The Return
The ocean sparkled below as though frosted with a plate of ice, sunlight hitting the shimmering gentle waves as various Water-type Pokemon frolicked about on the surface of the sea. The Staryu, Goldeen, Seaking and others that were breaking through the water just to shoot right back down into the depths were miles from any shoreline - if one concentrated and strained their eyesight enough they may be able to see a faint black line toward the South - that was where Selene had just come from.
The solitude of the journey was only slightly lessened by Selene's riding Blu, whom she stroked absently every so often, but generally the pensive, melancholy state that she had found herself in was relentless. After a tough few days at home because I'm loathe to say that she's been gone for just a couple of hours and I'm totally just going to pretend that she went straight home after the Expo - I know it doesn't fit time-wise but juuust work with me Selene found herself racing back toward the Oak Academy with only her thoughts for company.
Being outside the bubble that was the Academy had given Selene some much needed time and space for reflection, with the ultimate result that she was heading back to the Academy a changed person. She didn't feel much difference within herself, but then it is always said that others always see changes in ourselves that we may miss, and during training sessions with her Kadabra, Cat had found her Trainer's mind drastically changed...for good or ill she could not tell, that would only become clear in time.
"Cat come ON," cried Selene as Cat was hit by another Thunderbolt from Ryan, the Kadabra falling to one knee on the floor and panting hard. "I know you can do this, do not let me down! You are not meeting your potential, this is inadequate!" Cat pushed herself up to both feet, and listened to Selene's mind. Pokemon were generally tuned-in to subtler points of communication such as tone of speech, but Cat had the advantage of being a Psychic-type and could hear her Trainer's mind as she spoke to her. Selene's mind was jumbled and underpinned by a determination...that was strong but not found through strength. The determination was the only consistent undertone, but it was something that Cat could always sense in her Trainer, but it had changed...it was desperate, all-consuming, whereas before it was one feature of Selene's mind.
Ryan charged towards Cat, surrounded by raw lightning in his Volt Tackle attack, obviously ready to deliver a killer blow. But no...Cat closed her eyes, amassing her energies at the forefront of her mind and just before Ryan struck her she unleashed a Psybeam more powerful than any Selene had seen her produce before that sent Ryan flying backwards, knocked out. Wordlessly Selene returned Ryan and Cat met her eyes. They were dark, unsmiling, taking no joy from training like she normally would. "Good job Cat," were the only words spoken before Cat was returned to her PokeBall, where all Selene's Pokemon were kept nowadays when not training or battling.
The death of Selene's Father had hit her, hard. She could think of nothing else, and she found that she didn't want to. Since the night she had been woken by one of Professor Oak's assistant to now that she was soaring over the seas it had felt as though she was living some sort of out-of-body nightmareish experience. Until her Father had passed away in front of her eyes, Selene had believed he was able to pull through the accident - the injuries would remain with him for the rest of his life, but she had faith that he would pull through, unmoving faith that came from her very soul and the strength of the bond between her and her Father. The man who had given her her first Pokemon, Ri...who had played with her when she was young, taken her fishing and climbing and swimming and hiking and running, taught her how to cook, how to tie her shoelaces...he played some role in every aspect of her life, and normally a major one. Now that he was gone...it didn't feel real. As though Selene had been forced back into her body but the nightmare was still happening, some grave cosmic error that Selene was trapped within.
The rest of her family had opposed Selene's returning to the Academy so soon after her Father was buried by the sea of her island, but the thought of staying there a day later than necessary made Selene feel nauseous. So she was packed up and ready to leave the evening of the burial, having been persuaded to stay the night she arose before her family and left as soon as dawn struck the sand that marked her Father's grave. After paying her respects one last time, Selene released Blu and vowed never to return to Four Island, setting off without regret or second thoughts.
"Miss Evans?" came a voice, and abstractly Selene noticed that Blu had landed finally by the reception of the Academy. Obviously her family had risen that morning to find her gone and had tipped off the school that she was returning...well, one less task that she had to complete herself. Selene nodded and looked at the suited woman without really seeing her.
"Yes. I'm going to go to my room now and unpack. I probably won't be at lessons today but I'll get back on schedule tomorrow," she said lightly as she returned Blu without any recognition or thanks and turned her back on the woman, walking toward Entei dorm, ignoring the woman's hesitant suggestion that she might wish to talk to a teacher or somebody about what had happened. She didn't need to talk about it, she needed to forget about it and focus on the important thing, the reason that she was here - to get stronger, to forge a future for herself that would keep her away from that Arceus forsaken island for the rest of her life until the day she was ready to be buried alongside her Father.
Selene didn't look around. Some people acknowledged her, obviously not knowing why she had been gone, perhaps just wondering why she hadn't been running around campus as she normally had, but there was no reciprocation of greeting. It was as though Selene either hadn't heard them, or chose to ignore them, as she swiped herself into the dorm building. Normality felt good, and Selene wasn't going to have it any other way from now on.
