Awakening 32 (Pokemon)

Awakening

Chapter 32: The Rocket League: Frost Bite (Part 2)

"Recall your pokemon, let us have a fresh start," Winter ordered with clear authority. Dorme and Jonathan recalled Hitmonlee and Vaporeon. Winter looked at Jonathan, "since your last challengers were such a disappointment, I will battle you myself. Go Lapras! Summon your pokemon, one that you have not used before of course."

Now that they were at the end of the challenge, the rule about using each pokemon only mattered even more. Jonathan only had Nya and Foxtrot left, Ashimi had Furball, Volt had Elekid, whom he was saving for his battle with Thor, and Dorme had already used all her pokemon. Jonathan decided to use his more experienced companion, despite the type disadvantage. He didn't feel like Nya was quite ready for an all out battle without more training, especially not against someone like Winter. "Go Foxtrot!"

"An interesting choice," Winter commented. "Lapras, use hydro pump!"

"Quick attack!" Foxtrot made good use of his speed, dodging every hydro pump that came his way.

"Whirlpool!" It sounded like an illogical move better suited to a watery terrain. Yet surprisingly, the water and snow atop the broken ice platform began to swirl and dragged Flareon into the fissure that ran across it.

"Dig with flame thrower!" Jonathan urged. Foxtrot took in a deep breath and began to tunnel under the ice by melting his way through. Jonathan rushed to follow him from the sidelines. Flareon's red fur was easy to see under the relatively clear ice. "Careful, turn around there," Jonathan instructed.

"It doesn't matter what pattern you follow, you have nowhere to go. Your pokemon will have to come out, or..." Winter grinned. "Body slam!"

"Hyper beam, get out of there!" Jonathan urged. Foxtrot pushed himself out of the flooding tunnel just on time with the energy from the hyper beam. The tunnel collapsed entirely, due to the earlier damage, the additional weakening from Foxtrot's digging and Lapras' body slam.

"I see..." Winter observed. "The ice is broken and jagged. You seek further advantages in movement." Winter looked at the Flareon, who was shaking the water from the melted ice off his fur. "It will take more than that." Lapras was faster in the water than on land and uneven terrain made it even more difficult to move. "If it's sharp ice that you want, then you shall have it, ice shard."

"Be careful, Foxtrot!" The Flareon jumped from one piece of ice to another and ran between the protruding frozen shards as fast as he could. He narrowly dodged most of the incoming projectiles, and melted a few that he couldn't dodge on time. "Use flamethrower to melt the ice and get closer!"

"A useless tactic, Lapras, that's enough ice shards, now use hydro pump!" Winter changed her strategy.

Foxtrot couldn't use his fire as a defense, so the only thing left to do was muster the speed to dodge the hits. "Quick attack!" The Flareon hurried to get out of the way, but he was too close to Lapras and couldn't move fast enough. The hydro pump hit him and sent him flying across the broken icy field. "Foxtrot!" The fire pokemon struggled to get up. The water was so cold he couldn't help it but to shiver from the hit.

"Ice beam!" Lapras was intent on encasing the opposing pokemon on ice and ending the battle.

"Overheat!" Jonathan hoped that Foxtrot had enough energy left for that. He was too cold and tiny icicles were already clinging to his tail and mane. He had to warm up or it was over. A thick mist invaded the arena as ice collided against fire. "Quick attack, go in a spiral!" Foxtrot emerged from the mist in his final effort.

"Lapras, hydro pump!" Lapras shot consecutive powerful water attacks, but couldn't turn in a circle fast enough to hit Foxtrot. Winter knew that if Lapras stayed still, the Flareon would change tactics and be able to position himself behind the water type even faster. "Body slam where you are and hydro pump again!" Though it was painful to break the sharp ice around Lapras, it was the fastest way to gain access to speedier and more accurate movements. With the ice beneath Lapras' body being smoothed, he could easily spin around and shoot hydro pumps in any direction.

"Foxtrot, flame thrower ahead, keep it above ground!" Just as Lapras was ready to attack, Foxtrot released his fire and melted the obstacles, sliding forward on the slippery ice just on time to dodge the majority of the hydro pump when only  touched the tip of his tail. Another hydro pump would soon follow, so something needed to be done soon, "fire blast at Lapras, aim low!"

No matter what Lapras did, the distraction would work. Stopping the fire blast with hydro pump would buy some time for the Flareon to approach from behind, and if the fire was ignored, it would melt the ice Lapras stood on and the water pokemon would splash down into the pool, also creating a distraction. "Water pulse!"

"Ember!" It wasn't a strong attack, but it was all that could be done. Jonathan knew that if he pushed Foxtrot to produce more fire than that he might faint from the effort, besides, the fire wasn't being used as an offensive move, but rather a defense to make opening a path easier. Dizzy and looking confused, Foxtrot jumped on Lapras' shell.

