's a compromise."

She looked around at the rest of the Pokémon that were around the table. Drapion had a very healthy appetite, especially for meat, so Carmen had made sure to order him extra. He also loved to wreck things which used to cause him (and Carmen) problems. However once Carmen was able to channel that into battling, he became a very powerful, very vicious physical fighter. Nevertheless, he passed up the opportunity to destroy something whenever Carmen asked. Gardevoir, meanwhile, was eating berries Carmen had taken with her from Sinnoh with Espeon. Carmen laughed when Espeon bit into a Rabuta Berry and gagged.

"Here, try this," said Cate, holding out a Figy Berry. Espeon was hesitant to take it but loved it once she'd taken a bite.

"Espeon likes those berries?" asked Nemo.

"She enjoys spicy berries to be more general," said Carmen.

"That makes sense," said Nemo happily, yet loudly. "She seems to like hot sauce a lot."

"Your Espeon just seems to even more unlike other Espeon," said Kerry, smiling. Zara was still hiding by Kerry because she was too shy to socialize with anyone else.

"That just makes her cooler," said Nemo proudly and Carmen thought she saw Espeon smile with her eyes.

After dinner and after everyone except Nemo had recalled their Pokémon, Kerry led them to an absolutely gorgeous garden in the city. If time in Ecruteak moved slowly, time appeared to have stopped here. The sakura were in full bloom now and the beautiful white flowers seemed to glow in the light of the full moon. Kelpsy and Pomeg Berry plants dotted the walk way. Carmen had rarely seen them this vivid before. Pokémon that possessed flowers and petals were now sleeping gently—all except the Vileplume. At the sight of people they began using Moonlight for their viewing pleasure. Glowing sparkles seemed to descend from the night sky and into their lovely flowers. A gentle spring bubbled peacefully a short distance away.

"How pretty," said Cate. "I've never seen this garden by moonlight before. It's amazing."

"This would be a good area to mediate," said Ramón as he petted one of the Vileplume.

"Espeon! Leave the Vileplume alone!" hissed Nemo to Espeon who was snarling and threatening to tackle one.

Carmen meanwhile just took in the scenery. It reminded Carmen of their garden at home, which was a combination of Sinnoh and Johto traditions. Reina and Ramón claimed that the legendary Pokémon Mesprit often visited the garden. It was here that then five year old Reina wandered when she was sick and alleged to have seen the fairy like Pokémon with her own eyes…

"I also have a song I'd like to play," said Kerry quietly as she pulled out a flute from her bag. "It's called Lugia's Song."

Cate, Ramón, and even Nemo all had a somber expression at her words. It didn't take Carmen long to find out why when Kerry began to play. An ethereal sound enveloped the garden and even penetrated to Carmen very bones. She remembered this song: their mother had hummed it to them as a lullaby when they were little. But this was different and that was no ordinary flute. The sound it made was simply indescribable. Kerry's playing had power yet was so very gentle. Everyone was soothed by it—even the Pokémon. Espeon looked fair less tense and no longer looked at the Vileplume in malice. A trio of Murkrow had landed on a nearby tree branch to listen; not even bothering to go after the shiny flute. They merely listened to Kerry's playing and focused on nothing else for the longest time. So when she finally finished, it took them all a while to become fully conscious once more.

"The song…I feel more spiritually powerful. Thanks Kerry!" said Ramón and Kerry blushed. Carmen knew that he was referring to his psychic power while Kerry didn't.

"I feel more relaxed myself," said Cate.

"Well you know what?" said Nemo excitedly. "It made me feel like battling, so who DARES to challenge me!?"

"No one," everyone else said at the same time.

"Well FINE then," said Nemo, folding his arms.

"Nemo, you see, we're in a very special moment," said Ramón. "Do you really want to interrupt our special moment?" Then he gave Nemo a rather unnerving smile.

"Creepy," Nemo said, perturbed. "I'll battle someone in the dojo tomorrow then, sheesh!"

Kerry laughed. "I love how Lugia's Song has the ability to relax some and energize others. Lugia will sometimes sing the song from deep within the Whirl Island caves. It is said to bring tears to the eyes of anyone who hears it."

