~~~ Chapter 59 - Ferris Wheel ~~~

"You don't wanna go to Striaton?" Lyra said to Ho-Oh, who just stared at her. Talking to the bird was like talking to a wall. But they knew and understood each other well enough. She felt Ho-Oh's burning pull. Not that talking even mattered: as high up as they were, it was all at the phoenix's discretion where they would go. But, she had made a promise to Burgh, that tall teen, that she would meet him before they left Striaton.

Later in the afternoon, she landed in Lostlorn forest, to the northeast of Nimbasa city and just north of Route 16. They followed the warm pull of lingering desires. Again, she released Meg, as they strolled about Lostlorn forest. It was an hour or two of walking about—a decade ago, Ho-Oh would have just burned down the forest.

Unfortunately for Ho-Oh, not everyone who was burned rose back up. In the more modern times, destroying large portions of a region in order to fulfill their primal urges were largely frowned upon. Lyra had, with varying degrees of success, taught the phoenix that being a bit more surgical was better for everyone's health, including his. Not a lot of people or pokemon really enjoyed waking up and finding their homes and regions burned down. Being bonded, she knew how strong that feeling was.

They stumbled onto the target, following that primal pull. A pair of dead zoroark lay unceremoniously on the ground, smelling of burnt plastic. Lyra frowned. The corpses were surprisingly fresh. There was only a scorch mark across the ground, and the two had died. There had been no fight, whatever it was hadn't even given them a chance to fight. Whoever or whatever had done it, had struck fast, and with immense electric force. Had likely been paralyzed then struck until they'd died, then had their bodies on top of each other unceremoniously and left to rot. In the little grotto, there were a few marks here or there, but no boots or human footprints. No clear prints.

"Ho-Oh," she'd said. "I found the source of this one." Then as if on cue, the bird landed, and a radiant sacred fire burned the bodies lying on the dirt.

As Ho-Oh's fire got to work, Lyra released the volcarona from the johtoan ball. The bug startled at the sight of the rainbow fire, and the zoroarks stumbled as they got up, untangling themselves. Lyra took a seat on a large nearby rock, jutting out.

"Look, Volcy," Lyra said, as the volcarona fluttered along the ground, putting away the hand-crafted pokeball back into her bag. As she fished from the pack, she pulled out a piece of coal and a nutri-bar. Volcarona inched across the ground to where she'd tossed them.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep trying to fly like that," she said, watching it eat. "Now, I've raised a number of birds and bugs from egg to adulthood, and I think the common denominator is time. Or working until you get exhausted and break one of your wings. Then I'll have to take you to the pokecenter."

Meg returned from her foraging, watching as the two Zoroark finally regained their bearings, staring at them. She pulled out a cigar, the second-to-last one from the Looker's pack, lighting it up. She would be sad there wouldn't be any more.

"You're both probably starving," she said, taking a whiff. She let out a puff of smoke. "I know I was, when Ho-Oh burned me up. I've got a couple nutri-bars for you. Didn't think to bring any meat, sorry," she said as the Zoroarks, both turned to one another, pressing their heads next to one another.

"That's very touching, and you're probably about to remember that you got whiffed by, I dunno, Thundurus, Zapdos or maybe a wandering Raikou—" both zoroark snarled, their eyes going black and ears tucked behind their heads. "—Right. Raikou it was, then," she said, tossing them the pair of generic nutri-bars with her free hand, ignoring their posturing.

"Before you run off for revenge, let's have a talk. See, Volcy here's like you, or something," she said, motioning toward the moth that was trying to re-learn to fly.

One of the Zoroark shifted into the visage of a woman. "Do we have a choice?" the illusion asked, the nutrient bar in its hand disappearing behind the illusion in a single bite.

"Look, if you two want to run off chasing revenge, go for it," Lyra said. "But, this is a new lease on life for the both of you. And the speech will only take a couple minutes. Hear me out?" Lyra asked. She knew zoroarks were smart, and their illusions strong, but she didn't know that they were strong enough to mimic human voices. The face of the girl just nodded.

"Then, gather around," Lyra said, sliding off her rock, into a cross-legged position. She smiled, smooshing the cigar against the dirt, putting it out. "And you get over here too, Volccy. I know you can't talk, but we'll figure something out." The volcarona wobbled on the ground, fluttering, getting closer to achieving full flight again. Ho-Oh took off, flying in lazy circles. Meg scoot forward, the Meganium, one zoroark, the other maintaining its human illusion and Volc and Lyra sitting a good ten feet from one another in the Lostlorn forest grotto.

"Welcome to lingering regrets anonymous. I am Lyra, and I'll be your guide this afternoon." She smiled. It had been a while since they had this many pokemon for a session.

