[Pokémon] Dance With Me

[altemon]

Dance With Me (T)

The following fanfic is rated T for Teen.

It contains (or will) medium level violence, medium sexual references, mild language, character death and adult themes. Proceed at your own risk, and if you are under 13, parental guidance is recommended.

Pokemon is Copyright Nintendo, and I do not claim any rights toward it. The character designs of Brooke, Ian and other minor characters are Copyright Isaac O'Hagan. Please PM me if you wish to use character designs from my fanfic.


PROLOGUE
She looked down the cliff that stretched endlessly below her, a feeling of dizziness making its way up from her toes through the rest of her body. She was not meant to be here. This was a cruel place with bitter winds, harsh rain and dangerous, unstable land. This place could claim her in a second and she would never live again. Behind her was an immense mountain, the top of which disappeared amongst the clouds. In the darkness, it was a powerful being that towered above all. It stared down at her menacingly, daring her to misplace her footing, daring her to fall.
But, she paid it no mind.


To say her only thought was of staying alive would be a mockery of her intelligence. A thousand stray thoughts swam around her head, darting in and out of her consciousness. The happy thoughts warmed her even in the cold, damp aura of the rock face, but the worries jabbed at her relentlessly, contributing to her overall feeling of fear. She was not meant to be here.


All of a sudden, she noticed something was wrong. Her vision was different to its normal clear, well-trained state. It was slightly impaired, much like the effect of rain fogging up glasses. It was almost as if she was somebody else.


She shuffled along the thin strip of rock – the only thing in this place assuring her that the worst would not happen – and stopped as she saw it.


Directly below her was a shining green orb, pulsating restlessly and lighting up the darkness with an eerie green glow. It shone in many different hues, sometimes light, sometimes dark. It changed size regularly, too. At some points it was so small she could barely make it out, and other times it was so large it was the only thing she could see. She longed to reach out and touch it, cradle it in her arms – this was what she had risked her life coming out here to see.


And then, it happened. It was so quick, but it felt like each second was an hour. Her first mistake was bending down to get a closer look at the orb. Her second was reaching out. Her third was not grabbing the ledge as she fell down, down into the never ending darkness. She was not meant to be here.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER ONE
Brooke awoke with a start, with beads of sweat on her forehead and the traumatising image of the mountain rushing past her as she fell still fresh in her mind, still lingering behind her eyelids. She sat up in bed and turned her head to look around. She looked to the left, where her clock-radio was, to check what the time was.
9:30… I'm late!
Brooke jumped out of bed like a feral cat pouncing on its long-searched-for prey, and walked over to the dresser to get her best green and white dress. This was such an occasion, after all.
After a moment of searching through the mess that once was a tidy wardrobe full of wonderful, fancy garments, she concluded, annoyed, that her dress was not there.
I need to find my dress! Brooke thought, getting a little worried with the entire matter. She eventually decided to search under her bed, and was greeted with a warm welcome from a Ratatta that had found its way under there. She promptly shooed it outside, onto the Sandgem Beach, and continued her search for the elusive dress.


Brooke was the last one left in her family of the Ralts line, as her mother and father had passed away eight years ago due to brain cancer. It was on her thirteenth birthday, and it ensured that any celebration of her birthday left a bitter aftertaste from the memory. The day after, at the funeral, she had met the child of one of her father's old business colleages. He was fourteen years old, and the most wonderful Pokemon Brooke had ever laid her eyes upon. He still was today. That was why today was so important. This was the day she wed Ian.


Brooke was a Gardevoir now, and Ian was a Gallade, but no feeling had changed between them in the eight years they had known each other. If anything, the love they shared had strengthened tenfold. Today was the day they could show it to everybody else.


Today was that day, and Brooke wasn't going to ruin it by misplacing her dress. After much searching, she found it draped over their couch, and wisely decided against questioning how it had got there. Instead, she hastily showered and dressed, smiling inside at the pungent but very pleasant smell of her perfume. She was going to impress Ian today. She just knew it.


As Brooke stepped outside, she saw the familiar sight of at least a dozen dented cans lying pathetically next to the door, and smiled at the fact that even though this was their wedding day, Ian had still risen early to complete his routine morning training. She knew she was lucky to have Ian. He was strong, he was handsome, but he wasn't obnoxious. He was modest, friendly, and an all-round nice guy. He was what many people would call perfect. Brooke just called him Ian, and he didn't seem to mind.


