Life Goes on

This was originally saved as chapter 8, but it's chapter 7 now. 


Chapter 7

            “We’ve been here for two whole weeks and we haven’t done anything to return home or prepare.”  Clair reminded Sabrina.
            “I know.”  Sabrina replied.  She smiled wanly.  “We’ve already taken care of that.  We will meet in Savannah Square to discuss the problem.  We leave tomorrow.”
            <Yes, tomorrow,> Liza repeated.
            <We will go to Savannah Square,> Tate affirmed.
            Will joined them.  <So where is that again?>
            Liza and Tate sighed in exasperation.  Tate spoke.  <Just follow the road north, Will.>
            <You can’t miss it.> added Liza.  Privately to Tate she said, <He probably will end up missing it…>
            <Okay then.  North on the road.  Got it.>
            <And Sabrina,> Liza continued, <from where you are it’s down the south road until you get to a village called Pearl Cove, and then east to Savannah Square.>
            <All right,> Sabrina answered.
            <And Tate~> she said, continueing,
            <I know where it is, Liza!  Remember?>  He sounded annoyed.  <Then maybe you need directions.  Fine.  From where you are it’s~>
            <Okay,okay already!> Liza replied, laughing.  <Does everyone know where they’re going?  Good.  Then you should get ready to leave.>
            <What about the natives?> asked Sabrina.
            <What about them?> Tate answered.
            <Didn’t you say they fight Team Rocket also?>
            <Yes.  Yes!  They can help us!  Good thinking!  Now what?  We should send runners to each city then, telling any who want to fight Team Rocket can come to Savannah Square.> Liza brewed up ideas already.
            After Liza was finished dictating to the man what she wanted written on the letter, she had him copy it three more times.  She told the man to deliver them to Hanyo (to the southeast of Backwood), Ruby Ridge (to the north near the volcano), Clear Spring (to the west near the ‘clear spring,’ the town’s namesake), and to Cliff’s Edge (very far to the south, near Bayville where Will’s group stayed).  She knew Tate was doing the same for the towns of Glenshore, Pearl Cove, Savannah Square, Bayville, and his own Glitter Gorge.  Liza also made an announcement to Backwood.  “All those brave warriors who wish to help us trainers defeat Team Rocket once and for all, come with me tomorrow at dawn to attend a rally at Savannah Square!”  There was an overwhelming response.  Fifty willing warriors from Backwood joined her and the trainers the next morning, guiding them quickly down the path to Savannah Square.  As they passed Clear Spring, who had already gotten the message, fifty more joined the Trainers, and by the time they got to Savannah Square, there was a huge crowd. 
            <Tate, Sabrina, Will, are you here yet?> Liza asked, not seeing them in the mass of pressing bodies.
            <I’m here,> Will announced.  <With about a hundred from Cliff’s Edge and Bayville.>
            <Me too!> Tate declared.  <Fifty from Glitter Gorge were willing to help.>
            <From Glenshore and Pearl Cove, a hundred volunteered.> Sabrina affirmed.
            <Well that still leaves a whole lot of people,> Liza calculated.  <They must be from Hanyo, Ruby Ridge, and Savannah itself.>
            Will released both of his Xatu.  “Count the people and find the Trainers.”  The two nodded and flew above the crowd so they could see.  In five minutes they returned to Will.
            <There are five hundred and fifty-three, including you and all the trainers here,> the more experienced Xatu announced.  <Two trainers are not here: Ash and Misty.>
            <The four groups are here, near that oak tree over there, in the Town Leader’s hut, and near that large stone fountain.> the second Xatu replied, pointing to each in turn.
            “Thanks,” Will replied, and recalled them gratefully.  <Guys?  Who is in the Town Leader’s house?>
            <My group,> Liza announced.  <We made reservations,> she added before giggling.
            <Let’s all the trainers go there,> Tate suggested.
            <Agreed.> Sabrina affirmed, and began leading her group to the large stone building, the largest in the town.


            After much pushing and shoving, all the trainers, minus Misty who was recovering, and Ash who wouldn’t leave her, were in the building.  The town leader, Myono, a young man in his twenties, was concerned about the number of people present at the meeting.  “Five hundred?”  he asked in his native language.  “Five hundred people?  That’s the population of the town!  Twice as many people as usual are in town.”  He calmed when Liza and Tate told him they’d be gone by tomorrow.  He didn’t seem like a war person, they were glad he hadn’t volunteered. 
            Emine Leon, however, had volunteered, after giving Marli the temporary position of Town Leader.  He watched from outside as the Trainers discussed their plan.
            “We’ll split into groups and train for now.  But when the time comes, we’ll go back and fight.”  Will announced.
“We can’t go directly back,” Liza reminded.  “That Legendary Pokemon is giving too much interference.”
            “Yeah, we know already,” Tate said, annoyed at the idea.  “Stupid Legendary Pokemon.  What good have they ever done for us?”
            “That’s it, Tate!”  Liza’s cogs were once again spinning in her head.
            “What’s it?  Ohh……” he replied as he had the same idea.
            “The Legendary Pokemon can help us!” they said in unison. 
            “So how do we get the message across?”  Sabrina asked, unsure of the idea.
            “I don’t know!”  Tate announced.
            “Neither do I!”  added his sister.  “We’ll work it out later.”
            “Okay then, so we’ll be splitting into groups?” asked Steven.
            “Yes.  They will be balanced equally among physical strength, psychic ability, and Pokemon.”  Lance answered.  “Pokemon are still of course our top weapon, but we will have to have other weapons.” 
            “Martial arts will be very useful in avoiding bullets, I suppose,” Chuck commented.
            “Yes, and I’ve seen the native Paluzi people practice their own form of self-defence.”  Bruno replied.  “It will be interesting to learn,”
            “We will all be learning new things,” Lance announced loudly so everyone could hear.  “We begin training tomorrow.”