~~~

Cresselia stood, her form shimmering in the middle of the park, the assault of the sounds and cacophony ringing in her head. She could feel the waves of electric sound beating from inside a large, black building, as most of the humans in the park filtered inside. The mission was simple: ride a roller coaster. What Cresselia hadn't expected, was to actually find a meloetta in the park. It didn't matter. Darkrai's form coalesced next to her, pointing. The large, round, mechanical structure.

It moved slowly, deliberately. The Little Dreamer had told them, roller coasters stood there, out in the open, inviting, challenging all to ride them. She and Darkrai proceeded to the line, her partner following by her side, dropping his shadow form in the thin crowd. Waltzing up to the queue for the ferris wheel, the line of couples, teens and young adults who chose not to go on either the more exciting rides or into the concert stage grew hush and stiff as they walked forward.

They were not making noise or attacking, though a bipedal cat with dark pink irises and purple pupils sitting on a young teen's shoulders stared at them. The espurr did not hiss, instead just continuing its stare. Cresselia and Darkrai paid it no mind, waiting in the queue. The boy and girl noted their pokemon's head turned, glanced back.

Multiple people murmured, glancing back. More than one couple decided to exit the line for the ferris wheel. The nervousness they had when Darkrai was next to her never changed. One reason among many why they chose to keep to themselves, as did their cohorts. A slight nudge and promises of pleasant dreams, and complete panic would be avoided, though the espurr continued its stare at them.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

There were only a couple people until the front of the line, and the individuals running the ride had their hands to the communications devices on their belts. The guy in front of them turned back to her, and looked her in the eyes.

"So, uh," he said, "I take it you two don't come here often?"

She held silent for a moment, her face unmoving, "No. We don't," she said.

"Yeah, uh, well," the boy said. "With that disguise, I can tell you don't get out much."

"Tyler!" the other girl said. The girl's heart was beating rapid-fire. Her stress would override the comfort Cresselia had given soon.

"Serene! It's fine! See, it's plain as day they're just a pair of zoroarks that came out for a night on the town!" the guy said.

"Tyler!" The girl said again, her face completely red. "What if a trainer hears you!" she said.

"I, I uh, didn't think about that." Tyler looked back at the pair, his face going flush. "In that case, uh, you two need to work on your choice of illusions."

"Forgive us then," Darkrai rhasped, "for clearly we are but young pups. What should we do?" The group all took a step forward as the wheel progressed. The espurr on Tyler's shoulder continued to stare at Cresselia.

"Well," Tyler said, "like I said, your uh, your illusions need more practice. If you don't want to deal with pokeballs being thrown at you when you don't expect it, that is… You know that there's no laws protecting from out-of-season catching in cities, right?"

Tyler had clearly never met a zoroark before. Navigating in and out of human society with ease was one of their fortes.

"I was not aware," Darkrai said. Cresselia was content to leave this communication to her partner.

"Uhm, also uh," Serene spoke up, twirling her finger of her shoulder-length hair. Her heart was still beating. Cresselia made the conscious decision not to peer into their minds. It was more… interesting that way. The girl continued: "Don't let your long hair get caught in the rides. Wrap it around your waist or something!"

"Good point, Serene!" Tyler exclaimed. "And one recommendation for you, miss," Tyler said, giving Cress' human form a once-over. "You chose a pretty illusion, yeah, but uh, your expression gives Espurr here a run for his money." he said, scratching the staring cat behind the ears. It still hadn't blinked.

"So, you recommend that we: rely on illusions that look like humans, to work on our facial expressions, and to ensure our hair does not get caught in the machine," Darkrai stated. Tyler and Serene both nodded. The pair in front of the four were waved onto the ferris wheel, the attendant doing their best to not stare at Darkrai as he floated in the line.