With one last glance at their house, Brooke began the long walk down the driveway to the bus station, hoping that the 10:00 bus would be late as usual. She had lost a lot of time looking for her dress, and it was impossible to make up for it. As was the custom in Sinnoh, Ian had left for the Hearthome Church before Brooke. They were not allowed to see each other until the ceremony, even in the morning of the big day. For that reason, Ian had reluctantly slept on the couch last night.


As Brooke looked back at the small Sandgem-grade house that she and Ian owned, she had no way of knowing that it was the last time she would ever see it.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER TWO
As the warm morning sun crept up over the horizon, Ian's eyes flicked open. He lay in bed, virtually empty of thoughts, until one thought broke down the barricade.
Brooke…
Of course, today was the big day. Ian got up off the couch in his and Brooke's tiny, cramped, but somehow comfortable house, and stretched. He looked around the lounge. He usually slept in the same bed as Brooke, but they weren't allowed to see each other yet. The lounge was an unfamiliar sight to wake up to, and he felt different. But he knew that was to be expected today.


Even though today was his wedding day, Ian did not pass up the chance to train. It was only 6 in the morning; he had plenty of time. The ceremony wasn't until 1 in the afternoon. As he walked outside he noticed Brooke's best green and white dress lying on the floor of the kitchen. He put it in the machine to wash.


The tin cans from yesterday's training were still sitting on the tree stump next to their house; in all the anxiety thinking about today he had forgotten to clean them up. He promptly did so, stuffing them in a plastic bag to recycle later. He then retrieved twelve new cans from another bag, noting that the supply was shortening and he would soon have to pick up some more from the recycling plant in Oreburgh.


There was no time to worry about that now though. Now was for training, and nothing else. Ian was well-practised at this. Not one thought of anything besides bringing his body and mind to its full potential crossed his mind as he trained.


After warming down from his two hours of continuous practise, Ian strolled back inside to take a shower, noting that Brooke had still shown no signs of stirring. He resisted the urge to go into their bedroom and look at her sleeping. It wouldn't be right to do that. Ian was a Pokemon with morals.


After a long, soothing shower, Ian got into his best green and white suit and walked outside once again, with a quick glance towards the closed door of the bedroom. He hoped dearly that Brooke would get up on time, but it was not his place to rouse her from her sleep.


On any other day, Ian would have walked wherever he needed to go, but today, he would be a slave to public transport for the first time since he was fourteen, on his way to Brooke's parents funeral.


I didn't know anybody there except my father…


"Now, Ian, you must be on your best behaviour today." warned Samuel, Ian's father. "No talking out of turn, no raising your voice, and try to be careful of people's feelings."
"Yeah, I know, Dad." Ian moaned. "Am I ever anything else?"
"Very true, Ian." Samuel replied. "But, remember. Two people who were very important to a lot of Pokemon have died just yesterday. It is a tender occasion. You must be careful, and you must be kind."
"I'll be careful, Dad." Ian said as he and Samuel stepped off the bus.
Ian had been careful, too. He hadn't spoken out of turn or raised his voice, and he had not said anything that could offend anyone. But the entire time, he couldn't help but notice a beautiful Kirlia sitting all alone in a chair near the exit, her head in her hands. She looked deeply hurt, and Ian couldn't ignore her.


As he casually walked up to her, Ian thought about what he was going to say. He had to get it just right, he didn't want to offend or embarrass her.


"Hi, I'm Ian." he said. "I…I couldn't help but notice… you looked very sad. May I ask what the problem is?"
The Kirlia sighed. "I'm Brooke. They're my parents who died."
Brooke…what a nice name…
The ease in which Brooke spoke this left Ian slightly taken aback. He didn't know what to say. So he just nodded and said "I…I'm sorry to hear that…"
Brooke looked up and forced a smile. "You don't have to act like that. You don't have anything to do with me."
Ian stuttered again. Brooke was so beautiful, and so well-spoken.
"My…my father was one of your father's business associates." he said. "Did your father ever mention Samuel?"
"Yes, I think he mentioned him a few times. He said that Samuel helped him through what would have been a huge business crisis. I have no idea what he meant by that, but yes, he did mention him. I think he mentioned you once or twice as well. You were always dogging at your father's tail."
"That…that sounds about right. My dad took me everywhere he went when I was little." Ian was finding it a bit easier to talk now.
Suddenly, Ian saw something flicker in Brooke's eyes. She put her head in her hands again and began to cry.
Through sobs Brooke said "Samuel was… he was the person my dad called out to as he was dying…"
Once again, Ian didn't know what to say. He wasn't very good at showing sympathy for people. So he took a chance and put his hand on Brooke's shoulder.
"I…I feel your pain, Brooke. My grandmother died just last summer. Right in front of my eyes. Trust me. The pain fades. It's always there, but it fades."
All of a sudden, Brooke threw her arms around Ian and hugged him tightly.
"Thanks, Ian." she whispered. "You've made me feel a lot better."
Ian, not knowing what else to do, hugged her back.
It was the start of something big, and they both already knew it.