They all murmured in amazement. They were all making plans for what they were going to do tomorrow when Kerry looked at her watch and gasped.

"Oh no! When did it get this late! I have to be in my dormitory in TEN minutes!" she said horrified. "Meet me at the same place tomorrow at 3:30 Carmen," she called as she was running off.

"I guess we should find ourselves a place to sleep," said Carmen. "I guess the Pokémon Center would work." Cate and Ramón agreed.

"All right then it's settled," said Nemo hyper-actively. "Let's race each other Espeon." And they too sped off into the night."

"Where in the world does he get his energy?" asked Cate, intrigued. "At least the center isn't hard to find. Let's head out, as well."

"You go ahead," said Ramón. "I'm going to mediate here for a little while."

"Are you sure?" asked Carmen.

He laughed "You're worried about me? That's so nice. But no one is going to see me." He used his powers to levitate some flower petals before releasing them to the wind. "I'll make sure of it."

"If you say so," said Carmen. In the back of her mind, she sincerely hoped he had the ability to erase people's memories or some other power in case he was seen.

Cate and Carmen turned back and walked toward the direction in which Nemo had run. Ecruteak was very peaceful at nighttime for a city of its size. Cate said that was because the nightlife here wasn't as active and that the only people out now where mainly looking at the scenery or watching a show of some kind.

"So perhaps there is actually a low chance of Ramón being seen," Carmen said quietly.

"Maybe," agreed Cate. "Plus he has heightened senses so he could tell if someone is coming a long way off."

"Heightened senses?" said Carmen dubiously. "He must have the ability to turn them on and off because he sure doesn't use them all the time."

"You're right about that," said Cate. "You should ask him more about it. I bet he'd like to tell you himself."

"I'll bet he would," said Carmen. "By the way, have you had any remote visions or visions of the future?"

"As a matter of fact I had a vision of the future," said Cate. "I see us in Olivine City and, from the mood of it, we've just had some sort of adventure."

"And you didn't see what we encountered?" asked Carmen.

"Not this time," answered Cate simply.

They made some plans about what they would do tomorrow, which included eating breakfast in the great outdoors the next morning. A little while later, they found themselves at the Pokémon Center. It was made in the same design as the historic looking buildings around them, so it appeared to be from another times as well. The inside looked just like any other Pokémon Center however, except for the magnificent portrait of Ho-Oh hanging over the front desk.

"Hey! What took you guys so long? I've been waiting for about fifteen minutes." It was Nemo.

"For one, we weren't running," Carmen pointed out. "And you can't have been here that long."

Nemo opened his mouth as though he were about to say something, then closed it. "Where is your creepy brother?

"He's said he was going to meditate at the garden for a while," Carmen told him.

"Hmph," he said, suddenly. "I'm going to my room now. Come on Espeon."

"You know what?" said Cate. "I'm not normally the prodding or the confrontational type, but I say we try to get something out of him tomorrow. Doesn't it feel like he's hiding something?"

"It does," Carmen agreed. "It's like he's running from something."

~ ~ ~​

Cate and Carmen woke up the next morning and packed their backpacks, and made two discoveries. Nemo had vanished without saying a word and Ramón never came to the Pokémon Center last night. Carmen found she wasn't too worried about either of them. If he wanted, Nemo would manage to mysteriously find his way back to them. If he didn't want to, there was really nothing they could do about it, though Carmen had to admit she was curious about him now, too. She wasn't worried about Ramón because he'd probably gotten carried away with his meditation or distracted by something else entirely. And sure enough, as soon as Cate and Carmen stepped out of the Pokémon Center, Ramón came running up to them.

"Oh, good, I caught you," he said breathlessly. It looked like he ran the entire way, and plenty of people were staring.

"What happened to you?" asked Carmen who probably already knew the answer.

"While I was meditating last night, I had a sort of epiphany," Ramón began. "If you'll remember I couldn't lift heavy objects with my telekinesis—

"I never really noticed," said Carmen. Now that she thought about it, the heaviest thing she'd seen him lift was her cell phone.

