Open Maeror Astrorum

[mewtini]

Still running strongly, Blazaria reached Route 45. She had an initial thought to follow civilization's roads, then decided against it. Interacting with these 'humans' would be entirely too risky. What if she got captured again? That would be awful. By that line of logic, she cut through the forest.

It seemed so trivial. She was wrong to think that. She forgot the risk of wild Pokémon, and if trainers happened to be there, possibly strong and trained ones.

Only about halfway through, she found a kid - seemingly male - with his Charizard.

Shoot, why didn't I think of that risk... she wondered.

On a whim, she stepped into the view of the mighty dragon looking creature.

"Um, hi! Can I please pass through?" the Charizard glared. "Please?" No positive response. "Okay..." she said quietly.

She abruptly ran through the clearing, the Charizard right behind her. As the fire dragon was about to bite her, Blazaria sprinted a little further, stopped, and focused. She tried to clear her mind. "...Nothing, nothing..." she repeated quietly, in a mantra. A magenta light radiated, then a blue, then a green...

And then a white blast, lasting only a millionth of a second erupted. Probably visible all through this half of Johto.

"My head! Aarh, my head!" she screamed, closing her eyes halfway and sprinting the rest of the way through the forest. A distant growl of the Charizrd was audible.

She was now bleeding, sore, screaming, aching, and alone.

"Probably not even alone," she thought. "There are probably Scientists following me."

 

[Spatz]

~Saito

Saito stopped when the older boy addressed her. His outward appearance was somewhat worn, and she found something, peculiar, about him, and even more so with his brother. Saito viewed this with an internally sceptical expression.

"Are you OK? It sounds as though you're not from these parts. There are free accomadations at the PokéCenter for trainers, co-ordinators, and that sort." Saito replied, a slightly puzzled expression clear on her face, uncertain how anyone wouldn't know this. "Perhaps from Fiore or Almia, I think they don't have PokéCenters there..." Saito thought to herself still wondering what the two were like.

Staiz was already looking at the two, having hopped down from Saito's shoulder. She was examanning them as though she had a similar sceptical sense towards them, but this could easily be excused as the curiousity of a member of her family line of Raichu. She was expecially intrigued by Alex, the brother of the one who had addressed.

"Staiz, mind your manners. I apoligise if she was bothering you, she's got some habits I'd like to iron out..."

 

[mewtini]

Despite her reluctance to talk to a human, a very much wounded Blazaria felt the urge to ask for help. She did need it...

As she walked up to an elderly woman happily taking a walk with her husband, she softly called for attention. "Excuse me..." she started. "Oh, you poor girl! What's happened to you?" The husband whispered disapprovingly to his wife, unsure that she should help this battered kid. She disagreed and went on. "What happened?" the woman continued. "Oh. Well, um, I fell down a mountain to the east," as she said this she pointed in that direction "and then cut through the forests to here..." she finished. "Not so sure you really fell down anything or cut through anything, because then you'd have broken legs, kid. But you need help. Here, come inside for some tea and we'll clean you up."

Blazaria gratefully nodded her head and followed the woman into a small house, holding only a kitchen, a bed, three small and rickety chairs, and a cabinet. "Where do you wafsh?" Blazaria asked, getting another word wrong. "There's a river out back, dear." the woman responded. There was already a copper kettle whistling on the stove, and the woman's husband picked it up by the handle and poured it into three mugs, each mug visibly old and chipped. He took a wooden box, and selected three small square bags out of it. "We grow and dry our own tea leaves, kid." He put each bag into a mug, then poured a little honey into each. He then brought two mugs to a seated Blazaria and woman, and he went back to the kitchen to drink his. A few minutes later, they all finished their tea; Blazaria stood up and went back around to undress and bathe in the river as the couple brought her towels. She quickly dried off and redressed, thanking them.

Back on the path, Blazaria was on the side of a magnificent city, at the side entrance. A sign read "WELCOME TO GOLDENROD CITY!" she walked by the sign, and was quickly lost in the crowd. "I'm not going to find anyone here..." she thought. "I think I see an exit up ahead. I'll try going up there." As she dodged swinging bags and leather shoes, Blazaria quietly moved to the exit, the north entrance/exit of Goldenrod City. She stepped out of the crowd, and finally got to have a quiet walk down a path that cut between lush grass. Finally following the path, she turned right onto Route 36, and thought she saw a familiar face - no, faces - between a couple of trees. Tentatively walking a bit closer, she knew who they were.

"Mitch! Alex! It's me!!"

Blazaria screamed out of joy, and quickly ran up to Mitch and leapt into his arms before jumping off him awkwardly.