"Hydro pump!" Winter urged, no one had the skill or the guts to get their pokemon that close to Lapras before.

"Last resort!" Foxtrot bit Lapras' long neck, preventing the water pokemon from bending it enough to aim at him. He clawed and tried to choke the water type in a struggling effort.

Lapras cried out and struggled against him, but ultimately fainted. "An unexpected outcome, Lapras, return. Is it a draw or did you actually win?"

Without Lapras below him, Foxtrot was left motionless, save for his shivering. "Foxtrot, say something," Jonathan had never battled this hard with any of his pokemon before.

The Flareon slowly lifted his head and replied in a shaky voice, "flareon flare..." He attempted to stand if only for a moment, but simply didn't have the strength to do so. A wave of dizziness invaded his aching head and the world went black.

"Foxtrot?" Jonathan had ran to him. No doubt about it, he had fainted. "You did great, that was an epic battle. I'll get you healed soon, return." With his loyal companion back in his pokeball, Jonathan looked at Winter. "My pokemon fainted too, so I guess it's a draw?"

"No, Lapras clearly fainted first, you've earned this badge." Winter's badge was also shaped like a little rocket, it was blue with a tiny red R. "I congratulate you for coming this far, agents, you've almost finished the challenge."

"Almost?" Volt inquired. "You mean the battle with Electro, right? I'm ready!"

"The general is not a part of this challenge, if you have an additional battle to tend to, you can do so after you finish the seasons challenge. You've obtained what you came for, the four Rocket badges, but even after you accomplish your goal, there will be more obstacles to come. Now you must battle for the right to leave this area and truly complete the challenge by exiting the winter zone by proving that you're not at your last drop of power. After all, Rockets must rely on more than just luck," Winter explained. "I want a rematch with you," she looked at Jonathan like a hunter looks at prey, but I also want to battle Giovanni's granddaughter," she mused. "I'll battle you both, at the same time with my strongest pokemon. Go Altaria!"  The majestic cloud bird emerged from the pokeball, extending massive fluffy wings as if beckoning a fierce storm. "I usually only use my water and ice pokemon for this type of battles and don't bother my Altaria with weak challenges, but this occasion is special. Call out your pokemon, Altaria will defeat them both!"

Jonathan and Ashimi exchanged glances and called out the only pokemon they each had left. Furball was certainly a strong challenger, but Nya was so inexperienced in comparison to the others that Jonathan couldn't help it but to worry about her.

"Altaria, sing!" The large cloud bird began to sing a sweet melody.

"Furball, stop that song, thunder!" Ashimi urged her pokemon to go on the attack before the song put them all to sleep. Altaria took to the skies without stopping the song. "Don't stop, keep shooting electricity until you hit her." Finally, Furball's efforts paid off and Altaria was silenced at last.

The powerful bird shook off the effects of the attack and kept on flying. "Sky attack," Winter commanded.

"Furball, watch out!" The Meowth jumped out of the way as Altaria swooped down, waking him out of the remnants of drowsiness. The dragon bird attack again, turning on the air and rapidly returning from the other side. That time Furball couldn't dodge  fast enough and the attack hit, throwing him several feet back. "She's coming again, you have to get up!"

"Nya, wake up," the lavender kitten had quickly succumbed to the effects of the earlier sweet melody and was still napping. "C'mon Nya, get up, we're in the middle of a battle here!" No matter how much he called her, the small Purloin wouldn't wake up and if he directly interfered that would only get him disqualified.

Altaria positioned herself above Furball before he could move out of the way. "Dragon breath!" It was a direct hit from above.

Furball was knocked to the ground painfully, just as he had been managing to stand. He let out a loud pained meow as he received the full strength of Altaria's attack. Nya's eyes finally opened at the sound of the alarmed cry and she looked around in confusion, wondering if it was all part of a strange dream. "Nya, use night slash!" The kitten only meowed in confusion and ran over to Furball. "Okay then, use scratch."

Altaria landed next to the two felines. Nya looked up at the new arrival and finally looked like she was going to do something. She walked over to Altaria and cuddled her cloud-like feathers, purring contently. She returned to Furball's side and cheerfully encouraged him to join her in playing with that soft pokemon that came from the sky.

Altaria picked up Nya by the fur on the back of her neck and placed her on the side lines. "Sending an untrained pokemon to battle, I wonder I if should take your badge away."

"Nya's a good pokemon, she just takes a moment to really get into the battle," Jonathan excused. "C'mon Nya, we need to win this, go back out there and help Furball!"

Altaria focused on the Meowth."This should be over soon," Winter mused aloud. "Pluck!"

