Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Rain Dance ❯ Full Moon ( Chapter 20 )

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Between the gentle yet persistent rocking of the motor yacht and the quiet roar of the waves crashing against its hull, it was all Batoy could do to keep his stomach in line. He gripped the guardrails of the boat, trying to steady himself, and failing horribly. His mind spun in circles, and he found himself suffering from vertigo; at any moment he would fall into the dark waters below and disappear.

“Don’t ye be throwin’ up on my deck, lad,” Captain Eldritch said with a grin, and Batoy looked back weakly at the man. He appeared to be in his late 50s, recently retired, with a hairline that had long since receded and been conquered by grey. Heavy-set, he had come from an easy, but busy life, and now he’d rewarded himself with the absolutely beautiful Sea Luminescence, a 76 foot long masterpiece, or so said Eldritch. “Else I’ll be makin’ ye clean it up.” Eldritch smiled again, pleased at how far his accent had come.

Batoy tried to say something, but the slip in his concentration nearly caused him to vomit, and so he turned back over the guardrail and just moaned. Seasickness wasn’t something he could triumph over easily; all his attempts thus far to steady himself and ended in vain. He’d wanted to thank the Captain for his hospitality, but he couldn’t manage two words without becoming too dizzy. On top of that, there was still the return trip to be had. Lovely.

Eldritch’s hand clamped down on Batoy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go down beneath and get some rest?” he said in his real voice. “We won’t be reaching Fullmoon Island for a few hours still.”

“Yeah,” Batoy said, with as slight a nod he could manage. “Thanks…” Two words. He reluctantly pulled away from the guardrail and, stumbling, made his way down a short ramp to an unlocked door. The lights on the ceiling barely illuminated the room, an awkward combination of a kitchen, living room and bedroom. On the port side of the room were a pair of bunkbeds, and Batoy stumbled his way to the empty lower bunk. His head hit the pillow and he almost immediately sighed in relief. Though the rocking still dazed him, at least it felt good to be off his feet.

“Seasick?”

“Ugh… yeah. You’re not asleep Mia?” Batoy rolled over on his back, staring at the slats of the bed above him.

“Nah, not tired. Just been thinking.”

“About what?”

Mia paused for a little bit. “It’s nothing big,” she said finally, and Batoy got the sense that she wasn’t much in the mood for talking about her mind. “How much longer?”

“The Captain said a couple of hours.”

“Alright.”

“Mia? Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Batoy detected a hint of… something, but he didn’t know what. “I dunno, but-”

“If you don’t know, then why ask?”

“I can’t be worried?”

“What’s there to worry about?”

“Nothing, I guess…” Batoy felt his seasickness fade, replaced by a growing spark of anger. There was no reason for her to be so snippety. “So,” he said, fighting hard to bite back the irritation he felt, “what do you think we’ll find at Fullmoon Island? You think there‘s gonna be a special Pokemon there?”

“I dunno, possibly.”

The spark in Batoy flashed brightly. “Why’re you being so short with me?” he protested, sitting up now, his queasy stomach all but forgotten. “First you ditch me for like half the day, and then I have to struggle just to get you to talk to me! What’s the deal?” An uneasy silence followed, and Batoy bit his lip. He’d expected some sort of retort, but not complete silence. A few minutes passed, and still, Mia’d not said a single word. “M-Mia?” he stammered, his voice weak and pathetic.

There was a stirring above him, and he saw Mia’s shadow drop down, landing lightly on the wooden floor. She didn’t turn towards him; instead, almost as silently as a ghost, she walked across the room and out the door, not even slamming it behind her. She seemed neither angry nor considerate; she didn’t acknowledge him at all. And that hurt.

Batoy placed his hand over his face. His headache had come back with a vengeance. His stomach tossed and turned. He laid back and squeezed his eyes closed. “Stupid, stupid, stupid…” he muttered to himself. “Why’re you even out here? Do you even know how much trouble you’re going to be in?”

Of course he knew, and Batoy bite down on his lip hard. All this running he’d been doing, and for what? It was just going to get him into more trouble. His stomach squeezed into a knot, and Batoy whimpered, forcing his eyes open. “I’m such an idiot,” he muttered. “I could just lose it forever, and then I’d be fine. I wouldn’t be lying anymore….”

