Fanfic - Pokemon: Emma (Beginning)
All right, a certain thing - that I cannot specify upon because it is a big spoiler - has been whipping my ass in Illusion of Gaia, so the next updates will take a day or two. In the meantime, I present you with Pokefic and some Illusion of Gaia stuff.
I've been meaning to link this for awhile, but apparently there is a small amount of Illusion of Gaia fanfics around! I'm pretty sure none of them contain ending spoilers, so you should be safe.
Quite a bit of Gaia fanart over at the deviant arts, too. Some of it is quite good. It's always interesting to see how people interpret the details of Will and co. from these little sprites. Freedan is looking a little too bishie for my tastes, but eh.
There's an Illusion of Gaia remix over at Dwelling of Duels, too. It is pretty damn good!
Also, a lovely fellow called Codeman38 has apparently gifted the Internet with the Illusion of Gaia font! The very same one used in the whole Soul Blazer trilogy, apparently. There are a whole bunch of awesome VG fonts on his page - personal faves include the Mr. Saturn font and the DOS font - and I heartily encourage you guys to download the crap out of them.
Anyway, you want Pokefic? YOU GOT POKEFIC!
Emma
~ Beginning
“Excuse me...sir?”
“Hmm. Mmmh?”
“We’ve arrived at Canalave Port, sir. If you’ll gather your bags, we’re nearly ready for departure.”
“Uhm, right...thank you.”
“Not at all. Enjoy your stay in Sinnoh, sir.”
Jack sat up and pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes; he must have nodded off in his deckchair. Blinking several times to block out the harsh sun, Jack grabbed his bag from the floor next to him and slipped his sunglasses into his pocket. He frowned to himself for a moment, digging around in the pocket, finally pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Jack unfolded the paper as he walked down the boardwalk, reading.
Dear Jack,
Happy birthday, little bro! Sorry I couldn’t make it back to Cerulean in time to celebrate with you, but these moving arrangements have been absolute hell.
I’ve got big news to make up for it, though! Unfortunately, it’s not really the sort of thing you can tell over the phone, so I’m gonna have to ask you to come down to Jubilife City to hear it. I’ve enclosed a ticket for the trip over, so all you have to do is pack a bag for about a week. Any more would just weigh you down.
Hope to see you soon, Jack! I know Fiona is dying to meet you.
Your brother,
Steve Kavanagh.
Jack re-folded the letter and stuffed it into his pocket, frowning. He had called Steve as soon as he got the letter, naturally, but his older brother had been completely unwilling to give out any sort of information other than ‘I’ll tell you when you get here’. All Jack knew was that Steve would meet him at Canalave Port and explain why he had to come here when they were back at his place in Jubilife.
“I guess I’ll ask him when I see him. He said he’d be somewhere around…” Jack’s speech faltered as he saw his brother standing at the entrance to Canalave Port, holding a handwritten sign with his name on it and grinning. Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to his brother; that ‘purple shirt, green pants’ outfit that Steve always wore stood out in any crowd.
“You’re really weird, you know that?” Jack said.
“Yeah.” Steve replied, dropping the sign on the ground. “Gimme a hug, bro.”
The two brothers hugged, laughing. It had been far too long since Jack had last seen his brother.
“Come on, grab your stuff. If we hurry, we can get back to Jubilife in time for dinner.” Steve said.
Jack shrugged his shoulders, patting his backpack. “Already got everything. We can go whenever you’re ready.”
“Alrighty.” Steve said. “Just one thing…”
Steve unhooked a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it down in front of him. “C’mon out, Poe!” he called.
Jack jumped in surprise as a sharp cawing sound filled the air. The red energy resolved itself into a Murkrow, which flew out of the Pokeball and landed on Steve’s shoulder. Steve patted the Murkrow on the head, causing it to caw happily.
“Poe, we’re heading home now.” Steve said. “Could you fly ahead and tell Fiona we’ll be there in about two hours?”
“Murkrow!” answered Poe, pecking Steve on the head. Steve let out a yell of pain and jabbed the bird in its guts.
“Just do it, Poe.” Steve said. Poe cawed in protest, but eventually took off and was soon lost over the Canalave rooftops.
Steve smiled at the retreating form of his bird. “He doesn’t like me using him as a carrier pigeon.” Steve explained, motioning for Jack to follow him. “He’ll probably garble my message a little as revenge, so if I get yelled at by Fiona when we get back, just take it as another of Poe’s shenanigans.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “What a great relationship.”
