//------------------------------// // Ch 3: A Secret, Huh? // Story: Gotta Catch 'Em All // by The Whiskey Spirit //------------------------------// Rainbow slowly awoke to the sound of bird call. She felt a light pressure on her head and found Jett’s head resting on her’s. She could feel the heat in her cheeks as Jett stirred, but he soon drifted back to sleep. Gently lifting his head with her hands, she released herself and laid him down on the grass. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she sat back down again. The fire from the night was nothing but a few smoldering embers and as she stared into the hot ash, she could feel her anger rising. She was angered at how easily this world scared her and made her seem far less awesome than she actually was. With a sigh, she thrusted the thoughts out of her head. Remembering what Jett said in the day prior, she wrestled with her clothing to get her wings and tail hidden from view. She plopped back down onto the log, Riolu quickly scampering to sit next to her. She could still faintly see where he got burned. The memories of last night rushed back to her, how her hesitation had injured the little guy, and the only reason he didn’t get hurt more was due to Jett stepping in. When she had seen his face, she had been scared that he would hate her, especially after he rushed to Riolu’s aid. Though he surprised her when he carried her out of the cave and said that he was sorry. Rainbow couldn’t remember the last time she screwed up and she was the one they apologized to, in fact she doesn’t remember that ever happening. She was pulled away from her thoughts as Jett groaned and sat up with a stretch, popping the bones in his back. “Ahh.” He quickly got to his feet and sat on the log. “Oh,” he said when he saw that she had hidden her extra appendages, “I see you hid your wings and tail. That’s good, ‘cuz we need to go to Littleroot and see the Professor.” Jett grabbed a pokeball from his waist, tossing it up and down momentarily. “Here.” He tossed it at Rainbow, who awkwardly caught it. Apparently Jett could see the confused look on her face, as he spoke up. “That’s the Torkoal.” He said as Riolu hopped onto his shoulder. “But, you're the one who caught it.” Rainbow frowned again. “All I did was stand there.” “Hey, what did I say about frowning? It was yours to begin with, who caught it doesn’t matter, should you have not attempted then it would be a different story. You’re the one who initiated battle, that makes the Torkoal your pokemon.” Rainbow looked down at the ball in her hands, a small smile creeping onto her lips. “I guess you’re right.” “Good, let’s get going.” Jett stood up turning in a seemingly random direction before walking. Rainbow quickly followed, placing the pokeball in one of her pant’s pockets. The forest quickly passed around them as they made their trek, the occasional pokemon moving in and out of sight. It had already been a couple minutes when Jett spoke again. “Any other stories ya got, this might take a while.” “Yeah, I could tell you how I did the otherwise impossible Sonic Rainboom.” Rainbow grinned at the chance to impress Jett after what happened last night. “Sounds interesting.” Jett deadpanned. “You bet it is! The sonic Rainboom requires a pony to break the sound barrier, which takes at least thirty wing power, which is impossible for a pony to have as their base wing power. The trick requires a pony of at least fifteen wing power to climb high into the air and launch themselves towards the ground as fast as possible, gravity gives you extra momentum so that you can reach maximum velocity, once you hit seven hundred sixty-one miles per hour, you break the sound barrier, and a spectral wave courses out of the breaking point.” She grinned at his surprise of her knowledge of the physics that was required for the Rainboom. Though Rainbow seemed to be a bit stupid, she could do flight physics in her sleep. “Now that I explained the physics so that you can be properly blown away by my awesomeness, let’s tell you about how I did it. Well, two times rather. The first time was only when I was a mere filly, maybe six or seven. There was this one group of bullies who always liked to pick on me because I defended one of my friends, who is probably the most sensitive pony in the universe. Anyways, one day, they challenge me to a race, so I jumped at the opportunity to show them up. As we raced, I noticed that the lead bully was cheating, so I launched myself towards him, trying to get all my speed so that I could still beat him, and as I descended, I performed the Sonic Rainboom. That was the event that earned me my cutie mark, and it has served as a reminder of my capabilities.” “The second time I did it was about a year ago actually. No one had believed me when I always claimed to have done it, and even I had started to fear it was all