Furball scrambled to get out of the way of Altaria's sharp beak. "Run for it Furball!" Digging through the jagged ice wouldn't work. Ashimi would have to wait for an opportunity to attack. Altaria's beak went down, missing Furball by a hair. As the dragon bird lifted her head to attack again, Ashimi called out, "thunder!"

The attack hit and Altaria backed away. "Still have some fight left in you," Winter laughed. "Draco meteor!" Altaria's body glowed as she summoned a rain of meteors.

Furball dodged several of the falling space rocks, but had no chance to counter attack. The meteors were coming too fast and one of them crashed into him. "Furball!" The feline heard his trainer and tried to get up, but it was all happening too fast.

Nya meowed in distressed complaint, as if telling Jonathan that the pillowy pokemon was hurting her friend. "Yes, I know Altaria is hurting Furball. This is a battle and you're supposed to be helping him. Do you understand? Go help him!"

"Dragon rush!" Before Furball could recover, Altaria went on the attack again. It looked as if the attack would end the match, but there was a flash of light and Furball was gone. "What?" Winter spotted the two young felines several feet away behind Altaria. "It's as if they teleported, but how could that be?" She locked her beast-like blue eyes on the Purrloin and hissed like a wild cat, "there is definitely something strange about that Purrloin."

"Can you still fight, Furball?" Ashimi asked with concern and her feline friend nodded stubbornly, he wasn't about to give up as long as he was conscious. "Don't worry about moving, save your energy for attacking. Johnny, I'll leave the movement to Nya."

"Right," Jonathan agreed. "Nya, keep teleporting when I tell you to, okay? Make sure you take Furball with you, now jump on the pillow." Nya meowed eagerly and teleported along with Furball. The pillow was Altaria and the two cats appeared on her back.

"Water pulse!" Furball attacked with the liquid element, the liquid being absorbed by Altaria's fluffy cloud wings like sponges.

"Dragon pulse!" Altaria turned her long neck to attack the two felines that had dared to jump on her back.

"Teleport!" Yet before the dragon bird could attack, the cats were gone. Altaria went after them again. "Wait for it... Teleport!" Nya made Furball and herself disappear at the last second.

The felines appeared on top of Altaria again, "thunder!" Furball attacked on Ashimi's signal. The fact that Altaria's cloudy feathers were filled with water intensified the effect of the electric attack. When Altaria tried to counter attack, Nya teleported them to safety again.

"Fly high, Altaria!" Winter urged. The large bird flapped her static filled wings and uncomfortably gained altitude. "Sky attack!" Nya was able to teleport out of the way on time, along with Furball, but Altaria was moving too fast for them to jump on her back. "Mist!" A thick foggy veil invaded the arena, making ot impossible to see. "Draco Meteor!" The rocks fell at random in great speeds.

"This is really intense!" Dorme exclaimed.

A meteor crashed near Volt, "tell me about it!"

"Nya, don't stay still, keep teleporting!" That should keep them safe from Altaria's attack, but no doubt Nya was getting tired by now and Furball was pushing himself beyond the limit as it was.

"Focus Furball, watch out for a chance to use thunder on my signal!" Ashimi tried to sense Altaria's location, "now!" But the dragon bird was constantly on the move too fast for the electric attack to hit. "Try again!"

"Dragon claw!" The draco meteor attack ended, but the mist had not cleared out and Altaria was looking for her targets, trying to grab them with her talons.

'There has to be something I can do,' Jonathan thought. If only he had a better understanding of what Nya could do, he could come up with some kind of strategy. Nya meowed loudly in complaint, she must have gotten tired of teleporting, which meant the two cats were now like defenseless sitting Farfetchd. 'Nya exhausted her ability to teleport for now, but there must be something else she can do, something different from what a regular Purrloin could do.'

The sun was starting to raise in the horizon, indicating that the twenty-four hour period would end in just a couple of hours. "Sunny day!" Winter took advantage of the sun to dispel the mist that was no longer needed as a cover for Altaria, now that her opponents were no longer rapidly teleporting around. The sun brightened, reflecting off the ice in blinding rays that where more uncomfortable due to the early morning angle. The icy arena looked as if it was frozen and on fire at the same time. "Altaria, finish this, dragon claw!"

"Barrier!" Jonathan wasn't sure if it would work, but surprisingly it did. Altaria's sharp talons collided with a field of energy that protected the two felines. Jonathan knew that Nya could use scratch attacks, she had seen her do it with a scratching post, but other than that, she had not shown the ability to use any other offensive moves. Maybe defense was her specialty, then maybe... "Heal pulse!"

Furball was energized by Nya's healing energy and once again ready to go on the attack. "Thunder!"

"Altaria, fly!" The battle had turned out to be longer than Winter expected. Usually, Altaria finished her opponents quickly without this back and forth of offense and defense.

