Woah reviews a plenty. Thanks, all!
nice fan fic i really like it :) this is the first one i read so far
You have more reading to do then! =p There's a lot of neat fics about if you look around. Glad you enjoyed the first you picked, especially as it was mine. =p Anything in particular that you liked?
Pffft, you made me laugh, must be pretty damn good.
Really liked it, good breath of fresh air from all the journeyfics.
Thanks, Phantom! Hurrah for getting a laugh or few from this. =) I suppose this does count as a journeyfic, just not the standard 'get gym badges/etc' sort.
I have to agree, this fic came as a delightful little surprise. When I saw you had posted one,
with Fairy in it, no less I was automatically intrigued. But as I kept reading, it really piqued my interest. Needless to say, I'm hungry for more.
Very fun read, light and easy to get though, and just the right amount of funny vs conflict. Can't wait to see what happens next. <3
Yes, I suppose the title of the fic would appeal to you... XD A fair bit of my writing would be considered light, as I don't go too much into description typically and go nuts with dialogue, haha. Thanks for the post!
And here's part two!
***
Before they knew quite what was happening, the group of teenagers found themselves on a Magnet Train service direct to Kanto, all three seated opposite a quietly cursing Whitney. Elliot silently wondered if she ever stopped for breath. She hadn’t even refrained from her ranting when they had gone through the barriers at the train station in Goldenrod, instead flashing her Gym Leader badge at the attendant who hastily summoned the train for them. He wondered if he should have said more to her about not wanting to up and leave Goldenrod just like that. After all, he had never been anywhere else besides the city and Route 35. And this seemed like a blatant breaking of their Roles. But then he reasoned that maybe it was alright to do so if an important person like a Gym Leader was telling them to do just so, and it was clear that something was quite different about the world. As long as they stayed with her, they would probably be fine.
Still, Whitney wasn’t really the most reassuring or calming person.
Brooke tugged on his shirt a few times until he turned. “Look outside!” she said, jabbing at the window happily. Elliot obliged and watched the countryside fly past. He felt his stomach rumble slightly in protest at the sight and looked down at his feet instead. He hadn’t thought it was
possible to go so fast, and yet the train was deathly quiet, as if they weren’t moving at all.
“Even the trees look different!” Brooke grinned at the view through the glass. “Just look at them all.” It occurred to Elliot that she hadn’t been this happy for a very long time. He glanced out again and mused. It
was somewhat refreshing to see a different view for a change. He wondered what Saffron and Celadon was like, and if they were quite as busy as Goldenrod. Tearing his eyes away from the windows, he glanced at Sam, who didn’t appear to be quite as interested in the passing countryside.
“Seen this before, I suppose?” Elliot asked. He gave a small shrug.
“Yeah, but not by Magnet Train before. Only travelled by foot.”
“And what’s that like?” Brooke quickly added. Elliot scowled at Brooke’s question, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Well, it’s nice to see the sights, to see something different from before. To be honest, what I really wanted to do is join the Dragon’s Den guild. But I can’t, so I decided to travel instead.”
“So you chose to break your Role,” Elliot said bluntly. Sam looked at him and shrugged.
“Yes... I suppose I did. And you have too, now.”
“Hey, that’s because a Gym Leader made us,” Elliot retorted, looking at Whitney. She didn’t seem to be paying the current conversation any heed, instead choosing to inspect her Clefairy once again.
“Well, true,” Sam conceded. “I made that choice. I decided nothing new was ever going to happen, and I was sick of standing in Blackthorn with nothing else to do. The city of Dragon types, and I didn’t even have a Pokémon! So I went and got myself one, and when I couldn’t join the guild, I decided to go and see something different. And I haven’t regretted it since.”
Elliot stared at Sam for a moment. “No, I... see where you’re coming from,” he mumbled, and once again looked at his feet. He had often thought how lucky he was to have his Pokémon and knew that a lot of other people in Goldenrod didn’t have one, but now was the first time he ever considered what it may actually be like for them to not have their own Pokémon, or not to have any meaningful Role. Not that his was that exciting either, but he had to admit that he had it better than many others.
