Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Pokemon and all licensed Pokemon merchandise, including characters, are strictly property of Nintendo. In short; I own nothing but ideas. Any names and/or likeness pertaining to real people or characters is strictly coincidental (unless it's an allegory). All rights reserved.Warning: This will, in later chapters, contain sex, including normal intercourse, oral, some violence borderline to rape. It will also include violence (not in sex). The story will be updated to include those warnings upon the posting of the first chapter to include that subject. All chapters with sex are marked with XXX at the beginning of their description.Author Notes: (Updated 06/07/10)I don't have any decent excuse, I don't. Other than my life falling apart. I've been up for two days straight and I'm going to sleep now, but that may explain any serious errors in my writing and how poor it is in general. I'll come back to fix it when I'm more awake.=================================================
The Call
Chapter 7
The Call
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"Draco, which pouch did you put the pocket knife in?" asked Evelyn as she fumbled with her messenger bag. They were camped on the rocky and barren wilderness located near the desert on route 111. The terrain was that of cacti, sand, weak little bushes, more sand, and the occasional rock formation such as the one she and Draco had set their tent up under. Well, not so much 'set up'. It was more like a dark, chilly cave, cooled by the den of dug-out sand. They'd hung the fabric of the tent over the narrow mouth of the little 'cave' and weighed down the end atop the rock with yet smaller rocks. All in all, it was a decent enough shelter, far cooler than the sun-whipped sands outside.
At the moment, Draco, Evelyn's best friend, stood atop the rock and was moving those that weighted down that end of the tent fabric. When the last one was moved, the fabric fell, jumping sand like tiny beads. The little black Charmander followed, hopping down onto the warm sand-covered fabric. He turned to Evelyn, who had shunned from the bright light that suddenly flooded the little den. She cringed and adjusted. When he was sure she could see, he spoke in his own way.
"Bottom right, same as always," he signed. Evelyn nodded and opened the pocket while Draco continued to fold the tent before rolling it up. Nearly three years had given him more than enough time to learn all the sign language he could. Evelyn, with the help of her mother's money, had been kind enough to buy more volumes of his sign language book, all paper-back so that they were small enough to carry with them and small enough for him to read on his own. Presently, Evelyn had taken the pocket knife and was using the bottle-opener part of it to open the last two drinks they had. Simple water, but that was the best in this heat. She lent against the coolness that was her shelter walls, rocky and chilly. Draco came to sit across from her in the little den.
"Here you go," said Evelyn, handing him some water.
"Thank you," Draco signed as he took the water gratefully. He couldn't sweat like she could. Oh, and she was, in a way only women could. Now sixteen, Draco had more problems with the way male humans acted toward Evelyn than ever. He couldn't blame them. He loved her more than they could fathom, but not for her looks. Not that he had a problem with them in the least; quite the opposite, actually. He disturbed himself whenever he thought of her in ways he shouldn't, particularly when he slept on her chest, something he'd done for years.
(Fucking female development...) Draco mentally grumbled, taking a sip of water. He looked at Evelyn. The heat didn't agree with her, so she had taken her skirt and shirt off, now clad in only black, mid-thigh length tights and a purple wife beater. She'd grown out of her clothes, but tended to buy the same kind, which was unfortunate for Draco since it showed off a good bit of her midriff and gave a glance of her cleavage. He remembered the days when she was damn near flat-chested. As she developed she gained soft curves and bigger...accessories, as he preferred to call them. Not enormous like some women (and Pokemon) they'd seen. If he gave them any kind of size, he'd say...grapefruit-sized.
(Damn it, why did I think of fruit? Now I'm hungry...) thought Draco. As if on cue, his stomach growled loud enough for both of them to hear. Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
"Hungry?" she laughed, but was abruptly interrupted when her own stomach echoed Draco's. She sighed, defeated, and searched through her bag, pulling out some dried fruit in plastic bags.
"This is the best we've got. Not to mention our last one. We'll have to stock up when we get back to town," mumbled Evelyn as she opened the bag, allowing Draco to take half. Her other Pokemon had already been fed and were cozy and cool inside their Pokeballs. It had been a long adventure thus far, and she was very proud of all of them. Most had evolved now, except for Draco and Alvaro, her Gastly. Issac the Wooper was now a Quagsire, and still as vacant as ever, though not nearly as energetic. In fact, the evolution seemed to calm him down too much. He was borderline narcoleptic. He also talked rather slow. Every time she sent him out, he always took a moment to announce himself. "Quuuaaaagsiiiiire!"
