Chapter 15- At sea.

The idea I had to train Skoll aura sensing abilities was far from a complicated one. Actually, we already started doing it. The blindfold that we used when training for the rudimentary silent orders found its way back on his eyes making sure that he was effectively blind.

“Now before I continued let me explain what I will do. Because your ears are also very sensitive, I will cover them and then you will try to dodge my hand. At first, I will go very slowly but I will speed it up as we go. Do you get it?” I asked him.

Once he nodded, we move out of the way of everyone so that we did not bother them. After I put a head on his ears to muffle the sound, I sat on the ground in front of Skoll who had already started to bounce in anticipation of the training. As I told him, at first, I was going really slow, simply reaching my hand to touch him. He obviously dodged those with contemptuous ease, going as far as taunting me with a ‘come to me’ gesture.

His smugness evaporated when I started to reach out faster. I kept moving both of my hands from going for his feet, side, shoulder and even cheek from time to time. He managed to dodge most of it, but it was not as easy as the first one was. His face was a mask of concentration and even his eyebrows were furrowed. When I managed to reach him, I would briefly give him the time to recenter himself before resuming. Unfortunately, I was far from the most athletic person and after a while of repeating the same thing, my arms started to burn, and we took a short break.

While on the break, I checked on Nike more closely. I was keeping an eye on her even when I trained with Skoll, but now I had the capacity to properly look at her. The psychic type was still struggling to control her powers. The aim was to have the ball move in a smooth circle around her antenna with a consistent speed. What she did now was more similar to an asteroid with a chaotic orbit. The ball would zip straight before then changing direction, stopping abruptly the accelerate once more. I was tempted to say that in move in a square but… squares are only two dimensional while the ball moved up and down like the teeth of a saw.

Her face was a mask of focus as she kept trying to correct the direction. It was a funny sight, but it also showed how reliant we were on forcing our way through moves instead of using control. Thanks to Caitlin, we caught it early so we can correct it before it worsened. With how focused she was, she might actually manage to have a smooth orbit before we reach Castelia. Or at least an orbit that stayed on the same plane.

Looking around, the light streaming in from the class panel had already shifted, the sun having started its course toward the horizon and out of sight. Seraphina had claimed the coffee table and was watching a documentary of sorts while taking notes. With her headset on there was no way she would notice me. Her two pokemon claimed their own spot, with Litleo taking advantage of his smaller size to claim her laps while Luxio curled up at her feet. These two had behavior typical of cats. After that, I checked on Mathew and found him fast asleep. Probably knocked out by the pills.

After checking on everyone, Skoll and I resumed the training with only minimal pauses to allow for my arms to rest. I really wished I had another physical fighter so I could leave both of them to train together. Regardless, slowly but surely Skoll improved and soon I actually had trouble touching him. In all evidence I will have to ask Mathew’s Mienshao. On my next break Seraphina was waiting for me.

“Are you done now?” She asked me.

“I think I am.” I replied while touching my sore arm. “By the time I am done I might actually learn Thrust Arm.” I said jokingly.

“That would actually be funny! Any way I’m going on a walk. Want to come with?”

“Sure, why not. Alright guys what do you want to do. Break or continue training?”

As if waiting for that sentence, Nike’s ball dropped on the ground and she floated to her spot. Skoll seemed to think about it for a second before shaking his head. I was about to return him to rest but he shook his head and opted to instead meditate.

“By the way, I meant to ask since when do you do that?” I questioned him.

“Rio! Riolu Riolu. Lu.” He answered sagely (?)

“…Riiight.” Seraphina said for the both of us.”

Walking out of the room, we found the elevator we needed to go back on deck. There was absolutely no chance that I would take the stairs every time I wanted to move in and out of the room. It also seemed that the other passengers got bored of staying in their room because there was plenty of people mulling about.

“By the way Sera, what is the expedition all about?”

