Pokemon Saro

Part 4: A Glaring Mistake

As May walked down the stone path that had followed the room, she tried to work out what she was feeling. Not quite sadness, not quite happiness, not exactly anger or relief.... it was a feeling of unease. The feeling that screamed lack of trust. The feeling that bellowed out insecure. All in silence.
May was beginning to get scared. Not of the elite four, but of what came after that. A world in which she couldn't trust anyone, yet had to be everyone's saviour. And she was going blind, from a memory loss which was stopping the only happy future she was heading for. Yet more silence.
May gently pushed the door at the end of the stone path. Inside was a man who would've been in his late thirties. His hat covered most of his eyes in shade, and his jacket was unbuttoned. He had a very impressive moustache. By his attire he had been in this room for some time now; he looked relaxed, yet itching to get back to what he was doing.
He looked down at May. "Hello, May," the man said, "I heard about what you did at the Sky Pillar, so you don't need to explain your memory loss to me. I'm Drake."
A new memory formed in May's mind. Yet another unknown place (at this point they might as well all be the same place), May was doing more training, and Drake and several other people had come to train that day. It wasn't much to go on, but it meant she could trust him.
"Hi. I'm just passing through today so I'm not gonna really chat much," May said, making for the other door.
"Ok. Just make sure to stay safe and stay positive," Drake called over to her.
May left the room, and as she walked along the next path she thought about how utterly cool this room was. Lava coursing around 3 metres below her, the archway she had just left having a massive dragon carving on it, the path making a really satisfying noise below her... it was a brilliant distraction from what she had been thinking about.
The sudden temperature change in the next room startled May. Coming from a room filled with lava, it felt even colder than it actually was. Within this room was a young woman with hair as pale as her skin - which was so pale that May, if she didn't know this woman was a healer, probably would've sworn that she never went outside. Her dress was woven in a silky purple, similar but not exactly the same to the colour of Courtney's hair. She would've been in her late twenties. She was solving a puzzle cube when May entered.
The woman smiled at May. "Hello. I'm Glacia."
She was not one to talk that much either, apparently.
However, this was enough for May to remember. All that she really remembered was the same scene with Drake, but another tiny one popped up. Glacia was in what appeared to be a restaurant, and was eating noodles. May didn't really know why she had this memory.
"Sorry to be quick, but I'm just passing through for today."
Glacia nodded. "Good luck."
May adored the next room. The path was pure ice, a substance her shoes had been made to slip over easily. May zipped down the path, her hair blowing behind her. It was a burst of energy she had really needed.
The next room creeped May out the moment she set foot in it. She could've sworn there was a flickering form of a girl in the chair by the door.
The healer inside this room was a girl who must've been around sixteen. All she wore was a bikini and a blue skirt and some giant pink flowers on either side of her hair. Her dark skin fitted her clothing well. She appeared to be daydreaming.
May remembered to her conversation with Wallace.
"Sidney, Phoebe, Glacia and Drake."
Drake and Glacia were crossed off, leaving Sidney and Phoebe. By process of elimination (which was basically are they a boy or a girl?), May deduced this was Phoebe.
"Hi. I'm guessing you're Phoebe?" May asked quietly.
The girl looked at her, snapping out of her daydream. "Yes! You're right! Well done!"
May's memories of Phoebe began to appear. One of the training scene, and one of walking up something and finding Phoebe talking to something. Something inhuman. Something dead.
May wasn't too bothered by this. It was obvious Phoebe preferred to heal with ghost types.
"Sorry, but I need to go," May told her.
"That's fine!" Phoebe said, "I'm good here with my ghost types."
The next path filled May with yet more unease, so she didn't observe it much.
The room which May assumed was the final room didn't really make her feel anything.
The man standing there, whom at this point May knew was Sidney, looked like he was in his late twenties, similar to Glacia. He wore pretty basic clothing, and the hair he had left was crimson. He was reading a book.
"So, you're Sidney," May said as he looked up.
"Yeah. You nailed that one alright kid."
The only memory May had of Sidney was the same as Drake.
"Anyway, I should probably pass through now." She made to leave, but Sidney stopped her.
"You don't want to go out that way," he whispered in her ear, "the Pokemon centre lady out there might realise you're a healer and I don't know what will happen if she does so. Perhaps she would report you as a healer to the Pokemon centre organisation head. Maybe she would perform an all-out terrorist attack. I don't know. But you have make sure she doesn't see you come out of here."
May thought about this. Sidney did have a good point.
"Ok. I'll fly to just outside from this room. That would be better, wouldn't it?"
"Mhm," Sidney replied, smiling.
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May landed just outside the Pokemon league building. From outside it looked very grand. Golds and reds were woven into the building, and the arch looked like it was a gateway to heaven itself.
Which was actually probably what it was like for some people.
She wandered down the path to the cave at the end, and entered.
This part of the cave was stunning. Roses dotted the edges of the land. Water then surrounded said land. Sunlight shone from the cracks in the ceiling.
