Where there's life..., ...there's hope. (Da Best)

Darkness. Pitch-black unseeable darkness everywhere, as far as the eye could see. There was no thoughts, no comprehending. Just a never-ending sea of black. Then, slowly but surely, consciousness slowly began to return to Roberto’s mind. What had happened? He remembered as clear as day the Raticate lunging at him and snapping it’s jaws down, but yet, the bite had seemingly done nothing in the way of hurt, and that didn’t make much sense at all, hence why he was slightly confused as to just what had transpired. Hey, maybe the Legendaries of fate had decided to make his passing on painless? But as optimistic as he could be, he knew well enough that such a thing was near impossible with the way he’d ‘died’ – the rat had bitten right into his neck, and likely intended to rip a huge chunk of it out. He didn’t know much about physics, but such a death didn’t sound like one that should be painless. There was something else up, too; though he could not see a thing, there seemed to be a hard and rocky surface underneath him.


He shouldn’t be feeling stuff like that – when you died, all pain was cut off altogether. Wait…if he felt the surface underneath him when ghosts and those who passed on usually felt nothing, then maybe he hadn’t died? Though such a fact should be impossible, his optimistic mind latched onto it quickly – he wasn’t going to question the ‘how’ and ‘why’ if he had somehow survived. To live despite the impossible and get the chance to know that who he had tried to sacrifice himself like that for a bit better – Pepper – sounded awesome. He really would like to introduce himself a bit better to the Pokemon which had seemingly come out of nowhere and helped him against the rat, and have a companion in such times…this in mind, he hoped beyond hope that the darkness was simply because he was likely unconscious, and attempted to see if he could open his eyes; upon which the pitch-black slowly faded, blurry surroundings coming into view.


As the surroundings came fully into view, it seemed a completely different place from where he and Pepper had been before – that place had been a paradise, a wonderful spectacle of grass, flowers and other stuff like that – but this place was like a treacherous desert. Other than the fact he was in a unfamiliar place yet again – seriously, what the hell was up with that?! – he noticed that he was laying on his back, so he pulled himself to his feet again, putting his glasses back on just out of habit. However, his hand felt something else in the pocket along with his glasses, and he rummaged further into it to pull out probably the last thing he’d expected to see again – his gun. What in the-? He KNEW he had thrown that at the Raticate and it had fallen on the ground of the paradise-like place, not to mention Pepper’s Earthquake had shaken said ground so violently he’d assumed the gun had shattered because of it…it shouldn’t even be here.


He smirked a little at the irony, though – the gun should not be here, ‘logically’, much like himself. That aside, it was hard to really get a map on the wasteland area he was now because it was dark- but it seemed the sun was just beginning to rise in the distance, red and orange flickers in the distance providing some much-needed light – he seeing that the reason the ground had felt so rough was because it WAS – it was practically covered everywhere with stones and boulders, not a single weed or tree in sight…and where was Pepper? He couldn’t spot her anywhere, and when he’d pulled himself up, he hadn’t seen her next to him or anything like that. Where was she? This was really confusing – but as far as he could understand, it seemed that somehow, he’d avoided the bite of the Raticate and been taken to a completely different place; teleportation at work? Maybe that was also the reason why that dagger had done a Houdini on him, too…but he’d been willing to die for Pepper’s sake. If someone had saved him by teleporting him away or some weird psychic stuff like that…they should have saved her as well.


He sighed, running a hand through his brown electrified-looking hair – it was just all one big confusing headache at the moment, and trying to figure it out wasn’t going to get him anywhere, nor was it the most important thing to him right now. He had to at least try to see if Pepper was here too – at least try. Looking around, the basis of the surroundings basically went like this; rocks, rocks, more rocks. But no! There weren’t just rocks – there were BOULDERS too! Oh, how exciting! Roberto paused a moment, sighing – how come he always came up with funny sarcastic stuff when nobody else was seemingly around? Suddenly, he saw a shift of movement near a group of boulders that made one of the said boulders wobble back and forth slightly – hey, maybe that was Pepper!


Wanting to see if the rocking…rock…was possibly because of Pepper moving it around from behind, Roberto approached the rock pile, saying, “Hey, Pepper! Is’sat you?” However, though Roberto knew there was a chance of it not being Pepper, the last thing he expected was a rock behind the rocking one to suddenly start floating in mid-air. Upon closer inspection, that ‘rock’ looked different from the others – it had large crater-like pocks all over it, and was more crescent shaped than round. It then turned around, revealing a beak-like protrusion and large red eyes, Roberto staring in utter surprise – what the heck was this Pokemon? He’d never seen one like it before back in Jhoto. It certainly wasn’t Pepper, that was for sure. Must be a rare one hardly ever encountered back home or something…


It seemed this strange crescent-like Pokemon had been the rock in front of it before had been shaking – it must have been down near the ground to rest from hovering for a bit or something. He knew not what it was, but it seemed to almost give off a mystical sort of ‘vibe’ to it. As long as the Pokemon didn’t attack him or anything, he didn’t mind it. It was a bit strange to see a rock just…floating there, though. Thus, Roberto continued his search for Pepper, continuing to call out for her, but keeping an eye on the…strange crescent thingy as he attempted to attract her attention and let her know where he was. “Hey, Pepper! Can ya hear me? Yoo-hooo….!”


(Out of character note: Roberto may not be all that familiar with it – because it’s a Pokemon that rarely shows up in Jhoto – but the ‘floating rock’ hanging around is a Lunatone. Since it’s a rock-like Pokemon, I thought it’d be interesting to have a ‘floating bit of rock’ appear…I simply hope I didn’t overstep the boundaries of what I can do with this free forming stuff. That aside, since you didn't mention Pepper or where she was at all in your quoted post before, that was why I had Roberto try to call out and find her in this one.)

This post has been edited by Luigi on Aug 13 2010, 05:19 AM

[OOC]Nah, completely fine. I also very like the setup where your Pokemon is actually missing :D[/OOC]

You called for Pepper, but your voice reached no distance. The place was too vast and accompanying your problems was your own ignorance of what was going on and what had transpired before. Maybe if you pedal backwards and try to think what had happened, you would be able to come up with a plan.

But something began to bother you. The crescent-shaped Pokemon stared at you with its red eyes. Is this another Raticate thing? The look that Pokemon was giving you gave you shivers. It was pretty cold, though.

“Roberto, there’s somethin’ going on out there!”

Patricia's voice rang in your head and instantly, this triggered familiar screams that went after one another. There had been a pandemonium...

Your eyes behind your glasses looked away from the Pokemon. Something in that Pokemon brought up bad things in your head. It might be best to avoid looking it, or maybe get away.

But where to?

The mysterious Pokemon continued to linger as the sun slowly chased away the shadows...

Roberto called Pepper determinedly, and one could not fault his focus in the matter; but it seemed that the elephant was nowhere nearby, and even his loud tone did not carry forever, for there was no reply to his calls – merely his own voice slightly echoing back and slightly seeming to mock him worse than silence ever could. The bodyguard halted his loud calling out a moment to stop and try thinking a bit; he wanted to find his friend, he really did, but he really shouldn’t be hasty and rush into panic. He wasn’t the sort of person to do that normally, he being a relaxed person who took life at his own pace, after all – and though the Phanpy did not know him too well as of yet, and he really wanted to change that and become better friends with her – he doubted that the small Pokemon would want him to act differently than was natural for him, just because he was concerned for her. His partner Patriica – the very person he nicknamed Pepper after – was always adamant that he act true to himself, and he shouldn’t change that now. He guessed he was just concerned for his little buddy; but then, wouldn’t any friend be concerned if a friend of theirs was in such a scenario?


