Scattered Lights

[classy_cat18]

*breaks a champagne bottle* Bon voyage! *goes to make last minute changes to KTR*

Chapter 1 ~ Our Missions

Ryan's POV

(Day 1, Afternoon)

"Ryan."

"Huh?"

"This is Shonta."

"Shonta?"

I could see her face clearly, smiling at me like nothing was wrong. I reached out for her as if I was afraid that she would disappear. She moved her lips but it was like the speech was delayed. "I need you to...bring me ice cream."

Huh? "Ice cream?"

She giggled. "Yes, ice cream. Vanilla ice cream."

"Vanilla? No! Ask for chocolate!" a faroff voice yelled.

"Shonta?" The second voice sounded familiar but I was focused on her.

Shonta winced for a second then smiled again. "Ryan, we need..."

"We?"

"Dammit, Static!" Shonta yelled. Wait, that wasn't Shonta's voice.

That was it!

"Artemis!" I growled as I woke up. The medium sized Pokemon was sitting on my bed, putting a previously unnoticeable pressure on my body. It wasn't the first time she had disturbed my sleep. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

Artemis put on a thoughtful looked and cocked her head to the side. "Let's see. It's been about three days since Shonta left so..."

"Four times," my Cyndaquil finished. "Three mornings and an afternoon nap."

She let out a heavy sigh. "You've been sleeping way too much, Ryan. If it wasn't for us, you would be sleeping all day." She finally jumped off the bed and walked out the room, Static close behind her. That left me and Cinder.

"Ryan?" Cinder asked quietly.

"I'm getting up," I grunted. I half-rolled out of bed and shooed out Cinder so I could change clothes. A quick glance at the alarm clock told me that it was noon. "Great. Didn't know Shonta could affect me this much."

Minutes later I was out of my room and sitting with the three stooges, who I refer Artemis, Cinder and Static by. Shonta's Pokemon were still allowed to live at Shonta's house but they quickly found out that Ms. Jones was unpredictable when it came to taking care of them. They were unable to hang out in Shonta's room while Shonta was absent and were fed much cheaper and almost inedible Pokemon food. Their gratefulness of Mom's generosity was shown immediately.

"So what are we doin' today?" Static asked me eagerly as I fixed a sandwich for myself.

I shrugged. "I guess we can hang out at Prof. Cedar's lab until sunset." The others gave a collective groan. "What?"

"Dat's what we did yesterday!" Static complained. "Man, youse no fun!"

I looked down and laughed as Static pouted, only succeeding in bringing out his cute side. "I should take a picture of you looking like that."

"At least Reaper and Ripper are doin' somethin' useful." I stopped chewing for a few seconds, annoyed by the fact that he was complimenting the Scizor. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't even refer to him as "my Scizor". Not that I actually felt that way in the beginning.

"What are they doing?" I inquired.

Static climbed up my clothes and hung on my back, putting an annoying weight on it. "Not sure. Dey left through th' mirror dis mornin'. Said somethin' about home. Don't remember th' whole sentence."

"You're heavy!" I shouted as I managed to shake him off. "I guess those two already know what to do during this break. I'm not surprised that Ripper didn't say a word of it."

"I'll say. In fact, that ungrateful Scizor crushed his pokeball!" Artemis blurted out, then covered her mouth with her paw. The others and I glared at her. "Yeah, he took the pokeball in his claw and crushed it right in front of my eyes. He told me to tell you that he'll be back in about a week."

"At least Reaper is with him, although the trip was his idea," Cinder said meekly.

Artemis whimpered. "They're going to kill me."

The three Pokemon looked at each other in silence before Cinder spoke again. "Thanks for not going with Terri," he told Static and Artemis.

"Meh. Seafoam Island isn't all that. I try to stay away from hot weather," Artemis said casually.

"And th' fact dat Kanna now has Prowler has nothin' ta do wit' it?" Static asked smugly.

The Umbreon blanched and then chuckled. "Hey, you were the one he wanted to eat. Anyway, Professor Westwood didn't seem all that interesting to me."

Static smirked. "Liar."

"Idiot!" Artemis shot back.

"Know-it-all!"

"Wuss!"

The last comment hit a nerve in Static as he growled and thrashed his tail. I calmly finished my lunch and stood back while Static tackled Artemis to the ground. Though both seemed angry, the fight was nothing more than a childish tussle. Cinder finally ended it when he took Static's tail in his mouth and pulled him toward the living room.

"Let me go! I wasn't...what's dat sound?" Static asked with his ears perked and lowered voice.

"It's a car. But Mom's not supposed to be here yet," I said.

"That's not your mom's car," Artemis corrected. She jumped on the couch and looked out the window. "Ooh, that's a Lexus!"

"Lexus?" Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "Oh no. Hide me; I don't want to talk to him now."

Static narrowed his eyes at me and looked at his partner. "Open th' door, Artie."

"And how is she supposed to do that?" I already knew the answer as she nodded and faced the doorknob, which gave off a blue aura as it was unlocked and turned. "Oh, Psychic."

The door swung open for a silver haired bishounen, his sunglasses lowered down his nose in order for his blue eyes to clearly see my green. "Good afternoon, Ryan," he said with a small smile.

"Hi, Riku!" the three Pokemon chimed in unison.

I merely waved while shooting him a mean look. "What brings you to us less fortunate?" I asked darkly.

"Boredom," Riku answered. He looked around the living room before plopping down on the couch. "Humble place you have here."

I was already thinking of ways to wipe off his casual look. "Get out."

"Come on, I'm a guest." He took off his sunglasses and smiled at me. "I came to take you on a trip."