Then there was Richard the Shroomish, now a Breloom. He was still brave, but his evolution made him more confident than ever. He had a tendency to look at his enemy from under the cap on his head, ever since Evelyn let them all watch a movie involving ninjas. He took a liking to their behavior and had been copying it ever since. When he used things like Stun Spore, he threw a pod of it on the ground in front of his enemy and disappeared behind it as if it were a smokescreen. It was getting tiresome, constantly reminding him "Richard...you're not a ninja!" so Evelyn gave up and let him think whatever he wanted.
Honestly, Evelyn was just happy that they finally had arms.
She wasn't sure why Draco and Alvaro hadn't evolved, but she really didn't care. They got the job done, which was all that mattered. They'd certainly take any chance to prove their worth. The many battles Evelyn had since leaving Devon Corp had given her and all her team plenty of experience, in her opinion.
"We should get a move on soon," sighed Evelyn when she finished her water and placed the bottle in the bag. She crawled up the cool, sandy slope and to the mouth of the cave, squinting out into the sunlit desert. Draco did the same and laid down next to her, on his belly like she was on hers, arms folded to rest on their elbows. She sighed, fiddling with her Pokegear for a few moments before turning on her side, one hand on the side of her head and resting on one elbow.
"Guess we'll have to go back..." she mused, seeming disappointed. Draco couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes. If she'd bought enough supplies, this wouldn't be an issue. She had the money, thanks to her mother. Draco copied her position again. They were cramped in the passageway, merely inches apart. He could smell the dried pineapple on her breath.
"Too bad," she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. Draco, having no words even if he could speak them, just reached forward and patted her on the cheek. She chuckled at his usual "There there, poor you" sarcastic gestures. She continued to smile at him, until they both realized he'd left his hand on her cheek. Draco retracted it, and returned her smile. As far as awkwardness went, they'd had their share in the past few years. This one wasn't the worst, but Evelyn was glad for the excuse to stay in that den a little while longer, illuminated only by Draco's blue-white tail flame. The same color that matched his eyes, she thought. For a moment, they just stared, and then-
BZZZZT!
"Woah!" gasped Evelyn, jumping up. Her head met with the ceiling of the den, hard rock thumping her head. She hissed and held her hands to her head for a moment, eyes watering. The sound came again, along with a vibration on her wrist. She brought her arms down and opened her Pokegear. It came in fuzzy, at first, the image shaking and sound crackling. She jumped up again, this time out the mouth of the den and into the hot sun. She pulled the antenna out and maneuvered it until the image focused and the sound cleared.
"Hello, kiddo!" greeted Boss. Evelyn broke out in a grin as Draco scurried and climbed his way up her tights and her shirt to stand cat-like on her shoulder.
"Oh, good! Draco as well. I'd thought as much," mused Boss.
"Boss, why are calling me? Is Sly Scyther back?" asked Evelyn in a breathy rush. He chuckled at her excitement.
"Yes, my dear, he's back and more than ready to take you to your next location," said the Boss. Evelyn felt that bit of hope bloom inside her and spread chills through her body. She knew she probably looked stupid grinning the way she was, but she didn't much care.
"I'll head back right now!" she declared. Boss nodded. "Thank you, thank you!"
"You're quite welcome, dear. Now you'd best get a move on." Boss stated. Evelyn nodded enthusiastically before shutting the Pokegear. She and Draco exchanged glances before he too broke into a grin and jumped down into her waiting arms for a tight and excited hug. Evelyn hurried into the little cave again and threw their equipment together before tossing her bag over her shoulder and bolting out the mouth of the cave. It was only after jogging a few yards that she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Wait...where are going, exactly?" she inquired, looked to Draco on her shoulder. He shrugged. Evelyn pulled her arm up and opened her Pokegear once more, now using the stylus to search through its options.
"Oh, there we are..." she mumbled as she pulled the antenna out. There was an odd looking map on the top screen that showed the elevation of the land and a single red dot that was their location, near the middle of the stretch of desert lands. The bottom screen had sets of numbers, like latitude and longitude, along with current position and destination. Evelyn put in "Slateport City" and waited while it calculated.
"Oh...Damn, we're a ways away," she groaned when it finished. It showed a path leading through official routes and roads along with the total distance away they were and the calculated time it would take to get there; a week. Draco sighed and slid down her arm and onto the messenger bag, where he sat and pouted, arms crossed. Evelyn was still transfixed on the Poke'GPS system's controls.
