Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ In Lieu of Perfection ❯ 04 - The Perfect Deal ( Chapter 4 )

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To tell the truth, there was a time that he did not like Hikari, or in fact hated her with passion. When they first met, Komicer had got him to act as the bait to lure the Poochyenas away so that he could rescue Hikari, then only a Ralts. He had been totally overwhelmed by the rowdy, snappy bite pokemon. In his eyes, Hikari had been nothing but trouble, dividing the attention that Komicer could have gave him.

But things changed. Her charming attitude, her unwavering loyalty to their trainer, her childish stubbornness, her infectious laughter... it all affected him...

He has evolved before her, from the tiny Torchic to the bulkier Combusken, obviously superior to her in all aspects. At least, that was what he thought then. Hikari evolved into a Kirlia later and looking at the sprightly (though still weaker) Kirlia dance with laughter on sunny mornings made him feel clumsy, cumbersome, just a giant Mr. Chicken.

Before he knew it, she was a Gardevoir, a pokemon with insurmountable grace. Even though she hated those dry, beauty-enhancing berries, refusing to even touch them, in his eyes, Hikari exudes a beauty that like her namesake, shone through the dreaded darkness.

Perhaps it was then that his feelings for her started. Fighting pokemon were not meant to be bothered by feelings like this, but he did. It only made him feel even more inferior. He hated his inferiority compared to Hikari, her beauty to his beast. Yet, liked the ill-fated beast of the fables, he could not help but fall in love...

He was so happy the day he finally evolved into a Blaziken. Finally, Blaze could be one who was fit for a Gardevoir. Yet, she had rejected him then. She had loved her 'Master', their trainer, Komicer.

Now, they were alone in the forest, the pokemon of desire asleep soundly underneath the tree as only the soft, constant cries of the native bug pokemon could be heard. She was so close, yet still so far.

Blaze had been on the run for the last couple of hours. It was surprising how long Kireihana's sleep powder had lasted. All these while, Hikari had slept like a baby, oblivious to the tension and the danger around.

Placing the sleeping Gardevoir down against the tree, he sat down himself beside the slender figure. They should be safe here. They could afford a rest, or at least he needed it. His inner fire was running out soon with all that had happened for the day.

Just what had he done... Blaze closed his eyes to recount the number of offenses he had committed so far. He broke down the door at the tree house, broke down the doors and a wall at the day-care centre. And he set an entire room on fire. Once the news spread, he would be one of the most wanted pokemon in the whole of Hoenn. He had no idea of how to get to their destination or of the situation of Kireihana and Ms. Kang. The situation seemed... so hopeless.

At least, Hikari would be safe. Blaze gazed at the peaceful sleeping psychic. Her red chest plates moving gently up and down as she breathed. Her mouth, inhaling and exhaling in a slow, leisurely rhythm, her lips... He found himself leaning closer...

Then he quickly turned his attention away. This was not time for things like this. Noticing a berry shrubbery close by, Blaze moved closer for a better look. Those were wild growing Sitrus berries, not exactly the type he liked but the hard, yellow fruit would just be what he needed now.

Plucking the berry off the branch, he bit into the crunchy berry. Strength slowly flowed back into him. These would be able to keep him lasting for a while longer. There were more of those berries around the vicinity. Blaze figured that Hikari would need some food once she woke up. Rising back to his feet, he began plucking the berries from the surrounding shrubs.

* * *

The first thing Hikari noticed when she woke up was the filtered rays of sun shining onto her. Blinking the sleep of her eyes, she sat up and looked around her. She was in a forest with trees everywhere she could see. No darkness, no repulsive Banette cassanova-wannabe... She was supposed to be within that day-care center... The events were returning to her mind. The fight, the fire... How could she have fell asleep then?

The next thing she noticed then was Blaze. He could be seen plucking berries from the shrubberies scattered around the forest. He had noticed of her awakening and approached with arms full of multi-colored berries. Placing the berries on the ground beside them, the Blaziken offered her a Sitrus.

“Are you okay now?” he asked.

Hikari felt into his emotions and sensed concern, worry, more worry, happiness. For a while, she was glad that she could still count on him, touched by his somewhat excessive gestures. Then, realization bubbled from within her. Anger and horror soon followed behind.

<You make me disobey Master...> she said. She could never go back now. Not after what had happened.

Blaze frowned. Hikari could sense a rise of another emotion in him.

Frustration.

“Take the berry,” Blaze offered the berry again in his out-stretched claw, “You'll need the energy.”

Hikari swiped the berry off his hand with a push of her hand. The berry rolled forlornly across the ground before it stopped. She then turned away, refusing to face Blaze. There was nothing else she could do about been carried unconscious from the day-care center to where ever they were at the moment, what was done was done.

