Chapter 48: Memorable
"Mmmh…what did I do wrong this time…" I said with my hand on my knee and looking down to avoid Rika's complicated gaze.
Geeta was also beside her, and her expression was even more complicated than Rika's as she massaged her brow.
I was brought there after my class, as apparently I caused a lot of trouble and they needed an explanation or something like that.
I didn't listen well because they lured me here with a poképuff, so I was too distracted to hear their full words.
…but I did get the poképuff, so it isn't that bad.
"Don't you remember, you sort of stole all the electricity generated for the academy, making all of our installation pitch black for a moment, and a lot of data was erased at the same time. Of course there was nothing important among those who disappeared, and for those we did lose we just need to find what Meltan stocked the information for themselves, so we will be able to recuperate all of them soon."
Oh…so nothing wrong happened, that's nice.
"But that's not the problem, now we need to make the pokemon do overtime to regenerate all the energy you took, which I'm sure would violate a lot of conventions if it were heard about…or if they weren't all strong electric-type pokemon who gave us the energy." Geeta added as she started to tighten her tie.
Oh, so nobody important got harmed, that's nice.
"And also, I need to mention that…"
"Geeta…you can stop…he doesn't care." Rika interrupted her as she pointed toward me.
Geeta followed her gaze and looked at me for an instant before sighing. "I guess you're right."
"Ah…listen Luciel, I'm sure you're not realizing the impact of what you've done…or maybe you might, and simply don't give it any value…but this could also negatively impact you." Rika try to explain to me. "But she probably assumed that by my lack of reaction, I didn't understand her…she would be right to assume that, but it would be best for her to change the way she read my feelings. "Alright…the biggest problem you caused is that you provoked once more panic among the students…and if you continue like that, you will lose all the opportunity to make friends."
I left my mouth gasping at this reaction. "What…but why? I didn't even panic this time…is…is it because they had to be exposed to my sight?"
"No, it's nothing like that, it's just that them being forced to close their eye, and some even reported feeling intense dread as if they would die if they opened their eye." Rika tried to reassure me, but it only made my pout.
"It's not my fault that everyone has such bad taste that they die by the sight of the true form of Pandora!" I grabbed Pandora off my shoulder and gave him a deep hug.
But to my surprise, both women altered their shocked look at me then Pandora. "Wait…what the hologram tried to recreate…was your pokemon?"
I shook my shoulder at the question. "I don't know…I can try to ask the hologram if you want."
"No, that's not what I mean…we just thought that you were the one who somewhat infiltrated the AI to create this for whatever reason, as we were already aware of you taking the sense of the Meltan inside the building…so we thought that what happened was because of you…but you're telling me…it was because of your pokemon?"
My shoulder stiffened as I immediately covered Pandora with my body by leaning over him. "No! It's not Pandora! It's all me! He did nothing wrong! Punish me instead for having…euh…infiltrating the…the thingy…but not Pandora!"
"Luciel." Geeta called me in a low voice, which made me slowly redress myself, allowing the vision of Pandora to reach her again. This allowed me to see her looking at expressionless, while Rika had to hold tight to the sofa as she looked in pain.
I suddenly realized that I once again released my aura toward them, and immediately thought about the good moment I had before addressing them again. "You…see…this is all me…so blame me."
Rika took a deep breath before addressing me again. "No, don't worry, Luciel…we won't do anything to Pandora… It's just that we all thought that his costume was a part of himself…so we never assumed that he had a true form under him that was so…terrifying."
"No! It's just that he is so cute that people die because they are overwhelmed by his cuteness! But because people are stupid they assume he is ugly." I spat out back, which startled Rika.
"…then why is he wearing a costume then?"
"…because he's shy."
"Kyu!"
"Oh right, also because he really likes it…I was the one who made the outfit…but he was the one who drew over it! Look how much better he made it!" I reached my arm toward them so they could comprehend how ugly they were compared to his beauty. And from the way they look at him with hidden disgust can only mean they feel disgusted thinking of themselves as being pretty!
"…well fine, still, you need a punishment for your action." Geeta advanced toward me, which immediately made me hug Pandora in fright.
