72A/N: Ahh, sorry for the late update, yet again. Although, my exams are over which leaves me more time to write. So the next update won't take a month or longer. Enjoy!
Chapter VI: Legends
"No," Leaf said in a tone of finality. "I need to study."
Mei pouted. "But you're already so strong! Come on, Leaf! Just one night of no studies?"
Mei was attempting to persuade Leaf to attend a party for only Rayquaza and Lugia students, hosted by Brendan. He invited every first-year student from Lugia to the Rayquaza common room, as half a year had already passed and Rayquaza was on the top. Lugia was second, followed by Entei and Giratina.
"Fine. I doubt I'll be able to concentrate anyway," she gave in with a sigh. They were down in the common room, with Brendan and Silver the only first-years in there with them. Drew would usually be with them, but he was at his detention with Gary and May.
"Hey, Leaf!" Brendan called out, walking up to them. "You coming to the party tomorrow?"
"Unfortunately," she replied bluntly. He raised an eyebrow at the somewhat cynical female.
"You know, I can read your mind and I know you're secretly thrilled," he replied, pleased with himself. He was a Psychic-type, after all.
The brunette just rolled her eyes in return. "Don't kid me. You need years of practice as a Psychic-type to be able to read someone's mind." Professor Sabrina was a highly skilled Psychic-type, and could easily read the thoughts of someone. The thought of it was quite scary, really.
He sighed, the amused spark in his ruby-red eyes fading. He turned to walk away, but then turned back around. The amused gleam in his eyes had returned again. "Better wear something nice. Gary, your beloved partner, is going to be there."
Shivers went down May's spine as they ventured through the forest, the only light sources from May's hand, which was on fire, and Lt. Surge's electric power. "Okay," Lt. Surge said, stopping. "We're splitting up, if you find anything strange, report to me when we meet up."
"Splitting up?" May asked, worried. "Who am I going with?"
"You," he said, "are going with plant-boy." He pointed to Drew, who glared at him for the name. It didn't go unnoticed by the Electric-type supervisor. "Oi, none of that."
Gary seemed quite nonchalant. The dark didn't bother him, he was a Dark-type. In fact, the best conditions for him in a fight was in the dark as he could disappear and reappear whenever. He had a large disadvantage in bright daylight, however.
"Flame-girl and plant-boy, that way. If you have any trouble, send up a flare with your flames," Lt. Surge said as he pointed to the east. "Come on, hedgehog, let's get going."
Muttering something incoherent in annoyance, Gary turned and followed the supervisor. He turned around for a moment. "Take care of Drew, Bandanna!" he called out, chuckling. He had nicknamed May "Bandanna", referring to the red bandanna she always wore on her head.
Rolling his eyes, Drew shoved his hands in his pocket- Paul style. "Let's go, November."
May was too distracted by their environment to reply. The night didn't scare her, it just made her feel uneasy as the sun wasn't out. "What do we do?" she asked, shivering. They were surrounded by tall, old trees which had large roots. Dry leaves were scattered across the ground.
"Walk around in circles, I guess," he replied. A smirk came upon his face. "You're scared, aren't you?"
"I'm not scared, not at all!" May retorted. "It's just that this place has a weird feel to it."
An eerie breeze passed by Drew and sent chills up his spine. The air held an ominous aura in it, and didn't go undetected by Drew. May frowned when he didn't reply. "Now you're ignoring me, great-"
He held up a hand, cutting her off. He signalled for her to approach quietly and put out her fire. Nodding, May did as she was told and carefully followed him through the dark. They approached a clearing, hearing voices. They were behind tree trunks, so the mysterious people couldn't see them.
"It has to be here somewhere," a woman's voice said.
A man's voice followed. "Maybe we should look for it during day, might find some clues. At least we got Celebi, right?"
"Right," the woman replied. "Once we find it, we can burn it down to ashes!"
May gasped. Unfortunately for her, the man heard. "Hey, did ya hear that?"
"No, what is it?" the woman replied. Drew held a hand over May's mouth, breathing extremely softly. They couldn't risk being discovered.
"I feel it. It's warm, and kind," the man said, stepping closer to the students. He inhaled deeply once more and smirked, looking right in the direction of May and Drew. "Gotcha."