“That nickname is not going out of your mind anytime soon, is it?” She sighed. “Whatever Nex. What was your question?” she smiled sweetly but I shivered.

“Please don’t! I am sorry Seraphina!”

“Nope. Too late for that! You are now Nex! Actually…” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and with a few quick movements changed my contact information, smugness practically oozing out of her. “So, your question? Ah never mind, the expedition, right?”

I tried to protest but all attempts were met with increasingly more ridiculous nicknames so in the end I just shut my mouth. I mean seriously, whose mind goes from Nexon to Xonxon?

“Fine, you win! I was saying the expedition. I joined because I had nothing better to do and that align with what I wanted to do but now that we are getting closer, I need to know more.”

“That’s what I thought.” Her smugness made me want to take back my words, but I held back otherwise we would not move past that. “Ok, so the expedition is toward a new cavern that was discovered there. They sent to expedition to see if there was anything more we could learn about the ancient civilization that live there.”

I remembered that the whole road was actually some kind of giant archeological site, with houses that were excavated sometime between the two opuses of the games. There were some who were saying that because it was the only castle that could be accessed, it was actually the castle of the Royal family that ruled the land.

Actually, very little is known about the Royal family apart from the myths and legends of the Twin Dragons that are still told today. Supposedly, the royal family ruled these lands for generations, assisted by a legendary pokemon. Unfortunately, even its name was erased from history due to the subsequent war, being known solely as the Original Dragon.

The king died without announcing an official heir to the throne. Unfortunately for him he gave birth to twins, so even the order of birth could not be used to proclaim an official heir to the throne. The two brothers, with different ideologies ended up fighting so much that the Original Dragon split in two, giving birth to Reshiram, the guardian of Truth and Zekrom, the guardian of Ideals. Well, there was actually a third, Kyurem, who is said to be the remnant or the husk of the original dragon, although few people even knew of its existence. And it was better like that.

Regardless, this was the myth that was told in the games. All the rest was left in the shroud of speculation. Like the fact that the relic castle was home to said family. My opinion was that it was at least the seat of power of one of the brothers. Because I can’t imagine them living in the same castle when at war. That would also explain how unnatural it is to have a single band of desert in the middle of the region like that. Granted-

“Hey! Are you listening?” Sera finally asked me.

“Huh? Sorry I got lost thinking or what could be there. But a cavern in a desert?” I asked.

“I say the desert but it’s not really. There is a river flowing through part of it, and the cavern was found not far from there. That’s actually why they agreed for beginners to come with them. Otherwise, the conditions will be too harsh for amateurs.” She sighed.

Ok, I guess there should be a limit on how much I rely on the knowledge from the games. I know for certain that there was no river whatsoever that was accessible. That makes sense though since this is not a game and pokemons would of course need water.

“And are we supposed to make our way there by ourselves?” I questioned.

Sera shook her head, sending her hairs flying. “The expedition is in two parts. We will meet our group in Castelia and move together toward the site. There we will meet the other half of the group that comes from Nimbasa.”

“That’s actually interesting that Nimbasa is part of that. I had this vision that they were mainly focus on fashion because of Elesa.”

“That’s just stupid. Although I do hope to see her!” Stars started to shine in her eyes. Obviously, she was a fan of the electric gym leader/ model.

During our talks, we continued to make our way through the boat and finally reached the observation deck. There were already a lot of people, some taking pictures while others simply enjoyed the view. The sun had already started to crest over the horizon, painting the scenery in beautiful hues of oranges. It looked as if the boat was being chased by the sun.

The deck was full of people that had a similar idea to us, enjoying the last ray of sunset over the outlines of Virbank City. Families were taking pictures, friends were being rambunctious and lovers… let’s just say that they did their best to stay out sight of the young children. Pokemons were also present on the deck enjoying the breeze with their trainers. In the sky, a flock of Ducklett flew in formation with the few odd Swanna in the mix. The scene was so picturesque that I found myself taking pictures before I even noticed.