And, in the middle of the room, Wally.
Wally was sitting on the floor, legs crossed. He looked like he had been crying.
"Wally, what is it?!" May cried out, running over to him urgently.
"They...." Wally replied between sniffs, "they... I was healing other people's Pokemon on this route. Everyone was happy. I then ran to that building over there because I had finally gained the courage to ask to be a healer. Then... that woman outside...sabotaged that moment..." Wally stared at the floor in dismay.
"Don't worry, Wally, I can help you!" May said, "I'll heal your Pokemon for you."
Wally nodded and smiled. "Of course. That's your job, isn't it?"
As May called out her Pokemon, careful to make sure nobody other than Wally was nearby. There wasn't, but then something else occurred to her and she began to worry.
Healing all those people's Pokemon on route 104 and 102 had taken its toll on her Pokemon levels.
Blaziken, due to him being the strongest, was the highest levelled. But he was still at level 53.
Metagross had fallen to level 51.
Gardevoir, Latios and Lucario were all level 50.
Wailord was level 49.
May felt a sudden miss of a heartbeat, but she forced herself to brush it off. This was what she had been trained to do, and anyway, she still had some way to go.
Hopefully.
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As she walked through the cave, most people already had their Pokemon healed by Wally, but those who hadn't due to the Pokemon centre's interference were still worried. May reassured them and healed their Pokemon for them.
As she exited the gave, she ended up on a city. Or what was apparently a city. There was only a house or two and a Pokemon centre. May decided it was probably a city because the Pokemon league was behind it.
She reached the waterfall at the end. She commanded Latios to bring her down it for her, then commanded Wailord to use surf.
Staring at her AreaNav, May chose that the best way to surf would be towards Sootopolis city. According to the AreaNav, the cave of origin was located there, so that would definitely improve her memory.
As she neared, she commanded Wailord to dive, and put on the snorkelling gear (yet another object she had forgotten about beforehand).
She surfaced in a beautiful city. The sunlight brightened the pale rocks that surrounded the city. The houses might as well have been painted in a portrait. The waterfall cascading down in the middle of the city was what convinced May this place was the best place to grow up in.
And apparently she did grow up here, considering the cave of origin was apparently where she was brought up to be a healer.
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May entered the cave with an air of nervousness. She clearly hadn't reached the main room yet, as her memories only showed walking up and down this path a million times. She walked down the spiral, brushing off any Golbats that came near her. The moment she entered the room at the bottom (a room which contained a lava pool that stretched far), she suddenly collapsed on the floor. It wasn't heat, it wasn't disease. So many memories were flooding back at once she couldn't take it. Training. Learning. Making friends with unknown people. Laughing. Joking. Crying.
It took roughly fifteen long, strenuous minutes for May to get over the initial shock. She stood up, uneasy, and brushed off some dust. In order to calm herself down, she decided to explore a bit.
The lava pool at the end intrigued her. She didn't know where it led.
She called out blaziken. "I think I've come up with an idea," she told it.
May got her astronaut suit out of her bag. She could now remember where she got this - she was given it so that she wouldn't suffocate in space when putting Deoxys in a meteorite. And she was given it here.
She stepped into it, making sure it fit, and placed the helmet over her head.
"Ok blaziken," she requested, "now surf me along the magma using your flamethrower!"
Blaziken nodded, and flames burst down the magma, forming a fire path above it. May climbed onto Blaziken's back, and then it ran down the fire path. May was thrilled. She was surprised that she had even been able to come up with this idea.
After a while though, they reached a small island amongst the lava. May decided to give blaziken a rest and so they settled there.
After a minute or two, May realised there was something over by the wall. The more she looked, the more it looked like a Pokemon.
She had never seen it before. She had never been taught about it before. It was stone cold unconscious.
May felt sympathy for the Pokemon. How come the healers hadn't already healed it?
She commanded Blaziken to heal it.
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A crash.
A bang.
A bright light.
The Pokemon had arisen, and was angered.
May panicked. The Pokemon had started moving in the direction of route 128. So she commanded blaziken to run back down the fire path as fast as possible. When they got to the bottom cave again, she took blaziken back and hopped on her bicycle, and rode up to the outside as fast as her bicycle would let her.
When she reached the exit, five people were standing there, panicked.
There was Steven, thinking deeply about what has just happened. There was Wallace, who was practically freaking out. Then there were two men, one in blue uniform and one in red. The red-clad wore glasses, with a red edition of the coat a professor would usually wear. The blue-clad was basically wearing a blue version of typical pirate wear.
The last was a young boy, around the same age as May. He wore a white hat (it looked like his hair but she could spot the brown under), and he held a green backpack.
The moment the boy spotted her he rushed over to her. "OhmygodMayareyouokah-"
"Calm down. I'm fine," May reassured him. "I don't know about that Pokemon though."
