Note: The idea of Pokemon is not mine. Pokemon, as a franchise, is not in any way mine. Any characters used are not taken from the Pokemon series, if either the games or TV show. Resemblance to any persons living or dead is entirely a coincidence.
Credit to xtrickie_nikkix on Wattpad for the cover.
Chapter One
Introduction;
HEY, YOU SNOOP! YES, YOU! What are you doing poking around in here? Shouldn't you know better than to mess around where you aren't supposed to? To play with things you oughtn't know in the first place? Well, then. Let me tell you a tale in which secret things, and the divulging of them, inflict pain and misery. Mwahaha... You want secrets? You may just get more hidden darkness than you ever bargained for...
Joy-joy
Once upon a time, there was a young trainer named Joy-Joy. She roamed Sinnoh, looking for adventures and battling whenever she could. Her most beloved Pokemon were an Infernape named Bright, a Roserade name Lotus, a Gardevoir named Twirla, a Luxray named Spark, and an ancient Empoleon named Rascal.
Powerful indeed were these Pokemon. They were known far and wide throughout Sinnoh as the Five, and Joy-Joy was notorious for never losing a battle using any of them, ever. Some said it was because of a deep psychic bond with them, others claimed it was her incredible wit and creativity with her battle maneuvers. Whatever it was, it had recently led her to battle (and eventually beat) Champion Cynthia, though not without a few scars. She-
"Joy-Joy!" Dasher interrupts me. "You tell stories slower than Rascal does! More boringly too. Just skip to the good part!" He exaggerates the word 'boring' in his facial expression, which always looks weird when a Gardevoir does it. He's also leaning his elbows on the coffee table, when he knows it's bad manners. One worded description of him; Pessimistic. His left hand strays to play with a spiked bracelet slipped around his other arm.
Sparkle lifts her head off of the couch pillow to give Dasher a perturbed glare. Like her brother Dasher, Sparkle is also a Gardevoir. She waves a shimmering blue hand indifferently in my direction. "Ignore him. I love it when you tell us stories." I shrug and continue the tale:
But fame did not suit Joy-Joy well. Constant interviews from the well-meaning media, and people asking for autographs made the shy new champion nervous. So, she set off on a new journey across Sinnoh in disguise.
"What did she do on this journey? If she has all the badges, there's no point in challenging the gyms again." Typical Dasher for you. Can't say he doesn't use logic, of a sort.
"She was sight-seeing and bringing back memories." I snap. "Next untimely interruption, I stop telling you the story. Agreed?" He shrugs, a neutral gesture. I take it as agreement, and proceed once more.
One day on this journey, she camped in a small clearing in Forest. Her Pokemon were hungry, so she left the campsite to search for berries. Naturally forgetful, she took her Luxray and left her bag with the rest of her Pokeballs on the ground. For one reason or the other, a couple of her empty Pokeballs fell out of the bag.
"There we go. The good part."
"Dasher..." This is Psycho. You may have not noticed him sitting on the windowsill before, so I might as well introduce you. He's a young Gallade, ironically as optimistic as Dasher is pessimistic. You would hardly believe them brothers if you weren't told it.
Dasher sighs. "I'll stop talking now. Continue..."
While Joy-Joy was gone, two Kirlia and a shiny Ralts came out of the forest to investigate her campsite. They wanted to see what a human was doing in the forest. Of course, an old saying came to mind; "You can't judge a Mincinno by the items she hides, but you can learn where her interests lie." Thus, they decided to take a look at her bag.
But before they got into the bag, they found the Pokeballs spilled on the ground. "What's this?" The taller Kirlia asked. "It's all strange and unnaturally smooth. Doesn't look like food. Maybe it's a play-toy?"
The shorter one laughed. "I've heard about these. It's a Dokey-Ball or something of the like."
Little Ralts spoke up, staring intently at the unfamiliar objects. "What do they do?"
"Well," replied the shorter Kirlia, "I'd sort of forgotten, but it sucks you in. Once you're in, you stay in forever. Unless the person lets you out."