But Rika didn't let her do as she wished and stood up angrily from her chair. "Punish him? Have you lost your mind?!"
Geeta stopped walking and pushed a deep sigh before turning back to Rika. "I can guarantee you that I'm fully conscious of my action, which is why I even know why you are angry right now."
"Oh please spare me from your proof, I'm asking why you are trying to punish Luciel while he did absolutely nothing to cause the situation in the first place. He only listened to the explanation WE gave him!" Rika threw back.
"I know, I know very well that he isn't responsible for what happened…but only we know that right now. The other students are currently all assuming he did this on purpose."
"Well then just announce to them what really happened!"
"Announce what, that the unstable kid who today marked the first day that he was able to not blow up has a pokemon that can kill you if you watch his true form for an instant? Do you see how this will make the situation worse?! Now no one would want to be Luciel's friend if we say that."
I jolted at the horror scenario and immediately turned toward Rika. "I…I don't mind receiving a punishment if it means I can keep getting friends."
Rika stopped to argue with Geeta and looked at me with sadness. "Luciel…you…aaah…you knew that would happen didn't you?" Geeta accused Geeta, but she denied all claims.
"Of course not, on the contrary I am cheerfully surprised that he is willing to take the blame for this despite knowingly being innocent. How courageous of you, I'm happy you're thinking of the well-being of the academy." Geeta lowered toward me to headpat my head, but it was grabbed by Rika.
"Geeta…you hired me to help his mental, so please don't make my job any harder than it already is."
…oh…so receiving headpat his bad for me? …but I like them.
Geeta's smile disappeared as she stood up straight whole releasing her hand from Rika's grip. "You're right…I shouldn't do that to a child…I was just too used to the others…I'm sorry."
Rika raised an eyebrow at her apologies before gesturing with her head toward my direction.
"Right…it's not to you that I should apologize, it's to you Luciel that I should offer them."
I looked up in surprise, as I didn't fully understand why she was even apologizing to me, didn't she just say I was good for not going against them? What's wrong with that?
"Now, I agree with Rika that you don't deserve a heavy punishment for what you did…or more precisely for what you were a victim of. But if you want to preserve your few hope of having a good reputation, you must at least give the impression of being punished."
I threw a gaze toward Rika just in case, but it seemed that as much as it conflicted her, she wasn't able to muster a counter-argument, so I focused back on Geeta instead.
"Alright, so what do you want to do? Will you whip me in public? Hang me in the sun? Or maybe will you…"
Geeta put a finger in front of my mouth to make me stop talking, so I did. She didn't look shocked by my idea, nor disappointed, so I suppose she did that only because I was stopping her from having a good idea.
In the back I could also hear Rika murmuring her own idea…even if I'm not sure it was really that effective of a punishment. "I will have to talk about his manner of expressing himself for the next session."
But Geeta nudged me on my shoulder, which made me focus on her again. "So Luciel, for your punishment, you will have to find another pokemon, and you will be forced to only use him for the rest of the years except if allowed the contrary."
I froze at her words as I made my brain work even harder in order to fully comprehend what she just said. And the moment it did, I grabbed Pandora tightly in my arms and tried to run away, just to fall my head flat on the ground,
Ouch.
Before I could try to rise on my own, Geeta grabbed me by the arms and helped me stand up before petting my head. I don't know why, but the sensation I felt helped me calm down enough to stop my desire to run away.
"Kyu. (Sold out.)" Pandora said in exasperation.
Pandora's insult made me remember why I was even attempting to run away, but I knew it was too late now.
But it seems I didn't have to worry about anything in the first place, and Geeta made sure to make it clear. "I'm not asking you to get rid of Pandora, not only do I know very well how much you depend on him to keep your sanity alive, but it would also go against all of our values if you really had to keep him inside your pokeball by force constantly."
As my worries were dissipated, I let out a sigh of relief. But still, I couldn't help but wonder about more specific things. The thing I didn't have the chance to ask yet, as Geeta continued.
"What we will ask you is that during the fighting course, you won't be able to use your pokemon to fight or train. So you will be forced to have another pokemon or fail each class."