They were here to ride a roller coaster, not a ferris wheel, so they weren't about to let their night end early. Though they had ways of ensuring the night would remain young. Ones which didn't rely on threats. Agreeing, at least partly with their assessment, Darkrai's visage shimmered, as he took on the appearance of a zoroark, before his form shifted to one of a human male. Darkrai and Cresselia stepped apart, a pokeball sailing through the air seconds later, landing right where they had been, moments before.

A kid, not fifteen years old, saw that his throw had missed, and immediately ran. Cresselia glanced down at the ball. A small ripple, wave in reality and the ball imploded in on itself, beeping, a puff of smoke coming out. A small orb of black, about the size of a ping-pong ball homed onto the teen, who tripped, falling to the ground, their momentum carrying them into a single roll, asleep. The lights and noise of the music kept any shouts or gasps from making it too far.

Tyler frowned, staring down at the pokeball that had exploded, seemingly of its own accord. "Uh, have fun you two," he said. Serene's heart still pounded, but as they climbed into their cab on the ferris wheel, it immediately began to calm down. Tyler and Serene weren't scared of the two after all, Cresselia concluded.

They had been worried.

~~~

"Leah," Lanky had said, calling me by name, as I had stuffed my face on the metallic floor. I couldn't, wasn't going to hyperventilate. I rolled over, my eyes staring into the ceiling of our train, feeling the metallicity of the ground through my antennae as the train rushed over the tracks like a silent, speeding bullet, the light whistle and consistent hum gentle reminders that we were on a train.

What was my name again?, I thought to myself. I could remember my past life—faker that I was—I could remember pokemon. I had gone to college. I had ridden roller coasters. I had even graduated college! But—my name was—

Lanky got up from where he was sitting, moving to put the bag of the rocks I'd accidentally eaten—Z-Crystals, whatever those were, they had vibrated reliably any time I used my magic or another pokemon used theirs. Lanky moved over to where I was lying down, stepping over Leaf. My compatriot had apparently decided to do the same thing I was doing, when he realized I wasn't in the mood for play.

I wanted, so badly to open my mouth. Take a deep breath. Hold the inhaler up. Put on the anti static tube so the aerosolized steroid wouldn't stick to my throat. Take a deep breath and feel the sweet release as my lungs would finally expand again. But no, I couldn't. I couldn't—wasn't going to fall back on those habits. No nightly CPAP machine helping me keep breathing through the night.

"So, uh," Lanky said, picking me up. My arms were limp, moving about like a puppet whose arms were cut from their strings. "It's going to be okay, you know," Lanky told me, pulling me onto his lap, sitting back down on the bench, fishing a piece of candy from his pocket. Her mouth opened, and he dropped it in for her. Leaf—no, Fidget—walked up to us. I could tell he was getting anxious too, but couldn't turn down the chance for some candy.

Lanky gave Fidget one, before turning to me. As he opened his mouth to talk, I prepared for the worst—Yes, I am an imposter! I am not actually a leavanny! I don't even know what I am! I sure look the part, don't I?!? I thought to myself. Not that it mattered. I wasn't going to be able to talk to him anyway. Through a miracle of my last couple nights' nightmares, thanks Darkrai, my mouth clamped shut, even as the layers of saccharine sugars melted down.

"You CAN understand humans, can't you?" he asked.

Oh, gods, I thought! That was his question? I was—I wasn't going to bite. No. I wouldn't lie. I'd resolved this one long ago. No lying. Just… There was no need to give anything away if they didn't ask for it. I wanted to rub my blades together. I wanted to run. I wanted—to just live and enjoy life. If that meant being the strongest pokemon I could become, I could bite that pill. I could swallow it. I could crush it up between the ridges of my mouth, savor the shitty taste of the bitter pill and swallow it with a smile.

The spark of hope dangled in front of me, bidding, its sugary scent calling me forward. No, I wasn't about to mash too hard on that fruit, only to find out I didn't wait until it was ripe enough. So instead, I just nodded. The smile was one that was permanently etched onto this body's face, but there were no frowns from this girl, none on this train.

"Thought so," Lanky said. Leaf had gotten bored, and moved down the train car, back to where Lanky had originally sat by the silcoon, relaxing on the ground. Lanky's eyes lit up. "You're a leavanny from another planet, then?!?"

I would swallow this bitter pill with nods and smiles. Even if I just wanted to roll over and die.