“Ha ha, funny boy.” Steve smirked. “You should go on the road with that wit.”
“Oh, shut up.” Jack retorted, punching his brother on the arm. “How are we getting to your place, anyway?”
Steve simply smiled and hummed to himself as he walked through the gates leading to the Route to Jubilife City. When they reached the water’s edge, Steve took another Pokeball off his belt, releasing a large, grey Lapras into the water. The Pokemon slowly floated over to Steve and began rubbing against him.
“Hahahah…okay, Lindie. Ease up.” Steve said. “We’ve gotta travel across two-eighteen here. Are you gonna be okay with two people and some luggage?”
Lindie nodded, turning around in the water, allowing the two brothers to climb onto her back. Pushing away from the shore, the Lapras slowly coasted along the Route, leaving Steve and Jack to fall into amiable conversation for the rest of the journey.
~ ~ ~
“Come on already, Steve! Just tell me what you made me come here for!” Jack shouted. They had reached the apartment building where Steve lived - it had taken the rest of the day, due to several Tentacool attacks - and Steve had continued to be extremely elusive about his reason for bringing his brother all the way from Kanto.
Steve merely grinned to himself, unlocking the door of his apartment and strolling inside.
“Fiona, I’m home and I brought a little brother!” Steve called.
There was a scuffling noise in the other room, and a blonde girl wearing a blue dress appeared from one of the other rooms, her eyes streaked with tears.
“St-steve…” she said. “What Poe said you said about me…it’s not true, is it?”
Steve sighed and hurried over to the girl, gathering her up in his arms and embracing her. Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway as his brother whispered into her ear, soothing the sniffling girl.
“You know Poe just likes to make trouble, sweetie.” Steve said, stroking her hair.
Fiona sniffled again. “I know. But…”
“I know.” Steve interrupted. “Don’t worry about it. C’mon, meet my brother.”
Steve led the girl over to where Jack was standing awkwardly in the doorway. Drying her tears, she shook Jack’s hand and giggled nervously.
“Sorry about that.” she smiled. “I must look like a complete mess…”
“It’s, uh…it’s alright.” Jack replied.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Fiona.” Fiona said, extending her hand.
Jack took it. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m glad I finally get to see Steve’s mysterious girlfriend.” he grinned. “We’ve heard a lot about you, despite him never showing you to us.”
“Oh, shut up.” Steve replied, grinning. “Some of us have been busy.”
“Y-yeah, I’m sorry about that.” Fiona stammered, her face reddening. “We’ve kinda been busy setting up our new home and everything, and it’s a long way to Kanto, and moving from Hoenn - that’s where I used to live - moving from there to Sinnoh was a really big thing and…” Fiona stopped and laughed nervously. “I’m not making a very good impression, am I?”
Jack smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
A small smile crept onto Fiona’s face.
“Steve says that all the time.”
“Hey, you want anything to drink?” Steve yelled from the kitchen.
“Uh, yeah! Just a soda, if you have one!” replied Jack.
“Fiona?” called Steve.
“Oh!” Fiona said. “No thank you!”
A moment’s silence passed until Steve came out of the kitchen, carrying two cans of cola. Tossing one to Jack, Steve motioned for him to sit down.
“Alright, Jackie.” Steve said, plopping down on the couch. “I’m sure you want to know why you had to come all the way here.”
“Yeah. I do.” Jack replied, opening his drink. “You made me come all the way from Cerulean with no explanation whatsoever. An explanation would be greatly appreciated.”
“Mmm.” Steve said. “Jack, it’s…”
“…It’s?” Jack prompted.
“…It’s time for you to begin your Pokemon journey.”
Jack blinked.
“…It’s time to what?”
“It’s time for you to begin your Pokemon journey.” Steve repeated.
Jack took a swig of his drunk, chuckling. “Yeah, right. Seriously, tell me why I’m here.”
“I’m serious, Jack.” Steve said. Jack’s laughing abruptly stopped; the expression on his brother’s face was deadly serious. “Since Dad is…y’know…it falls to me to explain this responsibility to you.”
“Responsibility?” Jack said, leaning forward. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re 17 now, Jack. “It’s family tradition to have the father reveal this responsibility to his children once they reach 17, but with Dad gone, it’s…”
“Steve.” Jack interrupted. “What. Responsibility.”