…when I left, I knew the person who would become the most important person in my life…


The 9:00 bus arrived, and Ian got on, a smile both on his face and in his heart.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER THREE
It had never happened before. It was as if someone had set it up just to spite her, just to stop her from being happy.
The 10:00 bus was on time. And Brooke missed it.
With no transport, Brooke was tempted to call Ian for a ride, but she knew it would violate the custom that prevented them from seeing each other. So, she began her long, hopeless walk to Hearthome.
It only took Brooke about five minutes on her walk to realise that she had no chance of reaching Hearthome before 1:00. She resisted the urge to fall to her knees in a universal expression of complete and utter defeat and quickened her pace. If she could reach Oreburgh soon, maybe she could find a taxi.
Maybe. Life at the moment was full of that ugly word. Maybe, maybe, maybe. It haunted her mind every day, sometimes feeling faint in moments of happiness but never really letting go.


Brooke reached Oreburgh at 10:30, much later than she would have wanted to. She sighed, holding back tears of frustration as she walked into the PokeMart to look for supplies, and maybe pick up a taxi number.


She was greeted with a warm welcome that in no way matched the gloomy, wet day outside, nor the gloomy way she was feeling. She managed to fake a smile in return, but it was quite an effort to do so, and it left her feeling worse than she had before.


A human-being in a coat was standing behind the counter, accompanied by a Linoone, the Pokemon that had greeted her.
"What would you like to buy today?" it said. "We have all manner of goods."
"I'll just have a couple of…" Brooke considered saying "smokes" "…berries, I guess. And do you happen to have a phone number for a taxi?"
"We certainly do." said the Linoone in a tone that sounded cheerful on the surface but underneath suggested that he was very tired of his job. He wrote a phone number down on Brooke's receipt. "What berries did you want, ma'am?"
"Just Cheri today, thanks." Brooke said. "Five, please."
"In a bag?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Ok, thanks for shopping at our PokeMart."
"Thanks, see you."
Brooke left the PokeMart, her fake smile fading quickly as she no longer had to show her over-made-up face to anyone, and brought out her outdated cellphone to call the taxi. Things were finally looking a little bit more promising.


Five minutes later, the taxi showed up. It looked unsafe to drive in, and the Ursaring driving it didn't look like he should be driving in his state either.
Nevertheless, Brooke took a chance. She had to. There was no other choice.
"How far do you want to go?" the Ursaring asked gruffly. No greeting. Straight to the point.
"To Hearthome. Do you go that far?" Brooke asked, with not a lot of hope.
"It'd cost ya millions." the Ursaring replied, dashing Brooke's hopes. "But I'll take ya to Eterna for $9."
Brooke only had $10 in her purse, but she agreed to the high price. She needed to get to Hearthome, and Eterna was really quite close.
Not entirely trusting the taxi driver, but knowing she was capable of defending herself against an Ursaring, she stepped inside the taxi, placing a Cheri berry on her tongue as she did so.
Maybe she would get to Hearthome on time after all.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER FOUR
The bus contained a moody bunch. Nobody there seemed to have a smile on their face except Ian, and the moods of those around him soon took care of that. It didn't take long before the thought of his and Brooke's wedding was the only thing stopping him from stooping to the level of the other Pokemon and human-beings on the bus.
Being a social person, he tried conversing with a couple of them, but got little more than a grunt in return. He soon gave up altogether and just sat quietly. He would be in Hearthome soon. It was 10:30, and they were already passing through Eterna. The bus couldn't go from Oreburgh directly to Hearthome because of the mountain, so the bus route was significantly longer. Ian wouldn't have minded if the people on the bus were a nicer bunch, but he was getting very bored, very quickly.