Thoughts aside, upon stopping and taking a deep breath in to calm his nerves, he guessed that since the wasteland here was a large, sprawling area – it would be hard for echoes such as one’s voice to be taken a distance. Pity he didn’t have a megaphone or something on him. He wasn’t going to give up, though. Now, if he was Pepper, where would he go? If he was a lost elephant all alone – he guessed he would try and find fellow Pokemon to stick with so he wouldn’t get in trouble, or go find some shade and hide someplace. The rocks were the only places of shade here, so Roberto guessed that he should perhaps try to see if he could find other Phanpy or perhaps, a herd of Donphan? Maybe Pepper had buried herself part-way in the sand to pretend she was a rock, too! Yeah; she must be here somewhere! Even if he did not have a clue what had transpired, though it was confusing, there was more important things to worry about now. He couldn’t get stuck in the past – there were too many depressing things in there, and he didn’t want to get bogged down by them, being an optimistic person who really didn’t like being stuck in suck ‘dark’, ‘sad’ parts as those. He had to focus on the here and now, and finding Pepper. However, his optimistic thoughts that continued to go on that made him think Pepper was somewhere around here were halted a little, his thoughtful stride back and forth stopping as well as he noticed that strange floating Pokemon was still staring at him, glaring red eyes focused right at him; oh great.


Was this Pokemon going to try and make him fight? He really hoped not. Not only because he hated resorting to physical violence, especially when this strange Pokemon was doing nothing but…floating there eerily…but also because he knew full well he wouldn’t stand a chance against a Pokemon like this in a fight. Even if his gun had been loaded, the crescent creature looked so sturdy that bullets would likely bounce right off, and punching it would hurt him more than the strange creature. He needed Pepper by his side again: he needed his friend here. As strong and optimistic as he was, this strange creature was a Pokemon, with power over the elements that he could only imagine about. Despite the seriousness, Roberto laughed a little in amusement, finding the thought of possibly being able to battle a creature like this on even terms right now quite amusing. He shivered a little because it was cold and he was tense – but not because he was afraid. He feared not this strange, unfammilar being. After all; it was not threatening Pepper or anything while he was helpless to watch, like what had happened with the Raticate. It was just unfammilar; and because Roberto was naturally curious and friendly of most strangers unless they gave him obvious reason not to be, he still felt curious about this stranger, like he would any other stranger.


He asked it, “Hey….did ya want my assistance wit’ something, or what? The way you’re starin’ makes me feel as if you’re tryin’ to tell me somethin’…” Of course, he knew he would not be able to understand the Pokemon. But he wanted to ask anyway – if he could help someone and slightly make up for what had happened back then, then that would be awesome. The creature gave no response, but suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, Patricia’s voice from the time this whole mess had started rang through his head, the horrible, familiar screams from that time also echoing almost tauntingly, until he broke his gaze with the Pokemon out of pure shock and surprise – what was that all about? That event from the past few minutes ago had come from seemingly nowhere, as if brought to the surface by some unknown force; was the unknown Pokemon’s mystic vibe somehow dredging that up?


In the background, the sun slowly chased away the shadows, but Roberto was thoughtful; looking directly at that creature had brought up a past event. Not one just involving him – his partner, Patricia. Maybe this creature could bring up the past event of when the Raticate had attacked, so he could see what exactly had happened? Just because he didn’t know what had happened, didn’t mean that he didn’t want to – if it helped him to find out where Pepper was, then he was willing to have those memories brought up, even if they were bad ones. For if this creature’s ability to bring up bad, horrible things helped a good, wonderful, relieving thing such as finding Pepper again to happen…he was willing to go through that. For the sake of friendship which he held so strongly to, and the fact that he wanted to protect his friends….like Pepper…he would go through that. But, the question was…did this creature mean good or harm in dredging up such memories?


He didn’t know; but he did know that he needed to find Pepper. That was the most important thing right now. If this creature did turn out to be ‘bad’ – he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now, though this creature was a little confusing and he knew not what it was…it’s regal ‘vibe’ seemed to only bolster his hope that he could find where Pepper was. If finding where his new-found friend was meant dealing with the unknown, so be it. Thus, he made himself look straight back at the creature, saying, “Pandemonium…yeah, I don’t like to remember that. I reckon ya should just focus on the positives of life, because focusing on the bad stuff only brings ya down…I have ta try and stay upbeat. For the sake of trying to fix the pandemonium I had a part in…” He trailed off after stating that to the creature, then saying, “But I can’t fix this without Pepper, and I dunno what happened to her. Please…could ya help me find out where she might be? If you bring up those memories of when the Raticate bit my neck – I could find out where she is and help her. I know you have no obligation to do that for me, mate…but I can’t just ignore what could be a hopeful situation!”


He then pumped his fist, saying,“I can’t just block out a way that I could find my buddy better and get to know her better.” He was a brave man, Roberto – for if it meant being able to find and therefore protect a friend, it was clear he was willing to go through the past and have it possibly dredged up by this creature for that. The protection of his friends…it had always been important, ever since that fateful day. Would the creature oblige to his request, though? He didn’t want to have to think about what he might do if things turned nasty, but he was tense, ready to bolt and run as fast as he could if the being attacked him; because he knew fighting it would be a really dumb idea. He had nothing that could harm it, and even HE knew enough to figure that much out.

The silence immediately fell between the two strangers. In the peaceful approach of the warm sunlight you can feel crawling through your skin, your words seem to re-echo in your ears. The strong pulse pounding in your body made you feel more alive and vigorous. Blood rushed through your veins like a river breaking through Bidoof lodges. Light that crept faster to connect the land and the sky revealed even through your thick glasses a glitter of determination in your eyes though tinted by black.

The crescent-shaped Pokemon had neither blood or pulse in its system. But the rays of the sun seemed to repel from its stone skin, causing a shimmer upon the touch of light on the being like a gem. The sunlight touched the tip of its nose, finally enveloping the Pokemon in complete light and instantly, those red eyes shone so bright that you had to cover your eyes. In an instant, darkness invaded your eyes and washed away the corners of shape and colors in your environment.

“Roberto," she said, waving a hand at her partner urgently. "There’s somethin’ going on out there! Come on, get movin’ – we gotta split up and investigate!”

Patricia went past you and hurried to the door. There was something different from this series of events. You remembered it had been you who reached the door before she had, but now you were just rooted on the spot. If it hadn't been for the screams that chilled your bones, you would have been unable to notice you were inside the same library but this time, in the company of a woman.

That Woman.

She stood right by the doorway, like a guardian guarding a treasury. But she was so difficult to describe and so mysterious to uncover that no image or words was processed in your brain to embed her appearance in your head. Only the thought that it was her who stood there - a woman, you were certain, that assured you of this person's identity.

She stood there though, watching what was happening outside with an expression you couldn't put a finger on it either. Patricia was just outside. Her miniature figure at the distance you spotted, but you dared not to bolt past the Woman. Somehow, you felt trapped in the library...where it all began.

You felt a cold press of metal against your skin. You found yourself looking at your palm by your left hand. If anything in this vision shrouded in mist, it was this stone you discovered that you would never forget.

...it was this stone you discovered that you would never forget.

You felt your heart beat. That sound dispelled all noise and illusions, bringing you back to the wasteland where the gem didn't exist and the Lunatone gone.