"I wonder..." she mused. She opened the controls and fiddled with the settings. Draco was eyeing her suspiciously.
"That's much better!" she exclaimed a moment later. Draco got up and tugged on her wife beater. She lowered her arm to show him. "See? I changed it to 'fastest travel time' along with 'any routes and/or paths' instead of just official ones. It says we could get there in about two days!"
Draco's left eye was twitching. The path led right through the desert! He began to protest, tugging on her shirt and the straps of the bag, but Evelyn brushed it off.
"Hey, we've rushed through this place before! The path is different, but the distance is about the same." she tried to reason before setting off into the rolling sands. Draco groaned in exasperation and slid down her side and into a sitting position on the bag again.
(Damn it, woman...Your impatience is going to kill us!) brooded Draco. (No water, no food, and no common sense; we're screwed if we don't make it out of here...)
For half an hour, however, everything seemed fine. The sun was crawling its way across the sky at its own tempo and Evelyn kept her walking brisk and steady, humming a bit as she went. Draco was just glad she was upbeat, and certainly relieved at the good news, but something was still bothering him. It was something aside from the lack of food and water. It was a kind of anxiety that was building up inside him.
"Aw, nuts..." murmured Evelyn, tapping on her Pokegear. It was getting some static now and again. She sighed and looked around. She could see nothing but sand, sand, sand, some rocks, sands, cacti, and more sand. They had been walking for a while now and it was nearing noon. The sun was punishing her rash actions with no mercy. Her mouth was dry and Draco was panting.
"We've gotta find some water..." concluded Evelyn, and she made for a small patch of cacti and cut some of its sections off. She scraped the needles off and opened one. It didn't contain much, but it was still something. She gave one half to Draco and they sipped at it. They'd done this before on the official desert routes when they were out of supplies, and it always sustained them through the journey.
Now a little satisfied, Evelyn set off again. They didn't make it very far. Soon enough, the static was increasing on the Pokegear and their thirst was rearing its ugly head again. Evelyn stopped walking and looked around. The land was flat now, cracked and chapped with patches of sand here and there. Everything beyond them disappeared behind a wavy, distorting wall of heat in the distance. Evelyn was sweating, but not nearly enough, and Draco's panting was faster than ever.
(I hate the sun, I hate the sun, I hate the sun, I hate-) chanted Draco mentally. He, like Evelyn, was scanning their surroundings for any sign of either life or shade, or water. His gaze flew back and forth, but saw nothing but the blurry heat. Something tall caught his eye though, and he squinted. Evelyn heard him gasp before she felt his tugging. She frowned down to him. He was pointing and staring in one direction, so Evelyn followed his gaze and heaved a sigh of relief.
"An oasis!" she cried and took off at a jog. There was a tall palm tree figure thrown into the setting, hanging just over a pool of sparking water. As she came closer, though, Evelyn and Draco felt that drop of disappointment as it began to fade. By the time they reached it, it was obvious they had fallen for a mirage. There was a tall, wide, and curved rock jutting out of the ground at an angle, and a shallow crater in the ground underneath it, seeming more cracked and dry than anything else on this plane. Evelyn, panting like Draco now, dropped to her knees in the crater, the thin plates of dry dirt breaking under her. She groaned and shook her head.
"Gran was right," she mused, "We have too much in common...including hallucinations."
She looked to her side for Draco, but he wasn't there. Evelyn went through a moment of sudden panic, looking around for him, but relaxed when she saw him a few feet away, sitting in the shade of the rock. He looked terrible.
"I'm so sorry, Drake..." whispered Evelyn as she crawled over to him, sitting down next to him against the rock. The sand wasn't really that cool and neither was the rock, and without any air moving, their desert atmosphere was nothing more than a large, dusty oven. "You were right, as usual. I should have gone the normal route. Or at least get supplies first."
Draco reached over and patted her on the thigh. He didn't even have the energy to look at her; he was just starring off into the distance. This wasn't the first time they'd been in a tight position, and not likely their last either. Evelyn patted his hand back before she turned her attention to her GPS.
"There's got to be a quick way out of here and to a Pokemon Center. Ugh, static again...? Wait...it's not going away," grumbled Evelyn, quite annoyed. The screen flickered and distorted and static fuzz began to accumulate. She was so peeved by this that Evelyn didn't even notice the sudden, pleasant breeze that came wafting through. Draco had closed his eyes to rest, but when he felt that cold air and the scent it carried, they snapped open. He jumped up and took a few steps away from Evelyn, glaring at the blurry horizon.