In Eterna, Ian got a chance to stretch his legs for a while as the bus took a compulsory half hour break. As he was getting out of the bus, a taxi zoomed past them at a breakneck pace, both highly illegal and highly dangerous. It stopped at a place further down the road. Ian thought about telling the driver what he thought of him, but decided not to interfere. It wasn't worth it, and the driver could be stronger than him, anyway. Ian was strong both physically and mentally, but by no means was he untouchable. And he was dressed well, too. It wasn't worth it.


Ian spent his half-hour at the Eterna Memorial that depicted Dialga. He just sat there, staring into space, his good mood diminished almost completely. Obviously, he would be happy once he reached Hearthome, but until then, the sad aura of Eterna would continue to gather around him. He didn't like it at all. Ian was a happy person by nature, so places like this hurt his spirit substantially.


The bus driver, a sloppy-looking Jynx, called for everyone to get back on the bus, as it was time to begin the slow, long drive through the less rocky portion of Mount Coronet, to the small community of Celestic Town.


The large bus had trouble on the steep slopes inside the Coronet Cave, but somehow, the Jynx miraculously managed to get it out the other side unscathed. A few minutes later, Ian saw Celestic Town pass by. Nobody ever got on the bus at Celestic Town, so the driver eventually stopped waiting at the stop and just ignored it completely.


Ian sighed as they entered the rainy road leading out of Celestic Town. It was a long drive to Solaceon.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER FIVE
Brooke's taxi stopped just a little bit up the road from a dull-looking bus, and the Ursaring held out his hand for the payment. Brooke paid him $9, and took off before he realised she hadn't tipped him. She didn't have money to spare. She was left with a measly dollar, and she wasn't giving that up to the half-drunk Ursaring.


Brooke considered getting on the bus, but realised that it was the 9:00 bus, which meant Ian was on it. The rule that stated she wasn't allowed to see Ian had got her into this mess, but she wasn't going to wreck the wedding by breaking it. She could get to Hearthome by herself. She had to, there was no other choice.


As she began to walk down the road to the Coronet Cave, she once again realised she couldn't make it to Hearthome in time. At least not on foot. So, Brooke did something she had never done before, and couldn't believe she was doing even now. She went to a bike store, and asked the shopkeeper – a Doduo – if she could test out one of the bikes. The Doduo sighed, and agreed. Brooke rode off, with no intention of returning the bike. Tears started to sneak into the corners of her eyes as she contemplated what she had just done.
It was necessary. I'll return it after the wedding…
But she knew she wouldn't.
It's not such a big deal, anyway…
But, to her, it was.
It's just a bike!
A bike worth $500.
Brooke wished her conscience would keep its nose out of her business, but that was just the person she was.
And it was the way she would always be.


As Brooke peddled as fast as she could through the Coronet Cave, she had to pull over to avoid a bus – the 9:00 bus – that was speeding through the cave at an extremely dangerous pace. She shook her head, steeled herself, and continued on her way, a little worried for Ian's safety with such a crazy, reckless driver looking after his life.


After what seemed like days of endless peddling, with her thigh muscles sore and aching, Brooke arrived in Solaceon. There was still a long way to go. Without knowing for sure whether or not she would make it, Brooke sped up as an image of Ian flashed in her mind. She had to be there on time. For his sake.

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER SIX (contains low-level violence)
After an extremely long and slow drive, Ian's bus stopped in Solaceon to pick up three human-beings whom Ian did not trust at all. They wore dark raincoats and kept their heads down, inconspicuously enough, but Ian sensed something strange about them. He kept his wits about him, just in case, but nothing happened. They just sat down at the very front of the bus and did not say a word the entire trip.


'The entire trip' turned out to not be very long, as it was only a few minutes before the bus arrived in Hearthome, and once again Ian felt a spark of happiness as he saw the marvelous Hearthome church. The bus stopped outside the local Pokemart and Ian walked down the aisle to the door. He noticed, however, that the three strange looking human-beings had not made a move to get off, even though this was the end of the route for this bus. As he walked along, the human-being closest to the aisle lashed out at him with a knife. Ian grabbed the human-being's hand and twisted the knife out of it, ready to fight. The human-being muttered something in English that Ian couldn't understand, and the bus driver suddenly took off out the door. Ian was left alone with the three human-beings. He was outnumbered, but he was sure he could win easily. A situation like this was exactly what all of his training was for. He used his Psychic powers that he had spent so long developing to throw the closest human-being into the other two. He didn't want to hurt them, even if they had just tred to kill him. He just wanted to shock them a bit, and make them think twice next time. But the human-being he had thrown growled and threw himself at Ian. Ian, caught off guard, tumbled over, across the aisle and into the seats on the other side of the bus. The human-being made to punch Ian in the nose, but Ian blocked his punch with the blade on his elbow. The human-being staggered back, a deep wound in his forearm, and pulled out something Ian had not seen in years, since they were banned altogether. A Pokeball.


