 |  |
|
|
"Meowth - Slash Attack!"
"Flareon - Tackle!"
I was woken by the sounds of Jodie and Milly having a Pokemon battle up on deck where we'd marked out an arena in chalk. Over the past few days, we'd often challenged each other to friendly battles, partly out of a need to relieve the monotony of a long sea voyage but also to keep our Pokemon's skills honed.
But I was curious about something - if we could now morph into Pokemon, would we be able to use the Attacks of the Pokemon we could become? What was more, could I morph into a Bellossom at will?
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself as a Bellossom. "I - I see red flowers in my hair and - and I'm wearing a green-and-yellow skirt," I said to myself, struggling to recall what had happened behind Justine's dad's shop.
At first, nothing seemed to happen and I felt a little foolish, wondering if we had dreamed the bit about Psyrene giving us our powers. But, after several minutes standing in the middle of my cabin, it occured to me that, if I focussed my mind on one thing - finding the Orb of Twilight - I might learn to morph more or less at will.
"I call on the Power of Psyrene!" I called out, not sure where the words came from but thinking they sound impressive. "Grant me the gift of transformation so I may fulfil the quest!"
-------------------------------
I must have passed out then, because the next thing I remember is sitting up and wondering how everything had come to be so large. I recognised my satchel in the corner and my trainers stashed next to it, but it all looked like stuff that might belong to a giant.
"What's going on?" I said out loud. Or at least that's what I would have said if I'd been speaking English - all I seemed to be able to say was "Bell bella?" in a sweet high-pitched voice, a perfect imitation of a Bellossom.
Could it really be true? Had I really changed form just by thinking about it? I had to know so I walked - or, rather, glided since Bellossom don't really walk - over to my satchel and tried to rummage inside for a mirror.
Luckily, I'd left it unzipped the previous night as I don't think I'd have been able to manage a zip in my Bellossom form. But it looked as though I'd have to burrow deep inside to find what I was looking for.
"Now I know how it feels to be a sock," I thought to myself as I groped my way through the all-encompassing darkness, occasionally bumping into things. Among the things I bumped into was a large red-and-white ball - at least it appeared large from my perspective, but I soon recognised what it was.
"Sophie's Poke Ball!" I exclaimed, the sound coming out as an excited "Bellossom!". Without thinking about it, I pressed the button on the front and was promptly greeted by a blinding flash of light.
--------------------------
Few who have not been in the form of a Pokemon - especially one of the smaller species - can appreciate how dazzling the light from an activated Poke Ball can be. In my new form, that light was so dazzling that I instinctively ducked my head and did not get up until I felt something nudging me.
It was Sophie and she seemed concerned about something. Where was her trainer? And who was this Bellossom lying in her trainer's cabin? "Bayleef leef leef?" she asked me and I was surprised to find that I understood her perfectly.
"Don't worry - it's me, Hilary," I told her in Bellossom language. "I've just changed into a Bellossom, that's all."
She sniffed me gently and instinct told me that this was her way of reassuring herself that I was telling the truth and wasn't an ordinary Bellossom who had stowed away. Finally satisfied, she sat back on her hind legs and looked at me closely.
Finally, I plucked up the courage to ask her. "Will you teach me the ways of the Grass Types?"
"Sure," she said, smiling. "I bet it'll be the first time a Pokemon's EVER taught its trainer."
-----------------------------
Learning Pokemon Attacks isn't as easy as it looks, especially if you weren't really a Pokemon to begin with. For Sophie, moves like Solarbeam were a completely natural part of her physiology, but I had to learn for myself how to absorb sunlight into my body and concentrate it into a powerful beam.
It was the same with my human friends as well. "I don't think I'm EVER gonna master Thunderbolt!" wailed Michaela after she had accidentally shocked everyone in range while in her Raichu form.
"You'll get better," Justine told her. "Remember, you've only recently been given these powers - a real Raichu is BORN with Electric Attacks."
"I - I guess you're right," Michaela said, leaning on the rail around the deck and staring out to sea. "I just wish Psyrene had warned us before we . . ."
A sudden shout from Jodie at the opposite side of the boat cut her short.