Opening the gallery that pictures turned out extremely well and I decided to send them in the group with Nana and Pops. I opened WoobChat and selected our group. Knowing them it will take some time to notice the picture, so I put my phone back.

“This is nice and all, but I am starting to get really hungry so how about we go and wake the sleepy head?” I suggested and Seraphina laughed.

Our way back to the room was just as uneventful as the way out, except we kind of got a tiny little bit lost. In the end we made it back thanks to Nike. The room was much like we left it in but much darker.

Once the lights were on, only Skoll was waiting for us still in his meditative stance. Well, with his eyes opened and staring at us.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Seems like he is actually getting more precise.

Waking up Mathew was a simple matter of calling his name. I guessed that as a ranger he needed to be able to react quickly even when asleep, which was nice. We made our way to the dining area of the ship.

It was really a big hall that reminded me of buffet at hotel. You took your plate a went around picking and choosing what you wanted to eat. Unfortunately for Mathew’s Sawsbuck and Mandibuzz, they will have to eat in the room after we are done because of their size. It was a measure taken by the ship crew to ensure that there was enough space. Honestly given the wight of some pokemon, I’m surprised that even that is possible. Also given the character of the both of them, I doubted having them in the open was a good idea.

So for now, Mathew, Sera and I made our way to select what we wanted to eat. Skoll, Luxio and Mienshao reserved the table and after that we grabbed their food. Nike of course stuck to my head but honestly… I might have to find a way because once she evolves…

We seated ourselves and were about to start eating when the lights cut out. Not for long, as a spotlight quickly shone through, showering the Lapras that we saw earlier and making her the only visible form. Soon a soft melody filtered through the room, followed by orbs of water coalescing from thin air. They grew quickly, going from only a few centimeters in diameter to one, then two meters. There was a total of five balls that floated through the air all while the Lapras started to sing.

It was a soft melody that seemed to tell a story. At first, it was a soft barely audible hum at the back of the mind. But by the time the five balls reached their full size it was a representation of pure emotion. It somehow felt lonely.

It was not meant to last however, as soon, the familiar noise of releasing pokemons filled the hall. I looked around to spot the pokemons only to come out empty due to the sole light source only shining on Lapras. It was not until the water balls, that until now had been sitting empty, started to shine that I found the released pokemons. Yellow, orange, red, purple and pink. Each of the balls emitted a soft internal glow, spreading mesmerizing hues in the hall. The silence that descended when the light turned off was finally broken as “oohs” and “aahs” of admiration echoed.

I myself found myself transfixed by the spectacle that unfolded in front of us. Then slowly, the giant water bubble drew closer to the central projector, allowing the crowd to distinguish the pokemons responsible for the light show. Simultaneously, 5 fish pokemons, all of the same species jumped out of their respective bubbles and into the one next to them. As they did so the colors of the balls shifted with their respective inhabitants. Each jump left behind a trail of luminescent trail. Or most likely scales as the pokemons responsible was none other than Lumineon.

It was a pokemon known to live in deep seas, using its light to attract its prey or blind their predators. Their mainly black bodies were well suited to the darkness the like of which are found deep underwater or in a particular dark hall. Their lighter band of color however are where the lightshow happens. From their four butterfly-like wings they seemed to release some of the phosphorescent scales forming arcs of light between the different floating pools.

Soon the spectacle drew to a close, showing us the final picture that will no doubt stay in the heads of many. The main pillar of light looked like the sturdy trunk of a stalwart tree. The Lapras, Lidy, was much like the steady base that supported the whole, the foundation upon which everything was built. The bubble that she generated hung in the air much like multicolored fruits that would seem to just be floating around. That would be the case if not four the trail that the Lumineons weaved without anyone’s notice forming an intricate pattern reminiscent of branches.

