(Reboot) Pokemon: Beyond the Tall Grass

Without gathering too much of his thoughts, he accidentally blurted in a hushed tone, "Who the hell are you?"

He caught himself after finishing the question, holding up one hand for a pause and slapped the other to his sweaty forehead.  He then sighed as he dropped both of his appendages to the side of his body.  He then looked at her and spoke again, this time, with a "better" question.

"What I really mean to ask is... ah, let me put it into perspective.  We've only known you for about a day, max, and you come at us with vicious Pokemon and whips and... And then you start helping us catch Pokemon and take us out for lunch, and now you're suddenly with us all the time? And then this explosion with those three things?!  I'm not really out to blame you for them, nor am I saying it's your fault for anything, but ever since the three of us met you..."

He slowed down his words to somehow come up with a closing statement.

"I just wanna know who you really are; why you came at us seemingly looking for a fight, but end up joining us for the ride.  I wanna confess that Professor Green Oak set us up on this journey to help get input on the rebelling teams, so if that's the real reason you're in this too, all you gotta do is say so," he finished, looking really defeated and overall tired.  He didn't know how else to put his real feelings.

"I just know that you know something more."

Loka looked taken aback at first, but eased up when Decoda further explained what he was trying to ask. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"There's a lot that you wanna know 'bout me, but I can only reveal so much at a time. I'll answer yer questions, and any ya may have in the future, but as time goes on, yer gonna like the answers less an' less." She opened her eyes and stared at Decoda. "My name is Loka, Last name is unnecessary information. I've been through some harsh situations in my lifetime that I don' even know how I survived. I went through part o' my life following orders and bullyin' others to get what I wanted or needed. When I realized my mistakes, I left that life, hopin' I could try an' redeem myself. I found myself here, tryin' to figure out what I was gonna do. I saw y'all and I felt something. The old me tryin' to push it's way up." She sighs again and sits down on an unoccupied bench. "Which is prolly why I came off as intimidatin'. Then when I saw that y'all had nothing to ya, I couldn't let myself proceed. So I offered my assistance, an' here we are." She closed her eyes and crosses her arms, breathing deeply. She looked kind of peaceful like that. "An' about those three things and the Explosions... I got nothin' to tell ya. I'm just as confused as you are... And yes. I'm lookin' into the re-banding of the teams." she opens her eye and looks up at Decoda, lowering her arms to her sides. "Any other questions?"

Catia watches Loka and Decoda talking, beginning to feel her fever more and more. Was she really sick? She shakes her head. No, that couldn't be it. It must have to do with what Entei did to her. What exactly did he give her anyway? If anything he made it harder for her to breathe. And the sweat making her clothing stick to her body wasn't helping her case. She needed to change her clothing and take a shower. Getting up, she walked over to Loka and Decoda, figuring that she should at the very least tell them where she was going. She stood a few feet away from them, doing the polite thing and waiting for them to finish their current conversation.

The defeated expression slowly morphed into a sorrowful one as Loka explained what little she could of her story.  He exhaled deeply when she finished and sat down on the bench.  He dropped down next to her, turned his head in her direction and half-smiled.

"Well, despite what you went through, you're really not so bad to have around.  I'm sort of glad the four of us have a common goal.  I don't think we'd know as much about the investigation without your help.  I don't wanna pry you for the details... I, uh, saw the scars a little, but that's not my business.  I can understand pressure from the past.  Other than that, I really can't think of anything else right to ask right now.  Though, I'm really glad you gave me an answer.  Thank you," he said.  Then his half-smile grew wider.  "One more thing."

He straightened up in his seat, turned his body almost all the way around to her, and held out a hand horizontally.  "It's nice to finally meet you, the real you, Loka.  I'm Decoda, of Pewter City.  Traveling Musician and Gym Trainer."  He waited for the handshake, noticing Catia out of the corner of his eye.  She wouldn't have to wait much longer.

Loka nodded to Catia, letting her know that they'd be with her momentarily. 

"Loka. Ex-Ranger of... Almia and Hoenn." she spoke shaking his hand. She then sighed. "So ya did see 'em... I got 'em saving a friend." 

She then turned to Catia.

"Whatchya need?"

Catia glances at Decoda before responding to Loka's question. She was going to be the center of a lot of attention because of that encounter that much was for sure. Maybe Loka could help? "I'm going to go and take a shower but....afterwards I need to talk to you. Think you could show me where to wash up though? With everything that's happened, I don't think I'd even be able to find our room, much less a shower." She asks her.

