Twisted Paths, Forgotten Pasts

Chapter 6

Michi woke up first, this time. She slipped out of the bed she had shared with Rezia and Janyin that night, trying not to wake them up, and then walked over to the window. Ralaos seemed a beautiful continent from what she could see... At least, the town they were in was gorgeous.

The citizens seemed to take pride in plants for there were trees planted wherever there was space for them, and people had little gardens in front of their houses, or had pots of plants on their window ledges. She even saw a couple of Oddishes and other grass pokemon wandering around freely, and people seemed to take special care not to bump into them or get in their way, as if they thought grass pokemon were sacred. Green also seemed to be a much-loved color... She saw a lot of people wearing different shades of green, and there were even a few people with green hair, both dyed and natural.

Michi grinned. She had a feeling either the Mother or Father of the Grass types, or both of them, would be somewhere in this country, maybe even that town. Looking around the room, she noticed that the walls were painted a very pale green... She giggled quietly, then also noticed the vase with roses in it. Getting up from her place at the window, she walked over to the vase and sniffed the flowers. /Beautiful fragrance./ She thought, gently stroking the flower petals. Her eyes then fell upon a guidebook to the town and she snuggled up in a chair to read it.

Turned out she had guessed right. People were not allowed to catch grass pokemon, and the only way you could have one was for it to choose you. Even then, you could not force it to fight, or evolve, unless it wanted to, and it could come and go as it pleased. Fire pokemon were watched carefully because of the danger they presented to the green country. Therefore, charizards, charmander and charmeleons were only allowed in certain areas because of their tails. Other fire pokemon were allowed to move around freely, but flaming was not allowed at any time, unless in a gym or special room for fighting, and they were required to wear muzzles and leashes.

Michi read about their customs, and wondered if they would be around for the festival that was going to occur in a few weeks... No, they'd probably be done with their work by then. She sighed, wondering what her foster parents were doing. Had they been searching for her? Was Rezia wanted for kidnapping back there? Her foster parents had been really nice people, but they just weren't her kind of parents. She really hoped she hadn't caused them any grief. Maybe someday she could call them, or even stop by for a visit, for she so hated to be the cause of someone's sadness...

"Awake already?" A sleepy voice mumbled, and Michi turned to see Janyin sleepily stretching, then idly grooming his brown fur. "Well, good morning!" He said cheerfully. "And don't worry about Rezia, she sleeps like a snorlax, only quieter." He hoped off the bed and trotted over to Michi. "Want to watch some TV? Reika doesn't really let me watch much. She says its bad for me."

"Your sister doesn't let you watch TV?" She asked, incredulous.

"Can I help it?" He shrugged his little shoulders. "She's the dominant twin, although she's the smaller one. I'm used to obeying her. She bites hard."

"But when you talk together, you speak first."

"Dunno why." The eevee walked over to the TV and pushed the power button, then he looked around. "Where's the remote?"

Michi handed it to him, and he took it in his mouth, then started pushing the channel button with his paw.

"Hey! They're showing some soap operas!" He grinned as he flipped between them. "Let's see, 'All my pokemon' or... hey! Survivor's on!" His paw quickly changed to that channel and he settled himself in front of the TV.

"Survivor?"

Janyin blinked, his jaw dropping open. "You never heard of it? Well, it goes like this. They dropped off sixteen people on an island, and each of them got one un-evolved pokemon each, and-"

"Oh! I heard about that! I never watched it though."

"Well, come on then!" The eevee turned the volume up, and curled up a couple of feet away from the TV screen.

-----------------------

In the boys' room, Kiajis woke up first, but soon went back to sleep again. He wasn't in the mood to think, and there was a lot to think about. Like staying alive. He'd bumped into Team Rocket too many times, and his ability to control fire was the only thing that kept him alive, along with Sijia.

Jizo woke up next. He'd slept on the couch with Reika, so that Kiajis could share the bed with the ninetales. He sighed as he carefully took the sleeping eevee off his chest and placed her back on the couch. Walking over to Kiajis, he decided to wake him up. "Hey, wake up kid!" He said as he shook the younger man, careful not to disturb the ninetales.

"What the fuck do you want?" He mumbled, his eyes squinting in the light. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"This is not a leisure vacation Kiajis." Jizo said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know." He said, closing his eyes and falling back asleep.