"Gravity!" The dragon bird tried to dodge the incoming electric attacks, but her body felt very heavy as Nya focused her psychic powers on increasing the gravity in the area. As a result, Altaria could not escape and was trapped in the continuous electric discharge of the powerful Meowth.

Altaria let out a loud screech and one last dragon pulse before finally fainting. The two felines were thrown back by the force of the attack and left unable to stand, but none the less conscious, even if it was just barely. "Altaria, return, you finally faced worthy opponents, my friend."

The tired cats were recalled to rest in their pokeballs among congratulations and cheers of celebration.

Winter approached the trainers. "You may exit the winter zone and officially claim victory over this training course. However, you are required to do so via the subway on the other side of this mountain. Follow me," Winter approached the edge of the small mountain, opposite to the side from where they came and jumped.

Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Volt made their way down more carefully. Their curiosity for Winter increased. She wore a revealing outfit in the freezing cold and was not bother by it. The distance of the fall wouldn't be enough to kill someone, unless they had a really bad landing, but it should be enough to seriously hurt and at least sprain an ankle or something. Then there was the possibility of her eyes not being contact lenses after all.

Winter led the group to a cave on the other side of the mountain. The tunnel led to a subway station with a bullet train in another pipe-like tunnel. "You may board, the train is programmed to follow the proper path, so you don't need to steer it, although you still need to provide the energy yourself, with a pokemon you haven't used yet, as per the ongoing rules."

The group looked at Winter with expressions of surprise. They had already called upon all their pokemon except Volt's Elekid, whom he was saving for the battle with Electro. There was no other choice, so Volt called him out. The group boarded the long metal train and the front cabin's door closed. Inside they found a control panel depicting a map that showed the preprogrammed route that would take them from the northern Kanto mountains, where they were, to the Viridian Rocket headquarters. There was also a clock counting down how much time was left before twenty-four hours passed since the start of the training course, and there wasn't much time left.

"We're not done with this training yet, the only way to win is by winning this final race." Volt observed the glass-like orb set on a thin yet strong pedestal in the middle of the control cabin. The screen scrolled instructions below the map indicating that they should charge the orb with electricity. Elekid got to work on that and the train began to move faster and faster as Elekid's charge increased.  "Don't stop, Elekid, keep a steady charge going and we'll make it back to Viridian on time!"

"So, what do you think Winter is?" Dorme asked conversationally.

"Here come the theories..." Jonathan commented. "Not a vampire and not a werewolf, definitely not a sparkly version of either of those."

"An exceptionally dedicated athlete?" Volt asked unsure.

"Human with special powers?" Ashimi suggested. It was logical, but it didn't sound as grand as it actually was.

The door from the second wagon to the control cabin suddenly opened. The four trainers were focused on their conversation and the energy transfer from Elekid to the train. They jumped in surprise and froze when they saw who it was. "Battle?" They whispered guardedly.

"Not here, we'd best not overload the train, perhaps another time," Winter calmly replied. They had not seen her board another wagon further down the train. "As for what I am, the answer is a mutated human." A long silenced passed. Finally, Winter tilted her head and the four staring young Rockets mimicked the action in curious expectant silence. "Is there a purpose for your staring?" Though when battling, Winter was in her element, just as much as when she was filming music videos, when she was not either fighting or projecting a scripted persona for the media, she was somewhat awkward.

Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Volt exchanged looks, then finally Ashimi asked again. "We're curious. Could you explained?"

Winter nodded, "I see no reason to withhold such information from members of Team Rocket." She began a rather automatic, somewhat mechanical explanation. It wasn't a conversation, it was providing an answer to a question, as if it was a completely impersonal matter. "The media only knows that I was orphaned at a young age and raised by relatives. My mother's name was Nana, she gave me no name. My father had no true name, but people called him the Bloody Killer, and he still holds the strongly standing record for most direct, single handedly committed murders by an individual."

Ignoring the wide eyed shock in the others' faces, Winter continued. "Nana was obsessed with the legendary serial killer and spent a long time stalking him. She caught up to him in a few occasions, but they didn't stay together for long. Looking back on her morbid obsession I know for certain she had to be insane. After a while, she gave birth to me and took me along in her quest to find the Bloody Killer again. She was not a caring mother and didn't like me very much, perhaps disappointed that I didn't have a stronger killer instinct."

"Eventually, the Bloody Killer must have gotten tired of his stalker, because he killed her, though for some unknown reason he spared me. I lived in the wild, north of Kanto, close to the Johto border for a while until Team Rocket found me. I was sent to a laboratory, but Delia found out and snuck me out. Giovanni was opposed to her actions at first, he must have thought I was going to kill her, since I did seriously injure several Rocket agents during the whole process and perhaps some might have died. Yet Delia insisted on teaching me many things, such as how to live among humans," Winter explained.