"But last night I felt something in my mind clear. A-and I levitated!" he said, as though he still couldn't believe it. "So now I can lift objects that are my weight or under."

"Wow Ramón," said Cate. "That's amazing!"

"I'm so happy about it," he said. "And not only that, I managed to sense Reina the clearest I've ever been able to. I can feel that she's excited about something."

"I wonder what about," Carmen said, but she didn't have to wonder for long. Her cell phone began to ring and Carmen was amazed to see that it was a message from Reina. "Ha, take a look at this," said Carmen as she held it over to Ramón and Cate.


‘Carmen, Carmen, Carmen, GUESS WHAT!?! I forgot to tell you earlier but Luz and I are going to HOENN. Steven Stone here I come!' read Reina's message.


"Well, she certainly seems excited in that message," Cate laughed.

"I'm really in a good mood now," Ramón said happily. "It feels like my powers have increased ten-fold."

"Even your heighten senses?" asked Carmen as they began walking toward the city walls. "How do they work? Cate told me you had them."

"She did? Nice," he said. "Anyway, it generally only works when I'm in danger of some kind. Then, my powers make my sense of hearing, sight, smell, touch, and even taste sharper. It's like the physical manifestation of my abnormal perception—only it's involuntary unlike my emotional perceptiveness."

"When did you first figure out you had to be in danger?" Carmen asked, trying to not to get too lost in his words.

"I had a run in with some shady individuals in Sinnoh a while back," he answered loosely.

"Oh," said Carmen. For some reason, she chose not to press him any further and instead just concentrated on her walk. They learned that the quickest way to reach the woods was to walk toward Tin Tower. Suddenly, Ramón stopped them.

"What are you doing?" Carmen asked bewildered.

"Nemo's coming," he said.

"You can sense him now?" groaned Carmen.

And not surprisingly, when they turned around, they saw Nemo and Espeon running towards them. He seemed very disappointed that he'd been spotted.

Ramón smiled. "Did you want to sneak up us?"

"No," he lied flatly.

"Where have you been?"

"Around."

Now it was Cate's turn to smile. "Nemo, Nemo, Nemo. Why won't you tell us anything?"

Nemo quickly went on the defensive. "And why on earth would I tell you guys anything? I haven't even known you for three days yet."

"Weeeeee'll come back to that later," said Ramón. "Let's just focus on finding a nice place to eat."

Ecruteak City was gorgeous in the golden morning sun. It warmed them as they walked eastward toward Tin Tower. Here, they passed a more residential area. Parents were walking their young children to school. It rather reminded Carmen of how their mom used to walk them to school, and how Ramón and Isabel would always insist on going alone. Tin Tower looked elegant in the sunlight. Carmen looked at the very top and tried to imagine Ho-oh at the top even though Kerry said it hadn't been seen in a very long time. It didn't take them long until they were actually in front of the tower.

"I wonder if Ho-Oh and Lugia would have stayed had Brass Tower not burned down," said Carmen.

"I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth," said Ramón in awe.

Carmen groaned.

"But to answer your question," said Ramón. "I don't believe they would've stayed. The story goes that Brass Tower burned in a mysterious fire and that Ho-Oh will only return when it finds a trainer with a pure heart. Maybe Ho-Oh and Lugia grew fed up with the state of the world and left."

"And Ho-Oh took its tower with it? That's a radical thought," said Carmen.

"Hence why it isn't a popular theory," Cate said shrewdly.

"Hmmm," said Nemo. "I actually like that theory."

"Why?" asked Ramón.

Nemo shrugged. "Well, the people wouldn't quit being idiots so Ho-Oh left and burned down its tower and left. That's really cool. It sounds like the kind of thing an anti-hero would do."

Ramón tilted his head slightly, interested before looking toward the entrance of the tower and at the monk guarding it. "One day I'm going to gain entry to that tower. I'm not leaving Johto until I do."

"Even if it takes years?" asked Carmen.

"Even if it takes years," said Ramón smiling.