“Why couldn’t you join that guild?” Brooke asked Sam quietly.
“They just didn’t want to accept me, really,” Sam said. “Mainly because they didn’t want me to go and change something they were all happily used to, I suppose. Clair, the Gym Leader of Blackthorn wasn’t so against it, but she reckoned I wasn’t strong enough. So I’ve travelled around to try and train my Pokémon.”
“So why are you coming along with us, then?” Elliot asked. “You could be going for more experience points from battling people around Goldenrod, after all.”
“I’m only tagging along because I want to find out more about this supposed Fairy type. If that Marill of yours was able to defeat my Dragon Pokémon, then I want to know more about that weakness.”
Elliot then recalled what had happened earlier that day – he and Brooke
had noticed that ground shake from an Earthquake attack. “Yes, I suppose it is odd that my Marill won – I mean, I guess your Gabite knew Earthquake, even!”
Sam stared at Elliot. “Earthquake? Yeah, I noticed it too, but that wasn’t from my Gabite. I thought it was some other trainer’s Pokémon doing it, so I was trying to find them for a battle,” he explained.
“Huh.” Elliot scratched his head.
“Do you have one of those Fairy types?” Sam asked Brooke.
She shook her head. “No. At least, I don’t think Pikachu is one. That’s the only one I have, but hey – a reason to see something different is good enough for me!”
Elliot gazed at his Marill’s Poké Ball as Brooke began to interrogate Sam on the finer details of travelling. He hadn’t even had a chance to look at his own Pokémon since Whitney had shown up, and he wasn’t sure that he would be allowed to let out a Pokémon on a train. He wasn’t a Gym Leader who could apparently just go and do something like that. Besides, he didn’t want to risk making Whitney even more upset about the matter. But the temptation was certainly strong. How did Marill feel about being a different type?
He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as an announcement informed them that they were already pulling into Saffron Station. Before he could wonder at how impossibly quickly the trip had taken them, Whitney was already hauling him and the other two out of the train and onto the streets. Brooke exclaimed in wonder at the number of tall buildings that greeted them.
“It’s even bigger than Goldenrod!” she breathed.
“No time to sightsee, we’ve got to get moving. Their headquarters are in the next city over, so we have a bit of a walk. I’d use my Togekiss, but it wouldn’t be able to take you three as well.” She then paused for a moment and swore slightly. “I bet she’s a Fairy too!” she wailed, and continued along.
“Well, that means more places to see!” Brooke cheered. The group continued onwards, passing through the gatehouse of Saffron’s west exit and onto the road. It seemed to be a rather short and insignificant route connecting the two cities. Once again before they had really gotten used to their surroundings they reached Celadon City without encountering any trainers. Sam quietly muttered about the lack of experience points he’d get for his Pokémon from the trip. Even the city itself seemed oddly empty; not a soul stood outside the large Pokémon Centre that stood by the entrance. Whitney ignored the strange atmosphere around here and led them towards a towering building, where it seemed all the residents and then some had gathered around. Many held signs and waved them while they chanted at the mansion.
“Aha, others already decided to protest here! Let’s join in!” Whitney shouted. She grabbed her Clefairy and waved it at the building. Elliot gaped at the amount of people in one place. Maybe this new Fairy type was a serious matter for all of these people to drop what they were supposed to do and come here. After all, Whitney had thought so too.
“So I suppose this is where Game Freak is,” Sam said quietly.
“Why do they call themselves Game Freak, anyway?” Brooke asked, gazing around and absorbing the sights of the buildings. She had to admit that they didn’t look too different from those in Goldenrod, but the different shapes and sizes, and even the layout of the city was exciting for her.
“Dunno. Maybe they just always had that name, like us,” Sam said. The group were known for being in charge of maintaining the Game, ensuring that no glitches got out of control and everything ran smoothly. But as the protagonist had gone Silent for years, they didn’t really seem to have much to do. Whitney had ranted earlier that perhaps they had decided to change the code and introduce this new type, and hence ruin everything for her.