Though he spoke to the unfamiliar creature in the same friendly way he would greet anyone he did not know, and his voice rang out boldly through the open wasteland air, the being just remained floating in silence, not a single hint of a Pokemon cry emitting from it’s beak-like ‘mouth’, and not a single memory was dredged up. Yet, still, he stood his ground in front of the being, though nothing happened right away and a unnatural silence filled the air, still focusing his determined, hope-filled gaze directly at it, despite it’s eyes appearing to glimmer like blood-red ruby stones. Just because a Pokemon was unfamiliar and had a ‘mysterious’, almost ‘mystic’ vibe to it didn’t mean that it was bad and he shouldn’t even be trying this at all; it might just be contemplating what he said, for all he knew. Maybe it was just him, but the unfamiliar Pokemon seemed to give off the vibe of a creature that thought at length before doing something; like one of the fortune-tellers back home at Ecruteak. Those mysterious elderly ladies always thought at great length before answering, and it almost reminded him of the time he’d gone to a elderly fortune-teller to see why he was picking up on lies so easily, only to be informed his of his strange, un-natural ‘power’…the being in front of him was just as much of an enigma as the lady who had read his fortune back then. Seemed to be gazing in much the same ‘far-away’ manner, too. As he waited for some sort of response from the Pokemon, the slowly approaching sunlight warmed his body.


The sunlight made him feel more energetic and optimistic – as if the rays of the sun only bolstered his own rays of hope and optimism. However, though the warming feeling of the sun was expected, what Roberto didn’t expect upon the rays of the sunlight hitting him was for his own words seem to echo back to him like the sweeping waves of an ocean that – though they might draw back from the shore, inevitably came back to said shore. His heart beat all the more with hope, he getting a strange sensation; the hope seeming to course through his entire being like a rushing river – why were such things reminding him of the ocean when they never had before? Ah well, maybe it was just the way the sunlight was making him feel; it made him feel happy, and he supposed a cheerful, bubbling stream could be akin to that sort of thing. The sunlight crept further, lighting up the land and sky alike and reflecting off his blue-tinted glasses slightly. The rays of the sunlight seemed to reflect off the strange crescent being much the same way they reflected off his glasses, he noticed, as he continued to watch the being for any kind of response…but different. The being’s brown body seemed just as much a glittering gem as those eyes did now, and when the sunlight touched the ‘beak’ of the being, it was enveloped in a light as white as a Togepi’s new-born shell, no imperfections of shadows in the light at all. Those eyes then began to shine in much the same way the being’s body did, gleaming so brightly that even he – with his tinted glasses – could not look on, being forced to cover his eyes and turn everything pitch-black once more…


Though, this darkness did not end up being infinite and endless, the familiar face of his partner Patricia coming into view, she calling his name and waving a hand at him urgently before saying again what she had in the start of the whole mess, imploring him to get moving, as they had to split up and investigate. Hey, this wasn’t the situation where the Raticate bit his beck, this was before that. Because he’d been about to have been bitten before Pepper disappeared, he’d thought the being would have brought up those thoughts, so that he could have seen what happened to her; but maybe it wanted to bring up this thought again for a reason? But…how would knowing what happened here let him find Pepper? He’d found Pepper after this mess had unfolded, and he certainly hadn’t been in the library when he met her – and neither had the rat appeared here, or bitten him here. However, the events played out differently this time; though Patricia hurried to the door, and he had chased after her and thus, reached it before she had – now he found that he couldn’t move his body at all, being rooted to the spot. Those horrible screams of people in trouble made him shake like a leaf at hearing so many suffer, so many in pain – yet, though almost everything was the same about the situation, there was someone there who had not been from his remembrance of the event before.


It was a woman, standing right by the doorway like a ancient sentinel guarding a important person’s tomb. The woman. Somehow, Roberto knew that this was the voice he had heard before, asking him to fight the Raticate. But how did he know that? The woman said nothing, and she was an enigma, so much so that his mind could find no words to describe her. She stood, watching what was happening outside with an unreadable expression on her face as Patricia was just outside, he spotting her figure in the distance; but there was something about that woman that made him feel running after his friend right now would be really disrespectful to the mysterious lady, as if he was trapped in the library, where all the mess had started…he wanted to say he was sorry for causing so much pain amongst so many to the lady, and that he was going to do his best to try and fix it with Pepper once he found her again – yet, just as he was about to say this to her, a cold sensation of something metal pressing against his hand diverted him from this, making the words halt before even leaving his mouth, he looking down to his left hand and seeing a strange blue stone like a sapphire sitting there.


It seemed to give off a mysterious vibe, one that grabbed at one’s memories and never let go, something that could never be forgotten, shining like…like the ocean. Was this why he’d felt all those strange things reflective of water before, due to this stone which seemed to be colored exactly like the ocean? His heart beat fast – and suddenly, the memories were shattered, he opening his eyes and returning back to the wasteland, the strange Pokemon completely vanished from view. Roberto sighed at this, he didn’t get to say thank you to the Pokemon for bringing up those memories (though they had not been the ones he wanted, for it did not help him find out where Pepper might be now at all) – because, for though they had not told him what had happened to Pepper when he got bit and where she might be, it had told him who that voice had been back when he first saw the rat, at least, which he was thankful for.


It had told him about a strange blue gem as well; hmm, that made him think. Since his gun had somehow managed to make it’s way into his pocket, did that mean that that gem was in there too, and he’d gotten the gem and seen the woman before leaving the library after Patricia? He shuffled in both his jacket pockets and his jean ones to see if he could find anything like that there; if the strange Pokemon had shown him who the lady was and the fact there was a important-looking blue gem, it must have done it for a reason. Maybe he still HAD that said gem on him somewhere and could look at it to figure out just why the Pokemon had shown it to him in his vision?


However, if his search turned up nothing in his pockets, he would decide to go back to where he had first awakened and look in the dirt and stuff there; maybe the Pokemon had heard he needed his friend, and the orb would help him to locate Pepper? It was a item of potential hope to find Pepper, for the Pokemon had indeed – shown him memories, but not ones of the Raticate biting him, and instead of memories of that time, specifically showing that gem – he didn’t know why the gem seemed so important, but if it helped him to find Pepper, then he’d look for it. Maybe it was like a compass and blinked the closer he got to Pepper or something? Though such thoughts were illogical and he knew Patricia would likely have told him off for them had she been here; any speck of hope that might lead to finding his friend and again and therefore protecting her deserved investigation of some kind, even if it turned out to be nothing. Maybe he was being a bit too optomistic with this, but that was merely his nature. To be hopeful and optomistic, even though he knew the situation was serious and bleak-looking...he couldn't mope around and claim everything was hopeless, and that he had nothing to go on.


He simply could not do that for the simple reason that his friends would not like him beign sad, especially the ones who had passed on. They had always admired his optomistic nature, and said it was something he should strive to keep; and he was going to honour his friends by doing that much at least, despite wanting to find Pepper as quickly as possible so that nothing happened to her. To give up now would be stupid in his mind - he hadn't really started looking, not yet. He was going to find out where Pepper was and protect her, for until he found her...he couldn't really do much against any wild Pokemon that weren't as agreeable towards a cheerful, peaceful approach as that strange cresent on had been other than either run, or throw his gun at them...and he laughed again, this time at the thought of throwing his gun at a Pokemon.