Sijia, however, was not letting her father get away with that. Now awake, she nipped her father on the ear several times until he finally got up.

"What the hell? Can't I get any sleep around here? This is a so much worse than back home..." Mumbling, he rubbed his red eyes sleepily.

/I refuse to call that place my home./ Sijia told him quietly.

/Hey, just a figure of speech. Home is where the heart is./

/If you're heart's there, then it's in the wrong place./

"So, why'd you wake me up anyway?" Kiajis said, attempting to smooth his unruly red hair back with his hands.

"We have to go eat then start looking around. Every second is precious."

"Precious my ass," He whispered under his breath, hoping Jizo hadn't heard him, and absently petting Sijia on the head. "I'm gonna take a shower first," He announced, and without waiting for Jizo to answer, he retreated into the bathroom for a nice long shower, using up most of the room's hot water supply.

--------------------------------------

Rezia had woken up to find Janyin and Michi plastered to the TV. Well, not literally, but that description was close enough to reality in her opinion. She had sat up, and looked at the two, then, smiling to herself, disappeared into the bathroom with her traveling bag to take a shower and get dressed.

She emerged in a pair of khaki shorts and a white T-shirt to find them still watching TV. Sighing, she walked up to them, tying her hair into a ponytail to keep it her neck cool. This country was really hot and humid...

"Hey Michi, go take a shower, and put on something that you won't be hot in. And remember to tie your hair up, kay?"

Michi turned her head to look at Rezia and then nodded, getting up from the floor in front of the TV and went into the bathroom.

Rezia plucked Janyin from the floor and sat him on her lap, brushing his fur while they watched TV. He 'purred' in the unique way eevees did when they were being petted. It wasn't a persian purr, it was much softer and very soothing to the ears. But like a persian, Janyin responded enthusiastically to the brushing. Rezia had not taken time to do that for a while, and as much as he tried to keep himself clean, nothing matched the wonder of having his fur brushed.

By the time Rezia was done with Janyin, Michi was done with her shower, and had gotten dressed. Having read about the country, and this town, she was wearing a light green spaghetti top, and her usual pair of jean shorts. "Lets go exploring!" She looked hopefully at the young woman.

Rezia laughed at the younger girl's enthusiasm to look around town, but shook her head. "We need to eat first you know."

"Oh yeah...Well, lets hurry then! I'll go get Jizo and Kiajis and Sijia!" And she rushed out of their hotel room and knocked on the men's door. "Hellooooo. Are you guys ready?" She called. No one answered, but she could hear Kiajis and Jizo arguing about something.

"Tell me one more time why I have to put a leash, collar and muzzle on Sijia?"

"Because she's a fire pokemon Kiajis! They are not very fond of fire pokemon here!"

"She's also my daughter! I refuse to put a fuck*ng MUZZLE on my daughter!"

"She's still a fire pokemon, a lovely one at that, but if you don't want to put her in a pokeball, she has to wear a muzzle!"

"HELL NO! Leash and collar, fine. But a muzzle? She's not going to go around flaming grass pokemon!"

"Kiajis, you are overreacting!"

"I am not fricking overreacting!"

Michi heard some struggling and a couple of things being knocked over, and finding the door unlocked, she opened it. Sijia stood on the bed looking at the two 'men' worriedly, barking at them and trying to get them to stop. Underneath Jizo was a glaring Kiajis, painfully aware of the sword that the other held at his throat.

"Kiajis! Jizo! Stop this!" She cried out, and Sijia leapt off the bed to her, whining quietly.

/I don't mind having to wear a collar, leash and muzzle, but my father is over protective of me... I am all he has in this world right now./The ninetales told Michi in her rich, silky mental voice.

Jizo didn't look at Michi, but focused his attention on Kiajis, holding his sword very close to the younger man's throat. "Don't you *ever* try to attack me Kiajis. Ever! I don't care who the fuck you are, but do *not* attack me!" He hissed angrily, withdrawing his sword when he was done speaking. Standing up, he looked at Sijia and his face softened a little. "But she still has to wear a muzzle."

Kiajis got up, and it was then that Michi noticed he had a cut lip. He glared at Jizo, but took the items in question and put them on Sijia. "I'm sorry little one, but I have to..." He whispered to her softtly.