“Right.” Steve said. “Dad told me this in confidence, and made me swear not to tell anyone until I had kids, but now I have to tell it to you. Apparently, the Kavanagh family has a secret family tradition; every member of the family, once they reach their 17th year, are sent on a Pokemon journey…” Steve took a sip of his drink, hesitating. “…whether they want to or not.”
“What?” Jack said.
Steve nodded, leaning forward. “Nobody really knows why anymore, but us Kavanaghs have never been as into Pokemon as the rest of the world. When other kids would rush off on their journeys as young as ten years old, we would delay it until we were in our early twenties, if ever. You’ve seen how people look at someone who says that they’re not interested in Pokemon. There’s a suspicion around them. It’s…” Steve exhaled loudly, as if gathering himself. “Never mind. You’ve noticed that our family still has Pokemon, despite this general disinterest. This tradition is the reason why; it’s a way to do these journeys without having it affect our lives unduly. We stick to this pact, and it serves us well. Hell, some of the kids even like it and end up becoming profession Trainers.”
Jack shook his head, trying to clear it. “And you’re saying that I have to go on one of these stupid journeys now? Battle against all those little kids and collect all those stupid Badges?”
“Not necessarily.” Steve replied. “The journey has to last at least a year, so you can just wander around with your Pokemon for that time, if you like. After that, you can go back home and get on with your life, if you want to.”
“Okay, this is ridiculous.” Jack said, standing up. “I am not going to put my whole life on hold so I can wander about the Sinnoh region for a fucking year.”
Steve stood up as well and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Jackie.” Steve said. “If you don’t…the whole family will find out, and they’ll cut you out completely.”
Jack turned and looked at his brother. “You’re joking.”
Steve shook his head sadly. “I wish I was.”
Jack sighed. “So, if you’re telling me this…”
“That’s right, little bro. It is my - and Fiona’s - great honour to present you with your very first Pokemon.” Steve said. He proceeded to lean down and whisper in Fiona’s ear; she nodded, blushing slightly, and disappeared into an adjoining room.
Jack glared at his brother. “And I couldn’t have done this at home?”
Steve shook his head. “Gotta be another region. Stops kids from just hiding out at their friend’s place or something.” Steve explained, managing a sheepish smile. “I’m really sorry, Jackie.”
Jack sighed, his shoulders drooping to his sides. “Fine. This is goddamn ridiculous, but…fine.”
A small cough came from the doorway. Both brothers turned around to see Fiona accompanied by a serene, almost glowing Gardevoir, carrying a dozing Ralts in her arms. Steve walked over to the Gardevoir, motioning for Jack to do the same. The Gardevoir floated over to Steve, and in a strange sort of curtsy, placed the Ralts in Jack’s arms. Jack held it there, looking bewildered.
“Jack W. Kavanagh,” Steve said softly, “it is my distinct pleasure to present you with your partner Pokemon for the duration of your Pokemon journey. This Ralts is the daughter of Rebecca, my Gardevoir…she was once a Ralts as well, and the first Pokemon that I ever had.” Steve smiled over at his Pokemon. “I can honestly attest that a Ralts is one of the best travelling partners you could hope for.”
Jack stared down at the Ralts. It stirred in his arms, looking up at him sleepily.
“Raaalts?” the Ralts said. Jack smiled down at it awkwardly.
“Hello, Ralts.” Jack said. “It’s, er…nice to meet you.”
The Ralts smiled up at Jack, snuggling back into his arms and closing its eyes. “Raalts, ralts. Ralts ral.”
Jack felt a strange sensation enter his head. He turned to look at Rebecca the Gardevoir, noticing she was glowing slightly, engaging him in telepathy.
'Take care of my daughter, young Kavanagh. She is an Emotion Pokemon, as am I, so she will be very intuitive to you and your Pokemon. Be happy, and she will be happy. Be sad, and she will be sad.' The Gardevoir paused for a moment. 'Be forewarned: make her sad, and I will find a way to make you much, much sadder.'
Jack blinked at the Gardevoir and nodded. Rebecca smiled and inclined her head at Jack in a gesture of acceptance.
“What do you want to call her, Jack?” Steve asked.
Jack looked down at the Ralts in his arms. “Emotion Pokemon...empathy...empath…” he muttered. A smile grew on his face, and Jack looked up at the group in front of him, smiling.
“Emma.” Jack said. “I’ll call her Emma.”
“Emma it is.” Steve announced. “Now get some rest, both of you. Your journey starts tomorrow, and believe me…you’re gonna need every bit of rest you can get.”