Carmen sighed. "You and Reina are a lot alike. She's probably not going to leave Hoenn until she finds Steven. That's one of the reasons she wanted to go in the first place."

"And look who's talking," said Ramón, amused. "Think about why you came to Johto in the first place."

Carmen had to admit he had a point. She knew Johto held answers for her, but it wasn't that she didn't want to leave. It was that she couldn't even if she wanted to. With one last glance at the tower in front of them, they turned and strayed off the path into the woods. The trees here weren't quite as thick as the ones around Ramón's house so sunlight was able to reach the ground in places, illuminating the morning dew.

"Look, there's a good place," said Cate pointing. It was a wide circular grassy clearing surrounded by trees. Everyone unpacked things from their bags and spread it out on a blanket Cate had brought. They also released their Pokémon. Ramón decided go on a quick fly on Suna before eating. Nemo spotted some berries and went to see if they were the kind Espeon liked. In addition to Hakan, who was lying beside her, Cate also had a Togekiss who greatly impressed Carmen.

"Amazing," Carmen said. "They're so rare that this is only second Togekiss I've ever seen in person."

"Her name is Jubilee," Cate said. "Hakan actually came across the egg while we were traveling through the Ruins of Alph. She's really sweet too."

"She sounds like my Dragonite," Carmen noted, as she and Cate sat down beside each other. Jubilee and Dragonite seemed to get a long well together.

"It's interesting that even though you're psychic, you don't have any Psychic Pokémon," Carmen noted.

"I suppose it is," said Cate. "But I did take care of a Natu for a friend a while back. But I've noticed something about you, Carmen. Your Pokémon don't have nicknames. Why is that?"

"Well, my Milotic is named Nerrisa," Carmen replied. "But I don't know why I didn't nickname the others. I'm unique among my siblings in that respect."

"Would you like your Pokémon to have names?" asked Cate.

"I guess…if the right name came along," said Carmen.

They looked up and saw Nemo returning with an armload of Tomato Berries. He sat down on the blanket across from them and put the berries down. Espeon happily ate one.

"Say, what would happen if I ate one of these?" asked Nemo.

"I wouldn't advise it," said Carmen. "They're really spicy. I've only seen one person eat one raw and that was my older sister."

"Well, maybe I'm the same way!" said Nemo eagerly. And before they could stop him, he took a huge bit out of one. Almost instantly his face turned as red as his hair and his blue eyes began to water. Cate said nothing, but gave him a bottle of water which Nemo downed in one gulp.

"Looks like you're not like my sister," said Carmen.

"Oh, shut up," said Nemo, gasping.

Breakfast was fairly enjoyable in the beginning. They had a laugh at Nendoru and Porygon-Z. The two Pokémon appeared to be having a staring contest and it was thoroughly creeping out the other Pokémon. Of course, it was always possible that they could actually be having a conversation, but you really couldn't tell with those two. Ramón finally joined them and grossed them all out by eating something of his creation. Whatever it was a disgusting green color and he ate like it was gourmet.

"Ramón, I thought you said your cooking had improved," Carmen said slowly.

"And it has," said Ramón. "Taste it!" he added as he shoved it under her nose.

"Ugh, no thanks," said Carmen, pushing it away. Instead she ate the sandwich she had packed back at the Pokémon Center which she shared with Gardevoir and Blaziken.

Cate stayed true to her promise to try to get some information out of Nemo. After she finished eating a burrito she'd made, she turned to him.

"So where are you from Nemo?" she asked.

He ignored her and continued to eat his sandwich. Ramón decided to join in.

"What's the harm in telling us where you're from?" he asked. "You know that Cate is from Violet City and Carmen and I are from a village on Verity Lakefront in Sinnoh. I mean seriously, if you're on witness protection or something, you can tell us."

Nemo glared at them. "Why do you want to know? It's not like it'll help you any."

"If you're overly suspicious and overly hide things, it makes people very…curious," said Cate. "It makes people ask more questions.

Again, Nemo ignored her. Espeon looked from Ramón to Cate—getting ready to attack if they bothered her trainer too much.