Decoda released his grip after she finished her confession, his smile expanding to a grin momentarily.  He got up afterwards, fully facing both of them, dropping his grin for something a little more tame.  He felt a lot better about what was happening now - sure it was still scary to know those strange beings were on the loose, but he felt things would improve from here on out.

"I should try to find that room too.  Or at least lend me some directions so I can get Cerise there for the night?" he tilted his head and shrugged.

"We could all use a rest, and it'd give you two time to talk.  If you're any hungry, I still got that pie from earlier!" he suggested, trying to make light of things.

Loka nodded and stood up. She bowed slightly to Decoda.

"We can talk later." she took a step back and turned to Catia, informing both her and Decoda. "We got two rooms rented for us. Boys in one, girls in the other. Upstairs first two doors on the left. C'mon, Catia."

She lead the other girl up to the room, letting her in. She pointed to a door on the left wall. 

"Shower's in there." she flopped down on the bed, Blitz and Sai hopping up and laying down up against her.

Catia nods in thanks before going inside the room and shutting and locking the door behind her. Setting her bag down against the door, she begins to take off her sweaty clothing with a tad bit of trouble before turning on the water and putting her hand underneath the water to test its temperature. It felt really hot for some reason even though the dial was on just barely warm. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she turned the dial down to just below warm and the water was still too warm to her. Frowning this time, she turned the dial down to the cold section. The water finally feeling suitable, she steps underneath the water and lets the cool water stream across her body and let her breathe. Sighing in relaxation, she closes her eyes and lets the water start to hit her face and cover her body. It felt wonderful to have such nice, cool water stream across her body after it becoming so warm after Entei had kissed her forehead. Now that she had time to think about it, ever since he had done that, her body had felt unnaturally heated and warm. She wasn't sick....was she?

Shaking the thought away, she stays in the water for about another five minutes before lathering her body and rinsing herself off. After doing so she turns the water off and steps out of the shower, drying herself off with one of the towels inside the room and digging around in her bag for her nightgown. Her hair was also quite long now that she had let it down and taken her hat off, about shoulder blade length to be exact. Her light grey nightgown went on over her underwear and glittered in the light a tad if moonlight hit it in just the right way, making her look very pretty. After becoming decent, she unlocks the bathroom door and steps back into the room, really feeling much better but still feeling very warm for some reason.

She sets her bag down onto her bed and lets Fox out of her pokeball before grabbing her bottle of food and filling it again. Cradling her in her lap, she lays back against the back board of her bed and sighs in relaxation, smiling at Fox as she gets fed. She turns her gaze towards Loka while Fox ate. "So....now that I feel better, I need to ask you something. Those three that I met earlier....one of them was named Entei. He did something to me. I have no idea what but....he told me that he gave me his blessing when he kissed me. I've been feeling so weird ever since he did that to me. Any clue what's changed?" She asks.

Decoda had nodded along with the instructions, giving a thumbs up for that extra sign that he understood what was said.  He watched the girls head through the now thinning crowd before going over and collecting his belongings.  With his case, jacket and hat in his arms he walked around until he found Cerise, smiling at him. He was grateful everyone was all healed up, even if it would be only temporary.

"You're looking much better!  But how are you feeling?" he asked him, trying to take their minds off of the mess from earlier for the time being.

"Delirious, mostly." Cerise said with a faint smile as he looked up at Decoda. Seeing Loka and Catia head off, Cerise slowly stood up from the bench he sat on, a bit light-headed, perhaps, but fine otherwise.

"But what about you? You were in the thick of it back there..." Cerise continues, noting how far Decoda had pushed himself through the fiasco. "Are YOU okay?"

"I've ahh, gotten through worse before," he mentioned in a slightly softer voice.  He hesitated for a moment as he thought about his next words.  He really needed to work on thinking first, then speaking...

"In all honestly though, I was pretty scared.  I mean, I doubt I'm gonna have any sort of pleasant dreams tonight," he chuckled.

Physically, he felt normal, and it was thanks to his training with Brock and the other trainers that he felt fine today.  Mentally, however, his mind was scattered, ripped, torn; it was like a jigsaw puzzle but all the pieces had been bent or soaked in water and too difficult to put back together all at once.  He slowly picked up his gaze and gestured with his head (since his arms were full) to move on up to their room for night.

"I'm okay, you're okay, they're okay.  That's all that matters right now.  I wouldn't call this a bad day though.  A weird day is what I'd call it, heh," he laughed as his picked up his voice's volume and smile once more.

Loka, who had fallen asleep while Catia freshened up, opened an eye but didn't move from her relaxed position.