A shriek rose from the Ralts. She scuttled behind a nearby bush, quick as she could. "I don't wanna be trapped forever! I'm not gonna go near those, those..." Speechless, she came away at a loss for words.
Scoffing, the taller Kirlia took a tentative step towards the Pokeballs. "You're putting us on again, aren't you? Look, I'll touch it and nothing will happen! You see."
The short one sighed. "I'm not lying. Go ahead, get sucked in forever... Not gonna stop you." Still, he looked nervous.
The tall one tip-toed carefully over to a nearby Greatball. "Lookit, this one's blue. Weird humans." Another step closer. And then...
He tapped it with his foot. No reaction. "Ha! I knew you were wrong!" The Kirlia then kicked the Greatball in triumph. Hard. Right on the button.Zaaaap. Click. Wiggle... Wiggle... Wiggle... Doink! The remaining Kirlia and Ralts watched, horrified.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no! It ATE him! How do we get him out?" the Kirlia panicked. He ran over to the Pokeball, picked it up, and shook it. "Come out! Don't leave me!" The Ralts watched, unable to choose between fascination, mirth, and horror. Mirth eventually overrode her other possible reactions, and she rolled out from behind the bush, laughing raucously. The short Kirlia turned over to her. "It's not funny! It ate him, and I can't get it open! Get me a sharp rock, will you Sparky? I'm going to try and pry it open so he can escape." He began to try unsuccessfully to pull the ball in half, the way it opened.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Don't call me Sparky, I hate that pet-name." Coyly, the Ralts held out a rock in her hand. "Stop calling me Sparky, and I'll hand this over so you can save him." An evil grin spread across her face.
The Kirlia sighed and temporarily ceased his attempts to force the Pokeball open. "Fine. I'll stop calling you Sparky. May I have the rock now?"
Smiling sweetly, the Ralts held the rock out to him.
"What I don't understand is how anyone could be dumb enough to try and pry open a Pokeball with a rock." Dasher says, perhaps a little smugly. "That's why it's my favorite part."
Psycho shifts in the windowsill uncomfortably. "They were kids," he reputes, "Kids do dumb things."
Sticking her tongue out, Sparkle pokes Dasher. She gets the satisfaction of seeing him flinch. "And annoying teenage brothers say mean things. On with the story, please."
Dasher makes a 'pfft' noise and gives Sparkle a glare, but doesn't argue. "Onward, Joy. Whatever."
I wonder really, if telling them these stories is worth the trouble. Even so, I turn the page and continue...
Imagine the young champion's surprise when she came back to find a Kirlia attacking one of her Pokeballs with a rock! Just as surprising was the shiny Ralts whom laughed at the Kirlia's attempts, and spoke rapidly to him.
"Spark!" Joy whispered. "Stop and look over there."
"How am I supposed to see carrying this sack?" her Luxray mumbled around a sack of berries in her mouth. It came out more like, "Ow 'm ah uppose ooh 'ee a'ring thith ack?" she asked. "' 'Elp with thith!" Joy-Joy obliged and took the sack from her.
Spark peered out from behind a tree and scanned the campsite. "What am I supposed to see?" she asked, tail flicking anxiously.
Joy pointed over to the shady area where she had set her bag down.
"Goodness gracious! What's going on over there?" Spark stared incredulously at the Kirlia and Ralts. Excited, Joy shrugged. "Guess we'd better find out."
The Ralts cheers on the Kirlia dryly. "Come on, Psy! You almost got it! Keeeeeeeep it up! I think it's almost open! Go-"
"Will you please stop that? You know nothings happening!" Worn out and frightened at his brother's disappearance, the poor Kirlia had no more capacity for his sister's jests. "I don't know if we'll ever get him out. What are we supposed to do?" In his frustration, he threw the Pokeball and the stone to the ground, bawling. "It's useless! He's (Sniff) trapped forever! (Snuffle) I am a failure!"