She knew it was done with her best intentions in heart. For that, she was, admittedly, thankful and glad. But...

There was a sign of exasperation from Blaze as he went forward to retrieve the berry. “Are you going to sulk?” he said.

<You make me disobey Master.> Hikari murmured. Like it or not, willing or not, secretly thankful or not, she had been made to disobey her only Master, her Komicer. She may have no choice but to follow Blaze now. But that did not mean she intended to follow willingly.

“You're going to shadow ball that Banette! I just speed things up!” the fire pokemon shouted. His frustration was building up.

<You make me disobey Master.> With a bit more emphasis.

“NO! You know that... that ugly ghost was not what you want! I will not let you do that!” he stood up and walked some distance away.

Hikari knew that too. Deep down, she did not want it either... but those were Master's orders.

Blaze stamped his feet on the ground a couple of times before returning and sitting down directly in front of her.

“I do not care if you like it or not. I'm going to protect you and we are going away,” he said in a much softer, calmer tone, but only slightly.

That produced a swelling of emotions within herself. A mess of emotions that mixed and combined with all those emotions from around. Hikari needed to get away. Away from everything around her now. Where she could feel her own feelings.

Instinctively, she gazed towards the top of the tree they were at. Without consideration for safety or Blaze's objections, she started climbing. Branch after branch.

Blaze did not follow. He merely glared sulkily towards her, keeping an eye on her.

Gardevoirs did not evolved to climb trees. But Hikari had learned to do so. With the tree house back at the secret base so that she could follow Komicer up the tree house. To be with him even then.

She reached out for another branch, using her psychic powers to move it slightly closer to her reach.

It was Blaze who taught her how to climb trees then. To be more precise, they learned it together. The tree would not support Ms. Kang's weight, Kireihana and Shockhound too small. Azure was usually too tired then to fly her up. She had wanted to follow Komicer up the tree house, to accompany him. As she grasped the branches weakly in her fragile hands then, Blaze had came forward to help.

He was only a Combusken then, she could sense his awkwardness, his interest then. She had not bothered to decipher his feelings then, all she wanted was to follow Master up and if Blaze had wanted to help, Hikari would welcome it. So together they learned to climb trees. How to test the branches. The best grips. The little technique of swinging a little like a Aipom to grab a further branch. The final reward for them was the view. Hikari's little private spot on the island. And perhaps a little bond they shared together.

Higher and higher. Hikari swung herself slightly and tried to maintain her balance. The top was in sight.

She probably knew how Blaze felt better than he knew himself. She could sense his emotions after all. Yet, she never bothered to stop and think about how she felt for him. Her target then was Master, Komicer and only Komicer. Everything else was a distraction to her single-minded aim. She was happy when others mistook her for a slender woman. That was the closest she could get to be with him.

Part of her knew that she was only a pokemon, a living creature that was commonly used for battles, that whatever her foolish feelings was not meant to be. Part of her wished it was not so. She had learn to accept the truth and just be happy to be by Master's side.

Then Blaze became a Blaziken. Another feeling stirred within him. The courage to reveal and accept all his other feelings.

His haphazard confession was interesting to say the least. Hikari could already sense the presence of the other pokemon trying to peep from behind the tree, not that she needed to. Few trees could hide the bulk of Ms. Kang effectively. And the so-called flowers Blaze had in his hands were Kireihana herself. She had been sheepishly trying not to fidget while whispering to remind Blaze of his forgotten lines and trying to avoid the nervous flames from Blaze's wrist.

It must have broke his heart when she did not give any answer but just laugh at the ridiculous sight. She never answered.

She could not accept his feelings. But... yet... she could not bear to give 'no'.

Hikari had finally reached the top of the tree. The vast mass of forest spread below her. Blaze must have ran, carrying her for a quite a distance. She could actually see Rustboro from there, the poke-center, the mart, the tall imposing Devon building, the Rustboro gym... She kept quiet and closed her eyes, slowly shutting out the emotions from around, isolating that one emotion she need to feel.

Her own.

It had been ironic that it was her own emotions that she found hardest to comprehend. It was always a muddle to her. A mish-mash of intertwining thoughts and feelings. Dread, fear, worry, anger, fatigue, disappointment.... and somewhere in there, hope, happiness, the girlish feeling of being touched. Hikari continued to peel away these layers of emotions, there was one emotion she needed to sense for herself.

That was when the ball of flames came descending from the sky. To be more precise, it kind of did a couple of turns in the air like a balloon running out of air, followed by a faint accompaniment of 'Ahh...” before crashing into the outlying forest area.