"His blessin'?" she sat up, Blitz and Sai shifting a bit to give her room. "Have you tried askin' the professor?"

The dark trainer didn't really know what to say or do; She didn't know a thing about this.

"Weird is one word for it..." Cerise replies with a chuckle. Although Cerise wasn't the most intuitive in social situations, he was pretty sure Decoda wasn't as alright as he claimed to be... But Cerise didn't want to push the issue. The chaos had happened, and in time, things could be normal again. Hopefully.

"So, are we turning in for now?" Cerise asks as he sees the girls walk off into the crowd.

Catia shakes her head. "No I haven't. If anything, the only one who could tell me more about what's happened to me is....well Entei himself. But you guys scared him off. I don't even know if I'll ever see him again." She says, taking Fox's bottle and putting it away before moving to get underneath the covers with her. Lying her head down onto the pillow, she puts Fox next to her and begins to close her eyes. "I'll ask the professor tomorrow. For now, I'm exhausted." She tells Loka, almost immediately falling asleep.

"That we are."

Decoda then led the way to their room, adjacent to the girls.  Before them were two single-sized beds, a large dresser with a little television on top.  A garbage can was close to the door, and the bathroom was shoved into the corner (shower included).  Decoda opened the door and checked around, peering into the trash can as per habit when he used to travel around.  Sometimes there were neat things left behind...

"I guess this is us!" he said, claiming one of the beds in the room by tossing his stuff onto it.  "You think we should let our Pokemon out for the night, or keep them in their balls?" he asked his friend, weighing both little red devices in his hands playfully.

Loka waited until Catia, Blitz, and Sai were fully asleep before opening the window and climbing out. She climbed up to the roof of the Pokemon center and stared up into the darkened sky. With a sigh, she sat down and closed her eyes. 

She thought back to her days in the Almia Region, and her training to be a ranger. She was able to become one, and was eligible to become a top ranger; the most prestigious position in the Union. Loka sighed, her voice trembling slightly. Her hands went to wipe her eyes, but stops when she feels the patch on her face. She moves it out of the way and feels the old wound; a missing eye. Quietly, Loka covers her face and cries.

"Oh, right!! I almost forgot about your new Pokemon! Why not have a proper introduction, then?" Cerise says with a grin as he releases Chespin, who almost immediately runs over to hug the two trainers, still obviously concerned for their well-being.

"Aww, hey, don't worry little buddy!  We're all safe now!" Decoda said to the Chespin, as he set both Mudkip and Chimecho free.  The mudfish shook its head about and started yipping loudly.  The floating psychic type immediately swooped over and latched onto Decoda's arm as it did before this mess.  Both their expressions were highly distressed until the teen went over to each of them and calmly shushed the creatures with whispers and pettings.

"You guys will be just fine.  I won't let anything happen to you.  Sshhhh, it's okay," he spoke to them.  Soon enough, they calmed down.  Mudkip headed over to Cerise and Chespin, sniffing them and checking their situation.  When it was sure things were alright, it sat down on the floor and tried to relax.

"Mudkip must've been really worried about you two.  But this little one is Chimecho, a psychic type!"

"I am Chimecho.  Chimecho is my name~" she spoke telepathically.  Because Chimecho recognized the relationship between these two trainers, Cerise and Chespin would also be able to hear this light effeminate voice inside their minds.

"Right, right!  She is telepathic - that rare ability that only some Pokemon have.  I really feel lucky to have one as talented as this!  And with the way you were hitting the slots earlier, there's no doubt in my mind how lucky you can get, Cerise!" he laughed, feeling much more at ease now that all the Pokemon were out and about.

Chimecho then let go of Decoda and began to drift around, inspecting the room.  Suddenly, the red head got an idea to help calm everyone down further.  He went over to his guitar case and pulled out his set of electric strings.

The guitar was strangely shaped, having a sort of triangular top and two points at the bottom.  The neck was long and thick, the colors, red and black; Decoda inspected it carefully before he sat on his claimed bed to adjust a few of the wires at the edge of it.  When he found something he liked, he began to play a soft melody with an electric tone to it.  He tried to keep it quiet, since it was getting darker out, but continued the song.  It was loud enough for those within the vicinity to hear, both inside and out.  The song could be recognized as the "Kanto PokeFlute Music".

Catia awakens in the middle of the night to the sound of a guitar melody in the other room. Sitting up and yawning, she carefully picks up Fox into her arms before going out of her room and peeking inside of the boy's room. She smiles when she sees Decoda playing his song and before she realizes what she's doing, she begins to hum harmonically with the tune. The boy's can both hear her outside of their room but her eyes are closed and she's cradling Fox in her arms, focusing on nothing but her angelic voice and Decoda's tune.

