From: "Rob" <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] A Noble Pilgrimage Date: Sunday, January 25, 2004 4:30 AM Clayton wrote: >> Bandraptor wrote: >> >> "Anyway," Sapphire cuts Bob off, and motions to Elsa, who is sleeping >> in a chair beside them, "it wouldn't be very hero-like of me to >> abandon this fine lady. And she *is* fine." He casually cups a hand >> over her left breast. "I think I'd better stay here to monitor her >> heart rate." >> >> Bob gingerly takes hold of Sapphire's hand, and moves it onto Elsa's >> wrist. "You can get a better reading from the radial artery." He >> turns to his Girafarig, "Raffy, keep an eye on this guy, okay?" >> >> Raffy narrows his eyes at his Trainer, and projects his thoughts >> psychically, #Like you haven't given me enough work already?# > > "Nope. You're still kicking, aint ya?" Bob quipped back the slightly > overworked Girafarig. "Gotta leaf." And with that, Bob left. > > Raffy just sighed at the bad pun. 'He's starting to sound like me. > Scary' About an hour after Bob left the Pokemon Center, the sedative that Nurse Joy injected into Elsa's veins starts to wear off. She moans a little as she regains consciousness, startling Sapphire, who takes his hands away from Elsa's thighs, the latest place he figured he could get a good "heart rate" sample from, and places them behind his head. When Elsa lifts her eyelids, revealing drowsy green eyes, she sits up in the couch she's on and looks around, trying to figure out where she is. She's awoken in the same exact room for ten long years, so she's a bit startled by her surroundings. She's even more startled when her head turns to face a smiling young man with ash-colored eyes and silvery blue hair. Seeing him, she remembers where she is. "...Sapphire, right?" "That's right." Sapphire continues to smile as he says, "It's nice to see you up and about and not screaming like a banshee." "Screaming?" When Sapphire mentions what she was doing before the nurse gave her a tranquilizer, Elsa remembers what was going through her mind the moment she started to scream. However, the violent memories aren't quite as vivid this time and she's able to recognize that they don't actually belong to her. She's remembered things she's done as other personalities before, but the memories that induced her recent nervous breakdown were nothing like those. It was almost as if she was receiving them from someone else. "Sapphire... have you ever killed someone?" Sapphire sweatdrops when the question is asked, wondering if Elsa knows about his secret identity, "What? No, of course not! I'm just a happy-go-lucky Pokemon Trainer on a journey through Hoenn - I wouldn't hurt a Venonat, let alone KILL someone! Why do you ask?" "I think I picked up on somebody's thoughts before I started screaming," Elsa replies, looking around Mauville City's Pokemon Center to see where else the thoughts could have originated. Noticing that the blue-haired man sleeping on a couch opposite where she's seated has a pained expression on his face, Elsa quickly stands up, points at him, and says, "I've got to get away from this man - I think he sent me his bad dreams somehow! If he does it again, I could have another nervous breakdown then the nurse might want to send me to Verdanturf Town's Asylum! I have to get out of here! Roselia! Where are you, Roselia?!" "Rose!" Roselia calls out to Elsa from her place in the pot on the front desk. She starts digging herself out of the dirt she planted herself in about an hour ago, wanting to follow Elsa when she leaves the Center. Seeing that his prey is about to leave, Grey decides to formulate a plot to keep the fresh meat within his reach. Sapphire, ever ready to assist a damsel in distress, stands up and places his hands on Elsa's shoulders from behind, saying, "I'll go with you, Elsa - considering what happened just outside this Pokemon Center when we met, you really shouldn't travel through Hoenn without a partner to help you through rough times." "Thank you! You're too kind!" Elsa says, not turning to face Sapphire since her eyes are set on her Roselia, "Hurry up, Roselia! This guy could send any one of us another one of his nightmares at any moment!" "Sel-i-A!" Roselia says as she digs her tiny root legs