185I don't know for sure who of you are readers in the United States, but I'm sure that all of you have heard the news about the new president-elect of America. I know that a lot of us are scared right now. We don't know what the next four years will have in store for America, or what's to come for those of us that are going to be deeply and personally affected by not just the new elect, but also by the people who have supported him who feel empowered by him. A lot of you are scared and you have every right to be. You have every valid right and reason to feel what you do about the results of this crazed rodeo of an election and what this could mean for the country and its people, and the world. I'm not going to pretend I'm any sort of expert to seek advice from on what can be done, or that I know any of you personally enough to assume about any of you individually, but I want to take this moment, this snippet of the update to-I guess express is the right word-what I want to say to all of you.
Every one of you have given me nothing but kind words and I couldn't possibly thank you enough for the positivity and patience. In the next four years, some of us are going to be deeply affected by the new president of our country. Please, continue to spread your words of kindness. To everyone. Be the best person that you can be, and if you cannot, if you falter, or get angry, or scared, that's okay. It's normal and okay that we cannot be perfect or the best 100% all the time without fail. But try to be good to each other. I firmly believe that all of you, just by the few or numerous words you've sent me in reviews and PMs are enough to show me that all of you are wonderful, incredible people with powerful words that surely can help those who are in need and are going to be in need of some good, honest kindness. I don't know what the future holds for any of us, but while we can, and while we are here, please. Be kind. Be good. Reach out with love and kindness to others who need it, and reach for love and kindness when you yourself need it. Take care of yourself, and please take care of each other.
That said, I'd like to thank all of you again for your outstanding patience. This year has been one hell of a rollercoaster for all of us, I'm sure, and I've been neglectful of writing because of my own fair share of twists and turns. Spring is going to mark what I'm pretty sure (and hoping for) is going to be my last two semesters of college. They are also going to be the hardest and longest I've ever faced, I'm sure. I must once again ask for your patience with me, but please continue to believe that I'm not giving up.
Quick shoutout to funstt, who has made three kingdrashipping oneshots, one called Something To Think About, the second called Worth the Trouble and the third called Little White Lie. They are very cute and fun to read, so I definitely recommend checking them out!
New Readers: Soleilyhime, funstt, lunawolfmoon, and Articallie. Welcome aboard C:
Lance was the first to leave, while Misty meandered for a moment to do her own share of stretching. Growlithe waited patiently for her to finish her chore, his tail occasionally brushing against the floor as he sat. Misty then grabbed a spare hammock canvas as well, for carrying ease, and stuck one of their makeshift spears through the back two belt loops of her denim shorts, and told Growlithe she was ready. The puppy gently woofed and got to his feet, and then they both left the building she and Lance had hailed as their new camp.
While the footsteps in the grass and dirt suggested Lance and Azurill to have gone left, Growlithe led her to the right. They passed the other broken buildings of the ruins and passed soon enough into taller, wilder grass and jungle trees. By now the jungle had come to life, with pokemon to spot in just about every tree and every other shrub. Busy sentrets and ratatas ran up and down the trees and across the jungle floor, off to go find food just like Misty. There was an occasional bug, naturally, which had Misty jumping boisterously out of the way of at every spotting.
If she didn't know any better, she'd almost think the chuffing noise interrupting Growlithe's panting was him laughing at her.
It... was curious though. Occasionally, she could see a zigzagoon family amongst the rattata and sentret families. In the trees, in the branches amongst the bug pokemon and pidgeys she could see a few Swablu and Taillow too. Amongst the abundant families of Johto and Kanto species, there were Hoenn pokemon dotting here and there. It was curious, and she was sure it was, somehow, a clue as to where in the heck the island they had ended up on was located. Surely, it could be a clue.
As they went, she kept note of memorable landmarks. A tree split three ways at its base with a large circling knot on the center. A boulder that looked like a Magmar's face. She spotted a few berry trees as they went, but as Growlithe didn't stop their trek she figured they either weren't ripe or weren't for her and Lance to eat. It sounded fair in her mind anyway. It wouldn't do for them to get into a fight with the pokemon of the island over one berry tree.
It was hard to hear over the chatter of wildlife around her, but as they made the trek Misty began to hear something growling-no, no, rumbling. Like the rumble roll of thunder, but without the finishing crackle-boom. The air too was getting a touch humid. The tree line eventually cleared, and Growlithe stopped, smiling at her through his panting tongue.
It was beautiful. She and Growlithe stood on the high ground side of a huge, crystalline pool of water at the center of the clearing. The left side near her feet jutted further out before further left of her leveling out into sand and smooth rocks at the water's edge. At the edge of the sand and rock, where the grass started back into the jungle line there were large bushels of berries and some fruit bearing trees, like the mango trees from the day before, and it looked like there were more further past the pool and into the jungle. At the left end of the pool, the water led into a stream that surely would feed into one of the rivers they had passed. On the right side, feeding into the crystal blue pool though was a towering waterfall cascading over a tall cliffside high above. It even looked like the rocks along the water's furthest edge from her delved behind the curtain of rushing water like a hidden walkway.