I'll do an index for these in a minute, probably. I've got the Angry D beginning in 'rewrite' status, and the Irving evolution in 'first draft'. So, expect more...but a Gaia update first.
~ Aaron
I've been meaning to link this for awhile, but apparently there is a small amount of Illusion of Gaia fanfics around! I'm pretty sure none of them contain ending spoilers, so you should be safe.
Quite a bit of Gaia fanart over at the deviant arts, too. Some of it is quite good. It's always interesting to see how people interpret the details of Will and co. from these little sprites. Freedan is looking a little too bishie for my tastes, but eh.
There's an Illusion of Gaia remix over at Dwelling of Duels, too. It is pretty damn good!
Also, a lovely fellow called Codeman38 has apparently gifted the Internet with the Illusion of Gaia font! The very same one used in the whole Soul Blazer trilogy, apparently. There are a whole bunch of awesome VG fonts on his page - personal faves include the Mr. Saturn font and the DOS font - and I heartily encourage you guys to download the crap out of them.
Anyway, you want Pokefic? YOU GOT POKEFIC!
Emma
~ Beginning
“Excuse me...sir?”
“Hmm. Mmmh?”
“We’ve arrived at Canalave Port, sir. If you’ll gather your bags, we’re nearly ready for departure.”
“Uhm, right...thank you.”
“Not at all. Enjoy your stay in Sinnoh, sir.”
Jack sat up and pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes; he must have nodded off in his deckchair. Blinking several times to block out the harsh sun, Jack grabbed his bag from the floor next to him and slipped his sunglasses into his pocket. He frowned to himself for a moment, digging around in the pocket, finally pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Jack unfolded the paper as he walked down the boardwalk, reading.
Dear Jack,
Happy birthday, little bro! Sorry I couldn’t make it back to Cerulean in time to celebrate with you, but these moving arrangements have been absolute hell.
I’ve got big news to make up for it, though! Unfortunately, it’s not really the sort of thing you can tell over the phone, so I’m gonna have to ask you to come down to Jubilife City to hear it. I’ve enclosed a ticket for the trip over, so all you have to do is pack a bag for about a week. Any more would just weigh you down.
Hope to see you soon, Jack! I know Fiona is dying to meet you.
Your brother,
Steve Kavanagh.
Jack re-folded the letter and stuffed it into his pocket, frowning. He had called Steve as soon as he got the letter, naturally, but his older brother had been completely unwilling to give out any sort of information other than ‘I’ll tell you when you get here’. All Jack knew was that Steve would meet him at Canalave Port and explain why he had to come here when they were back at his place in Jubilife.
“I guess I’ll ask him when I see him. He said he’d be somewhere around…” Jack’s speech faltered as he saw his brother standing at the entrance to Canalave Port, holding a handwritten sign with his name on it and grinning. Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to his brother; that ‘purple shirt, green pants’ outfit that Steve always wore stood out in any crowd.
“You’re really weird, you know that?” Jack said.
“Yeah.” Steve replied, dropping the sign on the ground. “Gimme a hug, bro.”
The two brothers hugged, laughing. It had been far too long since Jack had last seen his brother.
“Come on, grab your stuff. If we hurry, we can get back to Jubilife in time for dinner.” Steve said.
Jack shrugged his shoulders, patting his backpack. “Already got everything. We can go whenever you’re ready.”
“Alrighty.” Steve said. “Just one thing…”
Steve unhooked a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it down in front of him. “C’mon out, Poe!” he called.
Jack jumped in surprise as a sharp cawing sound filled the air. The red energy resolved itself into a Murkrow, which flew out of the Pokeball and landed on Steve’s shoulder. Steve patted the Murkrow on the head, causing it to caw happily.
“Poe, we’re heading home now.” Steve said. “Could you fly ahead and tell Fiona we’ll be there in about two hours?”
“Murkrow!” answered Poe, pecking Steve on the head. Steve let out a yell of pain and jabbed the bird in its guts.
“Just do it, Poe.” Steve said. Poe cawed in protest, but eventually took off and was soon lost over the Canalave rooftops.
Steve smiled at the retreating form of his bird. “He doesn’t like me using him as a carrier pigeon.” Steve explained, motioning for Jack to follow him. “He’ll probably garble my message a little as revenge, so if I get yelled at by Fiona when we get back, just take it as another of Poe’s shenanigans.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “What a great relationship.”
“Ha ha, funny boy.” Steve smirked. “You should go on the road with that wit.”