Ralts yawned. "Oh, it's not that bad. The silence without him's kinda nice, don't you think?" Movement caught her notice out of the corner of her eye. A whisper of leaves on leaves told her they were not alone. A sharp glance up confirmed it. "Psy," she began. "I've found the human..."
"Really, di-"
Sparkle shushed Dasher. "Hush! This is MY favorite part!"
Joy-Joy and Spark began to slowly make their way towards the Pokemon. Their padded footfalls went unnoticed until Joy's sleeve caught on a branch. She managed to get it unstuck quietly enough. But even so, the as the branch bent back to it's original position, it brushed up against a bush. The leaves made a small whisper as they slid up against each other.
The Ralts looked up at them in surprise.
"What happened next?" Psycho seems eager for more. Ignoring the fact that...
"Dude, she's already read this to us, like, a hundred times." Of course, Dasher. Did you expect someone else? "One day, it'll be overused and boring," he sighs. "Really boring."
Sparkle shushes both before poking Dasher again. "So? Lets hear it again. It's not boring yet."
Hmm. "I don't know... I think we should stop for tonight. It's getting awfully late..." Gosh, it is late. The mantle clock says it's already 9:00. "I think we should go to bed for tonight."
Sparkle and Psycho collectively sigh. "Come on. Pleeeeeaaaase Joy-Joy, let's finish it." Both shoot me pleading looks and put on their best puppy-dog eyes. Dasher, on the other hand, rolls his eyes.
I consider it. "We will finish it tomorrow. Come on, we have to get some sleep." More sighs, but they don't complain. It's not often that I read them stories anymore, and they love it every time I do.
If you were observant enough, you might have figured out that the wild Pokemon in the story were Sparkle, Dasher, and Psycho. That was the day I caught them, and it's their favorite story. How does it end? You'll learn with time. Patience is a virtue you know.
But sometimes, I wonder.
If I had just finished it, maybe things would have never changed...
Then again, maybe not.
Dasher
My back is sore from slouching, and my elbows hurt from leaning them on the coffee table. I do that to annoy Joy-joy, but I think it annoys me more than her. I stretch, to get rid of the soreness. A Champion's Pokemon isn't supposed to care about pain, but I'm not one of her strong ones, the ones she battles the few and far-in-between challengers with. They say I will be someday, if I train up more, but I'm pretty sure it won't ever happen.
As I stretch, Psycho clambers up onto the windowsill and opens the window. Without a sound, he slips out into the night. He and some of the other Pokemon sleep outside. Once out, Psy closes the window behind him despite the fact that no-one would care anyway. It's a nice spring night outside, and a bit of circulating fresh air would do some good in the stuffy mansion.
Sparkle just barrels right past me, and out the back door. She gives me a dirty look as she goes past. Guess she blames me for the story's early ending tonight. I suppose it might have gotten finished if I didn't interrupt so much, but I like to give opinions. Gives the story some flavor when it gets boring.
I go past the window and up the stairs to my little room. It's small, and mostly taken up by my bed. That's the way I like it.
Normally I am a sound sleeper, but rest eludes me this night. Tossing and turning, my eyes refuse to close. In this atypical insomnia, I stare out my window. The small clock on my side table goes from 9:13, to 9:34, to 10:07. Finally, tiredness creeps up on me. One last look outside before drifting off...
I have a good view of the backyard out my window. Look, there's Rascal, that old Empoleon snoring under his tree. He never sleeps away from the tree if he can help it for some reason. Oh, there's Psycho's hammock, slung between those two trees right there, at the edge of the backyard where it meets the forest. Wait, is he awake? Even as far away as I am, I can see his eyes flutter open.
Psycho jumps off his hammock and dashes off into the woods without any visible reason. Huh, maybe he couldn't sleep either. Oh well, I think, that's his problem for now. Nothing I can do about it...
I flop limply back in bed and forget the strange happening in the darkness of dreamless sleep...
Dreamless, but not necessarily easy.