"Delia named me Stella and introduced me to my grandfather and uncle, who like her, were also nice to me. She also gave me Swablu, who evolved into Altaria. Thus I grew up in Team Rocket with my adoptive mother, Delia, my grandfather, Luke, my uncle Comet and aunt Pixel and Laiki." Winter let out a breath as she finished her explanation. "That was not difficult to explain..." She said it more so to herself than her audience. "Then why didn't I tell him?"

Stella, alias Winter, shook the thoughts away and once again focused on the young Rockets looking at her. "What is it? Have you forgotten that both Comet and the Bloody Killer were modified clones of Luke, thus in a sense his sons? That would make me Luke's granddaughter and Comet's niece. It's a pity that I didn't get to meet my cousin Zero."

Ashimi finally found her voice, "so that makes you my relative too. Since my maternal grandfather was Luke's cousin and all."

"That is true," Stella agreed, though her thoughts seemed set on wandering elsewhere.

Ashimi handed her Zero's data crystal for a moment. "I'll bring him back somehow."

Stella held the data crystal. She had a special perception similar to a pokemon's instinct and sensed a familiar feeling from the crystal. "You have a unique talent, if anyone can awaken him, it will be you." After holding the crystal for a moment, Stella returned it to Ashimi. "However, I must also warn you, I sense danger, as if an evil force is preying upon your soul." Those ominous words hung heavily in the air, threatening to fall when they least expected.

Unsure of what the danger was and when it would strike, the winter Rocket elite left the topic at that and instead revealed something that was a smaller but more immediate issue. "You will have to increase the power of the train in order to make it back to Viridian on time. We are close to the point where it will begin to meet resistance. I will leave you to it." The white haired singer paused at the exit of the front wagon that led to the next one and glanced at Jonathan. "Your Purrloin hardly notices she's different, don't change that." Winter headed into the next section and towards the back of the train.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the Viridian Rocket headquarters, general Electro entered Dr. Laiki's office early in the morning. The pokemon doctor was yawning and putting away some equipment and materials that looked distinctly not medical. "Oh, hey, how's it going, Thor? Here to get your pokemon checked out? Did you come across another inexplicably colored creature?"

"Not exactly," Electro admitted. He told himself that he couldn't keep the curiosity to himself for much longer and asked, "can you tell me about White Star?"

"Of course," Laiki smiled teasingly. "What do you want to know? How to get tickets for her next concert? The title of her next upcoming song? Her measurements?"

"None of those," Electro stopped her before she continued listing random things.

"Good, because I wasn't going to tell you," Laiki grinned. "If you want to know any of that stuff you can get the information from her official website. Now tell me, what juicy detail do you seek? But remember this, I will only tell you what I know she wouldn't mind me telling people."

Electro went to the point. "What is she? Some kind of cyborg, or a full android? Are her limbs robotic like Pixel?"

Laiki shook her head, "Pixel doesn't have robotic limbs, she has robotic armor, but she still keeps all her original limbs. While robotic limbs are quite strong, they are less precise with small details due to a reduced sense of tact. Making armor that can transmit tact to the skin under it is relatively easy, but making synthetic skin that can transmit tact to the brain with the precision of real skin, not so easy. White Star doesn't have robotic limbs either, she's not even a cyborg."

"But she's not an ordinary human," Electro insisted. "I've seen what she can do." He recalled running into her at headquarters earlier and inviting her to go out.

xoxox xox xoxox

Electro remembered White Star's words of rejection with their peculiar phrasing, "I have no intentions of seeking a mate, therefore no reason to participate in any courtship rituals."

She had walked away and he had tried to follow her. "Wait, hear me out a second." Feeling ignored he placed a hand very lightly on her shoulder, bare with her usual tube top. He hardly even touched her but felt as if he had his hand on her bones, as the texture was not as flexible as skin should be. It was odd because she was slender, but by no means bony. Yet the strangest thing was her temperature. It was so hot he couldn't explain why she wasn't in an emergency room with a team of doctors fussing over her fever.

White Star had paused in her walk, grabbed his wrist and shove him against the wall. "Do not touch me."

Electro was shocked by the sudden strong force and could only stutter, "what are you?" Confusion and surprise clear on his face.

White Star looked as if she would answer his question, but paused as if she wasn't sure that she really wanted to, and instead punched a hole in the wall next to his head. "Ask someone else," she walked away without looking back.