/Don't worry Father. I *really* don't mind. You're too protective of me! I'm not a little cub anymore, and I haven't really been one for a very long time./

He smiled at her, but then his face hardened again when he looked at Jizo. "Let's go..." He said as he walked out. Michi followed him and Sijia, with Jizo, who was carrying Reika now, walked in the back. They picked up Rezia and Janyin, who was yet again watching TV and thus got a good scolding from his twin sister, and left to find the restaurant in the hotel.

------------------

As soon as breakfast was over, Michi grabbed Jizo and Kiajis's free hands and tugged them into the city to explore. If she had had three arms, she probably would have grabbed Rezia too. The young girl was eager to explore, and Jizo was surprised at how fast she had gotten over the trauma of their near-death experience. Had she forgotten about it? Or chosen to ignore it? Or did it simply not shock her as much as it had appeared to?

The town was beautiful, as Michi had found out before. The heat proved to be her problem with it. They looked around town, peeking into shops at Michi's insistence to look at things. Surprisingly, the glooms that could be found wandering around did not stink, and no one seemed to be bothered by them. When they inquired about that, they learnt that the many flowers and trees in the town had a way of canceling out the Gloom's natural bad scent and making them smell pleasant.

Michi seemed at home in the greenhouse-like town. Jizo, Rezia, Janyin and Reika looked at it as somewhere they were just passing through, and took a much more serious approach to things. Kiajis, however, found the town a nuisance, mainly because of the rule that Sijia had to wear a fireproof muzzle when out in the town or stay in a pokeball... The heat, however, did not bother him, and was actually the only main thing that he actually liked about that town.

They finally stopped by the local gym, at Michi's insistence again, to watch a couple of battles. At first Jizo had firmly said no, but Reika decided that it was okay for them to take a break, and pointed out that Sijia would be allowed to go without a muzzle in the gym, so they entered and sat down at the benches provided for people who just wanted to watch.

The gym leader was a tall young man with dark green hair. His 'team' consisted of a Vileplume. A single vileplume, but a very powerful vileplume. To 'own' such a powerful grass pokemon in that town was rare, as they usually chose to be independent, and that was most likely why he was the gym leader. Watching him battle, they were awed at how he was able to wipe out even fire pokemon with his one pokemon team.

"Do you think he might be the Father of All Grass Types?" Reika asked Janyin.

The eevee peered closely at the man, for all the world looking like a little old man trying to read the small print on a cereal box. "Could be..."

"He's the one." Kiajis answered, although what they had said had not been directed at him. "I remember him." Then, he looked at the gym leader with contempt. "We did not get along very well though... Nothing personal though, we just naturally stayed away from each other."

"Makes sense..." Janyin commented, looking at Michi with a slight 'frown' on his face. Could the violet-eyed girl have known they would find him there? And if she had, how? Moreover, how had she stopped the plane from crashing the day before? She seemed to borrow energy from Kiajis and Sijia, but for her to do that... He wished his father had given them more instruction as to who the girl was instead of just 'Take care of her'.

"He's not to come with our group." Michi said. "It would not do to have Kiajis and Garis on our team, and he's for another group anyway." Her voice seemed distracted, and her eyes had this... faraway look to them, as if she was looking at something distant, like the future. Then, she suddenly turned back to her normal self. "Cmon, lets go say hi to him!" And she jumped from her seat and ran over to the gym leader, who was taking a break, talking to a trainer he had just beat.

"Hello Garis." She greeted him after he finished his conversation, offering her small hand to him

He turned to look at her, his lime green eyes looking at her curiously. "Hello, here to battle?" He asked, accepting her hand and shaking it briefly. "Have we...met before?" He added suspiciously

"We have, though I don't believe you'll remember me just yet. You're a wonderful pokemon trainer. You have a real talent for grass pokemon."

He blinked, a little taken aback by the mature and direct way in which she spoke, "Thank you, Miss...?"

"Michi Haris!" She replied brightly.