"Draco? What? What is it?" asked Evelyn. The wind picked up a little more, now at a constant flow. Bits of sand were starting to sprinkle across the ground. Suddenly Evelyn's Pokegear signal cut off completely, giving off that harsh sound of static while the screen was filled with the dancing white and black specks. No sooner had this happened than a dark shadow began to come through the hazy atmosphere in the distance. It started out dull and small, but quickly grew, spanning the entire length of the horizon. Before either of them knew it, they were staring at a gigantic wall of tan, swirling sand a few miles away, like a massive sand-tidal wave. It was so tall that the sun was blocked from their view and they were plunged into shadow.
"Shit-" Evelyn cursed, standing up quickly. She dove into her bag and threw a pair of goggles to Draco, and put on a pair for herself. She remembered when she first got these goggles. It was the first time she was going to travel in the desert and she'd gotten them from some kid in the Pokecenter as a gift for winning a battle.
"So they're for traveling in the desert, right?" she had asked the boy. He nodded. "Ah...what exactly do they do?"
"Nothing." The boy had said simply.
"Excuse me?"
"The goggles...they do nothing." The kid had replied before he turned around and headed off. Evelyn wasn't sure if this was supposed to be funny, but she used them anyway. At least they kept sand out of her eyes. Presently, however, that was the least of her worries. The storm was heading toward them quickly, the flurry of wind and sand kicking up the air's movement another notch. They'd never encountered one of that size before. Evelyn had heard enough stories of Pokemon and people being buried alive to make her act fast.
"Issac," she hissed, reaching back and pulling out the Pokeball. She opened it and Issac the Quagsire popped out.
"Quuuuaaaaags-"
"Not now!" Evelyn snapped. She grabbed his head and turned it in the direction of the oncoming sandstorm. Issac brought a forefin up to his mouth in thought as he stared. He was quiet for a moment, just staring and blinking a few times, before Evelyn shook him at the shoulders.
"Sandstorm, Issac! I need you to use Dig under this rock, quickly! As fast and as far as you can!"
Slow as he was, Issac gave Evelyn a good salute before tunneling at an angle under the rock. The wall of sand was coming up fast, rumbling like a freight train. Evelyn grabbed her bag and snatched up Draco before she jumped down into the nearly-vertical hole dug by Issac. She came to a sliding halt toward the bottom and hunkered down with them. Up top they were protected by the rock as sand flew overhead. She threw the goggles back into her bag. She thanked Issac and returned him before curling up with Draco to wait through the storm.
Over an hour flew by before the wind above came to a stop. Evelyn looked up and could see a sliver of blue sky next to the shadow of their rock. She placed Draco on her back and began her climb back up. Their tunnel was angled, but terribly steep, and she slid down a few times before she finally reached the top, grasping onto sand and dirt desperately to prevent herself from falling again. Draco jumped off of her and onto the ground above before he took one of her hands and tugged. Evelyn couldn't help but grin; he wasn't really helping, but he was trying.
"Ugh...at least we're cooled off," reasoned Evelyn as she pulled herself out and stood up, dusting cold sand and dirt off of clothes. Draco hoisted himself up onto her bag once more and Evelyn opened her Pokegear.
"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed in relief. "A signal...Stupid storm must have been blocking it before..."
She was tinkering with the GPS some more as she stood under the shade of the rock. Draco was just happy that they were cooled off. Not so happy than it was now past noon and the sun was bearing down on everything around them that was outside of their cozy little rock-shadow.
(It's gotta be as hot as Magmar balls out there...) Draco thought inwardly. In the silence of the desert, a low rumbling sound disturbed the air, and for once, it wasn't Draco's stomach.
(What is that?) he wondered. Evelyn wasn't paying attention, but Draco was standing on her bag and trying to focus on something in the distance. It was diagonal to them, a long ways away, but still in sight. The rumbling was growing louder, if not faint by distance, and a dark, blurry figure was rushing across the desert plane with good speed, kicking up a cloud of sand as it went. For once, Draco didn't have to tug on Evelyn's clothes to get her attention. The harsh rumbling forced her to take notice, and she too saw the figure.
"Hey...hey, that could be another human!" she exclaimed. She looked around quickly for any way to get their attention. Draco had no warning before Evelyn scooped him up and ran to the back of the rock. It too was steep, but that didn't stop her. She threw her shoes and socks off, her bare feet giving her far more traction, before she climbed up the rock. It had to be almost two stories high, and as they reached the peak of it, rough and almost flat from years of erosion, Evelyn placed Draco on her shoulder.