Electro couldn't explain the odd event or the hole in the wall. He could certainly punch holes through walls with ease, but his muscular physique made it pretty obvious. How could slender White Star be so strong?

xoxox xox xoxox

After some inner debate, Electro had decided to do exactly what White Star suggested and go asked someone else. That took him to the Viridian headquarters' pokemon clinic, where he intended to consult Laiki's vast knowledge about business that was not her own. The doctor giggled at the general's conclusion that White Star was no ordinary human. "No kidding, general obvious. Let me give you a little science lesson about androids, cyborgs and mutants. It's not my field of expertise, but I think I can manage explaining the basics clearly enough. Of course the real science behind it all is much more complex, but these are the concepts."

Laiki began her explanation by stating a few facts. "Androids are robots that look and for the most part act like living creatures, they are fully mechanical. Virtual androids are the same thing, but they don't start out with a physical form. They are materialized from the virtual plane to the physical world with a technique similar to that used for Porygon. Mutants are humans with different genetics than regular humans which can greatly vary. They can either be mutated at some point in their lives or be born with the genetic differences. Naturally, there are genetic differences between all humans, but I'm talking about bigger stuff than just a few details."

With the vocabulary out of the way, Laiki continued her explanation. "I'm sure you must have heard someone say that matter is mostly empty space. Well in certain types of mutants that empty space is reduced allowing for more matter to fit into a visually smaller space. The tighter fit also means higher temperatures, but those temperatures would be normal in relation to the biology of that type of body. It happened to Comet and it happened to Stella. And that, is why Comet only needs to be attractively well toned to pack a punch a normal human would need ridiculously big muscles to deliver, kind of like yours. Although he still has enough empty space to keep his skin with a flexible texture."

Laiki continued, while Electro listen with curious attention. "As for Stella, alias White Star, alias Winter, she's in a class of her own when it comes to making good use of her empty space. Her matter is much more compressed than Comet's, which means a higher body temperature and a rock hard built in a tiny, deceivingly fragile figure. Technically, she is more solid than steel. Her cells have flexibility in the sense that she can move and has plenty of agility, but if you poke her, her skin won't bent slightly inward like it would for the rest of us, because there's just no place for those cells to go in the space already occupied by other cells."

"If you were to literally try to sweep her off her feet," Laiki joked, "you'd find that she is quite heavy, because even if she looks thin, she has an incredible amount of muscle tissue packed into the small visually perceivable area she occupies. As for her origin, it has to be kept a secret from the media, but she usually doesn't have any problems with telling Rockets about it. The whole not being ashamed of her origin lesson was something she learned all too well."

Laiki looked thoughtful, "I'm surprised she didn't tell you the story herself. Maybe she was busy and in a hurry to be somewhere else and didn't have time to answer any questions or maybe you pissed her off. If it's the second one, I'd be shaking in my boots if I were you, she didn't get to be a Rocket elite because of her pretty voice."

"She had no reason to feel offended," Electro pouted.

Laiki giggled, "aw, don't get all adorably pouty now. She shoots down every man that tries to ask her out. That's what happened, wasn't it?" Electro didn't answer, but he didn't have to, Laiki had heard similar stories before. "If it's a celebrity asking her out, she just says she's too busy with her music. If it's a Rocket she talks about her story and that's enough to scare off most suitors. If not, a quick demonstration of her massive strength and grown men will run and hide like scared children before she snaps them in half. You know what? Since you're such a giant and have such giant muscles, maybe you'll actually be durable enough to survive a hug without being crushed."

Electro let out a breath in exasperation and leaned back on the chair that was clearly too small for him. He said nothing, so Laiki broke the silence with a laugh. "I'm just kidding, Delia had Stella making origami pokemon until she learned to control her strength. Her first single, Paper Heart, wasn't about heartbreak like the media assumed, it was about learning to fit in."

"So what is her story?" Electro finally asked, "but first tell me what that weird smelly stuff was you were putting away when I got here. Was it part of some experiment?"

"Silly rumors," Laiki rolled her eyes with mild amusement. "I'm not conducting Frankenstein style pokemon experiments in here. If you must know, mister curious, that smelly stuff happened to be top quality vitamin enriched hair dye. I finally got around to drag Comet over here and dye his hair back to orange. I told him to leave the white hair to his niece."

"His niece?" Electro blinked in confusion. "I didn't know he had a niece."

"Stella," Laiki grinned in amusement at Electro's surprise. She then proceeded to tell him the story about the Bloody Killer and his crazy fan girl.

After a long silence, Electro finally found his voice. "That movie that's coming out next year, 'The Killer's Apprentice,' is based on that, isn't it?"

"Very loosely," Laiki replied. "Whoever wrote the script probably based it on old rumors and urban legends, and likely had no idea the Bloody Killer actually had a psycho fan girl. They most likely just wanted an excuse to add a costar and throw in some romance. It'll probably turn out to be a collection of stupidly romantic sexy murder scenes."

"When done right in a movie, murder scenes can be exciting and suspenseful, but it's not easy to picture a romantic sexy murder," Electro admitted.