Still puzzled, he nodded. "So, was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

"No... Oh, meet my friends." She beckoned the others over to meet the confused gym leader. "This is Jizo, and his twin sister Rezia. And the two eevees and Reika and Janyin. They're also twins. Oh, and this is Kiajis and Sijia. You know those two already, but you don't remember them yet." She looked at the small silver, heart shaped watch she wore on her left wrist. "Sorry, but we don't have any more time left to chat. Bye-Bye!" And she dragged the others, at least, tried to, for she only had two arms.

They left the gym leader starring at the door, wondering what the young girl had meant, and who she was. But more importantly, wondering whether he just needed more sleep, or if he really, deep down inside, believed her.

-------------------------

"Michi?" Jizo asked the young girl as they sat in a cafe, sipping cool drinks, excluding Kiajis who was drink coffee...

"Yes Jizo?" She responded, looking up from her glass of orange juice and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Why did we go to the gym today, and why did we talk to the gym leader if he was not to be in our group?" He asked, selecting what he said carefully, for he did not want it to seem like he doubted her abilities.

"Because it was necessary for the future to turn out the way we want it to. Don't worry about it though Jizo, I know what I'm doing." And she returned to sipping her drink.

Rezia smiled again. The white-haired girl never ceased to amaze her, and delight her. Ever since they had picked her up, which was only, what, two days ago? Rezia thought back. They had picked Michi up and headed straight for the town , where she had found Kiajis late at night. The next day they had traveled to Saaia, and so that made this the third day. Michi had bloomed in their company. Although she still was relatively shy, she was quite outgoing around them, yet not a spoilt brat however, despite her towing them around town. She was just unused to so many new things, to being free to roam as she pleased...

"What's on your mind, partner?" Janyin asked Rezia. He'd finished lapping up the bowl of cold water he'd been served, and was lounging on his seat.

"Michi." She answered, turning her head to look at the fox-cat pokemon.

"Same here... She's amazing, isn't she? There's no doubt that she is the one our father spoke of in the prophecies he gave us." He sighed. "If only I knew the extent of her powers, her knowledge, her foresight into the future. She must have rather fascinating abilities." He rambled on.

Rolling her eyes as the eevee talked excessively, Rezia decided to interrupt him. "Can't you stop thinking for a moment Janyin?"

He snorted. "I happen to be the only one who actually 'thinks' about things in this group! I mean, who's the one who always comes up with the plans? Come on, don't I have a right to boast?" He asked, puffing out his chest and striking a pose on his chair.

"For such a small pokemon, you sure are one Egoangelo..." Rezia replied dryly.

Reika, who had heard the whole conversation, started laughing, her tongue lolling out of the side of her mouth and her little black eyes twinkling. "'Egoangelo'... Perfect description of Janyin!"

Jizo turned toward them, looking from the laughing eevee to her crestfallen brother, and to his grinning sister. 'What's so funny?"

Innocently, but barely suppressing a laugh, Rezia replied. "Oh, nothing brother dear, I just came up with a nice new name for Janyin." Unable to hold it back, she burst out giggling again.

"What is it?" Michi asked, curious.

"Egoangelo." Reika answered during a second fit of giggles.

Michi started giggling too, and Jizo simply sighed, but smiled. Kiajis rolled his eyes, but his daughter grinned ninetales style.

/Father, lighten up. We'll be traveling with this group for a long time.../

/I understand putting up with Michi, but those two rookies? They know nothing about what they're going into. Do you think they've ever killed before? Faced death?/

/You should be one to call them rookies, Jizo could have killed you this morning./ She replied haughtily.

/I am not at my full strength yet.../ He replied.

/Oh shut up father./ The ninetales snapped mentally. /Stop being so anti-social!/

/Do *NOT* talk to me in that tone Sijia!/ He yelled back mentally, looking at her sternly, before he calming down a bit. They had equal tempers. /But I do understand where you're coming from.../ Kiajis sighed. /I'm sorry, I've just not been in the best of moods for the last few months... And it's not my nature to be social with strangers, you know that!/

/Then make it your nature!/ She replied, still a bit hurt at being yelled at. It had been so long since he had yelled at her, although the last time, she admitted, she had actually deserved it.

/It's not that easy to change Sijia, but Im sorry if I hurt your feelings./ He took a sip of his coffee, savoring the warmth of it.

/No problem father, everyone knows your temper../ She licked her father on the cheek before lapping up the last few drops of his coffee from his cup. /Just don't do it again, ok?/ She added.