"Oh, Alex, Mitch, I woke up in this weird cave and I couldn't talk right and then I got all cut up and I saw this big dragon creature and I had to attack him and I ran through the forest and I..." she stopped for breath.

 

[Black Yoshi]

"Oh, well, we're not trainers, see, just visiting to watch the tournament. We have a cousin who told us he'd be in it and-" The one thing he did not want to hear; Someone screaming at him and Alex. He recognized her tone and giddiness before anything, and had barely seen her face before Blazaria jumped into his arms. He awkwardly caught her, unsure what to do at this point, both with the girl and with Blazaria. Thankfully, Blazaria hopped out of his arms, and he didn't have to worry about that anymore.

This is starting to go wrong in every way. He thought as Blazaria rushed her story. Looks like the Scientists ended up not doing much to help her conceal her identity... Ugh, this really is bad. No way anyone will believe that's a costume.

When Blazaria stopped to take a breath, he quickly said to Saito, "She's an old friend of ours, that was mostly inside jokes." Yeah, smooth. And Alex turns into the Jolly Green Giant under a full moon. He just hoped Blazaria wouldn't keep talking. It was dangerous at this point. "Where is the Po..." He had a bit of trouble remembering the word. "PokéCenter? Could you show us?"

 

[Spatz]

~Saito

Saito's eyebrow slightly raised when the girl arrived, there was something, similarily, odd about her. Saito hated that she knew there was something different about them, but didn't know what, so she left it be.

"Hmm. I suppose, the Tournement's not until tommorow, I was going there to see what the prizes were, but yeah, I suppose that can wait." Saito replied, noticing the similarities of the little girl's hairstyle and Vulpix. "I suppose your freind has a liking for Vulpix, people don't often have their hair done like that otherwise. Well maybe fifty years ago, but not these days..."

Staiz was now beginning to exam the new girl, trying to now figure her out.

 

[mewtini]

Blazaria paused for a moment, trying to understand what she had done. She couldn't think of anything wrong.

"And then I ran all through the woods and these people helped me and I ran and I almost got hit by bags and I came here and I found you!" She inflated her chest for another breath. "Where were you... Why didn't you bring me?" Blazaria's personality quickly shifted to a more sad and reflective one as opposed to happy that she had found someone. She turned and saw Saito.

"Oh, um, hi!" Blazaria covered up her slight pang of sadness. "Who are you?" She turned a little and whispered to Alex. So, you've found that not all humans are bad, huh?

 

[Black Yoshi]

Mitch glanced over at Blazaria, telling her, "Let's talk about it all when we get a place to sleep." He turned back to Saito, his mind rushing to think of human greetings. He remembered seeing them shake each other's hands up and down. He had thought of a cover ID the moment he and Alex found each other, but after Blazaria had shouted his names and jumped into his arms, he figred it was useless.

Mitch extended an open hand to Saito. "I'm Mitch Kapeller, this is my little brother, Alex, and our friend, Blazaria." Even if we have to use our real names, might as well go with Alex still as my brother. Knowing a name and knowing an identity are two entirely different things, after all. If there was one thing that would screw things up at this point, it would be Alex betraying their true nature because he wanted a good laugh, or Blazaria somehow not catching on to the idea here. She'll get it. She's got common sense, and even if she is a little... battered up, she's... Actually, I don't know.

 

[....]

"Yeah. Alex Kapeller's the name. Nice to meet ya, kid," Alex said with a grin.

Don't screw this up.

He instinctively pulled his hood over his head, shrouding his face in shadow. Leaning over to Blazaria, he whispered, "it depends on what you mean by bad." He smiled.

Don't screw this up.

"And, yeah, my friend here is a Vulpix enthusiast. A bit too much if ya ask me," he muttered to Saito.

 

[Spatz]

~Saito

"Kappeler? Hmm, not a Johto name, but then again there's plenty of tourism here. I assume that you two..." She made an indecation towards Mitch and Alex, "...arrived at the Olivine Port. My name's Saito Kurohari. Please don't make a fuss over my family name though, I really hate it, there's just too much attention towards it since my father made his journey through the five countries. I swear the media will never let us live down his decision." Saito replied, beginning to direct them to the PokéCenter, she figured she could vouch for them to share a room next to hers, for some reason she felt inately responsible for them now. Suddenly a burst of red light came from a ball on the strap of her satchel, and Zert was now standing in front of her, shaking his head in tiredness. A couple of irritated, and short, remarks through telepathy were shot at Saito, and then he turned his attention to the new people, attempting to greet them through telepathy.

"Zert, I understand that you hate being kept in your ball for extended periods of time, but please learn some patience!" Saito shot back in her mind, making it loud enough for Zert to notice. Zert turned his head slightly, and cocked it to the side responding in an imapatient tone. "Well look at your uncle, he is probably the definition of patience, not to mention your own cousin, and I shouldn't have to remind you who she's travelling with!"