"Use your fire!" she panted. "Set a stream into the air, and I'll shout as loud as I can. Maybe we can get their attention!"
Draco nodded and threw his head back. With a sharp inhale and a smooth exhale came a stream of blue and white fire. He blew it as high as he could, and kept each stream going for as long as his breath would allow. Evelyn brought her hands to her mouth, cupping them to increase volume, and started to shout.
"HEY! HEY! WE NEED HELP!" she shouted. "WE NEED HELP, OVER HERE!! CAN YOU HEAR ME! HELP!"
It took nearly a full minute of this before the blurry blob slowed to a stop, and the rumbling ceased.
"Draco, don't stop, I think they noticed!" Evelyn panted. Draco started up with more fire. He was nearly out of breath, but so was Evelyn. "HEY! OVER HERE!"
The rumbling kicked on again and the blob began to move, but this time, it was moving toward them, the cloud of sand and dust behind it. Evelyn sighed in relief. Draco stopped and nearly passed out from lack of breath. Evelyn waved her arms to reassure their position as the warped figure drew closer and closer. Its outline was starting to become more clear...some kind of machine. For a brief and horrifying moment, Evelyn stopped waving her arms and Draco stopped catching his breath. They both thought the same thing they should have thought before. What if this wasn't a friendly person?
(Fuck, I'm getting as impatient as Evelyn now...) thought Draco with a growl. He had always prided himself on being the more mature one. Evelyn smiled suddenly and continued to wave her arms. Draco looked to see why; the figure was increasingly clear now. It was a motorcycle! One with a passenger cart on the side. It came closer still until they could see a man driving it and a Pokemon in the passenger cart.
"Thank you!" shouted Evelyn over the roar of the motorcycle as it came to a stop just a few yards away from the rock they still stood on. The man on the motorcycle didn't say anything; just cut the engine. Oddly enough, they couldn't see his face behind his tinted helmet.
"Um...s-sorry to bother you like this," said Evelyn, a little unsettled by the stranger's silence. "But could you possibly give us a ride to the nearest town, please?"
The driver didn't say a word yet, but leaned forward, as if he were trying to get a good look at them. The Pokemon in the passenger cart, a Monferno, was sitting back with his hands behind his head, quite relaxed and quite uninterested. Evelyn shifted on her feet nervously under the stranger's scrutiny. Draco was about two seconds from throwing a fire ball at them when the man reached up and took his helmet off.
"I'm sorry. For a minute, I wasn't sure it was really you. Man, you've...changed," said the man, or rather, young man. He was very tan with chiseled features, including a well-shaped jaw. His hair was dry-looking and a bit unkempt. It was dull black and long, shoulder length perhaps, and held back it some sort of rat-tail/ponytail mix. He was dressed in only an off-white wife beater, a brown leather vest over that. Evelyn could make out dark green cargo-pants. His smile, though, gave him away; friendly and genuine.
"Mark?!" shouted Evelyn, breaking into a grin. She hadn't seen or spoken to him since they left home. She moved to the edge of the rock and slid down with ease, Draco still riding her shoulder. Mark chuckled as he got off the bike, leaving his helmet on the seat. Evelyn touched ground and Draco leapt off her shoulder and onto the sand. She scurried up and over to Mark before meeting him halfway and into a hug. He spun her around once, and she couldn't help the surprised squeak that escaped her. When he put her down, she took a step back and gave him a once over, as he did to her.
"Wow, you've changed, Mark!" complimented Evelyn. He certainly had. Of all her classmates, he was her favorite, and not because he was handsome, but because he was honest and friendly. He'd developed before the other boys, growing tall and broad shouldered. He was still that way, but more-so. He was...a human fortress, in her opinion. His lack of sleeves showed off muscles she'd never seen on him before. She experimentally reached forward and took one of his forearms into her hands, which the giant teddy bear that was Mark simply let her do. Her fingers and thumbs weren't anywhere near touching, his arms were so developed.
"Geeze, what have you been doing; throwing mountains and taming boulders?" she laughed.
"A little from column A, a little from column B," Mark sighed in boredom, jokingly. Evelyn found her neck was getting a bit upset with her since she was forced to look up at him.
"Legends...how tall are you now?" she asked. Mark seemed to think on it for a moment.
"About 6'3"?" he wondered. Evelyn wasn't surprised. "Now, did you say you needed a ride?"