“Oh, shut up.” Jack retorted, punching his brother on the arm. “How are we getting to your place, anyway?”
Steve simply smiled and hummed to himself as he walked through the gates leading to the Route to Jubilife City. When they reached the water’s edge, Steve took another Pokeball off his belt, releasing a large, grey Lapras into the water. The Pokemon slowly floated over to Steve and began rubbing against him.
“Hahahah…okay, Lindie. Ease up.” Steve said. “We’ve gotta travel across two-eighteen here. Are you gonna be okay with two people and some luggage?”
Lindie nodded, turning around in the water, allowing the two brothers to climb onto her back. Pushing away from the shore, the Lapras slowly coasted along the Route, leaving Steve and Jack to fall into amiable conversation for the rest of the journey.
~ ~ ~
“Come on already, Steve! Just tell me what you made me come here for!” Jack shouted. They had reached the apartment building where Steve lived - it had taken the rest of the day, due to several Tentacool attacks - and Steve had continued to be extremely elusive about his reason for bringing his brother all the way from Kanto.
Steve merely grinned to himself, unlocking the door of his apartment and strolling inside.
“Fiona, I’m home and I brought a little brother!” Steve called.
There was a scuffling noise in the other room, and a blonde girl wearing a blue dress appeared from one of the other rooms, her eyes streaked with tears.
“St-steve…” she said. “What Poe said you said about me…it’s not true, is it?”
Steve sighed and hurried over to the girl, gathering her up in his arms and embracing her. Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway as his brother whispered into her ear, soothing the sniffling girl.
“You know Poe just likes to make trouble, sweetie.” Steve said, stroking her hair.
Fiona sniffled again. “I know. But…”
“I know.” Steve interrupted. “Don’t worry about it. C’mon, meet my brother.”
Steve led the girl over to where Jack was standing awkwardly in the doorway. Drying her tears, she shook Jack’s hand and giggled nervously.
“Sorry about that.” she smiled. “I must look like a complete mess…”
“It’s, uh…it’s alright.” Jack replied.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Fiona.” Fiona said, extending her hand.
Jack took it. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m glad I finally get to see Steve’s mysterious girlfriend.” he grinned. “We’ve heard a lot about you, despite him never showing you to us.”
“Oh, shut up.” Steve replied, grinning. “Some of us have been busy.”
“Y-yeah, I’m sorry about that.” Fiona stammered, her face reddening. “We’ve kinda been busy setting up our new home and everything, and it’s a long way to Kanto, and moving from Hoenn - that’s where I used to live - moving from there to Sinnoh was a really big thing and…” Fiona stopped and laughed nervously. “I’m not making a very good impression, am I?”
Jack smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
A small smile crept onto Fiona’s face.
“Steve says that all the time.”
“Hey, you want anything to drink?” Steve yelled from the kitchen.
“Uh, yeah! Just a soda, if you have one!” replied Jack.
“Fiona?” called Steve.
“Oh!” Fiona said. “No thank you!”
A moment’s silence passed until Steve came out of the kitchen, carrying two cans of cola. Tossing one to Jack, Steve motioned for him to sit down.
“Alright, Jackie.” Steve said, plopping down on the couch. “I’m sure you want to know why you had to come all the way here.”
“Yeah. I do.” Jack replied, opening his drink. “You made me come all the way from Cerulean with no explanation whatsoever. An explanation would be greatly appreciated.”
“Mmm.” Steve said. “Jack, it’s…”
“…It’s?” Jack prompted.
“…It’s time for you to begin your Pokemon journey.”
Jack blinked.
“…It’s time to what?”
“It’s time for you to begin your Pokemon journey.” Steve repeated.
Jack took a swig of his drunk, chuckling. “Yeah, right. Seriously, tell me why I’m here.”
“I’m serious, Jack.” Steve said. Jack’s laughing abruptly stopped; the expression on his brother’s face was deadly serious. “Since Dad is…y’know…it falls to me to explain this responsibility to you.”
“Responsibility?” Jack said, leaning forward. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re 17 now, Jack. “It’s family tradition to have the father reveal this responsibility to his children once they reach 17, but with Dad gone, it’s…”
“Steve.” Jack interrupted. “What. Responsibility.”
“Right.” Steve said. “Dad told me this in confidence, and made me swear not to tell anyone until I had kids, but now I have to tell it to you. Apparently, the Kavanagh family has a secret family tradition; every member of the family, once they reach their 17th year, are sent on a Pokemon journey…” Steve took a sip of his drink, hesitating. “…whether they want to or not.”