"Unless the murder victim gets revenge by coming back as a zombie to seduce the killer," Laiki grinned mischievously.

Electro thought the concept was very odd. "Is there really a movie about that?" He thought the question was stupid after he had already asked it, because the answer to that question, no matter how odd the concept was, would always be an resoundingly obvious yes.

But instead all Laiki said was, "role play."

"A video game?" Electro assumed.

"Never mind," Laiki returned to the main subject. "Like I said, Stella usually has no qualms about sharing the gory details of her past, so I don't know why she punched a wall over it."

Electro blinked, "did I mention she punched a wall?" He thought about it, but he didn't recall voicing it.

"Details, details," Laiki disregarded. "Maybe she thinks you and Comet were fighting for real when you were helping him not be so berserk. By the way, it looks like he got that under control. Anyway, I doubt that's the cause, she would have mentioned it to Comet and he would have clarified. Maybe you did something else to make her be so... unwilling to communicate."

"I can't think of anything I could have done to upset her, but thanks for the info." Electro tried to get out of the chair but found that it was stuck, which sent Laiki into a fit of giggles. He wasn't fat, in fact he was all muscle, but muscle occupied plenty of space and was quite heavy. Electro finally managed to pry the chair off and stood to his full towering height. He tried to look indifferent to the chair incident and exit the doctors' office with as much dignity as he could muster.

When Laiki finally got her laughter under control, Electro was already gone. She spun on her chair to face the desk and began to look over some patient files on the computer. "Or maybe she just likes you..." She mused aloud.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Ashimi, Jonathan, Dorme and Volt were almost to Viridian City, though Elekid was clearly exhausted. They tried to cheer him on, but the train felt heavy and they were running out of time. Elekid whimpered and mumbled what sounded like an apology. "Don't give up, Elekid, it's not over yet!" Volt tried to encourage him, but Elekid's electricity was diminishing and the train was slowing down. "C'mon, don't lose the momentum, soldier!"

Ashimi placed her hand on Volt's shoulder and her felt silent and she stepped forward. "Rest up Elekid, we don't want you to get hurt." Everyone, Elekid included, stared at her in shock. "Isn't that what's most important, Volt? After all, we all know how hard trying none stop is."

"Yes, of course," Volt nodded. "I don't mean to make you suffer. I just didn't want you to give up because I know you have it in you. Sorry Elekid, I didn't mean to push you so hard, I just really trust you and believe in you."

Elekid smiled and started charging the train again. The vehicle resumed its movement against the forces that felt as if they held it back. The power was being rerouted to a reserve as part of the test which meant that less was spared for the movement of the train itself, giving the impression that it was heavier.

As Volt watched Elekid power the train, he realized that he had been pushing Elekid hard, just as Electro probably did when he was his pokemon. Maybe that's why Elekid's brother evolved and he didn't, the pressure got to him. Ashimi must have been able to sense that, how did he not notice it about his own pokemon? Well, better late than never. Volt felt as if he had learned quite a few lessons from that training, they all had. Things could only get better now.

xoxox xox xoxox

The train finally arrived at the Viridian Rocket headquarters and the clock on the display panel froze with only one minute and eleven seconds to spare. The group let out a collective breath of relief as they thanked and congratulated Elekid for his efforts.

Winter entered the front of the train and officially declared the training over, adding an explanation. "If you had failed to get here on time, the train's autopilot would have moved it to another area where the penalty training would take place."

The train's door opened and the group exited to find Electro already waiting there to see the train stop or move on, in which case he would need to hurry to its alternate destination as well. He was really hoping that it would stop and chose to wait there to show he did think it would. He was glad to see that the train stopped and surprised to find that Winter was in it. "White Star, what a surprise to see you here."

"I was scheduled to report to headquarters and there was no reason to doubt they would be able to provide enough power to complete the final challenge of the new seasons training," White Star replied.

"They made you that confident in their skill? Good, good," Electro laughed. While he tried to think of a way to talk to White Star for a little longer, his stalling was interrupted by one of his pokeballs going off. There was a flash of light, but they didn't see the beam extend out to release the creature it contained. Instead they witnessed Electro doing a funny little dance. "Stop it! Don't crawl up my back!"

A small unknown thing appeared on Electro's right shoulder, peeked its little blue head out of his sleeve, crawled to his other side and repeated the action. Then the fuzzy blue thing crawled up his neck and the side of his face to perch on his head. "Pichu!"

All eyes remained on the small creature as a few quiet, "aw," drifted through the air.

White Star curiously looked at the tiny pokemon that Electro was removing from his head. The creature was small and his hands were big, so he was able to fit her in his palm. "May I?" White Star reached out and picked up the Pichu. She seemed to be a normal Pichu in every aspect, save for the fact that she was blue. The singer petted the Pichu, who giggled contently.