And then all those poor pokemon would be stuck, unreachable for all eternity, and for no reason other than that their trainers no longer wanted them. “It’s not fair… why do I have to make a decision like that?” He could turn the microchip back in, and probably be forced to serve time. He could give the chip to Brand or Lizbeth, but then the other would be angry with him. And try as he might, he couldn’t ignore the possibility of what Magma would do with a virtually unlimited supply of pokemon.

He pressed the pillow against his face and hoped the world would stop spinning.

---

A soft, but bright pale light peaked through the windows, awakening Batoy from his dreamless nap. “Wha… what’s that?” he muttered, climbing out of the bunkbed and stumbling out of the door. His eyes widened suddenly.

The dark clouds that covered the sky had given way to the more gorgeous full moon Batoy had ever seen. Everything around them was bathed in its gentle blue light. He glanced around. They’d just docked in a sort of alcove, yet the water was strangely calm and only gently splashed against the sides of the cliffs surrounding them. Captain Eldritch had already gone to work, mooring the Sea Luminescence to a sturdy looking gangplank that extended from a path up the cliffs.

“How ya feelin’, lad?” he shouted, glancing back over his shoulder. “Feeling better?”

Batoy nodded and crawled out onto the deck. “Wow… this is Fullmoon Island?”

“Yes, it is,” Mia said appearing behind Batoy and stepping past him. Her knapsack was slung over her shoulder. “You’ll be back to pick us up, Captain?”

“Aye, lass, around noon tomorrow, just like you requested.” He leaned closer to Mia. “You sure you kids’ll be fine here all by yourself?”

“I’ll be able to take care of myself,” Mia said, flashing the Captain a smile before hopping over the guardrail and landing solidly on the gangplank below.

“H-Hey, wait for me!” Batoy called, snatching his own backpack and hurrying after the girl. He’d taken a few steps on the dock, before turning and waving his thanks to the Captain, who nodded him off.

The path through the cliffs were beautifully maintained, and even in the moonlight, Batoy could see the poppies waving in the breeze. The wildflowers were meticulously placed, and he couldn’t believe that they weren’t maintained by anything other than nature itself. The rows of flowers eventually gave way to a thicket of maple trees. Mia strode among them until she came across a break in the tree line. “This way,” she said before disappearing among the trees.

Batoy doubled his speed to try and catch up, but Mia’d disappeared. The trees overhead blocked the moonlight partially, but he could see a bright glow ahead of him. The overlying branches created a sort of archway, showing the path before him. “This is weird,” he whispered to himself, hesitating to step forward. “I don’t hear anything at all, except the wind… no pokemon or anything….”

He swallowed his fear and took a step forward, then another, until he finally reached the bright clearing in front of him. The moon’s light drenched everything, and Batoy found his jaw hanging open at the sheer stunning beauty of the sights before him. He trudged forward until he noticed the sloshing of his sneakers slightly sinking in water. But the water on the ground wasn’t stagnant; it smelled fresh and clean and seemed void of any dirt at all, as if it’d recently rained.

A breeze picked up around him, but it wasn’t chilly. In fact, the night air felt a good deal more comfortable than it had been before. A very faint sound passed through his ears, but though he looked around, he couldn’t see anything. The sound seemed to come from the middle of the clearing, and as Batoy neared, it grew louder.

Something within Batoy stirred uncomfortably as the sound slowly became clearer. It was a song, haunting and mellow. It swirled around him, dizzying him, and he felt like he were about to lose his balance. Stronger the song came, and Batoy reached up to his head. An incredible pressure pressed at his temples, like something was attempting to force its way into his mind. A single feather floated down in front of him, yellow and green and glowing like the moon.

An eerie blue light overcame him, and Batoy’s heart started racing. His arms and legs locked up, and he could barely turn his head. From the corner of his eyes he could see a similar light from the edge of the clearing. He fought against the force and turned more, his vision focusing to see Old Man. The Alakazam’s spoons were bent forward, and the pokemon’s body shimmered as he grunted in frustration. Mia stood beside him, her arms crossed. Batoy couldn’t see her eyes.

He tried reaching for his pocket, but a sudden wave of exhaustion overcame him. Batoy fell forward on his hands, gasping, but even lifting his arm was too much of an effort and he collapsed. Right in front of his nose, the small feather danced slightly on the strengthening breeze. “W-why, Mia…” he tried to whimper before everything went dark. The only thing he could hear was that haunting song.