“What?” Jack said.
Steve nodded, leaning forward. “Nobody really knows why anymore, but us Kavanaghs have never been as into Pokemon as the rest of the world. When other kids would rush off on their journeys as young as ten years old, we would delay it until we were in our early twenties, if ever. You’ve seen how people look at someone who says that they’re not interested in Pokemon. There’s a suspicion around them. It’s…” Steve exhaled loudly, as if gathering himself. “Never mind. You’ve noticed that our family still has Pokemon, despite this general disinterest. This tradition is the reason why; it’s a way to do these journeys without having it affect our lives unduly. We stick to this pact, and it serves us well. Hell, some of the kids even like it and end up becoming profession Trainers.”
Jack shook his head, trying to clear it. “And you’re saying that I have to go on one of these stupid journeys now? Battle against all those little kids and collect all those stupid Badges?”
“Not necessarily.” Steve replied. “The journey has to last at least a year, so you can just wander around with your Pokemon for that time, if you like. After that, you can go back home and get on with your life, if you want to.”
“Okay, this is ridiculous.” Jack said, standing up. “I am not going to put my whole life on hold so I can wander about the Sinnoh region for a fucking year.”
Steve stood up as well and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Jackie.” Steve said. “If you don’t…the whole family will find out, and they’ll cut you out completely.”
Jack turned and looked at his brother. “You’re joking.”
Steve shook his head sadly. “I wish I was.”
Jack sighed. “So, if you’re telling me this…”
“That’s right, little bro. It is my - and Fiona’s - great honour to present you with your very first Pokemon.” Steve said. He proceeded to lean down and whisper in Fiona’s ear; she nodded, blushing slightly, and disappeared into an adjoining room.
Jack glared at his brother. “And I couldn’t have done this at home?”
Steve shook his head. “Gotta be another region. Stops kids from just hiding out at their friend’s place or something.” Steve explained, managing a sheepish smile. “I’m really sorry, Jackie.”
Jack sighed, his shoulders drooping to his sides. “Fine. This is goddamn ridiculous, but…fine.”
A small cough came from the doorway. Both brothers turned around to see Fiona accompanied by a serene, almost glowing Gardevoir, carrying a dozing Ralts in her arms. Steve walked over to the Gardevoir, motioning for Jack to do the same. The Gardevoir floated over to Steve, and in a strange sort of curtsy, placed the Ralts in Jack’s arms. Jack held it there, looking bewildered.
“Jack W. Kavanagh,” Steve said softly, “it is my distinct pleasure to present you with your partner Pokemon for the duration of your Pokemon journey. This Ralts is the daughter of Rebecca, my Gardevoir…she was once a Ralts as well, and the first Pokemon that I ever had.” Steve smiled over at his Pokemon. “I can honestly attest that a Ralts is one of the best travelling partners you could hope for.”
Jack stared down at the Ralts. It stirred in his arms, looking up at him sleepily.
“Raaalts?” the Ralts said. Jack smiled down at it awkwardly.
“Hello, Ralts.” Jack said. “It’s, er…nice to meet you.”
The Ralts smiled up at Jack, snuggling back into his arms and closing its eyes. “Raalts, ralts. Ralts ral.”
Jack felt a strange sensation enter his head. He turned to look at Rebecca the Gardevoir, noticing she was glowing slightly, engaging him in telepathy.
'Take care of my daughter, young Kavanagh. She is an Emotion Pokemon, as am I, so she will be very intuitive to you and your Pokemon. Be happy, and she will be happy. Be sad, and she will be sad.' The Gardevoir paused for a moment. 'Be forewarned: make her sad, and I will find a way to make you much, much sadder.'
Jack blinked at the Gardevoir and nodded. Rebecca smiled and inclined her head at Jack in a gesture of acceptance.
“What do you want to call her, Jack?” Steve asked.
Jack looked down at the Ralts in his arms. “Emotion Pokemon...empathy...empath…” he muttered. A smile grew on his face, and Jack looked up at the group in front of him, smiling.
“Emma.” Jack said. “I’ll call her Emma.”
“Emma it is.” Steve announced. “Now get some rest, both of you. Your journey starts tomorrow, and believe me…you’re gonna need every bit of rest you can get.”
I'll do an index for these in a minute, probably. I've got the Angry D beginning in 'rewrite' status, and the Irving evolution in 'first draft'. So, expect more...but a Gaia update first.
~ Aaron