"Oh, I am definitely calling dibs on bathing here first." she sighed, dreamily. There was only one way to find out how deep the pool was, and the inner mermaid in her absolutely begged for her to take a quick dip. How long had it been, she idly wondered, since she had last taken a dive into the water for no other reason than for the sake of it? How long ago since she had swam for pleasure, rather than work or panic or saving someone?
Food first, she had to steel herself. Growlithe led her down the ledge they stood on until they were merely a few footsteps from the inviting water's edge, and continued on to the berry bushes and the fruit trees. Growlithe sniffed at the berries, a pink variety with a funny spiral shape that reminded her of curled up slowpoke tails with the yellow tips. He then licked one up to eat, and barked pleasantly at her. Well, if they were fine to him, they surely were fine for her too, right?
She took a quick sample bite, and found them just as sweet and incredibly juicy like the Pecha berries Growlithe had showed them long before. However, whereas the Pechas resembled a peachy taste, these ones were a little more akin to plums. Once she smiled her approval to Growlithe, the puppy led her across the streaming water to the fruit bearing trees. Greeting her sight in the leaves and branches were bright colored oranges. Some were still an unripe green, but the multitude of others amongst them were the namesake color.
"Are you sure it's okay for us to take?" Misty turned to the puppy pokemon and asked unsurely. Judging from the multitude of busy pokemon they had passed on the way here, the island had a plentiful amount of pokemon to feed. While she and Lance needed to survive, she didn't want to jeopardize any pokemon from a food source that was theirs to begin with.
Considering her question, Growlithe turned it over in his head by literally tilting his head to the side. Then, he began barking up at the trees further to the forest than the waterfall pool. A rustle of leaves was her only warning as a family of mostly-purple Aipom popped their heads out of one of the orange trees. They all greeted Growlithe with small chirps before turning their attention to the human in their presence.
The family head of the Aipoms, a slightly bigger and older looking female with a sparkling magenta coat, chirped at her in question, "Pom-pom?"
"Hello there!" Misty greeted, which the Aipom matriarch returned, "I'm Misty. My friends and I got lost from our home because a storm. We're getting short on food, and I want to know if it's okay with you, your family, and the other pokemon around here if we could share these orange trees with you?"
The Aipom matriarch considered her for a moment, then turned to Growlithe, barking, "Aipom pom?"
Growlithe barked back, pleasantly of course. Whatever her fiery companion said, it seemed to please the matriarch, who then widened her lips into a toothy grin, "Aiiipom!" to which all the other aipom parroted with their own share of grins. Growlithe turned to her with his tail wagging, a short but pleased bark bubbling out of his mouth.
"All right!" Misty cheered, pumping a fist, "Thank you so much, Aipom!"
"Pom!" the matriarch Aipom returned the gesture, and her and the aipom family then disappeared back into the trees. As they left, Misty let the folded hammock fabric fall to the grass, unfolded it, and began picking through the oranges. After picking a good baker's dozen of oranges, she let Growlithe lead her to the slowpoke tail shaped berries and picked five of them off the shrub-like trees. As they headed back up the way they came with a hammock filled with fruits, Misty paused to gaze longingly at the crystalline pool.
On the way back, Misty paused every so often to carve or mark the path so she and Lance wouldn't get lost trying to go back. They couldn't rely on Growlithe all the time, after all. Surely he had a family or a pack he belonged to, somewhere on the island, that he'd have to return to. It was with that thought in her head as they made to the clearing of their new camp when two things happened.
The first, a high pitched vibration in the air rang in her ears and made Growlithe whine, and then it became a sudden thunderous burst. From within the crater and debri of the resting place of the stone Lugia and human, a burst of light blue light, like a veritable arrow released, abruptly shot up into the air, soaring higher and higher until it dissipated into a cloud and Misty could no longer see it.
"What the heck-" she began.
The second thing then occurred, an animalistic resounding roar coming distantly from within the forest, and an accompanying human voice pierced the air. Growlithe barked in alarm at the exact moment that her heart was gripped in ice, and Misty went tearing through the meadows and the woods.
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Aipom are cute in my opinion. Yes the Boss Mom Aipom is a shiny. No, no one is catching it. ;_;
Friendly reminder to anyone interested, I've whipped up a community for Kingdrashipping so that it might be easier for you guys to find more LancexMisty fics! It's titled S.S. Kingdra, and, you guessed it, is going to be open to any fic submissions as long as it has LancexMisty in it. PM me for questions, comments, submissions, or if you want to help me staff it! This way it'll be a little easier for everyone to find a fic they want to read, and maybe keep up with them when there's an update.
As always, reviews are very much appreciated. You are also free to hit me up on the PM if you have any questions, or just want to chat!
-KO13