He spoke to himself, saying, "Hey, I use Gun throw, even though it did practically NOTHING against the last Pokemon I tried that on! It's nooot very effective! Bahaha..." After his round of chuckling laughter, he KNEW that Patricia DEFINTELY would have told him off for that; but the best thing to do in his mind in a bad situation was not panic, but remain upbeat and focused on the potential positives. What better way to remain upbeat than to make a bit of a joke and laugh a bit? After this joke, he would focus seriously back on the task at hand -that was, searching his pockets as intently as he could, and being prepared to search somewhere else if he couldn't find the strange, yet important-seeming item on him.

You felt through your pockets and searched thoroughly, but you carried nothing else than the gun. Despite the more or less logical explanation, the stone had been absent.

It was already morning and you were still stuck in this desolated area. Pepper was still yet to be found, so maybe it was time to get a moving on. You could think while you start walking.

After a while, your walking led not much to discovery. It was still too early to conclude there was really nothing in this place, but certainly it was going to be a long walk. While looking around, something decided to prove you wrong.

A metal bird pecked through a clawed hole, as if looking for Caterpie.

Though Roberto had hoped that searching through his pockets again might lead to the discovery of that strange ocean-like gem, there was nothing in his pockets besides his ammo-lacking gun. The bodyguard let out another sigh – figures that it wouldn’t be that easy to find such an important-seeming object. Did it fall out of his pockets back when he was jumping away from the Raticate and trying to dodge it’s assaults on him or something? Well, he was in a completely different place from there now, but though the gem could have been lost back there, just like Pepper could have been, and his sacrifice for Pepper might all have come to nothing – he refused to believe without clear evidence that such a mournful and depressing thing had happened. He hadn’t really looked much yet, and he felt certain that Pepper was here too. If someone had saved him, they surely would have known that he would not be able to get anywhere good without a Pokemon companion by his side in case he came across violent creatures like the Raticate – and thus, they would have saved her too. He simply had to keep looking. But really, the fact was that he did not want to think about the possibilities of a bad ending to this. He did not want to think about losing another friend…not again. He didn’t want to have to go through all that, and so he closed his mind off from that possibility until he had undeniable proof that said possibility was true.


He wasn’t going to give up hope just yet – neither Pepper, nor his friends which had passed on would wish that, he felt. Until he found irrefutable proof that the bad scenario had happened – he was going to keep assuming the best, and being optimistic about all this. Mainly because he didn’t want to give up until he found her, or at least saw for himself that he would not be able to find her…because abandoning the search when there was still a chance of finding and helping her would be just as bad as failing to protect an ‘assigned protection target’ for him. Perhaps some would have called this stubbornness to accept the logical – but Roberto just called it common sense. You didn’t just ‘give up’ only a few minutes or so into a search! You kept at it until you got results, and he was going to keep loyal to that part of his job and what his boss had taught him – for his friend Pepper’s sake. That aside, since Pepper didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby – and the stone did not either – there was no point in just standing around here forever. It was already morning, after all…if he wanted to conduct a proper search, he had to look in places other than where he was standing right now.


Thus, he started walking – and though he checked the spot where he’d first woken up in this wasteland out, there was no sign of a stone there, so he kept going. As he went, he began calling for Pepper again, saying, “Hey, Pepper – if ya can hear me, give me some sorta sign!” There was no good just looking, after all – he had to call out for her as well. Maybe she might hear him and come running, and he wouldn’t have to look too long…he certainly hoped such a optimistic thought might happen, but for now, he searched. He just hoped that that rat – after almost killing him – hadn’t decided to finish her off, too and whatever had saved him hadn’t even bothered to think of Pepper…he would be pissed off if that being hadn’t even considered his friend. He had been ready to die for her sake so that she could live; to think that his sacrifice, intended for her safety – might have come to nothing, made him angry.


He did not want any of his friend’s lives to be struck down so soon...but it had happened before nonetheless. He had put his life on the line in hopes that such a thing would not happen again, and his ‘death’ would give Pepper time to run away somewhere safe, for her to get away…even if he never found her, he would be happy as long as he was able to find out that she was safe. That she was still alive somewhere…that would be enough for him. Yet, he failed to understand that Pepper – if she was still alive and safe – might not like being separated from him, and that she might not like the fact that Roberto was willing to never see her again if it meant that she was safe – that he had protected her, even if it meant being separated from her forever…it was sad, but he failed to comprehend just how much people needed him sometimes.


He assumed they only wished friendship and protection when needed and nothing more, and if he had to protect them by never seeing them again, okay. He never stopped to think that – if they were very strong and really didn’t need his physical help – they still needed his physical help anyway, to just have him there. He did not understand that – though he wanted nothing more than to shield those he cared about from harm – they might not like having to be separated from him, even if it was to keep them safe. He did not realize that sometimes, in such a case…they would rather be in trouble in get in danger, if it meant keeping by his side. For the basis of it was that he did not truly understand how much he was needed by some folks – he was so busy trying to protect them and shield them from harm that he did not realize his true worth to some. He played around like a prankster, and taught others to have fun, and protected them…but he never expected them to love him or really care for him. All he asked from his friends was that they be there.


He was happy just to have them happy, asking nothing in return – for bodyguards didn’t do their work for fiscal gain. Anyway, they got paid by their boss, not the protection target…but he wouldn’t ask them to care or love him, being willing to never see them again if it meant protecting them. Feelings for the person were redundant – if he had to give them up to protect them, he had to give them up, even though it broke his heart every time a friend was forced away…yet he never thought or considered they might not want to go, even though he might be separated for them for ‘their own sakes’, as he would put it, just as much as he inwardly did not want them to leave and could not really spit it out, though his expressions told all and if he was called out on it, he would blurt it all out, for he hated keeping secrets. He had to perhaps learn to openly express what he felt a bit more, though he was a guy and tried so hard so keep it all bottled up, but often failed because of his inability to keep any secret at all.


That aside, as Roberto continued on, he spoke aloud, saying, “This place is like a desert…hey, watch this! I’m psychic, and I can tell EXACTLY what’s going to come up next in the surroundings! If you’ll look to your left, you’ll see…nothing! Hooray!” Silly grin on his face, he continued on as he walked, saying, “And to your right, ladies and gentlemen – another big heap o’ nothing! Isn’t it just amazing? If you shall be so kind as to look to the front, you will also see nothi-!” He was cut off mid-sentence there in trying to make fun and light and optimistic of the situation, for as he walked, in the front was not ‘nothing’ as his ‘awesome psychic skills’ had predicted, but another Pokemon. This time, it was one he knew about – one he knew of quite well. He grinned upon seeing the creature, it’s steel armor feathers glinting in the sun like ancient blades – his granddad had always wanted to capture a Skarmory, but no matter how many times he tried, the metal bird would always get away, and amuse him – Roberto – to no end upon flying up to the top of an unreachable place and cawing at the old man with sharp, metallic cries, almost as if laughing. Not to mention Skarmory were rare and his grand-father almost never found one to try and catch, and yet, he, Roberto, had come across the knightly bird almost right away.