"Oh, Legends, yes!" sighed Evelyn in defeat. "I don't have any supplies and I wanted to make it to Slateport by tomorrow, but that's not happening. Can you take me to the nearest city so I can stock up and try again?"
"No," he said bluntly, and then laughed at Evelyn and Draco's shocked and gaping looks. "I can give you some supplies now and just take you to Slateport myself! Well, close to it, anyway."
"How close?" asked Evelyn, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Mauville. I'm going to visit Lisa," he said. "Now you should probably put your shoes back on..."
"Oh...oh, right..." laughed Evelyn a little nervously. She put them on in a hurry, grabbed her bag, and stood by the bike. Mark was already at the front, waiting and holding his helmet to her.
"You ride behind me, Draco can go in the passenger cart with my Monferno," he said, not leaving room for discussion. Draco hopped into the cart, sitting across from the Monferno, who opened one eye to look at him, then closed it again. Draco liked this guy; he was quiet. Evelyn put the helmet on and climbed in behind Mark. She put her hands at his sides at first, but he reached around to grab her wrists and pulled her arms around his waist.
"You're going to want to hold on tighter than that," he shouted back to her when he started the bike up. She had no time to reply before he took his foot off the clutch and off they went. She held on tight, glad her eyes were protected by the helmet's front. The wind was whipping past them, and the loud roaring of the motorcycle's engine wasn't nearly as bad when it was in motion. They flew across the dry dirt and sand and away from the rock, which disappeared behind the cloud of dust left in their wake. Draco was enjoying the breeze it created, and sat back like Monferno, arms behind his head and eyes shut.
Evelyn was just getting used to the mixture of scents, including sand, air, and the odd but nice smell of Mark, when they came toward the edge of the desert. They veered off onto a marked route slowing their speed a bit out of courtesy to those walking the route. The environment began to change as life and water were returning to the land. Grass slowly appeared and thickened, right along with trees and such, as they sped down road. Pretty soon, there was no evidence of the desert a few miles back. Nothing but lush vegetation and that's the way Evelyn liked it. Maybe an hour passed before civilization rose up on the horizon.
"Alright, there it is!" shouted Mark. They made their way into Mauville, turning down the main road and out just west of the main part of the city. A little country house came up on their right, and Mark slowed to a stop before he cut the engine. Evelyn took her helmet off and handed to Mark. They got off the bike, Draco following them as he climbed onto Evelyn's bag. The yard next to the house was filled with Pokemon, just as it was in the old days. Mark, being quite the gentleman, opened the picket fence gate and held it for her. They made their way up the cobblestone path to the house, before knocking.
"Just a moment!" came a sweet, sing-song voice, and Evelyn smiled. Lisa.
The door opened and she stood before them, distracted by the little Pokemon fumbling around in her arms. She was still shorter than Evelyn by a few inches and her sense of fashion hadn't changed much. She had on a little white dress that went to her knees, held up by a few spaghetti straps. She had on white sandals with similarly thin straps, but elegantly designed. She had a powder pink waist-apron on that had a few pockets at the top, all of them filled with an assortment of caretaking tools like treats and toys and brushes. She finally got the Pokemon in her arms to hold still before she looked at her guests, same chocolate eyes as always.
"Oh! Evelyn! I wasn't expecting you!" she gasped, breaking into a grin. "My, you've grow too. Come in, come in! Let me put this Happiny down so I can give you a proper hug!"
Evelyn and Draco exchanged glances and smiled before they followed Lisa in, Mark right behind them. She led them into a living room, cozy and cool with the windows open to meet the breeze. She put the little pink and white Pokemon down into a playpen full of other small Pokemon. Then she turned around and practically ambushed Evelyn into a hug.
"Oh, it's good to see you!" she gushed when she released Evelyn. Sure, they talked on the phone any chance they got, but it really didn't hold a candle to the real thing. She hugged Mark next before ushering them to sit on the couch across from her.
"Wow...I knew Mark was coming by, but you're a pleasant surprise, Evelyn!" sighed Lisa. She'd grown in a similar way, Draco noted. Curves, nice complexion, though rosier than Evelyns, and developed breast, though considerably more humble than Evelyn's. A Bunery came hopping into the room and scratched at Lisa's leg. She reached down and picked it up, stroking it fondly. Evelyn smiled at her gentle friend; she was just happy to be there and talk with her again. They hadn't had a talk in months, nearly a year. Calls had become few and far between until they just stopped both of them too busy in their own lives to bother. Next to Evelyn, Draco was frowning and looking around, sniffing, and listening. He nudged Evelyn.