The three went and found a bench close enough to observe the crowd vary their chants from a range of messages such as ‘Go Home Fairies’, ‘No Fairies No’, and ‘We are angry’. Elliot sent out his Marill and looked it over as it happily bounced about. If it was aware it had a different typing, it didn’t seem to mind at all.
Eventually a man came out to acknowledge the crowd who roared when he emerged. He tugged at his clothing while he waited for them to quieten down.
“Alright, good afternoon, everyone. Now, we’re quite aware why you are here...”
“Yeah, fix the Fairy type already!” someone yelled.
“We don’t need something new!” another shouted.
“My poor Sparkles doesn’t know what it is anymore!” a woman screeched. A large Granbull standing near her grunted his indifference.
The man glanced at his watch until the yelling started to fade out. “If you would please keep quiet for a moment, I’ll try to explain things as best I can,” he said slowly. This time the crowd obliged and held back their protests. “Now. Firstly, there is indeed a new typing. We looked through the code, and it’s most certainly there. The problem, however, and I stress this particular fact to you, is that it’s not something we’ve added. The truth is we don’t even know where it came from.” The crowd immediately responded with wilder yelling. “Please! Hear me out.” Another couple moments passed before he could continue again.
“Where do you think this code came from then?” Whitney shouted.
“That is a good question. We’re trying to find out. Nobody in this Game went in and coded it in though, I assure you. It might, however...” He paused for a moment. “It might be some phenomenon we call an Update.”
“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” one asked before he could explain.
“It’s a term we’ve come up with. A change to the Game, by some external force. Or maybe it’s just our Game evolving by itself, changing to adjust to its own balance. I’m sure you all felt that shake early, something that seemed like an Earthquake but wasn’t quite one. We believe that was the Update affecting the world throughout.”
“Ah, so that’s what that Earthquake was,” Elliot said quietly to Brooke as the crowd murmured. “He’s saying that travelled through Johto and Kanto?”
“Shush, he’s still talking,” she replied. Elliot nodded and tried to catch up on what the Game Freak person was talking about.
“After all, one of the strengths of this new type that we’ve discovered so far is that it is super effective against Dragon types. Maybe the Game felt that something needed to change.” Sam grunted at this last sentence.
“So when are you changing things back then?” someone asked at length. The spokesperson grimaced.
“We’re unsure that doing that would be safe... It is no simple matter to just change this code when the Update altered existing functions as well. And trying to change it manually can be very dangerous – a wrong decision could wreck havoc. So it might just have to remain.” The Game Freak representative quickly raised his hands when another protest chant started. “However, we do realise that it may take some time to get used to this. So as soon as we’ve gone through the whole code and understand what has changed and what it means for us, we’ll be sending out to everyone a guide to Fairy types once we learn enough about it...” More booing broke out, so he hurriedly added, “And to appease you, we’ll send each of you a free Lemonade and Premier Ball.”
At once the majority of the crowd cheered, and despite Whitney’s protests that nothing was going to be fixed this way it began to disperse.
***
“I don’t like this,” Whitney said for the umpteenth time to the trainers she had dragged to Kanto. They were now sitting in the Pokémon Centre of Celadon, sipping their Lemonades. Elliot had given the last few gulps of his to his Marill and watched the small blue blob poke at the straw sticking out of the can.
“Me neither, to be honest,” Sam said. “If everyone gets a guide about this Fairy type, then I won’t get any advantage over others on how to overcome it!”
“Pfft, that’s the least of my worries,” Whitney said. “What about my Gym? And I don’t buy this Update being hard to remove.”
“Why not?” Sam asked. Elliot squinted at Whitney as she answered.
“Because... well, I just think so, that’s why!” She huffed and folded her arms. “I believe stuff like this happened before.”
“Well...I don’t remember an Update thing happening before,” Elliot said, scratching his head. “I don’t even remember hearing about such a thing. Do you?” he asked Brooke, looking for confirmation that it wasn’t just his memory. She nodded in agreement.