"…and what happens if I do that?" I asked just in case.
"…well, if you really don't care about your grade, then you might as well just give up on the academic part. Of course I can allow you to stay, and you could even participate in the class. But you will be free from all the responsibility of it, such as the grade, homework, exam or expectation of the teacher. You will be considered free. Of course you will have no problem even if you do that, as you are allowed to stay on these prestigious grounds as long as you wish, or you could even buy yourself an expensive estate just for yourself and hire as many servants as you want to satisfy your every need." Geeta proposed, and I was almost tempted by the offer, but in the end I shook my head. "No…Cynthia wouldn't like that I took the easy way out…we would probably stop being friends if I chose that."
Without giving me any reaction, Geeta simply nodded before removing her hand from my head. "Then I would have to ask you to catch another pokemon to use. This should be a considerable punishment for the other student, as you would have to start with a partner you trust less. And also, it will allow you to not recreate the same situation as you did today."
I moved my head toward Pandora to see how he would react to this proposition.
"Mi mi, kyu. (As long as I can stay with you, I don't mind.)"
"Thanks Pandora." I petted Pandora before looking back at Geeta. "Alright…but if I can ask…how do I capture another pokemon?"
I mean, I don't think any pokemon would like to spend any second with me, only Pandora is able to tolerate my presence…the other pokemon always ran away from me.
…at least they didn't hurt me contrary to the other.
"Do not tell anyone else, but there will be an expedition on Saturday, and you can use that opportunity to capture a pokemon of your choosing. Just make sure to carry some pokeball with you, you have more than enough SP to buy the best one." Geeta added as she started to walk away from me.
Ah, there it is, that same name to keep coming back, but one I have absolutely no knowledge of! Finally, I can ask the question! "What is a pokeball?"
Geeta's hand froze right before she could grip the handle and she slowly looked at me with a raised eyebrow. But apparently, this was a surprisingly calm reaction, as Rika only left her mouth wide open in shock, and she even dropped her pen. "You have no idea what a pokeball is? You're telling me that despite acing your language test with not a single mistake in any category…you still ignore what their existence is?"
I couldn't help but realize that Geeta had already read all of our copy…well not that there was a lot of them, but I wonder when she got the time to do it.
Oh right, a question was asked, I must answer! "Well…no…I did see them before, but I was never explained what they do…so I don't understand why anyone carries them…but they seem precious to others…despite apparently being cheap…so I don't know really what to make out of it."
"Did you never see anyone use one previously?" Geeta probed for more.
"Well…no…should I have?"
Or maybe it's something in my memory that I deeply locked in the back of my mind? But I don't see what could be traumatizing enough for me to block that memory about these little balls?
"Didn't any refugee carry any pokemon with them when they arrived?"
I leaned my head to the side as I wondered if she was fine in the head. Of course they wouldn't carry pokemon; they were considered murderous beasts that only exist to make our lives miserable…oh wait, everyone here carries pokemon with them don't they? Maybe the residents of the sanctuary were the crazy ones?
Well why do I need to consider this question when someone else knows the answer? "They say that pokemon were a threat to them, so they didn't carry any…but you do…all of you do…so were they stupid?"
"…well that depends on a lot of circumstances, not everyone can carry a pokemon with them, as they can still be hostile to humans, but any sensible person should be able to raise them by their side…didn't your…didn't the Emperor of the Barren have any pokemon?"
I rapidly shook my head to the question. "Of course not, but he did have a divine emissary by his side! One sent directly by the sun to help guide the unworthy." I copied the exact same words my progenitor used when he described his aid.
Geeta looked at me in silence before tipping rapidly on her meltan keyboard before turning it in my direction. "By any hazard, is that how this 'divine' aid looked like?"
Pandora gazed at the picture she just showed me, and indeed, it showed one of an orange rock creature with some yellow crystal at its side and a piercing red gaze. All the combinations made him look like the sun.
"Yes, that's him." I stopped for an instant as I looked back at the picture just to make sure I wouldn't make a mistake. "Wait no…his one was more…big…and the crystal on its side was separated by 16cm from each other."