in my head. I was training for The Best Young Flyers Competition, where the grand prize was a day with my idols, The Wonderbolts. They would personally judge, and even Princess Celestia attends. After weeks of training, it was time for the competition, and let me tell you, I was a wreck. In all the time I had spent training, I had not been able to pull it off once! My friends came to support me, even the ones who couldn’t walk on clouds found a spell so that they could cheer me on. Then, my friend, Rarity, who was trying an alternate spell that they found and had gossamer wings, had basically stolen my thunder. She entered in the competition and next thing I know, I'm in the locker room. I had held off until the end at which point they said that only one of us could go, unless we went together. So we both go out there and I start doing my routine while Rarity pranced about like a ballerina. She started flying into the sky at the same point I did too, then she stopped in front of the sun and opened her wings, letting out a disco ball type effect. Then her wings burned into ash and she fell! The Wonderbolts tried to save her, but her flailing only knocked them all out. When I noticed, I barreled towards them, faster than I ever had before, and just as they were about to hit the ground, I created a Sonic Rainboom, propelling myself forward and catching all four of them before they go splat!!! It goes without saying that I won that competition!" "Well you were definitely right about it being interesting. And hey, we're almost there." Riolu agreed with a nod before pointing ahead to a small town appearing through the trees. The town only consisted of seven buildings, six of the buildings looked to be homes, two stories high and built of plaster. The last building looked the size of a small warehouse, it's white walls and rectangular design was alien to Rainbow, as she was used to more complex structures. "The good ol' lab. And only about noon too, we made good time." Jett commented as they stepped out of the forest and into the town. A couple people walked about, chatting, farming, or just enjoying the calm atmosphere, all greeted Jett with a wave and a smile, which he and Riolu returned in kind. The two quickly made their way to the lab and entered. Inside were machines that made Rainbows head spin. Wires and tubes snaked around and led to plugs in the wall and machines, going through the wall, and somehow being both neat and messy at the same time. In multiple area's were large towers of metal and glass, fans and gears whirring visible inside. Rainbow could only assume that they were either a secondary power source or had some effect that was invisible to the technological amature. Rainbow could not comprehend what all the machines did, and instead chose to focus on the large man that Jett had already been greeted by and were currently talking quietly. The Professor was rather chubby, giving him the impression of a teddy bear. His dark brown hair and beard trailed down his jawline. As Rainbow shimmied over, she heard a little snippet of their conversation. "-haven't told her yet?" The fat man asked in a hushed voice. "I'd rather not. She'll be off on her own thing soon enough." Jett replied. What do they mean? What does Jett want to keep secret? Rainbow asked herself as she pretended to closely observe a machine. "Don't you think she has a right to know?" The professor's voice serious. What does he mean? "What does it matter? She’ll be gone, and I’ll be left alone again." "It's been four years since you came here. I know that you must be lonely." She heard Jett sigh. "So long as Riolu’s with me, I’m happy." Rainbow found it time to stop listening in and spoke up. "Hey, uh, what does this thing do?" She asked, standing in front of the machine that she had been 'inspecting'. "Ah," the professor's voice suddenly changed to a much more friendly tone, "That my insta-healing machine, although I really need to get it a better name. I have been working on a way to instantaneously heal pokemon. I still need to find a way to successfully have it inject a medicine into a pokemon while inside a pokeball. It’s still a work in progress though." "Huh." "So, professor. You said you have something of a surprise for me?" Jett had an eyebrow raised. "Ah, yes. Over here." The large man led Jett toward a table at one end of the lab. On the table were two strangely shaped, red devices. "Are those what I think they are?" Jett asked apprehensively, obviously knowing what the two devices were. "Eeyup, two pokedexes, just got in the other day." He picked them up and handed one to Jett, who caught it and flipped it open to reveal two small screens. On the left side of the top screen was three holes, and in the corresponding place on the bottom was a cross with arrows on it. Next to the cross, on the edge, was a small green quarter sphere. "I