            After the people were split evenly into fifteen groups of about forty each, they went into the wilderness to train.  There were only two Trainers to every group, however, making it impossible for them not to pick up the language.  Any and all Trainers gave up their Psychic Pokemon to help translate but it was difficult to translate all the time and the trainers slowly learned the Paluzi language.  In the meantime, the Trainers released and returned Pokemon after Pokemon to their Pokeballs, hoping to get the natives used to such a thing, over a hundred times before any one got bored.  This, however, didn’t go over well with the Pokemon themselves, who got rather annoyed by the whole thing.

            When Ash and Misty’s twins were old enough and Misty was back in shape, they decided to join The Cause, or The Force as it was sometimes called, and travel again with their twins.  They too had learned Paluzi quickly, having no one other than each other to speak English to. 
            And so, six months passed in the blink of an eye.  The trainers learned martial arts and self-defence, the natives learned of the technology of a Pokeball.  After six months they had befriended many a herd of Pokemon who had missing members because of Team Rocket.  These even included packs of Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, who detested the Rockets.  Also, the natives, by now well skilled in the art of catching Pokemon, captured a few of Paluz’s indigenous Pokemon, never witnessed outside of their land.  Each Trainer had many extra Pokeballs and had been willing to share, after learning that they weren’t made in Paluz. 
Bugsy even went so far as studying the Pokeball and discovering how to make one.  “It’s not like it hasn’t been done.  I mean, look at Kurt.  He’s been making them for years.”  And so each new Trainer had at least two Pokeballs.
            The natives trained with relish, savoring thoughts of being the heroic saviors of an unknown land.  Deep friendships formed between the Natives and the Trainers, and they would give their life for one another if need be.
            And Liza and Tate had another bright idea.  <I was just thinking about Evelyn again,” Liza told Tate, for the seventh time this week.
            <Like you haven’t already.> Tate replied sarcastically.
            <Yeah.  There has to be a reason I can’t get her out of my head.>
            <Oh no!> Tate joked.  <You’re being posessed!>
            <Shut up.>
            <Okay…>
            <Too bad we can’t just Teleport back there.  Stupid Legendary~>
            Tate cut her off.  <The Legendary Pokemon!  And Evelyn!>  He paused to think.  <I just had a great idea.>
            <Ohhhh…  I get it!  Get Evelyn to speak with the Legendary Pokemon, so that she can finish the war, promoting peace, which is her unfinished business.  Got it.>
            <Aww, I wanted to say it.  It was my idea first.>
            <Well too bad,> she said before giggling.  <I said it first.>
            <We need to find Evelyn, then.>  He thought again.  <Isn’t Sabrina’s group near the forest now?>
            <Wait and I’ll ask.>  A minute later, she replied, <Yes she is.>
            <Evelyn knows Sabrina best, I’ll bet Evelyn’ll listen to her.>  He left the conversation to speak with Sabrina.  <Hello?>
            <Tate.  You wish me to speak with the spirit.>
            <Wha...How did you know?>
            <It is possible to listen in on a conversation, even a psychic one.>
            <Eavesdropper!>  He laughed.  <You must be getting better at this!>
            <Thank you but I don’t need flattery.  Evelyn.  I’ll do it, but I won’t like it.  How would one go about summoning a spirit?>
            <Hey!> Liza’s voice cut through the spacewaves.  <You didn’t even say goodbye, Tate.  How do I know you didn’t die again or something?>  She was annoyed at his sudden departure.
            Completely ignoring her for now, he continued.  <Sabrina, just ask for her.  If she’s around, she’ll come if you call.  Just concentrate on sending a message to Evelyn.>
            <Hey!  Don’t ignore me!>  Liza commanded. 
            <Fine.  I was just telling Sabrina about our conversation, but it turns out she already knew.>
            <Whatever.  So when is she going to do it?>
            Sabrina spoke again.  <Right now.  Without anyone listening.>  She removed herself and opened her eyes.  Closing them again, she took a deep breath and concentrated.

            Evelyn looked up.  Someone was calling her.  Was it Hyla?  No, it was that woman.  Sabrina, her name was.  ‘Sabrina.  Why would she want to speak with me?  She hates me.’  The spirit seemed sad at this realization.  ‘But I will speak with her anyway.  Maybe I can explain.’  She chuckled to herself.  ‘I do not speak her language, she will not understand.  I suppose I can try…’   After deciding, she flew through the trees toward the woman calling her name.

            Sabrina opened her eyes in fright.  Evelyn was coming!  She calmed herself with effort.  ‘I must be strong.  I am much stronger than I was, she won’t be able to do that again.’
            Evelyn giggled wistfully.  <See how she guards her mind, she fears me.>
            <I do not fear you.> Sabrina replied in the Paluzi language.
            <Good, then we can speak.  We can speak!  You know the language?>
            <I have learned much in the six months since we last met,> Sabrina replied tersely.
            <I apologize for that, it was necessary,> she said.  <I wasn’t trying to scare you.>  Evelyn sounded soothing, and truly sorrowful.
            Sabrina decided to skip the subject.  <I have called you here because we require your help.  Because of the strength of the Legendary Pokemon that guards this place, we are not able to Teleport back home.  Would you please speak with the Legendary Pokemon about this, and maybe persuade it to let down the Barrier for at least a short time?>
            Evelyn smiled, going unseen by Sabrina.  <Of course I will help you… I owe you a favor for frightening you like that.>
            <Thank you.>

            A/N:  Review!  And many thanks to Topaz!