PW! - Talk Over a Harvest
William Rendfeld
A gentle wind swept over the grounds of the Masters estate outside
of Lilycove, brushing over Nori’s head as she rested herself against
the side of a Pecha Berry tree at the edge of a small Berry grove. She
felt…bored, she supposed. Not to mention stiff – she felt like she
hadn’t done anything in ages save tag along behind Alex and her
friends. Where so many of them had gone she had no clue…though them
leaving while Alex had otherwise been occupied did make her
suspicious.
She shook her head. As much as she wanted to think that way, Alex
wasn’t manipulating or controlling anyone. Hell, the psychic didn’t
even have to save her life, and yet she’d done so, despite many an
obvious and clear statement of dislike. And she did seem to care about
her.
A groan. If anyone she knew saw her like this, they’d be laughing
their butts off. She was just lucky that Rubix had decided to
entertain himself with Cass and Alex’s substantial DVD collections and
cable TV, otherwise she’d be hearing him go all-out right now over one
thing or another.
She sat up, glancing down at the small charge at her side – Big
Time, a young Larvitar that she’d liberated from his trainer, was
halfheartedly nibbling at a fallen Pecha berry. She’d promised him
that she’d get him reunited with Smasher…and so far, she hadn’t done
much to accomplish that particular task. “Well, it can’t get much
worse, can it?”
Nori regretted those words almost as soon as she said them, a
rustling starting to go through the assorted trees and bushes nearby.
She scrambled to her feet, checking over her Poké Balls, only to
realize two things. One – that whatever she was dealing with was no
doubt large and powerful, and two – that none of the Pokémon she had
would be able to deal with it.
She made a mental note: if she survived this, she’d yell at Rubix
later.
Just before she could scoop down and retrieve Big Time, the head of
a Tyranitar poked itself out of the grove. She watched in surprise as
the rest of the large Dark-type stepped into view, seemingly without
awareness of her as he pulled a red wagon behind him, a number of
wicker baskets containing several varieties of Berries held in it. The
image was equal parts impressive, startling…and somewhat absurd. After
totally emerging, wagon in tow, he looked about, his green eyes
landing on the Berry tree, then widening as he caught sight of the
young woman and the Larvitar in her arms.
“Um…hello, Mister Tyranitar. I’m really sorry if we’re in your
territory or anything, I just thought this was a good place to sit
down and get out of the sun is all.”
The Tyranitar’s expression softened. “<I don’t mind. You’re right,
by the way – this is a nice place to cool down.>” He approached them
slowly, retrieving an empty basket from the wagon as he did so.
“<Since you’re here anyway, would you and the little one like to lend
me a hand?>”
“Lend…? Oh!” She set Big Time down and took the basket. “Sure! I
don’t mind! It’d be an honor to help you, Mister Tyranitar!”
“<Thanks, and you don’t have to be so stuffy. My name’s Obsidian.>”
-
Back in the house, Cass was busily packing and checking over her
odds and ends, making sure she had everything ready for when she’d be
joining Kitsu, Keaton and hopefully Nori in finally chasing down
Smasher. After so long at it, they’d finally get a chance to find him…
and hopefully, they’d do it before Alex got back with a purified
Rush.
Deep down, the redhead was enjoying herself – success or not, she
was getting out and traveling again! No board meetings, no office
politics, no worrying about finances, no hearing everyone on the board
bickering about one thing or another. It was just going to be her and
the rest of the Search Party going out and chasing down leads, just
like the old days.
Satisfied that she had everything that she’d need – clothes, cell
phone, cash, first aid kit, assorted bits of supplies for both people
and Pokémon and so forth – she zipped up the bag and set it aside.
She’d get some food before getting on the way, but there were other
things to do first – check in with everyone, make sure about Elsa, get
her team together…speaking of…
She felt along her belt and retrieved her PokéDex. Checking over
her nine Pokémon, she went over who she’d probably need most in case
trouble inevitably arose. Being on land ruled out Triton, and neither
Ariel or Scylla were big on battling. That made things easier,
thankfully…and almost made her wish she had a bit more to her arsenal
than just nine Pokémon. Quality over quantity was good, but it helped
to be flexible. Plus, if she was ever going to go on the Contest
circuit, she’d need to start training a Pokémon specifically for them,
or she’d be shot down almost instantly.
Still, that was a concern for another day.
Satisfied, she trooped out of her room and made her way downstairs,
the sounds of a TV echoing from the living room. Cass quickly reached
it and found a Blastoise enjoying himself – Alex had taken the non-
couch potato Daraxis with her, so process of elimination left only one
possible candidate. “Hey Rubix. Enjoying yourself?”
“Can’t complain.” As much he had reason to be frustrated with Nori,
Rubix had to admit that she’d found herself with some stubborn
friends. Stubborn and loaded, but that was beside the point.
“Something up?”
“Just chasing everyone down, making sure someone else hasn’t
vanished on us. Speaking of, any idea where Nori is?”
A shrug. “Wherever she is, she took Big Time with her. That’s all I
know.”
“Fair enough. Finding her can’t be that hard.”
Rubix almost made a sarcastic comment about no one traditionally
looking for her in the past, but opted to remain silent as Cass made
her way out. He doubted she’d gone far anyway – after all, she didn’t
seem all that active to begin with of late.