/Don't worry dear, I won't./ He sighed, wondering just how he put up with the ninetale's mother in the past, for they shared such similar personalities. /I wonder if.../ Noticing the young lady waiting the table next to them, he trailed off. She was around his age, and had medium length green hair that fell just below her shoulders. Her eyes were dark forest green, the same color as her hair, except her hair had a few lighter streaks. She wore the 'uniform' of the cafe. A short, white dress with a leaf pattern, and a light green apron, complete with green sandals. She was bending over, taking an order, and when she saw him, she turned her head to look at him, her hair falling over to her left shoulder. She smiled at him briefly, but then returned her attention to her customer immediately.

/Father? Oh father dear? DADDY!/ the ninetales yelled mentally, tapping him with one paw.

He looked at her. "Yes Sijia?"

"Tales!" She exclaimed, rolling her eyes. /I seem to recall you asking Rezia once,' Do I look like the kind of guy who would cheat on his wife?' to which she replied. 'Yes, actually, you do.' Maybe she was right?/

/I would not do such a thing Sijia! Thats the Mother of All Grass Types./

/And a very pretty girl at that./

/Sijia! You know I'd never, ever go after Gilisia. Although we got a long better than I did with Garis, I found her a bit too... I don't know, just not my type. Your mother, however.../

/Oh, don't worry, I know you wouldn't cheat on my mother. You may flirt with practically every female on two legs when you are in the mood, but you would never pursue any one else seriously. I was just teasing you./ She put one paw on his hand that rested on the table.

The girl came up to their table. "Is there anything else you want? Or is this all? It's almost lunch time." She smiled brightly, lighting up her face like the rising sun over a forest in the morning.

For some reason, Michi seemed completely un-aware of who the older girl was. So there was a limit to her powers after all, Kiajis thought.

Jizo looked at the group, and then at his watch. "We might as well order lunch then." He said, looking at the others in the group who nodded. "Can we have some menus please? We're unfamiliar with this town, and this cafe."

"Sure!" She replied brightly, putting her notepad back in her apron pocket and walking off.

"She's quite pretty." Kiajis commented quietly.

"Yeah, she is quite a looker, isn't she?" Jizo replied, receiving a jab in the ribs from Rezia's elbow. "Ow! Can I not call a woman beautiful every now and then, Rez? You didn't object when I called Michi beautiful." He added, although he knew that was a very different case.

She hit him again. "That's different!" And then she added thoughtfully. "You never call *me* beautiful."

"You're beautiful sis," He said, kissing her on the cheek.

She grinned and hugged her brother. "Thank you! Now, that was a good start, but you're going to have to start saying that more often..."

He sighed. "Sisters..."

The girl returned, giving everyone menus, and waiting for them to place their orders.

Kaijis looked at his menu, with Sijia peeking over his shoulder.

/Steak..../ She said dreamily, sending him a mental image of her drooling over a platter of steak. /Me want steak.../

He smiled. /Fine, steak you shall have./

/Why don't you try the Ravioli? It sounds good.../ She suggested, noticing him struggling over what to choose.

/I'll go with your instincts. You always had a taste for food./

/I got it from Mother/She replied, sitting back in her seat, and arranging her nine tails carefully.

"Ready to order?" The waitress asked.

"I think so." Jizo replied. "I'm having the Caesar salad, and could we have one order of magikarp for the eevees?"

"Got it. And you?" She asked Rezia.

"I'll have the same as him." She said, pointing at Jizo.

"Okay." Then she looked at the two of them. "You know, you two make one cute couple." She commented, as she wrote down her orders.

They blushed deeply, turning redder than Kaijis's hair.

Michi laughed in her seat, and even Kaijis smiled at the comment. "They're not a couple! They're twins!" Michi exclaimed in-between laughs. "Though they do go well together don't they?" She added, receiving a 'twin-glare'.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The waitress blushed, her hand over her mouth. "It's just, I was watching you from the counter and..."

"Nevermind." Jizo mumbled.

The waitress, still embarrassed, turned to Michi. "What will you have?"

"I think I'll have a tuna-fish sandwich." She replied, handing the menu back to the girl.

"Okay, and lastly," She turned to Kiajis. "the cute, young red-head who was drinking coffee in the middle of the day... What will you have sir? And your ninetales?"