"…so you're saying that it does look extremely similar to the one that the emperor had?"
"Yes…" The realization of how she even got this picture suddenly dawned on me as I looked at her in surprise. "Wait, how did you get access to such a picture…did an emissary of the sun only visit you?"
Geeta took back her screen while shaking her head. "No, as this is not an emissary of the sun, but a somewhat rare pokemon, but certainly not to the standard that you are describing. His name is solarock."
"…so…"
"Yes, your father was indeed lying to you again…and the rest of the population to…" Geeta said to me before mumbling inside her hand. "But how did the refugee not realize the superfuge…I can understand for Luciel, but there should have been at least one person knowledgeable enough to know the existence of a Solarock…"
As Geeta was finally distracted by her own concern, Rika finally had the chance to take back the reins on the conversation. "Well, Luciel, this is great news, because if you don't know what a pokeball is, that means you can create yourself another marvellous memory!"
My ear immediately perked up toward her at the mention of memory. "Really?"
That amazing! I didn't know that not knowing about pokeball would lead me to a nice memory! This is the best!
I approached her with anticipation as I could barely contain myself from jumping around…well no, it was rather easy to not to, but I did want to do it anyway.
Noticing my excitement, Rika smiled before reaching for a pokeball behind her and handing it to me.
The pokeball was of a different colour than the others, with a green disk on top, and some weird red droplet on the side and a yellow dot at the top.
"This is a Friend Ball, which is a special type of pokeball that helps the pokemon captured by it to become friendly toward you. It's a highly coveted Pokeball designed for kids or normal people, as it allows the Pokémon to be docile. However, for you, it will serve as a symbol of your friendship with Pandora." Rika explained with a smile.
"But…how will Pandora enter something so small…I know he can get even smaller…but I won't be comfortable for him." I said worriedly as I considered stopping this plan, as no good memory is worth making Pandora uncomfortable.
But Rika immediately reassured me that my worries were for naught. "Don't worry Luciel, that's not how pokeball works. To explain the functioning of a pokeball is quite complex, but to make matters simple, pokemon have a stable organism that combinate physical matter with pokenergy. Which is why they are able to throw special attacks, or can seem stronger than us. However, with a pokeball, it envelops the pokemon with synthetic pokenergy to overwhelm that balance to make their pokenergy more prominent."
"Does it hurt?" The process she just described seems extremely painful to experience.
But Rika shook her head. "That's only because I only described the overall of what is happening, the process itself has a lot more components that make sure the pokemon isn't hurt during the capture. By the way, to respond to your earlier question, the reason why every pokemon can fit inside such a tiny ball, from the smallest of Joltick to the tallest exeggutor, is because once they are covered in so much pokenergy, they temporarily lose their physical form and thus become pokenergy, allowing them to change size to be reabsorbed by the ball." Seeing that I still had doubts about her words, she reached for her own pokeball and showcased it to me.
Inside, I could see the form of her cute clodsire sleeping peacefully inside the ball, with no trace of pain whatsoever.
"Oh…but then why do we need to carry them into these pokeball, if you can just let them out?" I said as I placed my arm in such a way that I could immediately catch Pandora after he jumped into my arm.
"Well there are various benefits. First, the more time they spend inside a pokeball, the more they are exposed to a calm exposure to pokenergy, making them slowly more friendly to their owner. But also, it helps them relax way better than when they are exposed out on the outside, so if they are sickly, hurt, or simply want to sleep well, the pokeball is the perfect way to accomplish that objective."
So Pandora would sleep better if he were inside there? Does he even sleep actually? I actually never know, because he is always the one to wake me up first, never the inverse. And I'm also the first one to sleep too, so I never saw him tired.
I thought about asking him, but Pandora answered before I could.
"Mi kyu, muy. (I don't have a brain, I don't need to sleep.)"
Gaps! Don't you dare to call yourself an idiot!
Before he could answer back, I took him into a deep hug, to the confusion of Rika, but what she thought didn't matter to me right now, only to make Pandora feel stupid for daring to call him stupid mattered!