---

“What are you doing here? You can’t be here?”

Batoy stirred a bit. He could hear someone talking.

“Go away! We don’t want you here!”

Someone was talking to someone else. He could feel two presences nearby.

“You’ll ruin everything! I won’t let you come in!” That voice… it was his own. Was he talking? Was this just a dream? What had happened? Mia…

The spark within Batoy exploded with fury, and Batoy forced himself up. He couldn’t see anything except fog around him. He saw two shadows, but couldn’t make them out. “Who’s there?” he demanded, his fists clenched. “Is that you, Mia? Why’d you attack me!”

The voice halted, and Batoy felt an unusual feeling inside of him, like a sheet had suddenly been wrapped around him. “She wants to force herself in and take over,” Batoy’s voice said. “I won’t let her, but I need your help. Together, we can defeat her.”

The other presence pushed through the fog, but Batoy recoiled. The fog thickened, and the shadow of the presence faded slightly, as if it were pushed back. A wailing song pierced through, and Batoy suddenly felt cold.

“Don’t let her lies and deceit fool you. She only wants power. She’ll stop at nothing to try and get it. We must stop her. Will you help me?”

Batoy nodded. “What… what do I have to do?”

“Just give yourself to me. Let me do all the work. Let me guide you.”

The shadow pushed again, but the fog pressed back against it again, this time pushing it away completely. The presence disappeared.

---

Batoy sat up with a start, sweating and panting. He felt the scrambling of paws on his chest, followed by concerned barking. ~Lava, Quilava?~ Jet yelped, rocking Batoy’s shoulders with his paws. Batoy held his head and shook it. “Ugh… I’m fine, Jet. Thanks,” he said, rubbing the Quilava on the head.

The sky had already begun to light with the rising sun, and remnants of the morning mist clung to the trees, begging not to be burned away with the coming heat. Batoy climbed to his feet, dusting bits of grass off of him. “Did you pop out to check on me, Jet?” The Quilava nodded and pawed at Batoy’s leg. Batoy smiled and picked him up.

“So, you’re awake finally? I was kinda worried for a moment.”

Batoy turned suddenly, his eyes narrowing at Mia. “You…”

The girl raised her hands and grinned. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I save your tail.”

“You… what?”

Mia held up a black pokeball with a yellowish-orange arch marked on it. “I don’t know what she was doing, but she was very interested in you. Old Man was trying to safeguard you from her song, but you kept fighting against it. I had to capture her to keep her from trying to hurt you.”

“You did that… for me? Who was attacking me?”

Mia flicked her wrist and the ball sent sailing into the night sky before exploding with light. Batoy’s eyes opened wide. A Pokemon he’d never seen before hovered in the air, with pink veils of feathers surrounding her. Her back was covered in soft blue plumage, and her underbelly and moon-shaped bill were a gentle yellow. “This is Cresselia.”

The lunar pokemon set its gaze towards Batoy and started to move. Jet began to growl, but a sharp word from Mia stopped both in their tracks. “Cresselia. I don’t want you to attack Batoy anymore. Is that understood?” The lunar pokemon gave a mournful wail, but nodded and retreated back behind her. “She means well, but I suppose there’s just something about you she’s interested in.” Mia shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno what, though.”

“Was she… the one you came here for?”

“I suppose so,” Mia said with a shrug. “I didn’t know exactly what I’d find here, but it certainly was extraordinary.” She rested her hand on Cresselia’s back. The pokemon didn’t recoil. “I can’t wait to get to know you, Cresselia.”

Batoy wasn’t quite so enthusiastic. Something about the Pokemon troubled him, something deep down in his gut. Yet, her presence was incredibly calming. He felt as if he could sail towards the moon and back. And still, he didn’t move forward to touch her. “So… what’re you going to do now?” he asked.

Mia frowned. “Ya know, I haven’t really thought about it. To be honest, I could go back to Saffron, but I really don’t want to.” She paused a bit, and then an idea came to her. “Though, I will say I did enjoy hanging out with you. Perhaps if you aren’t too busy, you could escort me back to Snowpointe City?”

Batoy glanced down at Jet. “What do you think, Jet?” he asked. The Quilava grinned and let a small fire ripple down his back. He glanced at Mia. “Well, there’s your answer!”