In the end, the whole thing looked like a luminous tree with even more glowing fruits hanging from its branches. The entire room burst out in applause and cheers.

It was truly breathtaking, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered if I would ever manage to present something similar. Stirring feelings in the chest of the spectators. Commanding attention and mesmerize them as my pokemon and I performed on stage. I was always fascinated by the contest, seeing how creative trainers were with their moves. And judging from the excited hop on my head I was not the only one.

“Nike you want to try it sometime?” I asked despite knowing the answer.

Immediately, a feeling of confirmation came from our link. She jumped on the table, forcing me to move the glasses. Her stare, despite her eyes being hidden by the bangs, was more intense than ever. Even without saying anything I knew what she wanted.

A promise.

A promise to try. A promise to create something as beautiful by ourselves. To enter at least one contest in our career and path together. And it was a promise I was more than willing to make. I nodded and extended my pinky finger as an offering. Nike should not have any concept of what that meant but she extended her hair toward it nonetheless.

A promise sealed by the most unbreakable signs of all.

Mathew and Sera just looked at us funny, no doubt bewildered by seeing the actions occurring. I mean from an outside perspective it must be absolutely bizarre. One moment we were enjoying the show and after that we were just staring at each other and the next moment we were making what looked like a promise, one they had no idea of the content. Well not that we cared to begin with.

The slight problem was that contests were not really a thing in Unova. As in there was no dedicated circuit like the one they had in Sinnoh for instance. We could always go there after we are done with the Unova circuit or participate in the odd contest-like event we found round Unova, because at least those existed. I am sure Nike will love it anyway.

“So are you gonna tell us what just happened?” Sera finally asked.

“Nope! Not saying!” I said as I started to dig into the pizza slice I took from the buffet.

“Really?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in what was definitely annoyance.

In response, I simply continued eating with exaggerated movement. Funnily enough Nike seemed to agree with my approach when the other pokemon questioned her. The only difference was that she actually whispered into Skoll ear who looked at us with a deadpan face before going back to eating and ignoring the noise around him.

…Somehow, I feel judged.

I wanted to joke with him that he could join us but I thankfully remembered that one the Riolus from his pack was actually kind of forced to participate into contest and was even mistreated after that. I wisely held my tongue.

Although Skoll warmed up a lot to us I could still feel a distance that was not here with Nike. It was better to avoid rocking the boat in that regard. He is coming around, no need to poke what was until recently a very sensitive topic. To the point of acting out and have a quest posted for him.

But back on topic, after teasing Sera for a bit, I decided to explain what had happened. Apparently, it was a surprise that I was even interested in performing in contests.

“And why is that please?” I inquired.

“Well, you never really showed any interest? I always thought you were just the boring type focused on fighting. Not that it is bad in anyway.” Mathew said, speaking for the first time. It seemed he really was not good with boats.

“I second that.” Sera declared.

“Ouch that hurts.” I clutched my heart at their piercing remarks. Not that I could complain given how I acted until now. “I will tell you more about it later when we are back in the room.” I told them.

After that nothing really note-worthy happened. The food was simply delicious, and I am not talking about only ours. The pokemons were also delighted to eat whatever they had. At the end Nike seemed to have inflated after gorging herself to the point of being barely conscious. Her contented simile was contrasted by Skoll that seemed to be lecturing her. In all aspects it looked like an older brother scolding a younger sibling.

On Sera’s side she was not lucky enough to have that scene. Both of her pokemons seemed to have gotten caught up in a contest between them, none of them willing to back out. The end result was both of them being fully passed out in a food coma. A similar scene happened around the hall with younger trainers.

On our side only Mathew’s single pokemon out, Mienshao ate with moderation. He was still busy trying to control his laughter when looking at the two feline pokemon that were about to roll to another table.