Dawn let out a frustrated sigh. "How is Grass-type not super effective on Kingdra? And how does the ability Lightning Rod work?"
"Because Kingdra is Water and Dragon-type and Lightning Rod absorbs all electric attacks and raises the special attack stat," White replied casually. "My father's Manectric has Lightning Rod," she added, pulling down her brown curls and releasing them.
White had already finished all her battle theory homework, whereas Dawn hadn't even finished half. Dawn was from the human world and only played one of the Pokémon games- Pokémon Diamond. Therefore, her knowledge on battling wasn't satisfactory. White, however, was from Unova, in the Pokémon world. She understood many of the concepts of battling and type advantages.
Once again, Dawn sighed. "This is frying my brain." She dropped her pencil in frustration and stood up. "I'm going out for some fresh air."
White also stood up, shooting her friend an apologetic smile. "Sorry Dawn, I would come with you but I gotta go the library." Dawn nodded. She wanted to be alone anyway. "I'll see you later, then?" White said, pulling on some shoes.
"Sure," Dawn replied as she left the room. She knew exactly where she was going. If she exited a large window which was in a secluded spot of their common room, she could fly on her Staraptor up to a safe, flat spot on the tiled roof of that section of the castle. It could be climbed up, but it was dangerous.
She reached the roof, returning her Staraptor. The sky was beautiful, stars scattered along the night sky like glitter. As she turned around, she noticed another figure in the darkness. Letting out a surprised yelp, she narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"
"Great, you know this place too," a familiar voice replied, extremely unamused. There was no doubt about it, it was Paul.
"Paul?" she asked quietly. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted. They couldn't see each others faces in the darkness, just the shadows of their figures.
"I just came here for fresh air," Dawn replied. She looked up at the sky again. "The sky's beautiful, isn't it?"
Paul also looked up at the sky, the Milky Way was visible in the clear sky. "Hn."
"Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?" she asked, sitting down anyway.
"No," he replied bluntly. Dawn couldn't see his face, but knew it was monotonous anyway.
After being type skills partners for half the year, Dawn uncovered a few things from the closed up student. He was from the Pokémon world, was raised in Veilstone City, he had a sibling but no parents and that he never had a friend before he came to Bordeaux. "You know, Paul, I'd like to visit Twinleaf Town someday. Since that's where I started off in my game."
She sighed when she didn't get a reply from Paul. After looking up at the sky again, she spotted something. It had a serpentine figure and flew through the sky gracefully but quickly, as if it was in a rush. "Hey, what's that?"
Paul narrowed his eyes, he had spotted it too. Soon, it disappeared from sight. "A Pokémon, obviously." But he wondered, which Pokémon was that large? And it flying around where they were? Something was wrong.
"May, run," Drew said, grabbing May's wrist and sprinting away.
The man chuckled. "Did ya hear that, Shelly? They're runnin' away!"
Shelly smirked. "Get them, Matt! They're probably students, just what we need."
The two adults followed them, they were quite a lot more agile in the woods than May and Drew. The pair of students were slowing down to a jog, losing stamina. "Send up a flare!" Drew said, still pulling her wrist along.
May shot up a flame in the sky, hoping that Lt. Surge or Gary would see it. Finally, they could run no longer and stood there, cornered. "Drew, what to we do?" she whispered, hiding behind him as he stood in front of her protectively.
Shelly glared at her, them she raised a brow. "A fire user? Perfect! Matt, let's do it," she said smirking.
Matt nodded. "Right!" The pair stopped chasing after the two and put their hands together. "Unison Water Tornado!" they yelled, forming a vortex of water.
Drew frowned. He was a Grass-type, which could hold back water. But their pursuers were much more experienced and had extremely powerful attacks. He managed to block most of the water by making thick trunks rise from the ground. Since that was one of his most powerful defences at the time, it left him exhausted.
The vortex of water approached them, May holding onto Drew's arm for dear life. Both of them braced for impact, but it never came. They looked up, expecting to see Gary, or Lt. Surge. But instead, there was a magnificent creature with a flowing purple 'cape' and white diamond-shapes printed on it's blue, wolf-like body.
It was Suicune.