"Where is the other human?" he signed. Lisa and Mark were watching intently at the action.
"Wow, he's really gotten good at that. What did he say?" asked Mark.
"He wants to know, and so do I, where Maria is." Translated Evelyn.
"Oh," said Lisa, "I guess it's been a while. Well, Maria got married to that guy I told you about a while back, Anthony. Remember, he was part of the crew that came to fix her fence."
"Oh yeah, I remember. You said he stuck around after that and helped out a lot," recalled Evelyn. "They got married?!"
"Yes, a few months back. It was kinda sad..." sighed Lisa. Evelyn gave her a confused look, so she elaborated. "Well, Anthony took her to Snowpoint City in the Sinnoh Region. It was his home and he always talked about how pretty it is. Maria met Anthony's father, told me he was happy to meet her, and three days later...he was dead."
"What?" gasped Evelyn, "What happened?"
"Avalanche trapped him. Died of hypothermia, I think. It was weird because Anthony always said his father was the best of the best in the mountains. Anyway, all of Anthony's family had been guardians of some temple or something up there and since Anthony was the next in line..."
"They had to stay there," finished Mark. Evelyn wondered if he knew Maria too.
"Yep," confirmed Lisa, "And Maria sold her business to me..."
"She gave up caretaking?!" exclaimed Evelyn
"Yeah. She said she might start a business in Snowpoint, but not for a while. She's settling down with her new hubby, as she puts it."
A moment a silence, quite appropriate at the time, passed between the friends. Evelyn was shocked Maria gave up her business. Mark was shocked she gave up caretaking. Lisa was shocked that Maria gave her the business. Draco was shocked it took her so long to land a man.
"Well, anyway, on to business," said Lisa as she stood up. She headed toward the kitchen, Evelyn, Draco, and Mark behind her, and went out into the yard. Once there, she turned to a flat bed of sand with various fire Pokemon in it. She bent down, hands on her thighs, and spoke to a sleepy looking Magmar.
"Can you get me that yellow egg that got left behind, please?" she asked politely. Magmar nodded and stood up. He turned around to the indent in the sand where he had been sitting and began to dig. He only dug a foot or so in before he stood up again and turned to them. He was holding a Pokemon egg, one that was yellow with black, triangular markings. He handed it to Lisa, who took it carefully and handed it to Mark.
"So this is the egg?" asked Mark.
"Yep. I promised you I had Pokemon eggs. I have a few more, but I feel like this one suites you." Said Lisa.
"How do you know?" asked Mark.
"No idea. I don't even know what's in it, but I just...feel like it should be yours, you know?" Said Lisa. She turned and glanced to Evelyn, then frowned.
"Evelyn...I think I have one for you too, if you want one." She said. Evelyn stood up straight abruptly, as if caught not paying attention in class.
"What?" she squeaked.
"Do you think you could handle an egg?" asked Lisa. Evelyn thought a moment, and then looked to Draco, who nodded eagerly up at her, so she nodded to Lisa.
Lisa ushered them to the far side of the yard. There they were met with a large Kangaskhan, fast asleep under a shady tree.
"Oh...I-I don't need an egg..." backpedaled Evelyn, retreating a few steps.
"Oh, don't worry. She sleeps all the time; she won't mind," Lisa said dismissively. She reached forward and pushed on the Kangaskhan's arm. It peaked through one of its eyes at her.
"Hi. Do you still have that one egg? You know, the one that doesn't react to fire," asked Lisa. The Kangaskhan grumbled and reached into her pouch and extracted an egg. It was light green with black, triangular markings on it. Lisa took it.
"Thank you," she said. The Kangaskhan grunted before it went back to snoring. Lisa turned to Evelyn and held out the egg. Evelyn took it carefully. She felt something in it move.
"Woah, it moved!" she gasped, holding it closer. Draco scurried up her side and onto her shoulder to look at the egg. She held it to him and he all but glomped the egg, listening to it. A smile spread on his face.
"Really?" said Lisa, "That proves it."
"Proves what?" asked Evelyn.
"This egg is really weird. It didn't react at all to the fire types like normal eggs do. Instead, it reacts to skin-on-egg contact with humans and normal type Pokemon. I've tested it with everything, but the only human I could test it on was myself. If it reacts to you, then I'm certain it reacts to skin contact."