out of the dirt and hops out of the pot. The Thorn Pokemon then jumps off the desk and runs over to where Elsa is, sensing the urgency in Elsa's tone. Elsa carefully picks up the fully recovered Roselia and runs out of the Pokemon Center, Sapphire right behind her. One of the eyes on Raffy the Girafarig's tail stares at Sapphire as the young man follows Elsa outside the Pokemon Center. The two eyes on Raffy's head, however, are closed since the Pokemon is fast asleep. The Girafarig had fallen asleep over half an hour ago, reasoning "Breeder Boy told me to keep an eye on Sapphire - he didn't specify which one". Letting out a sigh of relief when she sees that the two Ludicolo guards at the entrance of the Pokemon Center are still asleep, Elsa hurries past them, not wanting to have another Hydro Pump shot at her. The brown-haired girl is only able to relax when she's set foot on Route 110. She puts Roselia on the grass and rest her hands on her knees. As he approaches her from behind, Grey admires Elsa's backside. When he arrives at Elsa's side, Sapphire comments, "I think we're at a safe distance now. I see you decided to head south of Mauville instead of north, east, or west - are you on your way to somewhere in particular?" "Yeah..." Elsa answers Sapphire's inquiry, "I'm on my way to Littleroot Town. I want to get a starter Pokemon from Professor Birch's Lab." "Ah, yes, the journey to Professor Birch's Lab - a noble pilgrimage that any Pokemon Trainer in Hoenn must make at some point in their lives." Sapphire decides to kick his newbie rhetoric into high gear, "Why, I recently got my own starter Pokemon from Professor Birch. We're a lot alike, you and I - starting our Pokemon Journeys later in our lives. Out fighting the good fight with our trusty young Pokemon by our sides!" Roselia eyes Sapphire suspiciously through her eye-slits. He claims to be a lot like Elsa, but she gets negative vibes from the male human. "Yeah... I guess we are alike in that regard." Elsa is curious as to why Sapphire started training so late in life, but knowing that asking him would almost certainly prompt a question along the lines of "What about you?", Elsa remains quiet, not wanting to tell him that she spent ten years in Verdanturf's Asylum. "So you're going to come with me to Littleroot Town? You really don't have to, if you have other plans..." Sapphire smiles at Elsa, "Thanks for your concern, but I'm on my way to Rustboro's Gym to try to earn my first Badge. Littleroot Town's on the way, so tagging along with you won't set me off course." Having already carefully studied his white Pokenav's maps, Sapphire knows that the Rusturf Tunnel in Verdanturf Town is a shortcut to Rustboro City, but since Grey thinks he has good chances of scoring with Elsa, he decides to not mention the shorter route to Rustboro. Elsa asks, "What about Bob?" "Are you suggesting we rent a movie before going to Littleroot Town? I'd love to, but we'd have to watch it in your place..." "No, no, no..." Elsa clarifies, "What about that other guy I met when I met you? Wasn't his name Bob? Are you just going to leave him here?" "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm going to part ways with Bob here." Sapphire says, "He's a far more advanced Pokemon Trainer than I am. While you were asleep, he went to face the THIRD Gym in Hoenn. I'd be much better off traveling with you than Bob. We can learn about Pokemon and challenge Gym Leaders together since we're at about the same level in our training! Besides, you're MUCH cuter than Bob." Sapphire winks at Elsa. Elsa giggles and blushes. Looking into Sapphire's handsome smiling face, she's very glad that she's been cured of her multiple personality disorder. Usually, whenever a guy called her cute, she'd blank out then find they were no longer interested in her when she regained consciousness. Her doctor had told her that certain interactions with males triggered a male personality who called himself Shawn. Now is Elsa's chance to finally get close to a guy without Shawn ruining the relationship, and Sapphire certainly seems like a nice guy who can be trusted. After thinking about this, Elsa tells the brave man who rescued her from the Ludicolo, "You're pretty cute yourself, Sapphire." -Elsa