"Kyu! (That's not what I mean!)"
"Luciel, is everything alright?" Rika asked in worry.
I remembered that she was there and nodded my head, which also made me rub my face on Pandora's main body, which only made him shyer. "It's just that Pandora called himself brainless, so I'm making him learn how stupid it is to call himself that with snuggle! He gets very embarrassed when I show him affection after all."
Her eyes widened in surprise, before they softened with a calm smile on her face. "That's adorable, then I really chose the best pokeball for this moment, as both of you are already best friends, their nothing better than to celebrate your bond than a friend ball."
I remembered what we were even talking about before I got distracted before posing Pandora on the ground. "So…I just…touch him with the pokeball?" I asked about uncertainty.
"That's right, and by then, Pandora will officially be considered as your own, so no one will be able to take him away from you, and if they dare to, you can just call him back to your side by just clicking the button at the center."
The new information made my brain fry with. "You mean that now…no one will be able to take him away from me?"
"That's exactly right, as long as you don't lose your pokeball of course." She responded with a smile before nudging me to continue. "Try your best to remember the most of this scene, and try to make it worth remembering, so don't do anything you will regret. I talked with a lot of different person, and I can tell you that one moment they all remembered vividly was their first capture. Some are filled with joy, others with grievance…and I can say that there was an extremely pattern between them in how they acted now."
I slowly caressed the pokeball, before taking a deep breath and trying to approach it toward Pandora.
Pandora looked completely unbothered by the action…no, that's false, in fact he looked completely overjoyed, but he made sure to rest where he was as he waited for me to reach him.
The same couldn't be said for me, as my hand was shaking even more for each millimetre that my hand approached Pandora.
Which was weird, considering that I was the one who controlled every inch of my body, so for this to happen, it could only mean that…I was scared. That deep inside me, I was scared that Pandora would eventually want to leave me, that maybe the simple sight of me would make him enter a deep rage…so that's why I was scared of making my friend…mine.
Despite everything I learned here, despite everything that was said to me, how could I dare to think anything was different? How could I dare make Pandora mine? No one deserved such a fate, especially not my best friend!
…wasn't I already selfish enough?
This thinking was probably the reason why my hand completely stopped right in front of Pandora's body.
"I…I can't make him mine…he doesn't deserve that." I pushed a sigh as I tried to retrieve the pokeball out of the way.
I couldn't see Rika's reaction, nor Geeta's one as presently all the eyes of Pandora were directed toward me.
That means I couldn't see Pandora's expression either…But I was never able to…yet now, as every other time, I was still able to know…and right now, he felt disappointed.
Which was probably the reason why Pandora didn't wait for me to bring back my hand to my side and jumped directly into the ball, covering him in pokenergy.
I wasn't able to see anything else after, as my connection with him was abruptly cut, which knocked me down.
"Luciel?" I think I heard Rika starting to worry about me, but I wasn't in a state where I could care about it anymore, as I couldn't sense Pandora beside me anymore.
Usually, I would have the capacity to rationalize that Pandora was still beside me, just inside a pokeball. But that wasn't what I was thinking.
"I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone." Like a broken record, I kept repeating the same thing as I grabbed my leg and approached them near my head in a weak attempt to calm myself down.
But just as I was about to claw my own leg to feel pain to distance myself from the pain, I felt a wingle inside my hand.
I wasn't able to see it, but this weak movement made me recover my mind for a short moment. "Pan…Pandora…is it you?"
But there was no answer…of course there could be no answer…I was alone, Pandora left me, and I'm worth nothing…so I'd better…
Another wiggle happened inside my hand, with enough force so that I could fully recover my spirit.
Right…Pandora…choose me…he accepted to be mine…he is with me…
I slowly took the pokeball and approached it toward my chest.
Here…now I can always feel you…always…by my side.
A last wiggle happened, then the sound of a click…But I didn't care about that anymore, only the sensation of being filled deep inside.
pssh
But the pokeball opened by itself, and soon, I could feel the whole body of Pandora around me.
…stop Pandora…you know that makes me shy.