"I'll have Ravioli, and Sijia will have the steak, medium well." He replied quietly, handing the menu to her without averting his eyes from hers.

/Ooh, daddy's going into flirting mode!/ Sijia commented dryly in his mind.

/Shut the fuck up Sijia!/

/Tsk, tsk. What colorful language you use on your own daughter!/

"Sijia... That's a very pretty name for a very pretty ninetales." She remarked, writing down the last order. "I never caught any of your names... I'm Gilisia."

Michi took over immediately. "I'm Michi, those twins are Jizo and Rezia, the eevees are Janyin and Reika, and the redhead is Kiajis."

"You all have lovely names," She commented, looking them over and matching name with face. "Well, I'll make sure you get your food fast!" And she turned around and headed for the kitchen.

/Daddy's thinking about committing adultery.../ Sijia taunted in a sing song voice.

/Shut up./ He replied, turning his eyes back to the table.

/Ooh! You're turning red! Hmm, your face matches your hair now.../

/Sijia, you are just about the only thing alive on this planet that I let get away with teasing me. Please don't abuse that right./

/Aww, my foul-mouthed father has a soft spot./ She turned her graceful head to look at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

/I'm gonna turn off our mental link now dear.../ He replied.

/Oh but-/ He shut off the link, cutting her off.

"Tales, nine nine tales!" She mumbled under her breath, loosely translating to 'Damn, he never lets me have any fun...'

-----------------------------------------

Kiajis had some peace finally, now that he had cut off his mental link with Sijia. He loved her very much, especially since she had been his first child, but she took advantage of their mental link, and his fondness for her a little too often, and no one ever believed him when he complained about her. She acted a complete darling around others... It was no small wonder that ninetales were well-known for their slyness.

He turned to look at the door when he heard the bell tingle, and he froze upon seeing the person who had entered: A member of Team Rocket, an elite member of Team Rocket, judging by the black jacket he wore. Kiajis immediately turned around, looking away from the door shock written all over his face. "Shit..." was all he could say.

Sijia heard her father curse, then turned around, and saw the Team Rocket member. She turned around and cursed heavily in ninetales, hoping the man would not notice them, or that he was not here for any matter concerning them.

The man who had caused the two to be so alarmed stepped into the cafe and looked around. His maroon eyes fell on the backs of Kiajis and Sijia, and he walked towards them, stopping right by Kaijis's side. "So you're in Ralaos now, Kiajis?" The man asked casually, as if starting a simple conversation.

"Yeah, and what of it?" Kiajis retorted.

"They're out to kill you ya know." The man said, flicking back his black hair.

"Yes, I know. But I can take care of myself-"

"The h*ll you can! Can you protect yourself against a gun in your sleep?" The Rocket member demanded.

"No..."

"My point exactly. What'd you do to them anyway? You seem to have gotten on the boss's nerves especia-"

"None of your business Joe. Now why are you here?" Kiajis asked, ignoring the looks the other members of his group where giving him.

"I'm here on other business, but let me warn you Kiajis, you may have been a past member, and you may have helped us out a couple of times, but you've stepped on too many toes. You better watch your back, and those of your friends." And with a smirk, the red-eyed man walked off to order a drink, probably something alcoholic.

"Wonderful," Jizo said, glaring at Kiajis. "What's going on here?"

"I messed up a couple of Team Rocket's plans, so now they want to kill me." He shrugged. "I admit attempting to assassinate the boss wasn't the best idea in the world, but it seemed right at the time..." He sighed, looking nervously at the counter where the Rocket member sat.

"Great, so now you've got *us* in this whole mess too, huh?" Jizo muttered angrily.

"Well sorry! It wasn't my fucking fault that I happened to step on his persian..."

"Then who's fault was it?" Jizo demanded, his green eyes blazing. "We haven't known each other for very long, Kiajis, but I knew you were trouble the first time I laid my eyes on you... If anything happens to *any* of us, because of what you've been doing, you will be *very* sorry!"

"What? What're you gonna do to me? You can't kill me!"

"Well I can certainly hurt you!"

"STOP IT!" Rezia commanded, banging her fist down on the table, and earning some stares from other customers in the cafe, and some of the staff. She blushed slightly and cleared her throat nervously. "I will not have you two going at each other's throat like pidgeys and spearows invading each other's territory! We need to work together as a group!"