To her surprise, the red-clad man spoke. "You managed to revive a creature long-lost to fantasy books and myths. Its name is Groudon. The Pokemon centre organisation happened to successfully sedate it a long time ago, back when they had been newly created. The group of healers here tried to revive it, but couldn't. The fact that you did means you are a very impressive healer. However, Groudon was angered for some reason, and so may end up doing a lot worse."
May was astounded. So much had happened in the past couple of days. It had only been a day and a half ago when she had come down from the Sky Pillar.
Steven looked up. "From what we have gathered, Groudon is heading for route 128, which means a group of us should go there. I think Maxie should," Steven gestured to the red-clad, "seeing as this the sort of thing he is good at. May and Archie will go as back-up," he pointed to May and the Blue-clad.
"What about me?" The boy said unhappily.
"You'll stay here, Brendan. Just in case this mission fails, we need someone young like you to stay here. Wallace will keep you safe."
Brendan looked disappointed, but nodded anyway.
May, on the other hand, suddenly got a burst of even more memories. They weren't of Maxie and Archie - she had never met either of them before - but she remembered tons about Brendan. Training with him. Chatting with him as they trained in the cave of origin. Heading over to several different places, laughing all the while. She felt sad that she couldn't remember where and when most of these happened - quite a few were out of the cave of origin. She would properly sort it out later, once this mission was over.
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She let Maxie and Archie surf on Wailord with her, and as they were heading towards route 128, May got bored. So she decided to ask some questions.
"Archie," she asked, "do you work for any organisations?"
Archie looked up. He hadn't expected May to say anything to him. "Yes I am, actually. I'm the head of Team Aqua. Team Aqua just kind of hangs around making sure Kyogre is safe and happy, and it always is. Kyogre is Groudon's opposite, by the way."
May nodded in agreement. Archie continued.
"We don't usually get messed up in this healer stuff - unlike Team Magma here, we're more brawn than brains, so I never really got my head round any of it - but this time it got kind of desperate, and so I came over to make sure all was ok. Turns out it isn't."
Maxie suddenly spoke up. "I, on the other hand, am the head of Team Magma. My admin Courtney told me about you," he told May, "she doesn't know you by name but knows you're friends with a boy who apparently could become a potential ally to the healers."
May knew this was Wally. She nodded again.
They arrived at where Groudon was supposed to be. As they stopped off on shore for a moment, they were surprised to see Steven had flown over on his Skarmory.
"Just checking all is well," he said hurriedly. May realised she could tell Steven about Wally.
"Steven! I must tell you something," May said, "I have found another healer. His name is Wally, he resides in Petalburg and has wanted to be a healer all his life. He started healing a while back, and has been doing really well. I was thinking we should record him into the hall of fame."
Steven looked at her for a moment. "Ok then. I assume he is trustworthy, considering that you have seen him on multiple occasions by how much you know about him. Does he need a mega ring?"
"Well, um.... I gave him my spare," May said awkwardly.
Steven nodded. "It's better that it's being used than not." He turned back to Skarmory. "Anyway, I'm off now. Good luck."
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May, along with Maxie and Archie, dived down into the cave on route 128. Maxie called up his fellow grunts, and called to ask if they could bring the submarine. By the way he was talking, they had agreed.
The three of them hiked through the cave. It wasn't that dark, but May turned on her AreaNav as a torch anyway.
Eventually they reached where the cave ended. All that was currently there was a pool of lava.
Then Groudon poked its head above the lava. It slowly rose, growing more and more agitated by the second.
The moment it had fully risen, however, Maxie pulled an orb from his pocket and held it up. "Groudon! Sleep! Your time is not here yet! Slumber here until your time arrives - you'll know when!"
Groudon paused for a moment, then closed its eyes. It began to relax. It rested in the lava, made to sleep until it was time for it to rise again.
May couldn't believe what she saw. That was so cool!
"Wow," she said aloud.
"That's what I've learned I should do," Maxie said, "that if an issue ever rose with Groudon when it was revived, I was meant to let it calm down. It turned out that Groudon had been angry for being risen - you can tell from its body language that it had only woken up because it had thought Kyogre was rampaging. That is its point of existence. All it wanted was to make sure the world was in order, then rest again, for the day when it really did have to stop Kyogre, when its time comes. So using this orb caused no pain or annoyance at all to it."
May understood. She knew that she couldn't be blamed - how was she meant to know? - but now that what had happened was resolved she could relax.
Until Maxie suddenly looked worried. "My Pokemon... they're all fainted. It must've happened earlier and I didn't realise."
May knew instantly that she would have to heal. She called her team out, and commanded the healing moves.
Afterwards, Maxie and Archie received news that the submarine had arrived. Unfortunately, the sub didn't have enough room for May. She was fine with it, and used an escape rope to exit the cave.
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OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY! I forgot to release this part. Because I forgot, I'll release both parts today - the one from last week and the one that's supposed to be here this week. I will appreciate it if you enjoy! (You don't have to tho, but it's still be nice...)