-
“So, if you don’t mind me asking…what are you doing here in Hoenn?
I mean, Tyranitar are native to Johto. Did your trainer abandon you?”
“<No, no abandonment here. And believe it or not, I’m from here.>”
Nori looked up at him in amazement, freezing in mid-pick with one
hand on a Pecha berry. “What do you mean, ‘from here’? There aren’t
any Tyranitar out here in Hoenn!”
“<Not in the wild, no. And be careful, that berry’ll burst if you
squeeze it too hard and you’ll get juice all over yourself.>”
Glancing at the clenched berry, the young woman picked it and
deposited it in the basket atop a small pile. Irritation became
clearer as she continued, “But if you’re not from the wild, then that
means you were, what, bred in captivity?”
“<Sort of. As many trainers who end up ‘abandoning’ their Pokémon
as there are, there are just as many who end up releasing them into
the wild or leaving them in the care of researchers. Pretty much why
so many Pokémon are rare here outside of the Safari Zone. And more
than a few Tyranitars have ended up out here, left in the care of the
Masters research labs.>”
Nori looked at Obsidian with slight incredulity. “How many is ‘more
than a few’?”
“<Enough for a good breeding population, actually. You’d be amazed
by the number of trainers who make an effort to go after mostly female
Pokémon.>” He released one branch, allowing it to rise back to its
normal position, before taking hold of another. “<That’s why I’m out
here – I’m getting the food. Aside from being large and imposing, I’m
still in practice, so if some poacher comes out here and decides to be
stupid enough to attack, well…>” Noticing a dead branch on the tree,
he reached out and Crunched down hard on it, snapping it off with one
clean attack. It fell to the ground with a dull thud, a flock of
Taillow in the grove flying off in reaction. “<Like I said, still in
practice.>”
A quick dart of the eyes down at the dead branch, and Nori nodded.
“No kidding. But where are all of you? I mean, you need a place to
actually breed and all – you can’t just, y’know, do it in the open.”
The Tyranitar blanched. “<You think we’d do the breeding thing in
public? Ew. No, we’re underground. Bill set it up for us years ago.>”
The spiny-haired girl cocked her head to one side. “Bill? The
researcher back in Kanto?”
“<No, different Bill. Alex’s dad. Great guy; I miss him.>”
Nori looked at the Tyranitar in shock. “Alex? Alex Masters? Tall
girl, brown hair, psychic powers, thinks she’s an alien?”
“<That’s her.>” He locked eyes with her, green meeting green.
“<Nori, is it? She and Cass talk about you.>”
The girl looked at him, then set down her basket and dropped to the
grass. “Here we go again. I said I’d keep an open mind. Isn’t that
enough for you people?” She turned back to the Tyranitar. “And why are
you looking out for her? She’s a Psychic, you’re a Dark-type! Plus,
it’s thanks to her dad that you aren’t in the wild, where you deserve
to be! I mean, wouldn’t you rather be at your ancestral home, climb
Mt. Silver, meet real, wild Tyranitar?”
A shrug. “<My parents live here. My siblings live here. To me, this
is home. And while I would like to revisit my roots someday, I’m in no
rush. We Tyranitar live for a really long time, after all.>” He walked
up to her and sat down, the Pecha Berries seemingly forgotten. “<And
do Dark-types really have to be aggressive towards Psychics, just
because they can’t hurt us? I mean, do you see Machamps trying to beat
me up all the time, just because I have a type disadvantage? Do
martial artists try to hurt you?>”
“Well, no. But I avoid them anyway…”
“<Still, my point stands. And their talking isn’t as bad as you’d
think – believe it or not, they like you. Both of them. And they
appreciate you sticking around, Alex especially given what happened
after that mess with Canmore.>”
“Don’t tell me she feels proud of herself after bringing me back
from the dead.”
“<Actually, that part kinda scared her. I’m talking more about you
telling her to go to the cops – if you hadn’t, she would’ve skipped
town and never owned up to the consequences of her actions.>”
“But she got off.”
“<That’s not the point – the fact is that you kept her honest. You
made her face that decision, and that was a good thing.>” He rose back
to his full height. “<And that’s all I’ve got to say on the subject.
Now, I’ve got a deal for you.>”
Nori regarded him for a second. “I’m listening.”
“<You help me with these berries, and I’ll take you to the rest of
my clan. Just because I don’t want to go back to the breeding grounds
doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same – you can ask them. If they
want to leave, they can, and once the little one is back with his
trainer, you can take them. Fair?>”
“I guess.” Nori had more than a few things she wanted to do in
Hoenn – find Blizzard and Cerberus, among other things – but returning
many Tyranitar and their offspring to the breeding grounds wouldn’t be
bad either. And they’d be choosing to go with her, so Typhon would be
pleased. She supposed it could be done…someday. She got to her feet.
“Just no bugging me about Alex, alright?”
“<Deal.>”
“And, one more question…why do you call yourself ‘Obsidian’?”
A shrug. “<I like the sound of it.>”
TBC?
[NS: Beth's given me permission to play around with her characters
some. Don't expect much to be done with them beyond little things like
this. Still, this has been nagging at my brain for a while, I'm at a
creative block with further story details concerning Alex and Nick, so
I thought I'd get this out there. I just hope this isn't ignored.]