With a sigh, both Sera and I recalled our unconscious or nearly unconscious pokemons back to their capsules. Even Nike that did not like to be returned was in no shape to put up any resistance. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure she fell asleep. Thinking back, it made sense. While Skoll was just dodging the hits and even meditated afterward she was exerting herself trying to limit the strength of her mind. With the strain it must have put on her mind, the fact that she was chipper despite the fatigue, was a testament of her joviality.

Skoll simply shook his head as we made our way back to the room. Mathew did stop to communicate with the staff that he had and herbivorous, somewhat grumpy pokemon and a bigger than normal bird pokemon that could not eat in the hall. They acquiesced and let us know that will bring some food soon. The only downside was that both of them would not be able to eat into unconsciousness. Not that I think they would have done so.

Looking at the people in the hall it was clear that only inexperienced trainers, myself included, had let their pokemon overeat while more experienced individual and trainer alike made sure to stop them before they went too far. That is not to say they the pokemons did not eat to their hearts content, but they were at least conscious afterward. I added it to the growing list of things to look into when I have the time. I know that pokemon nutrition is an important area of focus but there should be more than that.

Putting aside the matter of what I would research later, we made our way to the room. Mathew immediately released his pokemons leaving the room considerably more cramped. It wasn’t like you could not move but more like you would have to move around a grumpy stag or an even grumpier vulture.

We moved to Sera’s room to chat while the pokemons were eating. There wasn’t really many things to talk about but since we are travelling together I thought it would be better if they knew some things.

“So?” Mathew drawled.

“Yeah yeah fine.” I said while I gathered my thoughts.

“Ok. So first Seraphina saw her, but after the battle against Roxie, I met Caitlin from the Elite 4.” I said purposefully stopping there to examine their reaction. Mathew eyes widened but Sera simply rolled her eyes.

“Really you want to draw it out like that?” I did not reply. I knew she wanted to know so I kept quiet until she groaned. “Fine. I’ll ask; what did she want.”

I smiled at that. It was really fun to mess with her. Mathew’s reaction on the other hand was lackluster but whatever.

“Ahem. Nothing really. Apparently they had suspicion that I was a psychic and they wanted to check something. Although they did ask me if I worked for Plasma believe it or not.” I said.

“Plasma are the wierdos from last time right?” Sera asked. “But why would they think that?”

I shrugged. “Beats me! Anyway after she checked that I was not from Plasma she simply asked me if I had training as a psychic which by the way I don’t. after that she basically strongly encouraged me get a proper training-“

“Wait are you gonna train under Elite Caitlin?!” This time it was Mathew that interrupted me. He seemed wildly surprised at the development and I finally got the reaction I wanted.

Grinning from ear to ear I actually had to stop before I started laughing at his reaction. I failed. Both of them looked bewildered at me.

“Nexon? Are you alright?” Sera ventured tentatively.

“I think it is the first time I see him laughing.” Mathew said on the side.

“Sorry. It’s just that his reaction was actually funny. Huuu” taking a deep breath I tried to compose myself before continuing. “Anyway, I don’t know if Caitlin will train me. she invited me to participate in some kind of camp that will help with my abilities, but I don’t know more than that.”

“Wait what camp? When are you leaving?” Mathew asked in a hurry.

“Ohh I did not know you would miss me so much” I said teasingly, much to his annoyance. “But jokes aside, it will not be anytime soon. At the end of the season in the earliest.”

“I have a question. What did she mean when she met me with Roxie? “Sera Asked again.

“About that…” I hesitated for a bit. What if she got mad at me? I did technically put her in danger. I wanted to fabricate some reason but in the end, she had the right to know.

Slowly I explained what had actually happened after Luxio evolved. How I actually should not have done what I did when I tried to connect her with Luxio. I filled her in about what Caitlin said after I told her that. The possibility of damage. Permanent ones.

“Again, I am sorry. I really did not know that it was that dangerous.” I said honestly, lowering my head.

“Ok, what the fuck is going on?” Sera blurted out.