have enough for the two of you." He stated before handing the other to Rainbow. "Quite the gift, you sure you want to give them to us?" Jett asked the professor, who nodded. "You'll get more use out of them than I will." He said with a smile. "Besides, giving always feels better than using something yourself." Rainbow saw a quick flash of an alabaster coat in her vision as the professor’s generosity reminded her of her friend. "Hey, do you have a paper and pencil?" She asked, remembering the lighter in her pocket. "Yeah, give us a couple sheets actually." The professor nodded and went off to find the requested materials and returning in quick succession. He handed them to Rainbow, but Jett took them from her, responding before she could speak. "You don't know how to write yet." He pointed out causing Rainbows annoyance to disappear, but quickly reinitiated as she thought about how out of tune she was with her new body. "So what are you going to do now?" The professor asked, his arms crossed. "I don't exactly know, I might just explore this region, maybe try out the Gyms. Hell, I might come back here so that you don't have to find obscure things to research." He said with a chuckle, soon joined by the professor. "Maybe. Well, I hate to keep you. Off you go." He started shooing them out. "But I just got here." Jett complained. "But you need to get going. The story must progress!" "The fuck does that mean!?" Jett asked in confusion. "That's for me to know, and you two to never find out!" He happily chirped. "What!?" He asked again. Rainbow knew better that to ask, else she might get more confused. The professor didn't answer, instead he sent Jett out the lab. "Have an adventure!" He sang before shutting the door, which soon reopened so that Rainbow could walk out. "Uh. That's new." "You get used to it." Rainbow said, referring to Pinkie Pie, and she, admittedly, missed her randomness. "But... urg, fine." Jett shook his head before walking off. "That guy confuzles me sometimes." "Confuzles?" Jett didn't respond to her confusion, instead leading her off into the forest again. "Now where are we going?" "Oldale town. Next town close by, and we need to grab some items." "I have a feeling we're gonna be doing a lot of walking." "Yep." Rainbow groaned. "Any other stories?" Jett asked. "Nope." "Joy." ~-~ Rainbow and Jett walked through the forest. They had been enveloped in silence as neither of them had anything to say. Rainbow didn't really feel up to telling a story, and when she had tried to get one out of him, he wouldn't do so. She could tell that he was thinking about something, probably the secret he doesn't want her to know about. "Urggggg, I'm so bored!" She complained, putting her hands behind her head. "That happens when there’s not much to do." Jett replied. The two had returned to their silence again. Trees passed in a seemingly endless fashion, and Rainbow started counting the stars in the sky. "Wait a second." Jett paused and looked back. "Shouldn't we rest? It's night." Jett turned his head skywards, viewing the expanse of space above. "What!? It was just day!" His gaze quickly returned to Rainbow. "You stay here, I'll go grab some fire wood." Jett walked off before Rainbow could respond. She shook her head in amusement. She grabbed the pokeball from her pocket, releasing the Torkoal inside. "Torkoal!" It cried, facing Rainbow before approaching. She scratched his head, smoke seeping out of the shell. "I wonder how Tank is doing. Heh, I bet Fluttershy has him at her house." Rainbow sighed as Torkoal laid down next to her, it's body heat seeping through her clothing quickly. "Heh, you're pretty warm aren't you?" "Tor!" He cried. The two just sat there, the trees and grass slowly fading into darkness. ~-~ Jett returned to where he left Rainbow Dash to find her asleep with her Torkoal. He smiled at the sight and quietly let down the pile of wood he was carrying before finding stones to lay in a circle. He then placed some wood inside the circle and lit it. A silvery flame slowly ate at the wood, and as it crackled, Jett stared at the black lighter. His thumb wiped over a section, revealing a small silvery shine underneath before placing it back in his coat. A sigh escaped his lips as he lay down at the trunk of a tree adjacent to Rainbow's. He stared at her momentarily, pondering what Birch had said, he didn’t exactly know what to do at the moment. So instead, he closed his eyes and went to sleep, hopefully things would clear up tomorrow. ~-~ The screen slowly fades to black before a crack appears in the fabric of reality. Professor Birch's plump foot suddenly breaks through the crack, light erupting from the hole. The foot retracted and Birch's face takes it's place. "Oh, how I just love a good story. The plot is thickening now. How exciting.” He laughed like a demented maniac. “Well, that's all folks."