Saito turned to the three, and quickly said to the three,

"This is Zert, he's the nephew of my father's Lucario. He learned telepathy from his uncle, and has a tendency to greet anyone he can with it, hoping the practice will make him better..."

 

[Black Yoshi]

Zert... Mitch thought to himself. I hope he isn't poking around in my head right now.... He turned to Saito, and began wondering what she meant about her name. "Who's your father? I've never heard the name Kuroha.... Kurom.... Ku-ro-har-i...." He had to say it slow to get it right. "Yeah, I've never heard it before. I mean, why would the media care about a decision your father made after a little tour of the world?"

Maybe he's some sort of representative... Government official, or something. Hell, he could be running the world's leading potato farm industry. Who knows what he could do to provoke the world. It occurred to him that it might be unusual that he didn't know her father. He might be the kind of person you were a freak for not knowing. Someone who heads multiple enterprises, or could change the way the world works with a single signature. Then again, maybe he was just popular where Saito came from, and she was used to foreigners not knowing him but everyone else obsessing over him.

... I might be overthinking this one.

 

[mewtini]

"Okay..." Blazaria quietly complied after another pause, though not understanding why discussion had to wait. So why not ask. "Why not now?"

Hey, what? They weren't brothers! At least she thought... What's up with that?

"Mitch," she said aloud, "how do you become brothers? Since when?" She looked up at Mitch with an admittedly comic quizzical face. "As far as I remember, you weren't brothers..." This was far too complicated. "Am I your brother?" she asked. Walking over to Saito, she threw her hand out enthusiastically. "Hi! Do you know how someone can be brothers?"

At least she didn't reveal Mitch's lack of a last name, right? Little did she know.

"Bad as in murderously bad," she whispered back to Alex.

 

[Spatz]

~Saito

"Haven't heard the name Kurohari, hunh? I suppose you must be from out of town, or secluded, or just don't care much for media. My father is a famous Pokémon Trainer, and had pretty much made our name a household thing because of his victory in the Lily of the Valley Confrence. Though if your from one of those outer regions, you may not have heard of that. I suppose that's fine, kind of makes it easier for me to hang out with you..." Saito replied, slightly surprised to find someone who didn't know her family name. "Now he just works as a Raiser and Breeder on my family's ranch."

Soon enough Blazaria spoke up, and what she said kicked Saito's scepticallity into overdrive. "Wait, what? What is she talking about, not brothers? Is there something going on here that I'm not aware of. because if there is, trust me, I will take care of the situation as I see fit." Upon these words Zert grinned as his muscles tensed a bit. Saito had stopped walking, and they were just outside the PokéCenter.

 

[....]

Dammit.

"Adopted brother. Got it?" Alex snarled aloud. His left hand glowed a shadowy purple, but was hidden by his sweatshirt pocket. He had wanted to Shadow Claw Blazaria's face, but kept his anger under control. Luckily, neither the attack nor his anger stayed for long. He glared at Blazaria before whispering, "Same opinion as usual." A grin formed on his face.

"She's got a spotty memory. Sorry 'bout that," he mumbled to Saito.

 

[Black Yoshi]

Blazaria asked, "Why not now?" Mitch sighed. This was getting too difficult.

"Because, it's a really long story, and I think it would be best if we make sure we have a place to sleep first, in case the conversation carries on through the night." It sounded legitimate. Technically, it was the true reason.

Mitch felt his mind explode at Blazaria's comment. He wasn't mad at her; a bit frustrated, yes, but then he couldn't blame her for not knowing the situation. He enacted the first thing that came to mind. That is, that Blazaria was not only out of the loop, but a bit mental.

Except that Alex already thought of a good cover. He muttered to Alex, still in character, "Watch it, kid, I can feel your anger from here."

"Well, Alex and I knew each other a bit before he was officially adopted, but he lived with us since he was... Was it three? Yeah, three. Found him on the streets, able to speak, but unaware of what a 'mommy' was." He inwardly sighed in relief, and whispered to Saito, "She's not a bad person, but something got... knocked around, we think. But she's really great to be around, trust me." He glanced at Blazaria briefly, trying to convey that he was sorry without looking like he was to Saito. "Could we go in? I would really rather discuss anything further once we're inside." He bit his lower lip to appear more anxious.

 

[mewtini]

"No, you never talked to anyone..." Blazaria's ear pricked up upon sensing Alex's anger, and began to step back. "I'm not mental! You know I'm not!" Blazaria's anger swelled up more readily due to the stress, and her entire body began to glow orange for just a second as she got the brief idea to cover herself in fire and tackle Mitch. At least it subsided.