Man, if his grand-dad knew just how apparently common the bird was here, he would be so mad…happy, humorous memory aside, the bird was jabbing it’s sharp beak into a hole, apparently looking for bugs. Though the wasteland ground was likely hard, and the odds of any bugs being in there were low; the Skarmory persisted in it’s efforts, determinedly pecking on. Roberto felt a sense of appreciation for the bird – for it and he were both doing the same thing. They were looking for something, and no matter how it seemed – neither of them would give up. At least, it seemed that way to him, and Roberto felt a kinship with the bird because of this. Hey, maybe he could help it out before continuing on? This in mind, he spoke to the bird, saying, “Hey, mate…ya need a hand there? I’m happy ta help ya find a bug, if ya want…” He pulled his empty gun out and experimentally hit the ground with it, as if to show the bird how he intended to help if it would let him. Because he felt a kinship with the metal avian, he wanted to help it before he continued on his search – and if he slammed his gun against the ground, the bugs would think he was a bird, and maybe squirm right into the path of the Skarmory…of course, if it didn’t want help, he’d continue on his way. But because he could relate to the bird, he wanted to at least offer to help it out before he kept on his search for the gem and Pepper…

You tried to show what your intentions were, but it only seemed to have done worse. The Skarmory watched your hand cautiously, beak protective of the ground it was scavenging in. When you made similar contact to what it had been doing, the Skarmory lashed its beak to the offending gun, taking it not an act of kindness, but an act of thievery. You could see how the blade wings of the Skarmory point out dangerously like needles of an anxious Sandslash. You backed off, as the Pokemon probably did not want not just your help, but you being around at all.

You walked away, the Skarmory's eyes still on you. When you were a good distance away, you heard the monotonous sounds of pecking playing in the background again.

It was another tedious walk again. You were faced with the same scene again and again. Always the same, always uninteresting. There was nothing going on. There was no sign of the gem or Pepper either...

You could continue walking aimlessly again. It was still early, sure, but would you like to stop and just wait instead?

Though Roberto thought the cheery grin and his laid-back tone would have been proof enough that he did not want to do anything bad –just help the Skarmory out, if it let him – it seemed as if the bird was cautious of him. His eyes exuded confusion briefly behind those blue-tinted glasses of his; now, he was used to people being wary and afraid of him a fair bit of the time because of how intimidating he tried to look in order to ‘scare off’ potential baddies who might want to harm his ‘protection targets’ and thus not have to resort to physical violence, sure. Not to mention his scar and weird eye color- before he bought those said glasses- also scared a lot of people or made them nervous. But he’d totally never had a Pokemon react that way, especially not one a lot bigger than him and one that could easily just blow up a Whirlwind and blow him away some unknown place or slice some body part of him off with those blade-like wings. He moved slowly, trying to reassure the avian that he was only offering assistance as it watched his movements intently, curving it’s head almost protectively over the hole it had dug; however, it seemed that him trying to show his good intentions had only caused a bad scenario, the bird suddenly surging forth as he smacked the gun experimentally against the earth to show the bird what he wanted to do to help it, he tensing, ready to strike out if he had no other choice; but the avian did not attack him.


Instead, the bird struck straight at the gun, the force of it’s beak hitting the smaller metal object causing a few sparks to fly and the gun to go flying out of Roberto’s hand, leaving Roberto’s hand sore due to the gun suddenly being smacked out of it. The bodyguard sighed, saying,“Geez, was only tryin’ ta help…but if you don’t want my help, I can take a hint.” This said, he took slow, deliberate steps away from the bird, who was pointing its blade wings out in dangerous, almost angry-seeming manner, he stepping back until he reached where his gun had forcibly been knocked and slowly putting it back into his pocket, upon which he backed away and left the Pokemon alone. He didn’t understand why a Pokemon would be anxious of him, of all people; surely the avian could see full well he had no Pokemon friends to protect him and battle it and do it harm? It was a huge metal creature of the air which could just fly away, and he was a human. A very tall one who wore sunglasses, but a human with no special ‘powers’ other than the one he’d never asked for nonetheless. Why would any Pokemon be sacred of him? Then again, it was nothing new. People had been nervous or afraid because of his appearance and gotten the wrong idea from it as long as he could remember, and he couldn’t do anything to fix that. He wanted friends, but ironically, the appearance which he’d gotten in order so that he could ‘scare away’ those wishing his ‘protection buddies’ harm also seemed to scare any potential friends away, as well.


People judged so much on appearance alone these days, and that made him frustrated inside. Not as much as stuck-up, egotistical characters did (he loathed them, because they cared not one iota for others or took them into consideration at all – would it kill them to think of someone OTHER than themselves for a change?), but it still made him frustrated nonetheless. Pokemon normally didn’t judge like that, but if this Skarmory wanted to do that, that was the bird’s business, not his. It didn’t want him around, so be it. But a tendency of Roberto’s was to – if a person or Pokemon judged on appearance straight away with him – pretend the offender no longer existed until they got in trouble. If they got in trouble, he would still help them out, because he still wanted to do the right thing…but he felt that he could never truly be ‘friends’ with such shallow-minded and judging folks. Thus, he turned away, pretending that there was indeed – nothing where the Skarmory was, ignoring it so well he did not even notice it’s eyes were still on him. After he’d walked a good distance away, the repetitive sound of the bird pecking began up again, and he shook his head; though he and the bird were somewhat alike, they were very different in several things, too. He wasn’t the type to judge on appearance alone; which was obvious enough, given that he didn’t see himself as someone people’s eyes would be drawn to in a ‘good’ way, unless he was with Patricia. Him, handsome? He chuckled slightly at the mere thought of anyone saying that to him, ever – he’d been called many a thing, but if he was ever called that, then he’d fully expect to see every pig Pokemon in existence flying past him at that very moment.


He was willing to accept help from others, which was the other thing different about him and the Pokemon – yet, if a person might possibly endanger themselves by helping him, or put themselves at risk, he would tell them that it was a dangerous situation – say thank you for the offer, but he would have to continue on alone. That was another bad point of his; if a situation was really, really bad, he was reluctant to accept help. For to put his friends in possible danger by helping him…he did not want that. He did not want anyone to put themselves at risk for his sake and possibly be hurt or die because of having to help him. He would place all the burdens and take them on alone with his determined, positive stride…for he would much rather struggle and fall with the burdens alone, and possibly put himself at risk, rather than endanger anybody else. It was that simple.


This had been also, a good part of why he’d jumped for the Raticate at the very end attempted to finish things with that mysterious dagger which had pulled a Houdini on him – Pepper had put herself in danger enough on his account, and he knew how tired she had been; he had hoped that by the rat being busy eating him up, it would give Pepper time to run away and recover, so that she would end up not too badly hurt because of having to help him. Pepper…where was she now? He paused in his walking a moment to rub his right shoulder, saying in almost a whisper, “Man, if it was so simple as just callin’ ya loud enough for ya to come back, Pepper…I’d call until I temporarily lost my voice, but I guess stuff ain’t ever that simple.” That aside, he shook himself, steeling himself back up quickly and eyes glinting in determination – now was no time to be feeling sorry. He had to keep going until he got results…then he could have all the time he wanted to ‘play around’, ‘play pranks’ and let those concerns out. He sucked at bottling concerns up, just like he sucked at bottling secrets. He said to himself then, “I gotta keep goin’ on. Callin’ Pepper is a alright idea, but I saw before that my voice ain’t gonna carry all that far on it’s own. I gotta search and do my best to call as I keep goin’ until I find something, and that’s that.”


Re-adjusting his glasses slightly, Roberto continued on after that moment of concern – that rare moment of concern – there was no time to show concern and worry. Worry didn’t get you anywhere, anyway. Worry was like depressive thoughts – all it did was get ya down. It was far better to stay optimistic, that way you stayed focused on your current endavours – for you naturally tried harder if you assumed and looked forward to the best rather than the worst, right? The worry was dispelled rather quickly, but the concern in him was another matter- it was pushed to the back of his head in a corner he didn’t like to even think about…but build-up of stuff there made him anxious to let it all out, just like secrets. It was the corner he shoved secrets in, actually. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to walk around with that concern in that corner –nagging constantly at the back of his head – for too long. Though his walk continued, it did not seem as if he was getting anywhere; this place was like a maze in which he did not know the proper direction, and kept looping back to the same familiar entrance over and over and over again.