“Of course you don’t, you’re not an Important Character,” Whitney said with a hint of pride. “Us Gym Leaders, we’re privy to special knowledge. For example, did you know that there’s another Game out there like our one, but it’s so much more boring? There’s no Abilities, for starters! How silly! Imagine if my Miltank couldn’t hit Ghost Types!” She giggled for a moment while the others exchanged confused glances. “Anyway, nothing’s changed much for...well, ever, and I bet that’s just because any Updates that tried to happen before were promptly reversed by the Game Freak folk. So why wouldn’t they keep everything the same this time?”
“You mean to say,” began Brooke slowly, “that things could have changed before if it wasn’t for Game Freak?”
“Oh, sure, you’ll be able to get over a change soon enough,” Whitney said, misunderstanding Brooke. “But I won’t! I’ll live in the knowledge that my Pokémon used to be Normal type! And I don’t want to have to change things! It was just fine for me! And they are supposed to maintain the Game as it is, that’s their Role.” She suddenly stood up and made for the exit.
“W-Where are you going?” Elliot asked quickly.
“I’m upset, so I’m going to calm myself and get an Eevee. I can’t remember for sure, but apparently there’s a guy who might give them out through a back entrance to that mansion. Then I might yell at Game Freak some more. You can wait here until I return. I’ll be back soon.” And with that she departed.
“I want an Eevee,” Brooke said quietly, as Elliot glanced around.
“We better wait for her though,” Elliot interjected quickly. “If we get lost then we could be stuck here for a while, and she’s our way back.”
“Well, maybe that’d be a good thing,” Brooke muttered, folding her arms. “At least we’d be looking at something different. And Fairy type or not, that’s not going to change much about our Roles, is it?” She huffed and walked off to another part of the Pokémon Centre. Elliot sighed and looked at Sam who shrugged back at him.
A few hours passed. Each of the trainers spent their time differently; Elliot tried to see what moves Marill now knew as Sam looked on and took mental notes, while Brooke scrutinised the map of Kanto on one of the Pokémon Centre walls and bugged the nurse about each location. The moment the sun escaped from view the streetlights flipped on. The three began to inspect the clock at more frequent intervals, but Whitney still did not reappear.
***
Once the clock read eight Sam stood up. “Right, that’s just too long. I’m off to go get her so we can get back.”
“But we should stay put!” Elliot stood up and grabbed Sam’s sleeve. “I know you’re used to travelling about, but without Whitney you can’t get back onto the Magnet Train without a ticket!”
“I’m going too,” Brooke said.
“Wha-no!” Elliot spluttered, promptly letting go of Sam’s shirt. He quickly wiped a bit of spit from his mouth. “We definitely can’t go! We’ve got to stay put or we’ll get lost and then-”
“Getting lost might be exciting for a change. At least it’ll be something different.” She rolled her eyes and followed Sam out the door.
“No, that’s a bad idea!” However his protests were for naught – the door closed after they turned the corner and he was left alone. He paced around for a bit, and then looked at the nurse behind the reception desk who just shrugged back at him.
“Well,” she informed him, “frankly I’d like to go outside for once, but someone’s got to stay here.”
“Yes, but we can’t return to our own Roles if....” He then paused. What if something happened to Whitney and they would have to stay here for good? She had the Magnet Train ticket, and he didn’t want to be in a worse position than before the Update. He wouldn’t even have a set Role to follow here, unless what Whitney last said to them counted. And he didn’t want to stay here forever. After letting out a few sighs for good measure in the hope that it would bring them back, he checked that he had his Pokémon with him and walked outside. He spent the next few moments dashing frantically about before he caught sight of the two and ran to them.
“This is a bad idea,” he breathed when he caught up. He then noticed he could hear a distant rumbling. He glanced around, trying to locate the source of the sound. “Besides, what’s that noise up ahead? What if it’s at the mansion?”
“Oh, don’t worry yourself so much,” Sam said with a shrug. “We know where she went, and how to get there. I think. Nothing to worry about.”