She walked to beside the door, and stood there, gesturing to go inside.

Why would he think I'm mental? she thought, just barely avoiding a couple tears.

 

[....]

Alex's eyes widened at Blazaria's anger. He had never seen her so angry before, and he knew it was his fault. Alex had messed up - big-time.

If I could, I'd just hide right now.

He stepped towards the open door and toward Blazaria.

But then she might hate me for that.

"Sorry, Blazy. Didn't mean to make you flip out; I just ran outta lemonade!" he said jokingly, grinning afterwards. He pulled out his Game Center coin. "You want a shiny coin to make ya feel better?"

 

[Spatz]

~Saito

Saito sighed, not in relief, but with the knowledge of how complicated this was getting. Most people could have regarded the orange flash as nothing more than a light flickering brightly breifly, but Saito noticed it's origin, and knew this needed to be addressed, but not in direct public. She lead the group into the PokéCenter and checked out a larger room for them, and proceeded to bring them to it. Once inside she turned to face the group.

"Look. I know your not normal, or at least Blazaria isn't. Adoption is fine, and I can understand how someone might forget this, but a sudden orange blink of light emanating from someones body. That doesn't happen. My father called me yesterday to let me know that there were 'odd' people being found here and there, and that I should keep an eye out, just in case." Saito said, placing her bag on the ground and pulling out a Pokéball, returning Zert. Staiz was sitting firm near the door, making it known that no-one was leaving until this was properly resolved. "I would greatly appreciate it if I would recieve the truth, and the complete truth. It is clear to me that if you are attempting to weave a set of lies to make it seem as though you are a bunch of foreigners, as Blazaria's responses were sincere. I truly don't care what it is the truth is, as long as your not some sort of criminal organization..."

 

[mewtini]

Blazaria's eyes narrowed slightly and briefly.

Yeah, right. A pessimistic side usually in the very back corner of her mind pushed forward for a moment. No, no point in lashing out. It'll only make things worse later... Her optimism returned. But maybe not fully.

"...Thanks, but you can keep your loot," she said softly. "Thanks for the offer, I guess." She glared mentally at him. "And 'flip out'? You stil think I'm--know what, nevermind." Saying others flipped out was just Alex being Alex.

As she walked into the room, and then acknowledging Saito's response, Blazaria wasn't sure how to respond. She sidestepped into a small closet, closed the door, and curled up.

 

[Black Yoshi]

Mitch, still wondering how all this got out of hand, saw Blazaria's flash of anger. He understood it. Much better than he understood her usual giddiness.

Saito seemed suddenly very compliant to help them out. Probably because of Blazaria's light show. The jig was up. Someone was determined for the truth, and Mitch saw no point in proceeding with another ruse. The door closed behind them in their room. Mitch took a deep breath, and even laughed a little when she said they were weaving lies about being foreign. He spoke next with a relatively quite voice, and a much more confident one than he had been using as Mitch Kapeller.

"No, we are indeed foreigners. But this is quite a tale. I should start with this: Blazaria, nobody thinks you're crazy, so please come out. That was my dumb idea. Alex is not my brother in any way, shape, or form. My name is Mitch, this is Alex, and that's Blazaria, as we said. We have no last names, simply because we were never given any. No, not orphans, rather something far more interesting.

"We're Pokemon, really, at the heart. Blazaria; a vulpix. Me; a grovyle. Alex; A banette." He pulled up a sleeve, holding up his forarms were the leaves were. "Believe us or think you're on some sort of hallucinogenic drug, but we're escaped experiments of the Scientists." He smiled. "Actually, we might have been release for study; that was never made clear to us. We're hoping to find our other friends, so Blazaria and I came to Goldenrod, me from the Lake of Rage, and Blazaria from... Well, wherever she came from. I don't know Alex's story either." That was it. All he had to say, before pulling his sleeve over his forearm again.

Good luck wrapping your head around THAT ONE.

 

[mewtini]

Blazaria, hearing the beckon, reluctantly crawled out of the closet. She had all of her optimism drained from her; rather than happily jumping out of the closet and cheerfully sitting down on the floor, she slowly exited the closet, head hanging down, and wordlessly seating herself on the floor.

Softly, Blazaria thought of where she had ended up. "Well... I came from far away east, and I was in a mountain and had to climb down it to get here. I then cut through the two forests, and came through the side entrance of Goldenrod before seeing you." Following Mitch's act of showing his leaves, Blazaria turned around to show her tails, with a carelessly placed skirt over it. "Mitch, I don't think we escaped. Because, listen, if we had, the Scientists would've already captured us. I think that they've released us, probably watching us now." She stood up and closed the window and then shut the curtain, and proceeded to investigate the room until she was satisfied. "I don't see anything..."