"Sir, I just saw one of May's flares," Gary said, pointing at the sky.
Lt. Surge raised a brow. "Lead the way, shadow-boy."
Leading in a quick pace, Gary followed where the flare came from. He stopped, hearing voices in the distance. "I'm blending in with the shadows," he told the supervisor. Lt. Surge nodded as Gary disappeared into the darkness and followed the voices.
Gary's mouth fell open when he spotted May and Drew. They were huddled together against a tree trunk, gaping. In front of them stood Suicune, a legendary Pokémon. "Could it be...?"
Throwing it's head back, Suicune let out a howl. It looked back at Matt and Shelly, who stood there in shock, as if daring them to attack again. Then, Lt. Surge approached slowly. Suicune turned it's head to him, trying to figure out if he was an enemy. "It's okay, he's on our side," May said to Suicune kindly.
To her surprise, Suicune believed her and turned it's head back to the pair in blue. Their outfits almost looked like pirate costumes and they had a logo which was ever-so familiar to May. Then, after a long silence, it seemed to realise it was no longer needed. Glancing at May one last time, Suicune howled and bounded away in the woods.
"Who are you?" Lt. Surge demanded, electricity crackling in his fists. "And why are you here?"
Shelly smirked. "That's none of your business. Let's go, Matt!" She turned to run away, but then turned back. "Actually, I'll tell you something. We're Team Aqua." She smirked and followed Matt, escaping in the woods.
"Let's follow them!" Gary exclaimed, about to pursue them.
Lt. Surge shook his head. "No, let them be. Right now, we have to return immediately and report all of this to Salvatore."
Gary sighed, realising that he was right. Then, he looked over at May and Drew who were still huddled together and smirked. "You two look comfortable."
A blush rose on both of their faces as they realised what position they were in. They immediately let go of each other, standing up. "I- I was just scared. It means nothing," May replied, looking away.
Drew cleared his throat and nodded. "Agreed."
As they were heading back, Drew created a stunning red rose from his palm. Once they reached the school, they went their separate ways. Drew threw the rose to May, who caught it. She cocked her head. "What's this for?"
He shrugged in reply.
May blinked as he walked away. "Hey, Drew?" He stopped, turning his head slightly. "Thanks for today," she said with a warm smile.
He turned back and kept walking away. "Anytime."
The next day...
Salvatore lowered his glasses. "Suicune? And Team Aqua, you say? And they captured Celebi?"
May nodded. "Yes, sir. They were looking for something when they spotted us. Drew and I were chased and were about to be attacked, when Suicune dissolved their attack and appeared in front of us."
"That's quite a story," Salvatore replied. "However, I believe you. Surge, Oak and Hayden, you saw it too?"
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison. The four of them were standing in Salvatore's office, reporting of their adventure.
The headmaster nodded. "I see. Very well then, dismissed." He watched on as the students left his office. "Team Aqua," he muttered to himself. "What on earth are you planning, Archie?"
"Okay, class! Today you won't be battling with your regular battle partners, but someone of a different type," Crasher Wake announced to the class. Murmurs buzzed around the class.
Crasher Wake selected each of the students into their pairs. Lyra's head perked up as she was assigned with the boy from her boat on the first day- Silver. She hadn't talked to him since their first day. "Hey, Silver!"
"Hello," he replied quietly. He was surprised that she remembered his name.
Lyra smiled warmly. "What type are you?" Although their types didn't matter in battles, she was curious.
"Steel," he replied quietly, once again. "You?"
"Normal," Lyra replied. "I know, pretty boring." She sent out two Pokémon. Her first one, which had evolved into Furret and a Pidgeotto she caught as Pidgey recently. "A double battle, then?"
Silver nodded, sending out Lairon and Crocnaw. "Let's start. Lairon, iron tail on Furret. Crocnaw, water gun on Pidgeotto," he commanded calmly.
"Pidgeotto, fly high up and dodge! Furret, dig!" Lyra commanded, holding a hand out. Both Furret and Pidgeotto dodged the attacks, causing Silver to narrow his piercing grey eyes.
She's better than she looks, Silver admitted. But she's still no match for me. "Crocnaw, use water gun in the hole! Lairon, wait."