"Rezias right," Michi intervened. "We really need to co-operate. You two may not get a long very well, but you must at least work together and keep your differences to yourselves. Please...?" She pleaded.

Kiajis sighed, sitting back in his chair. "Damn asshole..." He muttered to himself, still glaring at Jizo.

"Tales ninetales, nine nine niii." Sijia said, telling her father to calm down and relax.

/Sijia, just let me be for a while. I need to think... I need to plan something to shake Team Rocket off my tail./

/Dye your hair and wear contacts?/ She suggested helpfully.

/They're smarter than that.../

The ninetales sighed. /Well, for now, lets forget about them. They don't know you're hear yet, so for now, we're safe./

/For now, if Joe doesn't betray me; we used to be friends. Until I got promoted ahead of him.../ Kiajis replied, with a mental sigh. /I just don't want anyone hurting you, or Rezia, or Michi, or the eevees... Jizo, however, they are free to do with as they please./

/Father!/

/Fine, I don't want them to kill him. But they can hurt him. Badly./

/Somewhat better. Ah, food's here!/ The ninetales sniffed the air delicately, sighing gratefully as Gilisia placed her steak in front of her. "Tales!" She said, thanking the young lady.

Gilisia served everyone, placing their plates down in front of them. "Enjoy your meals!" She said, as she turned to go.

Michi ate her tuna fish sandwich hungrily. Tuna was rare, like most other non-pokemon creatures, but that did not stop her from enjoying her meal. She looked at Kiajis, then Jizo, and Rezia, wishing that she could tell them what would be happening soon, so that they wouldn't worry about her, but she couldn't. What was the use of those stupid visions if she was not allowed to tell people she was having them? They'd been coming more frequently since the near plane crash, and she'd noticed herself...changing... Not physically, but more like mentally. She did not regret the change, rather, she embraced it.

But she did not like the turn the group was making. They had gotten along well enough in the beginning, but since this morning, things had been going downhill between Jizo and Kiajis. Jizo wasn't exactly a 'love everybody' person, and Kiajis wasn't much of a 'love anybody' person... So far, Sijia was the only one she had ever seen him show real feelings for.

Gilisia returned to the table a while later. "Is everyone done? I can go get your bill if you're ready."

Jizo nodded. "Yes, we're done."

"Okay." She turned around. "Aisili! Get the bill!" She called, and a Vileplume appeared from behind the counter, walked over, a bill in one hand, and gave it to the waitress. "Thank you dear." She said, then gave Jizo the bill. "You know," She said, looking at Kiajis thoughtfully. "You look very familiar... I could have sworn I've met you before, but this is your first time here, right? And I've never been out of this town before."

"Maybe we met in another lifetime..." Kiajis replied offhand.

"Another lifetime?" She laughed. "You're joking, right?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

She frowned thoughtfully. "I don't really believe in all that reincarnation stuff." She said as she counted the money that Jizo had handed her.

"We'll see..." He said, getting up and putting Sijia's muzzle back on her. Holding her leash, he walked out of the cafe, waiting for the others outside. They followed him, leaving a very puzzled Gilisia in the cafe. She watched them go, but then her boss called her, and she had to return to her duties.

---------------------------------------------------

"I think we should split up." Reika suggested as they walked aimlessly around town. "We'll cover more ground that way, and I'm really not very fond of this humid weather, my fur is frizzing up..."

Janyin thought this over. There was him, Reika, Jizo, Rezia, Michi, Kiajis and Sijia... Jizo and Reika could go on their own, so could he and Rezia, and Kiajis and Sijia. But what about Michi? It would be best for her to stick with either Jizo or Kiajis.... "We'll split up in our normal pairs. Me and Rezia, Reika and Jizo, Kiajis and Sijia. The only problem is, who will take Michi?"

"I'll go with Jizo." Michi answered, skipping to his side. "Cmon, let's go that way!" She pointed in a seemingly random direction.

"Why that way, Michi?" He asked curiously as he followed her, brushing back his bangs with his free hand.

"No reason." She replied abruptly, shrugging her small shoulders. "Just trust me." She said firmly, dragging him across the street and leading him somewhere, with Reika struggling to keep up with them with on her short little legs.