Just plain, boring and uninteresting as far as the eye could see, not even any more wild Pokemon appearing. No sign of the gem or Pepper. He was completely alone. Alone. All alone. Roberto hated it, and understandably so; no friends, nobody there? It was like his worst nightmare brought to life…but then, looking on the optimistic and bright side, he’d seen that nice…unfamiliar crescent thing which had shown him that hint about the gem. Though it had disappeared, Roberto couldn’t help feeling that it wasn’t too far away – so technically, he wasn’t really alone. And that Skarmory – though it had been seemingly rather judgmental of his appearance – too. Those two Pokemon being out here – though he’d passed them by, gave him further strength to continue on, knowing that they were still out here and he was not that alone…but having no friends by his side really cut deep to him. If only there was some sort of sign or something that Pepper was safe somewhere, he could be happy. He’d be even happier if he actually managed to find her…but until that happened, he had to do his best to continue searching. He couldn’t start making up for what had happened before without someone by his side to help him – this was a wild place full of Pokemon, and he knew that he would not stand a chance against any of the Pokemon here. No matter how low-leveled or ‘weak’ others saw them as.


It was just sense, after all. Though Roberto wad determined to keep searching, he supposed that – since all this area looked the same – he should stop for just a moment and have a rest – not too long, though. To lag behind and mean that his friend suffered…he would not do that. That and, he wanted to ‘mark’ the place he was in now somehow so he could make different marks for each place he’d been, and thus be able to tell if he was going around in circles or not. That in mind, he sat down after one more step, getting his gun out and attempting to mark his name in the ground so he could tell that he’d been to this place; that way, once he finished his short rest, he’d have at least, something to go by other than very-similar looking surroundings.

Oh, leaving your mark already?

You read through the name like it was some sort of art, satisfied. The butt of your gun became rather ragged and blunt, losing any sign of newness in it. At this expense, you were able to write distinctly the letters of your name on the ground. It had been one tough ground. You felt your fingers aching when you stretched them after several minutes crouched down, gripped tightly in order to put enough pressure to leave any marks down. You stood up and began walking again.

It had been quite a wait, but you finally found something. In the middle of your search, you discovered piles of rubbles. The distance between the woody parts were so far apart that they were like jigsaw puzzles hidden in many parts. Though you didn't have the picture of the complete image, you instantly recognized the available parts as what you'd have in an ordinary house. Some parts were sunken to the ground, giving you the idea that this place was either covered in a mud, or quite an ancient place. The fact that the rubbles were far from each other add another piece of evidence.

Roberto’s intention was to ‘carve’ his name in the ground so that – at the very least – if he went around in circles and returned to this same spot again, he would know that this direction was one he’d already looked for Pepper and the strange, unfamiliar gem in. Yes, he knew such an idea would mean trying to carve in a different sign for each different ‘spot’ he visited if said place did not have any unique surroundings like a big cactus with a weird shape or a particularly strange-shaped rock that he could memorize; but it was a small price to pay to conduct a thorough search for his companion and that artifact. However, he still didn’t exactly know what the gem would do if he happened to find it; it had been important, and he’d been able to tell that much from the crescent being’s ‘vision of the past’. But how would it help him find his buddy? As long as it actually aided him in locating the lost Phanpy, then he was happy to search for it, no matter how long it took. If it assisted his ideals in being able to find and thus protect his friend – it was a gem he should try to find as quickly as possible, in that case. But what if it didn’t help find Pepper? What would he do then? He wasn’t going to think about such a possibility, mainly due to the fact he didn’t want to focus on such a negative possibility – and possibilities were possibilities! It was no good racking your head around worrisome ones like that when they might not even happen, and thus result in panicking being for nothing and making you look like a dill. That aside, he didn’t do it for want of his name to be ‘famous’ or anything like that; knowing what had happened before, people probably knew his name well enough already, for the wrong reasons.


In causing pandemonium, panic and the pain of others – and Roberto did not want to be known as that. He’d rather be seen as the ‘prankster’ – yes, it would mean that people got annoyed with him, and would lose their tempers with him a lot. But being known as someone who just wanted to teach others to have fun with life while they could and protect those who he cared about on the side of such childish, prankish actions seemed a better prospect than being seen as a ‘advent of bad luck’. That was the last thing he wanted to be seen as – people wouldn’t let him protect them, or give him the chance to try and be their friend, if they held such a stark view as that. He’d rather his name not be known much at all, or seen in an ‘annoyed’ light like people viewed most pranksters, rather than as something bad. He didn’t want others to see him as someone who sought torture and what-not, after all. They could see him as scary and judge on his appearance alone like the Skarmory had done, sure. But he didn’t want anyone to go so far and call him ‘evil’. To be called that would be like a punch to the gut for him, especially since he focused so much on trying to sort things out peacefully and protect others; he loved his job, even if it might not apply in such a place anymore, and he still wanted to adhere to it and be known by that, rather than something bad.


Being known as a ‘scary’ bodyguard and having folks spooked away was better than having everyone think you were evil. Such thoughts put to the side, he went about his intended ‘job’ of marking the ground, having to clench his fingers very tightly on the gun indeed to put enough pressure on the gun to even make a mere scratch on the ground below – though this place looked like a desert, it’s surface certainly did not resemble soft, pliable sand, to say the least. But then again, that was a good thing. If the ground had been sand, he wouldn’t have been able to leave a mark to show he’d been here and thus serve as a crude form of ‘map system’ for his search for Pepper or the gem at all, would he? The ground was so hard it scraped hard against the butt of the gun as he attempted to scratch his name down, sending a disconcerting shakiness down his hands and almost resulting in him dropping the thing half-way through, but he persisted; if that Skarmory from before could make a hole in the ground, then his gun – which was also made of metal – should be able to do the same thing! Clenching his fingers around the shaking object even tighter, he continued dragging the weapon around, the sheer force of pressure this was putting on the weapon making the bit that was jammed in the ground and making the name ragged and blunt, adding yet another layer of dust – but this layer of dust was due to being dragged so hard across the earth, not from hardly ever being used.


Needless to say, the weapon didn’t look like it had never been used for anything now, that was for darn sure. However, though the hard pressure of the ground forced against the gun and made it change shape, the ‘marking’ had been successful, Roberto pulling his weapon away and tucking it back into his pocket to see that the letters of his name had been written with an unmistakable clearness – if he resumed his search and somehow looped back here, he wouldn’t mistake this for scratchings Pokemon had made, that was for sure. The lines were bold and deliberate, and he could read through his name fine and dandy. That was good – now he had something to give him at least a little guidance in his search for his buddy. His fingers were aching terribly as he stood up and straightened himself to keep going though – gripping that gun as tightly as he had in order to leave those clear writings on the ground certainly made them ache a bit. In fact, some of the lines from his gun had actually slightly been imprinted on his hands, and the skin was darker than normal – but once his hands stopped being sore, those lines should fade soon enough. It was worth it if it helped him find his buddy quicker, anyway.