The small crocodile-like Pokémon filled the hole up with water, washing a soaked Furret out of it. Lairon patiently waited until Pidgeotto was diving down at it. "Now, use iron tail!" he commanded as Pidgeotto was just in the right place.
Lyra's mouth fell open as she realised the skill of her opponent. She frowned, refusing to give in. Throughout the battle, the two had gained many spectators due to their long, ongoing battle. It was amazing, really.
It was at the stage where both Lyra and Silver were left with just one Pokémon each. The first one to collapse was Lyra's Furret, to her disappointment. However, she was still happy with how she had battled. "You did great, Furret!"
Silver returned his Pokémon and walked up to Lyra. She was surprised to see him when she turned around. His lips upturned, but just slightly. There was just a tiny ghost of a smile, but it was still something. "No one has ever gotten that close to beating me."
Lyra grinned. "Really? Well, I see why!" Then, her grin turned into a small smile. "You know, we should battle again sometime." Silver nodded, and turned to walk away.
"But as friends," she added. Silver's eyes widened as he stopped for a moment, and then kept on walking without replying. Fortunately, Lyra didn't take offence.
Friends, he thought, narrowing his silver eyes. Why?
Leaf had been watching Lyra and Silver's battle, and was impressed. Lyra was a lot stronger than she had anticipated. Despite that, she figured that she owed Lyra and apology for acting like she had. Something had made her come to her senses and realise that Lyra was her friend, not enemy.
"Hey," Leaf said to Lyra. They were in the library, in the same isle.
Lyra blinked. "Hey? Hey, me?" she said, clearly confused as to why Leaf was speaking to her. She looked around to see if there was anybody else around them that Leaf could be speaking to.
"Lyra." Leaf's eyelids lowered. "I'm sorry. I truly am." She looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed. Then, she looked up in shock. Lyra was giving her a bear hug. "L-Lyra..."
"It's okay, Leaf. I forgive you," she replied warmly. She chuckled. "I could never hold a grudge against a friend anyway."
Leaf let out a sob. "I don't know what's happening to me. Is this the Rayquaza spirit influencing me? I don't know anything anymore."
"It's okay, you'll be okay," Lyra soothed.
Leaf pushed her away gently. She sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "Anyway, I'm glad we're friends again. Let's hope I don't get power hungry again. Can't promise anything."
"Right," Lyra said with a grin. She was glad Leaf was her friend again, but still wondered why she was pushed out in the first place.
Suddenly, they heard sniffles and spun around. At the end of the isle, White was rubbing her eyes. She sniffled again, blowing her nose in a tissue. "That was so sad! Friendship is amazing!" she thought aloud.
Leaf raised her eyebrows. Then, White looked up and noticed she was being watched. She coughed awkwardly and walked away like nothing happened, causing the two brunettes to sigh.
That night, Serena and Misty sat, listening to May's story. "Wait, so Suicune listened to you?" Misty asked.
"Yeah," May replied, nodding.
"That's so cool!" Serena gushed, her eyes twinkling.
"I've actually met Suicune once before," Misty said thoughtfully. "I was heading towards a lake, to play with some water Pokemon. And there it was, bouncing over the lake and purifying the water."
Serena's eyes widened in curiosity. "Did you get close to it?"
"No," Misty said, shaking her head, "- it ran away in the woods after it spotted me." Then, she narrowed her sea-green eyes. "But that doesn't explain why it would endanger itself to save you and Drew."
"Maybe it just felt like being nice?" May suggested, smiling sheepishly.
Misty gave a small nod. "Maybe," she agreed.
After a while, the girls decided to call it a night. Unlike the others who fell asleep quickly, May lay there awake for hours. The only thing she could think about was the way Suicune had looked at her, as if she was it's trainer.
A/N: Any ideas as to why Team Aqua would be in the woods, capturing Celebi and why Suicune saved May and Drew? Also, Sherry and Matt are two Team Aqua admins if you didn't know.
Speaking of Team Aqua, who's excited for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire? I know I am! :D
Had some shippy moments in there! And Leaf apologised to Lyra. Yay! The party-thing will be in the next chapter, and later in this story, there will be a ball. Review!