"Nemo," Ramón said. "You seem to be a loner yet you travel with us. That means you trust us a little deep inside of you. Enough trust to tell us where you're from anyway."

But he remained silent until they finished breakfast. It wasn't until they were clearing up that he finally spoke again—but it was in a low mumble that no one heard.

"What?" said Ramón. "I didn't catch that Nemo."

"Alto Mare," he still said quietly, but clearer. "I'm from Alto Mare." He didn't look up from the ground.

"That's one of the prettiest cities in world," breathed Cate. "What was it like living there?"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Nemo said gruffly.

"All right then," said Cate. "Shall we head to the Dojo now?"

"Yeah," said Nemo. His expression brightened immediately.

After they made sure they'd left nothing behind, they returned back to the city to go to the Dojo. Carmen was going to battle with Porygon-Z just as she had promised because Ramón was eager to see. Nemo was now so excited he nearly collided with Kerry and Zara as they were coming out of the dance theatre they were passing.

"Oh, hello Nemo," said Kerry as she composed herself. She looked much differently when she was in her school uniform which consisted of a simple white shirt and black jumper.

"Where did you come from anyway?" Nemo asked rather rudely.

"Quiet Nemo," Carmen scolded. "That wouldn't have happened if you were watching where you were going. And Kerry I thought we weren't supposed to meet until later."

"Well," began Kerry who was blushed at the sight of Ramón. "My roommates and I forgot that we didn't have school today. Needless to say we were upset when we got to school and no one was there because we'd gotten up early for nothing. Everyone else could get back to sleep but I couldn't so I came back to the dance studio.

"You're more than welcome to come with us," Carmen offered. "We're going to the Dojo."

"Oh great! I'd love to see a battle," said Kerry excitedly.

The Dojo was right down the street from the dance theater and sound of battling could be heard from the outside. Carmen pushed open the paper door and they entered. The place was enormous with several doors which presumably split into different arenas. It greatly reminded Carmen of the Coliseum in Veilstone City. The room in which they were standing appeared to be the reception area. Carmen had to sign it and fully expected to have to wait for an opening and was surprised when she didn't. The woman at the desk directed her to the room in the center. When they entered it, they saw a pretty large crowd of people in the stands, the referee, and Carmen's opponent.

"Finally, someone arrives…"

It was a girl around Carmen's age and height with shoulder length blonde hair. She was rail thin but strength seemed to emanate from her—especially from her sharp green eyes. She was wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a black and pink striped vest. A medal pinned to her vest glinted in the light. Carmen recognized it immediately.

"You're a Johto League champion," said Carmen, smiling slightly.

"And you're a Sinnoh League champion," the girl said, thrilled. "This battle will be good. My name is Madalyn." She held out a differently colored Pokéball while Carmen pulled out Porygon-Z's Pokéball.

"Good luck, Carmen," said Ramón. "We're heading to the stands now."

Madalyn and Carmen took their places on opposite sides of the arena and released their Pokémon. Porygon-Z appeared in a flash of light motionless and soundless. Madalyn had released a Weavile who flexed her razor-sharp claws as soon as she appeared from the light. She had one large scar that vertically crossed the center of her right eye. Weavile looked nothing short vicious which contrasted greatly with Porygon-Z's utter lack of emotion.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Carmen felt the full rush of battle in her. It was like she was flying. She looked across the arena at Madalyn and they locked eyes. Everyone in the room felt the power both girls exuded and they were eager to see what this battle held in store for them.

OOC: The next chapter (and probably the one after that) will have more action. Sorry if this one was a little slow.

 

[Plapti]

Suspense builds. And the Alto Mare reference. Are you going to link something with this fic and Alto Mare?

Do also realize, you don't have to answer the question.

Nice job. What's next in the battle?

 

[Psycho Monkey]

I get more attached every chapter. You are a magnificent writer.

Thanks to a certain action done by Kerry, I couldn't resist going to youtube and listening to Lugia's song myself .

Porygon Z vs. Weavile looks like it's going to be an interesting battle. I can't wait.