Satisfied with the mark made for his ‘searching’ purposes, he dusted his thick cargo jeans off that were slightly dusty as well - due to him having to lean over in the dirt to make said mark – after which he continued his determined search. Whether it was the simple act of marking where he’d already been so he didn’t endlessly loop in circles that had done it or something else, it was unknown; but fate seemed to smile upon the bodyguard’s optimistic and hope-driven searches, he coming across a very interesting thing indeed after a few more minutes or so of walking; huge piles of rubble suddenly littered upon the wasteland fields which had – up to this point – only had wild Pokemon and rocks on it, bits of wood clearly seen poking out of them. Roberto raised an eyebrow, letting out a whistle to himself; judging from the sheer distance the piles of rubble were from each-other, there had obviously once been something big here. Some of the bits and pieces scattered around had even sunken into the hard ground, looking for all the world like ancient monoliths hidden by the sands of time. Pieces of wood and rubble – and looking at the bits laying around in the sand, they seemed a lot like support beams. Ones you’d put on a house to support it when you were putting the framework up; but what the hell was a decrepit, busted-up house like this doing in a wasteland?! Then again, since some of the bits of the building had been buried in the ground, it must have been here a long time ago, likely before this area had been reduced to such a inhospitable place as this…


Being optimistic and the sort of person who could come up with many things due to that optimism as a result, Roberto didn’t think it was Farfetch’d to believe that people had lived in such a place, once..it must’ve been a real awesome place once. The sheer size of some of those pieces of wood was staggering. That aside, those piles of rubble really caught his eye ; they had such a heap of stuff in them that something could easily have been caught underneath them. Maybe Pepper had hidden under one of the piles for protection, and he’d find her by searching diligently through the piles of rubble? The gem could also possibly be here, too; a small object like that could easily have been misplaced in one of those several piles. Felling spurred on by such a thought, he spoke out in case Pepper was here, saying in his loud tone of voice, “Pepper! Are ya here? Give me a shout if ya are – don’t worry if you’re trapped. I’ll get ya out!” He cared not if searching through the piles of rubble scratched his hands or cut them. If Pepper was trapped in one of them, or there was a chance of finding that important-looking gem which could lead him to his friend…he didn’t care what abuse he put himself through. This wrecked building in such a desolate, lonely, boring place as this…it couldn’t be just nothing. There was something here, and he’d be willing to bet his sunglasses on that. He just wasn't sure if the something in these rubbles and near the wodden pieces was one of the important somethings he was searching for. Yet, though he did not have a clue, he was going to look. He was going to try, for her sake.

This post has been edited by Luigi on Aug 22 2010, 05:55 AM

You looked through the pile of debris. Your hands were stained by dust and dirt upon contact of these old piles of wood. For many minutes, you scoured through them like piles of paper on top of your work desk. You found nothing underneath except for a little lump on the ground you noticed. Something white was hiding under the soil. You wiped out the soil from the object. But to your shock, it had been the skull of a Pokemon or a human.

Respecting the dead, you didn't mess around that spot anymore. But going back to your problem, nothing seems to be around this area or under the debris. You could do another around just in case, though this was going to be more tiring since all you've done was take a quick look under the debris to find Pepper or anything shiny like that stone. Another round might yield to more results, or you could move forward and search elsewhere.

Caring not that the pile of wrecked building material was sitting there like an imposing pile of sludge or something toxic with those sharp-looking bit of wood poking out from it at seemingly every possible un-natural angle, or that it was covered with sediment from years of time that would undeniably get on his hands covered with dust, or he could end up getting dried, cracked-up mud setting on them, Roberto was determined to look through this bit of ‘evidence’ that could lead to the discovery of the gem, or better yet, his friend Pepper. He had to leave no stone unturned, and it felt like he was the detective instead of Patricia – normally, he protected her as best he could and assisted her with cases by pointing out things; but he hadn’t been allowed to touch any evidence himself. That would have ruined the scenes of investigations that his partner was trying to solve, and the last thing he wanted was to get in the way of her job. She was determined in doing her job, as he was in doing his own, so he’d left detective stuff to the ‘detective’. That wasn’t to say he knew nothing about investigations; he’d accompanied his partner many times on investigations to protect her and assist verbally, and scouring through the bits of assorted rubble was much like sorting through piles of ‘protection target information’ papers that his boss gave him when he had to learn more about the person he was going to protect next, when he had many ‘short intervals’ of people who wanted protection of some kind, but nothing long or ‘permanent’ until he’d met Patricia.


Patricia…she was still back where that library was, investigating things. How was she doing? He hoped she was going alright, for though she could take care of herself and he knew that; as a friend, he felt just as concerned and sometimes over-protective and worried about her as he would any other of his friends. It was no good just letting that bog him down, though – he’d nicknamed Pepper after his partner Patricia, after all. He owed it to her to find the Phanpy, as well as owing it to the Phanpy herself. Determined thoughts set squarely in place, the bodyguard pored through the pile of rubble, hands becoming dustier and dustier and the job progressed. Though he looked through the pile with as much determination as he’d had back when he’d first started the long search for his friend, he came up with nothing to show for it but very dusty hands; but wait. At the very bottom of the pile, there was a small lump on the ground, a tiny speck of white being able to be seen through the hard wasteland soil. Wanting to find out what the object was, Roberto carefully dusted it off with one of the sleeves of his red jacket, the sleeves too, taking on a somewhat darkish brown hue; however, he pulled his hand away as if stung when he dusted off the mysterious hidden white object enough to see it was a skull of some long-dead creature.


Whether it was human or Pokemon in origin, he did not know, but he wasn’t going to go defiling some poor passed-on being’s skeleton, and bowed with extreme apology to the skull before slowly, respectfully, covering it back up with sand and burying it again. That aside, there didn’t really seem to be all that much around this mysterious building that shouldn’t even BE in a place like this in the first place; what kind of drongo built a house here when there was so little food and water, not to mention people to talk to?! He couldn’t understand how anyone would want to be alone in a desolate, lonely place like this. However, he refused to give up. He’d only taken a quick, speedy look then, out of hope that a quick ‘scratching the surface’ of this place would turn up Pepper or the gem, but obviously, that wasn’t going to work. He was going to search more – just not in the place he’d re-buried the skull. He wanted to respect the dead and leave them resting in peace, thank you…he felt horrible enough that he’d accidentally dug up the skull on it’s own already. Call him superstitious or childish, but he grew up in a very spiritual town; thus, he naturally believed the legends told there as much as the nice elderly folks there did.


He wasn’t going to just up and leave this spot just yet. Call him stubborn, and call him desperate to find some sort of clue so he could protect his friend….but he felt this building had a lot more hiding around it than could be seen form just a mere ‘surface scratch’. There had to be something…anything that would help him find either the gem or Pepper. There HAD to be. He didn’t even think about the horrid fact the skull might belong to Pepper; he refused to believe that his friend had been taken down so easily and eroded so quickly. That incident with the Raticate hadn’t happened long ago at all, and that skull had seemed pretty old. Perhaps it was just his optimism talking, or he desperately didn’t want to think about losing yet another he held so dearly…but he doubted the skull was Pepper’s. It just couldn’t be. Thoughts aside, he wasn’t going to go traipsing off to look somewhere else until he was one-hundred percent sure he’d searched this building site to the utmost and best of his ability. There had to be something here other than long-ago memories of a building long eroded by the hands of time…just had to. If there wasn’t, he’d be tempted to eat his hat…if he even had a hat, that was.

You went through another round searching around. It had been a longer search, but it wasn't all for naught. After what had been ages for maybe the impatient, you found an object buried under a pile of debris. It was a dusty book sealed tightly. You once again cleaned that up (quite sure it wasn't the remains of the dead) and found something rather shocking.

But what was different was it was sealed tightly. The book lacked bounds or chains, but it refused to even let an inch open. Something magical seem to be binding it.