Kiajis watched them go, then noticed that Rezia had also gone in another direction. "Guess we're on our own." He told Sijia, putting his sunglasses on. Even though he loved the sun, growing up where he had his eyes were still not all that used to it. "Lets go."

They walked around, not really looking for anything or anyone in particular, just walking. What got on Kiajis's nerves the most about the town, was the number of grass pokemon around. Not that he hated grass pokemon; he just had a natural dislike for them, especially grass/poison types, which covered just about all of them.

/Aren't you tired of walking father? / Sijia panted, trying to keep up with her father's fast pace.

"Tired already? You have four legs, I have two." He replied unsympathetically.

/Four aching legs you mean.../

He stopped, crouching down so they were on the same level. "Sorry Sijia." He said, ruffling the fur on her head. "You want to rest somewhere?"

/Yes!/ She replied, extremely relieved.

"Okay, well, I think there's a park somewhere across the street." And he picked her up, much to her surprise, carrying her all the way to the park and carefully placing her on a bench, then sitting down next to her.

He looked around the park, surprised at how empty it was, for such a beautiful place. The grass was neatly trimmed, and green, vibrant green... In all his life, at least, his current life, he had never seen grass that alive. In a town like the one he grew up in, who had time to tend to the grass? The trees in the park were also something new to him. Aligned perfectly in straight rows, forming arches with their elegant branches, their beautiful leaves shining in the sunlight.

And then, in the middle of the park, there stood a single tree, almost like an albino cherry-blossom tree Kiajis thought... It was in full boom ; delicate white flowers filled the branches. Some had fallen to the ground, and it looked like, despite the heat, it had snowed around that tree, and only that tree.

/Beautiful, isn't it? / Sijia said, resting her head on her father's lap. /But not as beautiful as an active volcano.../

Kiajis smiled his signature smile, one so faint that it was easy to miss the fact that he was actually smiling for once, but Sijia knew her father well, and she noticed the smile. "I don't know if anything can compare to an active volcano..." He replied silently, absently stroking the ninetale's fur. "Done resting yet?" He asked her.

/We just got here! Relax a little.../ And the ninetales closed her dark reddish-brown eyes.

The young man looked down at her, at her beautiful yellow-gold fur, her bushy nine tails... He wondered what it was like to have nine tails. One was enough for most creatures... His mind was wandering again, wandering away from things that mattered, like how to avoid Team Rocket, how to get out of this thing alive, unlike the last time he had lived. How could he avoid Team Rocket though? They were everywhere; nowhere was safe from them... The pokemon thefts in the area were most likely all Team Rocket organized, which meant they were definitely somewhere around, and they definitely knew he was also around by now... They were probably planning on how to 'pay him back'.

Why, why had he done those things? He could be a free man right then... But no, he was being hunted by Team Rocket. Why had he joined in the first place? The thrill of crime he supposed. The thrill of breaking into someone's house, stealing something, and getting away with it. The whole glory of it... but then he'd gotten Sijia as a Vulpix, and his memory of the past had returned. That was when he started spoiling Team Rocket's plans. That was when he tried to kill Giovanni. That was when they tried to kill him, but due to his fire-starting abilities, and Sijia's uncanny knowledge of anything that would threaten his life, he was left relatively alone, so long as he didn't do anything...

But now he was out of Davon, out of his little safe haven, in the real world now, exposed. And who was going to stop Team Rocket from killing him? Over the years, they had expanded... It didn't matter who he was, or what he could do. As a matter of fact, if they found out what he really was, they'd not kill him, but subject him to their cruel experiments. A much worse fate than death, a much, much worse fate...

He sat there, a strange sight to those who saw him. His red hair falling over his eyes, his sunglasses rather, the rest of it yanked back into a ponytail. Unlike most people in the town who wore light, and very bright, colors and rather 'skimpy' clothes, he wore a long sleeved black T-shirt and black jeans. Like an Angel of Death. An appropriate name one might think, considering the lives he had taken even in his current, short life... He took off his sunglasses for a moment, looking up at the sky. If Sijia had been awake right then, she would have noticed the tear journeying down her father's face as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it with a finger, and smoked.

---------------------------------

Next.
Previous
Back to the library