"Hey, you guys! Come look at this!"
-------------------------
Forgetting about Pokemon Attacks for the moment, we ran over and looked where she was pointing - towards a massive swirling whirlpool that looked capable of sucking anything within range down into the depths of the ocean.
"What shall we do?" Jodie asked, wringing her hands anxiously as the vortex drew the Corsola nearer and nearer.
"Only one thing we can do," I replied, trying hard not to let the panic I felt show in my voice. "Dump off everything we don't need - I read somewhere that, the lighter a boat's load, the less likely it is to get caught up in things like that!"
---------------------------
In my cabin, I emptied out the contents of my satchel and frantically began to sort it into "essential" and "non-essential" piles. Sophie's Poke Ball, needless to say, went straight into the "essential" pile as did my rations for the next two days and the Shellder-compass which I'd taken charge of after Psyrene gave it to me. But everything else, including the satchel itself, ended up being jettisoned.
"We're still not light enough!" Michaela exclaimed as the whirlpool continued to draw our helpless craft towards it.
"Well, we've dumped everything we don't need - what else can we do?" Justine shouted as she struggled with the helm, trying to steer us away from danger.
Seeing Sophie's Poke Ball, which I'd been holding in my hand since throwing my satchel into the sea, I had an idea. Maybe, I thought to myself, a Pokemon with the teleport ability would be able to help. And I knew exactly which one we needed.
"Jodie!" I called.
When Jodie drew level with me, I told her my plan. "Your Xatu's the only one who can help," I said, looking at her firmly as I spoke.
"OK," she said, pulling Xatu's Poke Ball out of her pocket and holding it above her head. "Xatu - go!"
The Poke Ball flew through the air, springing open as it did so. Moments later, Xatu emerged and perched herself on the bow, whistling to herself, her strange cloaklike wings folded.
"Quick, Xatu!" Jodie told her. "Use Teleport to get us out of here!"
"Xatuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" Xatu raised her wings and closed her eyes. Moments later, we were all briefly surrounded by a diffused glow which subsided to reveal an island rearing up out of the ocean.
-----------------------------
It looked fairly large and, judging by the gleaming ships in the harbour, it had to be inhabited. I could see an Aipom scampering up a nearby palm tree and, best of all, there was a sign on one of the buildings:
WELCOME TO NEPTUNE ISLAND
Those words, written in foot-high letters, told us that this was where we would find out more about Psyrene's dire warnings about the Age of Twilight. Her words, particularly the part about Pokemon turning against their trainers, echoed in my mind as we dropped anchor and prepared to disembark.
Exhausted by our struggle with the whirlpool and with only a few of our belongings salvaged, we elected to stay the night at a place called the Seaking Inn and try to find out more in the morning. As we drew nearer, we heard shouting and scuffling from inside and, moments later, a muscular woman hurled two men through the door.
"You're barred, the pair of you!" she yelled, giving one of them - who had an Octillery tattooed on his bare chest - a quick kick in the backside. "And take THESE with you!" she added, throwing a handful of Poke Balls after the men.
As the woman turned to go inside, she looked round and saw us.
"Well?" she snapped, planting her hands squarely on her hips and looking down her nose at us. "What do you kids want?"
As usual, Justine elected herself spkesperson - she told the woman how we came to be on the island and asked if we could stay at her inn overnight.
"Sure," the woman told us, straightening her apron out. "I'm Barbara and I'm the landlady here. I daresay, you'll be Pokemon trainers . . ."
"Well, yes and no," I admitted. "We do have Pokemon, but we're not looking to get into any leagues - there's just Milly and Michaela who are into that sort of thing."
----------------------------
It turned out that Barbara knew something of the Orb of Twilight as well. She told us that an ancient legend told of how it had, long ago, been sacred to the people of Neptune Islandbut was lost in a war with the inhabitants of nearby Mars Island.
"We're quite peaceful now," she assured us. "But, in over eight centuries, no-one's ever been able to locate that Orb or find out why it disappeared."
"Do you think the people of Mars Island stole it?" asked Michaela. But Barbara shook her head.
"I doubt that - we've searched all over and it's just . . . gone."
| |
bravenet.com