"That's terrible," commented Mark. They all looked at him, frowning. "I just mean, my egg will be easy; keep it warm and keep doing what I'm doing. I've got Monferno for that, as apathetic as he is, but what is Evelyn supposed to do? Carry it around in a pouch like Kangaskahn?"
"Yes," said Lisa, matter-of-factly. Evelyn and Mark stared at her. Draco was too busy hugging the egg to care. As long as it was touching Evelyn, it moved every once and a while.
"Follow me..." said Lisa, ushering them back to the house. They entered the kitchen and she told them to wait before disappearing into the hallway. When she returned, she was carrying black fabric of some kind. It looked a little like a back-brace to Evelyn.
"Hold still, Eve, kay?" she requested before she maneuvered Evelyn's arms how she wanted them. Draco had long since crawled onto the kitchen counter, egg held in front of him. Lisa lifted Evelyn's arms up, and Evelyn kept them there. She flinched back when Lisa lifted her shirt and wife-beater up.
"Hey!" she snapped. Lisa glanced up to her with a stern look. She stopped at around the base of Evelyn's breast, thankfully. Mark had the tact to look the other way. Draco didn't. Lisa took the odd garment she had and put it on Evelyn. It took up her entire waist, bottom of her ribs right to above her hip bones. It was smooth and soft, thankfully, and it was held by Velcro in the back. Lisa moved over and grabbed the egg from Draco and put it in the front before standing back.
Evelyn looked down to see what it looked like, and she felt her eye twitch. "Lisa, this looks like an empathy belly!"
"I made it myself. I got the idea from those empathy bellies and an old back-brace I had. I just sewed it so there was extra fabric at the front to make a pouch. It's the only way to keep it against your skin as much as possible as often as possible."
By this point, Mark had turned around, and seemed just as worried as Evelyn.
"Lisa, that's brilliant and all...but you do realize what that makes her look like, right?" he tried to reason. Lisa rolled her eyes.
"I tucked her shirts behind the top of the egg, which shows above the pouch, so people will know!" she tried to explain. Evelyn was just standing there, face in her hands, utterly mortified. Draco was speechless, not that he had much of a choice.
"Lisa, this is nice and all bu-" Evelyn began, but stopped when the egg moved. It moved more firmly than it had when she was only touching it with her hand. She felt a small vibration that quirked up and died away a few times before stopping.
"I...I think that was a noise...It made a sound!" she gasped, touching the top of the egg. She looked up at Lisa, who was smiling with triumph. Evelyn sighed.
"I still don't want to wear this thing. I must look ridiculous." She grumbled. Lisa came to her side and patted her on the back.
"This egg won't last without skin contact, and it's obviously close to hatching. You won't have to wear it for long..." she explained. Evelyn glared sidelong at her, but then gave a defeated sigh.
"Fine...why do I feel used?" she groaned. Lisa laughed.
"Look on the bright side," said Mark. "If it's a rare kind of egg condition, maybe it's a rare kind of Pokemon!"
"Good point," mused Evelyn. A grumbling sound was suddenly heard.
"Was that the egg again?" asked Lisa. Evelyn shook her head, and then looked to Draco. He was leaning back on one hand on the kitchen counter, the other hand scratching his belly.
"Oh, Draco, are you hungry?" asked Evelyn. Another growl of his stomached answered for him. Lisa clapped her hands together, looking delighted.
"Then I suppose it's time for supper, now isn't it? It's getting late," she announced. "Will you two be spending the night? It'll be dark out by the time we're done eating."
"If you don't mind," answered Mark. Evelyn glanced to Draco, who was now lying spread-eagle on his back on the counter.
"I think that answers that," she said. Lisa seemed more than pleased and hurried to busy herself in the kitchen. Evelyn and Mark insisted on helping. Draco was too tired to do much else but snore. The entire time Evelyn was moving about the little kitchen, she felt so off with the egg-pouch on. Maybe this is what pregnant women felt like, aside from the constant bladder use and morning sickness. She hoped dearly that this egg would hatch soon.
Yaaaay! All that jazz. Now I must go sleep on the couch since my aunt and uncle are visiting and get my bed...Odd Note: In case you haven't notices, saying "Legends" in this is like saying "God" in our world.Oh! I posted up the reference art of both Evelyn's Pokegear and the Phantom Chest. It's in my bio.Wish I had more to say, but I don't.
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Next Chapter:The Marble Tower
Sly is finally around to tell them where he's taking them; the Marble Tower. A place of worship and peace with the Legends. It holds the first key to unlocking the chest, but there's someone very familiar in the way...