I must admit that was not the answer I was expecting. I raised my head expecting to see anger or at the very least resentment but all I found was… confusion?

“Sorry?” I ended up asking.

“She means the mood swing. Bursting out laughing for the first time after what? a month and a bit? Only to suddenly apologize like your life depended on it.

“Ah” was the only thing that came out of my mouth after I realized what was happening from their perspective. “Sorry I am not the best at explaining things” I said a bit embarrassed.

“You guys know I am a psychic but different Gifts- like some call them- manifest in different ways. For me I was basically able to sense the emotions of people around me but also affecting them with my own. Because of that I always had a leash on my emotions if you will. But well after the…incident with Sera and when I lost consciousness, the changes became more pronounced.”

“But you just said, ‘was’ did it change that much?” Mathew asked. Clearly, he was not clueless on the topic.

Unlike Seraphina who seemed to have question marks floating over her head.

“Kind of. My abilities did change but that is not the cause for the mood swings. Rather that’s a gift from Caitlin if you want. But turns out after trying to control your emotion your all life and managing to do it pretty consistently means that when you let go you get a bit more… volatile, extreme.” I said with a grimace.

“Wait stop! I am not following so you always controlled your emotions? But that’s impossible! They are emotions! It’s part of what they are supposed to be, uncontrollable.” She stated more than anything.

At that I could only shrug once more. “I had to do it. Having someone else’s emotion affect you is not really pleasant you know. Also, I am pretty sure from other people perspective floating object with your mind is impossible, but psychic do it all the time.”

She looked like she wanted to say something but after the last argument, her finger folded back down. Well, I wanted to mention that having an animal being hot enough to melt iron or a cat that can zap you with its claws is supposed to be impossible too, but the point would not work if pokemons are parts of the world. For someone from earth it is only a fantasy, so they accept it but for those who live in this world they don’t even question it.

It is just a fact.

“So what? Unstable emotions?” Mathew summarized after staying silent for a while.

“Unstable emotions.” I confirmed. “It’s supposed to subside overtime as I get more used to it but I have no idea how long. Thanks for hanging in there.” I said with a grin, cutting all path of escape.

“I get that but how did you manage before?” Sera asked again, but only curiosity was visible.

“Easy. When I am alone it doesn’t matter if I let my emotions go since there is no one around.”

“Somehow this is just sad. A no life, no friend.” She said with faux pity causing me to ignore the comment.

“I have one more question.” Mathew asked tentatively.

“Shoot.”

“How is this related to what happened with Nike?” Mathew asked, bringing the conversation back to its root.

“Well, that’s because…” I stopped as I was about to speak. How was it related? “I …d… know…”

“What?” Mathew asked drawing closer and cupping his hand to his hear.

I felt my face grow hot and flushed before I forced it out. “I don’t know!”

I wanted to hide! I completely forgot the link that made me jump from one conversation to another! They only asked me what happened with Nike and our promise. How did I jump all the way to the changes in my abilities.

While I was still wishing for the ground to swallow me, even though we were at sea, I heard both Sera and Mathew burst out laughing. Apparently seeing me blush and retreat in embarrassment was a fun sight to see.

“Talk about friends…” I mumbled as their laughter redoubled.

In the end, after the two of them were done laughing their ass off at my expense, we continued to chat through the night. At some point we exited the room as we each went about getting cleaned for the night. We met up back in the living room with all of our pokemon with us. While the room was too small to move comfortably when Sawsbuck and Mandibuzz were eating, all of us had more than enough space to just laze about.

The conversation continued with jokes flying around and questions about general situations, even hypotheticals. Overall, it was a fun night spent with each other and enjoying each other’s company. Mathew was the first to go to bed, which was surprising given that he had slept most of the afternoon.

In the end Sera and I lasted for only a bit longer, talking about what we wanted from the expedition. Soon we made our way to our own room, knowing full well that the travel toward Castelia had only just begun.