"Pikablue wasn't a joke?" Volt stared. When Surge's couple of Raichu had their first Pichu, Electro already had pokemon of his own and decided to let his younger brother keep the new pokemon as his starter. However, he mentioned that if they had another, he wanted to train the next one. When Surge emailed that Volt's Raichu now had a baby sister and that she was blue, thus She was nicknamed Pikablue, Volt assumed that it was all part of a practical joke.

"No, she's real alright, mischievous little thing. No one can figure out why she's blue. In every other way she's a normal Pichu, with normal Pichu abilities, as far as science can tell anyway. Mom says Rina might have eaten something odd before laying the egg," Electro explained. "No one knows for sure why this happened, but regardless of the color I'm training this pokemon to be strong!"

White Star handed the blue Pichu back to his trainer. "Treat this pokemon well or I'll kill you."

Electro was taken aback at first, but it didn't take him long to process that if Winter was going to keep an eye on Pikablue, that meant they would be running into each other every now and then. "Yes, ma'am!" He grinned cheerfully. People didn't usually respond to her glaring death threats with such a positive attitude, which made the famous White Star muse that the Rocket general was even stranger than she thought. She began to leave and Electro called out to her, "I guess I'll see you around, White Star..."

She paused and for a moment Electro thought he should get ready to dodge a punch, a kick, or both. Yet the white haired elite merely glanced back and said, "call me Stella." Then she swiftly left without another word.

"Stella," Electro grinned like a dumbstruck idiot as he recalled Pikablue. The quiet murmurs coming from the four young Rockets standing nearby made him snap out of it and recover his serious composure. "Attention!"

Volt, Jonathan, Dorme, Ashimi, and Elekid, who had not yet been recalled, all stood straight and saluted military style. "Our battle," Volt began, after a silent moment. Elekid stood beside him and tried to look ready. "Will have to wait," the Vermilion gym leader finished. Elekid stared and tried to protest. "Now isn't the right time, Elekid," Volt reasoned with him. "I realized I had a lot to learn and wasn't training you quite right. Next time, we'll be ready to win."

"Sounds like you got a little wiser," Electro noted. "I hope you all did. It would make me look bad as a trainer if my best summer and winter students and my own brother couldn't get through this training, even if it was designed to be ridiculously hard. And if Giovanni's granddaughter couldn't make it, that would make Team Rocket as a whole look bad."

'No pressure,' Ashimi quietly thought sarcastically.

'Lucky, I can do it all for you,' a voice in her head replied to her thoughts. It was a warped and impossible to identify echo of a distorted sound. She couldn't tell if it was male or female and didn't even know how she could understand what it said.

A cold chill ran down her spine, but she pushed the sudden panicked feeling aside. 'It's because my earrings are cracked,' Ashimi reasoned. 'I'm just being over sensitive to the auras around me again. I managed to overcome it once and I won't let it get to me again.' She tried to remain calm and made no clear outward indication of discomfort, beyond what could be attributed to being tired.

Electro had continued his speech in ways that surprised the others. "I didn't want to credit you too much so it wouldn't go to your head, but you've all done very well. Just make sure you don't slack off! Volt, we'll battle whenever you're ready. Until then, train hard and find a way to give the Elekid some real confidence, not just in appearances, I'm sure Electivire will be happy to see his brother grow strong... At ease, soldiers!"

Electro left the four surprised young Rockets to muse over his words. Was the way he acted his own way to show his trust and confidence in their abilities? Did that last part mean that he was also happy for his brother? Perhaps the terrible Thor wasn't so terrible after all, but they wouldn't let him catch them with their guard down.

To be Continued

Nya is a mutant with her dark element being switched for psychic. She adapted better than her mother, who just turned pink, but still isn't quite like a full psychic pokemon. She's more of a defender than an attacker, she can use a scratch attack, but doesn't currently know any other attacks aside from that. Her other abilities are psychic in element, specifically abilities in the status classification. And yes, I had to use a pokedex app for that. I've been using that along with Bulbapedia for references, though there's still some artistic license here and there.

Winter, aka White Star, aka Stella is based on Black Rock Shooter's Sing Love, named after her "clone," Stella. Her mom is named after Stella's sister, Nana. The Rocket Stella has a soft spot for mutated or unusual creatures. She only acknowledges those who seem to have a certain level of unique originality and finds eccentricities and oddities to be interesting. Her Altaria evolved from the Swablu Delia had in Don't Give Me Diamonds.

Pikablue is a reference to the new blue pikachu said to be coming along with a detective Pokemon game, and to the time long ago when Marill was rumored to be another of Pikachu's evolutions. Next: Chapter 33: Beauty