* * *

Before his eyes, the fireball descended from the sky. Blaze could not recall setting any flying pokemon on fire for the day and since the sun was apparently still in the sky, though it should be setting soon, he came to the conclusion that it was probably a figment of his worried imagination.

He maintained his vigilance on the tree Hikari was on. He had expected her angry reaction; after all, she had always obeyed Komicer with utmost loyalty. But that did not meant that he could not intervene. He had only did what, he hoped, deep down Hikari wished would happened.

Hikari was still staring into the distance, as long as she remained where he could see her, he would not mind. She could get so... stubborn at times, there was no telling when her cold shoulder treatment would end. This was a coldness that no amount of fire from Blaze could warm, making Blaze feel helplessly unhappy. It weighed down like a tipping bucket of water over a gentle flame.

Footsteps approached. Accompanied by loud angry arguments between two humans with interjections from a third higher-pitched voice.

There were people approaching. The last thing Blaze needed was contact with humans, he had to avoid them. Thinking fast, he hoisted himself up the tree where Hikari was and sat himself down beside her.

<WHAT ARE YOU...> Hikari started to say before Blaze clamped his hands on her mouth, taking great care not to scratch her face with his talons. He placed a single claw on his mouth and then pointed downwards to the ground, the trainers were coming into sight.

Hikari followed his finger and then glared angrily back at Blaze but it seemed that she understood his intention. She quietened down and kept watch.

Two humans emerged from the forest growth, quarreling with each other furiously. To be more precise, it was a rather uneven fight with the woman scolding the man while the man tried to defend himself occasionally. “We would have bettered those twerps then if you had not messed up then!” The woman whined as she nursed her sorry state. Her long, red hair had been scorched quite badly while burnt marks could be seen on various patch of her white uniform. She reminded Blaze of Team Magma but there was no sign of the trademark 'M' on her, instead there was a large, red 'R' embroidered on her top.

“Your choice was not...” the hen-pecked man tried to retort before the woman cut him off and continued her furious lecture on him. The man with light purple hair wringed his hands anxiously as he followed behind the female. Like the female, he too sported a badly scorched white uniform with the 'R'. He had a worried look in his eyes as his sight flitted from area to area, as if seeking something for redemption.

There was a rustle in the bushes and a Meowth emerged from it, picking off the leaves stuck on his fur with angry annoyance. His golden plate on his forehead gleamed under the glow of the setting sun as it licked its paws to straighten the crooked whiskers on the side of its head . To Blaze's surprise, the Meowth started to speak in human, “Be quiet, you two, Nyasu~ We are lost and out of funds for now.” It shrugged its shoulders at the bickering pair before him.

“And it is all this idiot's fault!” The woman pointed an accusing finger at the man, “He was the one who made that stupid contraption without making it fireproof!”

“But you insisted that the rubber required was out of the budget...” the man protested as he waved his hands in denial, “Because you spent it all on...” he got cut off again as the woman launched a series of complaints against the unfairness of their opponents and the incompetence of her partner.

The Meowth signed again as he looked around at the surroundings. “The point is that we need to get out, Nyasu~, and then we can request for more fundings from the HQ.” Sparks of frustration were flying between the two humans before him.

Blaze watched the quarrel from above, keeping as quiet as possible. Part of him felt an understanding with the poor man being grilled helplessly by the red-haired dominatrix. Yet, he must not reveal his presence, it would be too dangerous. There was no telling what they would do to if two apparently-wild evolved pokemon turned up before them.

There was a pause in the quarrel below, the participants were keeping their gaze fixated before them as if they were trying to make out a voice they were hearing. There was a puzzled look in their face as the woman nodded her head once.

Then, before Blaze's very own eyes, Hikari leapt down from the tree and landed before the humans.

* * *

<I am trying to find my way out of the forest. I wish to have your help.> Hikari projected her thoughts towards the motley crew below her. She glanced towards Blaze, he was still absorbed in the humans. This was her chance.

It was not that she did not liked Blaze, on the contrary, she... she could not really tell... Blaze was someone special to her, someone she cared about, someone who she was very grateful to. She still could not really make out her own feelings, it was too complicated for her.

But she also knew she did not want to leave Master. If she made her move first, Blaze would have no choice but to follow. These humans, they did not seem that bad. If you think about it, even Team Aqua and Team Magma were not bad people, just misguided. She was sure these kind souls would be more than willing to aid them in leaving the forest. Especially since they too had the same aim in mind.

<I will show myself to you, should you agree.> the Gardevoir said. The humans had stopped their senseless in-fighting. The woman, who seemed like their leader, then nodded her head once. That was enough for Hikari.