You also discovered something not far from the book. There was a couple of coins lying there, looking as old as the items around the area. Not that you were greedy or anything (or found anything useful with it), but you picked those up and dusted the dirt. You made a rather shocking discovery that those coins were the same as the coins used in Jemm Region.

Though Roberto knew not what this destroyed place was – only that it had likely once been a great and towering building, judging by the sheer size of some of those bits of wood half-buried in the sand like towering monoliths - he still felt that it’s ruins hid more than he had first found on his initial sweeping of the area. A big building in the middle of such a place as this? Even if it had been wrecked long ago, it definitely had to be hiding something due to how out-of-place it seemed to be in a desolate area like this. A old out-of-date map, a bit of information to where the blue gem might be…something! He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important here, even if it probably wasn’t going to be one of the important things he was looking for; if Pepper was buried under the rubble, she would have called out to him in response to his calling out to her by now, after all. The gem; now, that was a much smaller object in general. It could well be buried deeper under all this debris, for such a miniature object would be easily misplaced in a place this large; therefore, if the gem held clues to finding his buddy’s location, he had to search diligently. He still didn’t know whether that gem the crescent being had shown was actually going to be useful in such endeavors or not; but he was going to at least find it and give it a shot, if it held even the smallest glimmer of hope of finding his companion. The digging this time was much longer, as he had to move bits of the larger debris out of the way to get ‘into’ the pile properly, and it was slow work considering the fact he didn’t really didn’t have many muscles on him – he was a ‘beanpole’, not a ‘strong’ tall type, after all.


However, it seemed as though the legendary controlling fate in his life had been impressed at his diligence and the fact that – when it came to the sake of a friend, Roberto wasn’t one to simply just lie down and give up right away –for as he moved one of the last pieces of rubble in the pile, there was a object half-buried at the sand that had been all but covered by that bit of rubble. Roberto grinned in jubilation – awesome! He knew there had been something there, and he felt a thrill of excitement run through him at the possibility that this item hidden by rubble and dust could well be something that would assist him in finding his companion Pepper again. Tugging at the item, it slowly shifted out from the ground, he pulling slowly so as not to wreck the unknown object. He’d gone to such trouble to find it, so he’d better treat it carefully, obviously enough. After all, the last thing he wanted was to wreck something that was going to help him find his companion. His careful handling meant the object was retrieved from the earth in one piece, it’s shape being square and he feeling a hard cover on the thing; this was a book of some kind…but what on earth was a dusty old book doing all the way out here? He took a deep breath before blowing on the book’s cover in order to ‘blow’ the dust off, and almost dropped the book right back into the pile of debris he’d so carefully retrieved it from when the colors of the cover were revealed…this was the book that had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place that the mysterious stranger had given him!


It seemed to have aged several centuries, but he’d recognize that design anywhere. This was just getting more and more confusing; he’d had that book held tightly in his hands just before he’d suddenly gone off to that wondrous field and been suddenly attacked by the Raticate. He had not dropped it at all, for he’d kept a close grip on the thing, being too shocked at the sudden onslaught of screaming to put it down back then AT ALL – so what was it doing here? If anything, he should have had it with him when he’d suddenly appeared in that wondrous meadow and been attacked by the Raticate; but he remembered that he hadn’t had the book with him at that time…at least, he didn’t remember still having it then. He must have dropped it just before he’d ‘appeared’ in the meadow – but that again, brought up the one important question.


What was it DOING here? It still looked near exactly the same; but there was something he noticed almost right away, besides the fact it looked a lot older. It was firmly shut, and though it had opened so easily before when he’d flicked through the pages upon receiving it form the stranger, even as he moved it from hand to hand, it didn’t open. As if some sort of unseen force was preventing it from being opened…well, that was fine by Roberto. He’d had quite ENOUGH of opening that book already, thank you. He still remembered that all this mess had been started by opening it once very clearly…the screams of the people echoed in his head almost tauntingly again as he held the book in his hands…but wait. If this book had sealed the ‘evil force’ away before; it could do it again, right? Yeah…even though it reminded him of a bad event, the fact that the book had in fact, been used to contain the shadowy force away the first time this happened was fact, and an cause for optimism…with this book with him, he could actually have a stronger hope and faith of being able to fix and hopefully undo all the damage he had done. Of course, he still needed Pepper with him to be able to do anything against that ‘force’ he’d let out, he knew that; but this was a good start, and he was glad that he had taken the time to look here despite his concern for his Phanpy friend.


He hadn’t found her, but…at least he had something that would help him in trying to do the right thing and undoing the damage he’d made, now. As he tried to figure out where to put the book, attempting to shove it in one of his jacket pockets; something else in the dirt caught his eye, he diverting his attention from trying to find a big enough pocket for the book a moment to see something glittering faintly; was that the gem? His heart skipped a beat in jubilation – to find two important things in the one instance of searching would only make him more thrilled – but upon investigating that spot, all he found was loathsome money. Awful, corrupting, horrible money. He was very tempted to just throw the money he’d found right back in the dirt and blow raspberries at it before going off and leaving it there; but he noticed something about the coins. They looked just as old as the book, and they were the exact same type of coins used in Jemm Region currency. Wait…first the book, then these coins. His head connected the two pieces of evidence he’d found, and he reeled in shock, he saying, “Ack…! I d-don’t know h-how THIS is possible---but this h-has to be the l-library I ran o-out of! If I d-dropped this book before I w-was taken to the meadow and found the Raticate, it’s the only way that I could p-possibly find it here! Did the ‘curse’ I released…really do this much damage…?” He paused, looking again upon the scattered bits of building and remembering the skull he’d found; had people died because of this?


He clenched his fist angrily, this only making him more determined, he saying, “I gotta find Pepper more than evah, now. Without her…I don’t stand a chance of trying to fix all this and stopping it for the sake of all those people that got hurt. Some folks died here…I dunno whether they were Pokemon or people, but…they died because of my stupid fucking mistake. It’s all my fault they died…” He hung his head, shaking with guilt and tears welling behind his glasses; he’d felt bad enough knowing his best friends had died long ago because of him, and now this? Man, that stupid stranger had a LOT to answer for by just GIVING him such a book. If the stranger had known it was dangerous, they shouldn’t have given it out in the bloody first place…!


But getting angry at the mysterious stranger would solve nothing, though Roberto would have liked to see them again so he could punch them in the face and ask them why the HELL they did what they did when it had hurt so many…he had to focus on trying to fix all this, and he couldn’t do it alone. He needed to find Pepper more than ever now…for the sake of all the people that had died, though he was still reeling from the conclusion he’d made that this wrecked building was likely the library where it had all started. He couldn’t get all mopey and depressed; Patricia wouldn’t have wanted that. Not now, not ever. Though the guilt made him feel like a horrible monster of a person, he wasn’t going to focus on it. Instead he was going to focus on FIXING this and making everything better. No matter how childish it was of him to think he possibly stood a chance of fixing all of this; he had to try, or he’d never be able to forgive himself. He had to do it…for the sake of the people he so wanted to protect and serve. Wait…that brought up a thought.


If this was indeed, the library where it had all started…Roberto reeled, remembering in a sudden flash of inspiration the crescent being’s ‘vision’; the woman had given him the gem AT the library in the vision. If the book was here because he’d drooped it…then maybe the gem was as well? He knew such a hopeful thought was a long shot – for a Pokemon could have made off with the gem by now – but he was going to check one last time here. Third time was the charm, right? Anyway, knowing this place could well be the library made it logical – in his optimistic, hopeful mind – to assume the gem might be here too when the book had been.