Loka heard the music and scooted to the area of the roof above The boy's room. She sat there quietly listening, trying to calm herself. Tears still flowed as she pulled her knees close to her body, burying her face in them. 

For the first time in such a long time...


She felt lost.

Cerise collapses onto his bed, nodding off to Decoda's instrumentals. Secretly, he'd wanted to hear Decoda play something since the two had first met, but hadn't wanted to seem annoying. But now that he was hearing it? It was definitely worth the wait! Cerise smiled to himself as he found himself more relaxed than he'd felt in a while.

Cerise found his sight drifting over to Chimecho, brows furrowed a bit. Something about Chimecho's telepathy... Cerise shrugged. He was sure he'd met a Pokemon somewhere with a similar ability, most likely from his volunteer work at the Day Care. He slowly lifted himself up from his bed, rubbing his eyes. After such a long day... sleeping sounded pretty darn good!

"I'm gonna shower really quick, kay?" He says as he removes his poncho and long-sleeve shirt, neatly folding them off to the side of his bed. Those clothes were in the worst condition and might need to be replaced. Chespin quickly dove into the clothes pile, digging into the folded clothes and making them a disheveled mess. Cerise glares at the hedgehog for a moment before walking towards the shower to rinse off the soot, smoke, and burning smells of the day.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, he placed the rest of his clothes in a neat pile as well before entering the shower. As he rinsed his hair, he wondered if he could possibly do some laundry in the building. He certainly didn't want the smell of burns and fire on his clothes to stay, after all. Cerise made a mental note to search for a laundromat of some sort the next day. And speaking of which... He could only chuckle. Only a day in, and so much had happened! Although some of it had been scary... Cerise honestly was excited to see what tomorrow would bring with it!!

Mudkip hopped up onto the bed to lay next to its trainer, drifting off to sleep.  Decoda nodded along with his playing, remembering each note, barely mouthing all the chords that he had learned.  This was one of the very first songs he'd mastered as a kid, so it was nice to play it again after a while.  He looked up to respond to Cerise, gently slowing the motions of his finger so he could be heard.

"Go right ahead.  I'll probably just do another verse or two before shutting down anyway," he said smoothly.  He would likely hit the showers in the morning, himself.

Chimecho stopped drifting around so aimlessly.  It headed towards the window, swaying to the soft tune hypnotically.  Because of it's telepathic powers and psychic abilities, the little white and red Pokemon began to pick up some rather interesting auras coming from both outside the window and creeping around the doorway.

"Decoda~  I feel a visitor here..." she spoke mentally, then drifted to the door.  She pulled it open with a nudge of her round head, revealing the singing blonde haired girl and the Vulpix in her arms.  "...and here."

"Catia?" he asked, getting up from his seat to let her in fully and ushering her in with hand motions.  "What are-?"

"Over here~" the Chimecho called, now back by the window.

He put down his guitar, and opened the window.  He looked out for a moment, then down, until he heard a sniffle and a scuffle on the roof above.  His eyes widened as he recognized the part of the figure he could see from his line of sight.

"Loka?!  Are you-- Get in here!" he offered a hand to her, beckoning her to come into the room where everyone else was.  Her position looked like she had been crying, but he didn't want to say anymore about that.  "You know an Officer Jenny can probably see you up there and we can get kicked out," he smiled.

Back with Catia, Mudkip had opened one eye and noticed she'd come into the room.  Chimecho tried to read the relationships of these two as well, trying to figure out whether or not to trust them enough with her telepathic speech.

Catia blushes bright red when Chimecho opens the door and nearly gives a cry of surprise before walking into the room and quietly closing the door behind her. She goes to sit on Cerise's bed, looking really rather sheepish. "I-I....You woke me and....I recognized that tune so....I just....yeah...." She stammers, looking really rather embarrassed that she had been found humming like that. She never liked to sing for people she didn't know too well. Fox blinks up at Decoda's Mudkip, staring at the mud fish Pokemon with curiosity before tilting her head and letting out a cute mew at it.

Loka didn't reply, but hopped off the roof straight to the ground. She shot something out of her hands to ease her descent, landing with minimal effort. The girl looked up at the window, and spoke.

"I'll be back soon." with that, she walked off and disappeared into the city, heading towards the outside of the city.

She sat under a tree in total silence, closing her eyes. Her two dogs, who has followed her out the window in a similar manner, approached and settled in next to her. After a bit, she fell asleep.