“So why would a Gym Leader be so late to return?” Elliot challenged. When no answer came, he snorted. “See, this is a bad idea, and-”
“Run!” Sam shouted suddenly, cutting him off.
“What-“ Elliot looked up and found himself looking at a large Dragonite glaring down at him, with a man riding on its back yelling something at the group. The orange Pokémon snorted at him and then stomped a foot that shook the ground. Elliot’s legs initially refused to react but Sam quickly yanked him by the collar which propelled him into motion, and the three trainers ran back the way they came. Elliot’s Marill, however, didn’t notice and continued to hop along the path until it bumped into one of the Dragonite’s legs.
The Dragonite stared at the Marill, who in turn gawked back at the giant Pokémon. Elliot turned around and yelled at his Pokémon to come back, while the trainer upon the Dragonite shouted at it.
“Quick, Dragon Pulse that thing!”
It obliged and opened its mouth, releasing a purple pulsating wave that raced into Marill and engulfed the Pokémon. Elliot yelled out, but when the fog dissipated it stood there appearing rather unmoved by the attack, save for what Elliot thought looked rather like a small smirk. He stared at his Marill, and continued to do so when it suddenly leapt up astoundingly high and crashed into the Dragonite’s face, thrashing its whole body violently upon impact. The Dragon Pokémon screeched and jerked back, tossing off its trainer who hit the ground with a surprised yelp. By now Sam and Brooke had stopped running to observe these events.
“Be... be careful!” Elliot shouted at his Marill. Never had it been so upbeat during a battle, and the fact it was acting like this against a
Dragonite was something Elliot was quite unsure how to react to. Should he congratulate his Pokémon? Tell it off?
The Dragonite’s trainer swore and picked himself up. His stare matched his Pokémon’s in sheer intensity and anger.
“I... think we should get running again,” Brooke said quietly, scooping up the Marill. The three sprinted off as their attacker yelled at them.
“The heck was that about?” Elliot shouted. “Do Dragonite usually attack people here or is it another Role break?”
“I don’t know about the first question, but I recognised that guy!” Sam yelled back.
“What?”
“You say ‘what’ too much!” Brooke interjected. “And-hey, what?” she found herself saying, as the three came into view of the mansion Game Freak resided in. The source of the sound Elliot heard earlier was apparent now. A slew of Dragon types were laying siege to the building, while another group of Pokémon stood between them and the building and were seemingly trying to protect the mansion. Some of the Dragon aggressors were blasting the defenders with elemental attacks, while others tried to bash their bodies through the defences.
“Well, there’s no way in, that’s for sure,” Sam muttered.
A loud
thump prompted them to turn around. The Dragonite trainer had returned.
“DEATH TO FAIRIES!” he yelled, and the Dragonite charged at the group. Brooke briefly considered whether hurling the Marill at it would stop it, Sam readied one of his Poké Balls, and Elliot just felt like collapsing in a heap, when the Pokémon suddenly stopped short, clutching its head and letting loose a rumbling roar. Elliot looked at his companions, who looked equally confused about the Dragonite’s reaction.
A green, humanoid form materialised in front of them, causing the three to jump. The slender figure darted forward and shot a brightly radiating orb from its palms at the Dragonite, ejecting more screeches of pain and a panicked retreat. This newcomer then turned and looked at the three. Elliot felt some presence brushing his mind and shivered.
“Did it protect us...?” Elliot said uncertainly, referring to the struggling Dragonite.
“I think so,” Brooke whispered, stepping next to Elliot and ensuring that this Pokémon remained between them and the Dragonite. “What is it though?”
“A Gardevoir, I think,” Sam replied.
At length the Pokémon nodded and waving its green arms gracefully, as if performing a small dance.
“Wh-what are you doin-” Elliot started, when the world suddenly curved away from them. Elliot gasped, or tried to do so, when his body seemed to dissolve away and teleport through the air.
***
You'll just have to wait to see what happens next. ;p