The human-being started to move his injured arm over to press the button on the ball, but Ian knocked it out of his good hand and picked it up off the floor of the bus. He threw it out the bus window, shattering it, and picked up the glass shards with his Psychic powers. He hurled them at the human-being and stopped them just short of his face. "Ready to give up?" he said. The human-being of course only heard "Gallade, Gallade?", but the look on Ian's face was unmistakeable, human or Pokemon. He motioned to his other two friends to give up. They exited the bus quietly. Ian dropped the glass shards, and looked out the window just in time to see one of the human-beings picking up the Pokeball Ian had thrown out the window.


Ian cursed himself for letting the human-being get the Pokeball back as he left the bus and headed toward the Hearthome church. He would try to put all this behind him for today. He stopped outside the church and stared up at it in all its glory. It was a beautiful place.


Nothing could prepare Ian for what happened next. He watched as it happened – all in seconds, but all in aeons. The church exploded in a huge fireball of orange-red brilliance, and Ian was metres away from being destroyed by the blast. When the smoke cleared, he could see two completely different things that wrenched his heart dry in two completely different ways – a Tyranitar and three human-beings running from the scene, and a beautiful Gardevoir in a forest-green dress, staring at the rubble as if the world had just come to an end.
Maybe it had.

 

[.:Heart Made of Metal:.]

ALTEMON!!!

*glomp*

HAI! It is me, Kuja The Magnificent! From YCM, remember? I was the huge fan of your fic! And I still am! Reading the new chapters, I still think it's awesome! Keep it up!

 

[altemon]

Oh hi! Yeah I remember you! I decided to migrate this fanfic to pokecommunity lol

 

[altemon]

CHAPTER SEVEN
Brooke ran around the mess that was previously the Hearthome church to Ian, tears in her eyes. Ian eyes stayed dry as he embraced her, but his mind was heavier with worry than it had ever been before. The three men in raincoats were now nowhere to be seen, and that Tyranitar...that must have been the Pokemon in the Pokeball.


"What the hell happened?" Brooke asked. "The church...it just...just exploded in front of my eyes!"
Not wanting to worry Brooke anymore, Ian said "I think it caught fire somehow. There must have been petrol or something inside..." Ian paused and shook his head. "We should get out of here."
Brooke understood the look in his eyes. Fire? Yeah, right. There was something far more sinister happening here, and neither of them wanted to be around to see it. Without another word, Brooke took Ian's hand and they started running out of Hearthome, down the cycling road to Pastoria.


Brooke's bike – which she had left next to the church – had been destroyed in the blast, so she and Ian had to run. After a while they became tired, and slowed to a walk.


Neither of them spoke for several minutes, until finally Brooke said something.
"You and I both know that was no fire." she said quietly. "Tell me what happened. I know you know."
Ian sighed. After a moment's silence, he told Brooke about what happened on the bus. Brooke listened intently. Ian told her about the three human-beings, and what happened with the Tyranitar. Brooke was shocked.
"He had a Pokeball?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "That's illegal! Not to mention highly immoral!"
"Yes," Ian said, "and that shows you the kind of people we're dealing with here."
Brooke paused to think. Then, she said "What do they want, exactly?"
"I don't know." said Ian. "But I'm going to find out."
"Just..." Brooke paused. "...just be careful. I can't lose you."
"I know..." Ian started to say, but he was interrupted.
"Don't be a hero!" Brooke shouted. "Let's run away! We shouldn't try to do anything about this. Let's report this to the police, and just forget about it. We could move to Hoenn! Start a new life!" Brooke paused. "Forget everything..."
"I wish I could." Ian said. "But I can't."
"Why not?"
"I can't tell you right now. Later."
Brooke was silent.
"Ok." she said uncertainly. "So where to now?"
"We'll keep going to Pastoria." Ian said. "I have a friend there."
"Alright then." said Brooke. "Lead the way."

 

[.:Heart Made of Metal:.]

Awesome Chapter altemon ^^

I was so listening to Sonne by Rammstein, and it kinda fitted.