Hikari leapt from the tree, using her psychic ability to soften the impact as she landed before the odd couple with their pokemon.

The humans (and the Meowth)'s eyes widened as the Gardevoir landed before them. A collective release of surprised gasps... then the group quickly huddled together aside, whispering to each other.

Hikari could sense excitement and glee replacing anger and irritation from the humans. She presumed that they were just glad to see a new companion. She tilted her head aside in curiosity as the humans continued their unheard banter.

The woman pulled out from the group and asked cheerfully, “Gardevoir, you want to join us?”

<Yes? I wish to leave this place with you...> Hikari repeated, waiting patiently for the impromptu conference to end.

The woman grinned cheerfully as she returned to the group. More whispering ensured. Then as suddenly as the meeting started, it ended and the participants leapt back into position.

“Well... we would be MORE than willing to take you in, Gardevoir...” the woman answered with her hands clasped before her, enthusiasm evident in her voice, let alone her emotions. Her companions nodded their heads vigorously in unison.

<Really?> Hikari clapped her hands in happiness, <May I ask what is your names?>

“I am really glad you've asked,” the purple-haired male said as he flicked his hair in a grandiose manner. Out from nowhere, a spotlight seemed to shone onto them.

“Prepare for trouble!” The redhead proclaimed.

“Make it double!” The man continued.

“To protect the world from devastation...To unite all people within our nation!”

Hikari noticed that the Meowth had somehow acquired a spotlight and were shining it onto the two humans. The humans were absorbed in their soliloquy, saying each phrase with gusto and pride. She zoned out the long speech and waited for their names. Looking up, she could see Blaze still up in the tree, a look of disappointment and disapproval on his face.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love... To extend our reach to the stars above!”

<Come down, they can lead us out,> Hikari projected her thoughts directly to Blaze.

The fighting pokemon shook his head and made some gestures with his hands. He would stay back and watch first, if they move, he would follow behind.

The woman struck a pose with her hands in the air, “Jessie!”

The man knelt and did a similar pose, “James!”

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

A shower of confetti and the Meowth jumped and landed between the humans, “Meowth, dat's right!”

Hikari felt it polite to clap her slender hands to show her appreciation. The group maintained their poses for a while before they relaxed with some back-patting and “Good job!” The Meowth went off for a while to wheel away the spotlight.

“Now that we're acquainted,” the woman known as Jessie took a pokeball from her pocket, “Go in then!”

Hikari looked at the pokeball in surprise. Did they misunderstood what she had said just now?

“Maybe she did not understand that, Jessie,” the man known as James said as he took the pokeball from her, “Just do... THIS!” he threw the ball towards Hikari.

Hikari could not dodge in time and the pokeball hit her on her head. <OUCH!> she cried as she bent down in hurt. The ball had achieved nothing but a bump on her forehead.

“Strange... is the ball faulty?” James wondered.

<I already had my own pokeball...> Hikari answered as she got up slowly, <I already had a Master... I wish to return to him...>

She could sense extreme disappointment from everywhere, from the self-proclaimed Team Rocket and more evidently, Blaze from above.

“O...” the humans huddled back into discussion. A new emotion emerged from them. Aggression.

The psychic slowly backed off as the humans returned their attention back to her.

“Then...” Jessie produced a rope and gripped it tightly, “We'll have to do it the hard way...”

James took a pokeball from his pocket and enlarged it.

Everything was going wrong for Hikari now as she retreated in fear. Then she bumped into the Meowth.

“I don't think so, Nyasu~” it snared as ten claws extended from its paws with a slick sound.

With a thunderous crash, Blaze landed before her, forcing the assailants back with the impact of his landing. He had seen enough from above.

He stood up and gave this Team Rocket his most piercing glare as he placed a hand on Hikari's shoulder, moving her to his back to protect her.

She could sense the fierce determination and anger from within him as she huddled behind the protective visage. At least, she could always count on him.

“That's cheating!” James cried as he released his pokemon. A green, prickly pokemon emerged with a cry of “Cacnea!” and landed before them.

Jessie was also took two pokeballs out of her pocket. The group closed in on the two of them.

“Is this when I say 'Told you so'?” Blaze hazarded a question as flames burst into action at his wrist. Hikari could feel his back growing warmer as he generated heat from within.

<No,> Hikari defended herself for one last time.

Jessie's pokeballs opened to shrieks of “Seviper!” and a loud, shrill “Wobbuffet!” A slick serpent pokemon slithered smoothly towards the two, followed behind by a large blue bob.

A grin appeared on James' face, “Now we have two to present to the boss!”

Hikari sensed with horror, the spreading of the grin to Jessie and Meowth.

This time, she really had messed up.