"I told you to get out." I pointed at the door.

He completely ignored my command. "I need to see a couple of old friends of mine and I would like the company. It'll be better than staying in this house."

I decided to try one more time before resorting to force. "Get out before I throw you out."

He sneered at me, his calm mask disappeared. "Stronger Pokemon than you have tried."

Good. Now that the real Riku has shown up... "I'm not Magma."

"You're right." His sneer turned to outright anger. "Magma had the balls to take action."

"SHUT UP!" Artemis cried out. She stood between us and glared at the visitor. "Riku, just because you were able to put Magma in a Crystal Cage doesn't mean you have the right to do whatever you want! Lady Kagetsubasa is over you and she calls the shots!"

Riku looked down at Artemis and sighed heavily. "If you weren't Apollo's sister..." he started.

"It wouldn't matter because you've been an ass since Shonta left."

"He's always been an ass," I grumbled.

"Shut up," she growled at me.

Riku stood up and walked up to me. "By the way...happy birthday." He handed me a package.

"My birthday was yesterday," I corrected.

He shrugged it off. "I was busy. So, will you take my offer?"

Before I could say something I would regret, Static spoke his mind. "Please take him! He's been mopin' around and needs a vacation!"

I glared at him and then at Riku's smug expression. "Is this business or are you just going to get on their nerves?" I asked him.

Riku studied his sunglasses. "Lady Kagetsubasa has been bothering me about something. Some of the Kai Crystals are yet to be found."

"If I remembered correctly, we have owners for the Kai Flame, Aqua, Shock, Clear, Lunar, and Venom Crystals," Artemis pondered. "So what's left?"

"We know the Kai Draco Crystal is in Melon Island," Cinder pointed out. "Isn't Draco the owner of it?"

"Actually, no. But as long as it doesn't leave the island we shouldn't worry."

"The Kai Aero Crystal was awarded to Feather for her service to the Kai Knights," Riku informed us. "Apparently Kagetsubasa has the right to do that as long as the Kai Crystal didn't already have an owner."

"So that leaves..."

"Terra, Flora, Glacier, Shadow and Mind." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I may know where the Mind Crystal is but the guy is...hard to reach."

"If he knows you, then he'll definitely be hard to reach," I joked.

Riku's anger returned. "Are you going to mock me or help me? I need someone who will be able to reason with these two people. Unfortunately, one of them is a blood relative."

"Whoa! Dat I'd like to see!" Static exclaimed.

I unconsciously made a sound that sounded a bit like a huff. "I'll go with you. But get this through your expensive haircut; we are not buddies."

"We'll go too. Shonta would want us to keep an eye on you," Artemis said with a sincere smile.

Riku nodded. "So pack. We leave for Titan City tomorrow; you'll stay at the mansion today."

This prompted a question. "Does Daichi know about what we're doing? The whole story?"

He answered without looking at me. "Dad knows what I know now. I assume that both your mom and Shonta's mom knows about it too?"

I hesitated before nodding. "I'll just leave a note. She'll understand."

Terri's POV

(Day 1, Afternoon)

Ah, Seafoam Island. My favorite summer getaway.

Too bad I had to share it with a sadistic Raitah.

"Oi, human! Get your furless hindquarters out of the water!" Prowler roared from an open window.

"Keep your spots on, cat!" I yelled at him. I dragged myself out of the tidal pool and wrapped the nearby towel around my waist. Bubbles followed me, grumbling to herself.

I had the luck of being given an invitation to stay with Kanna at the laboratory of Professor Westwood. Apparently being the inventor of the Pokedex came with a huge paycheck...as well as a lot of work involving upgrades and updates.

The Raitah leered at me as I walked past him. "You are a human, therefore you belong on land," he reminded me.

"You are a cat, therefore you should be licking yourself," I told him. "Hey Kanna, we should spay your new Pokemon!"

Beacon shushed me as I entered Kanna's bedroom. "She's talking on the phone," she said.

I was relieved that Beacon wasn't hung up on losing her position as an Aurora Knight. In fact, most of them weren't. But there was Magma, who was enjoying a nice crystal treatment. Leo, the top-ranking Clear Crystal Knight, was also outraged but decided to avoide Magma's fate. The others fell in line and found other things to concentrate on.

Kanna was sitting at her desk on her cell phone, her expression one of frustration. "But I don't see why I have to go!...Yes, I understand that he misses me...I know, congratulations on that...I planned on spending more time here...No, I don't think I'm better than you...No, I haven't cursed my dad into the fiery pits of hell...Alright." She hung up and rubbed her forehead.

I tried to make it look like I was more interested in the view from her sliding glass door. Gentle waves broke on the sand and put me in a trance deep enough to miss Kanna's question. "Sorry, come again?" I asked.

"I was wondering if you felt up to taking a trip," she repeated.

Bubbles put her paws on her hips and pouted. "There is no way you'll be able to move me!"

Kanna ignored her and gave me a desperate look. "Terri, I need to go to Altomare for a few days."

"ALTOMARE?" Bubbles hopped on her bed with excitement. "Altomare...the beautiful...no, the wonderful...no, the exquisite..."

"Is that a yes?" Aqua finished as she walked in from the patio outside Kanna's room.

"What do you have to do in Altomare?" I asked Kanna.

She hung her head and started to explain at a louder volume, making wild hand motions. "It's my stepmother. She's convinced that I've been trying to avoid her at all costs. Well I was, but...it's not like I hate her! She takes my absence too seriously and then there's that son of hers with his big mouth and glass jaw..."

"Glass jaw?" I interrupted. I didn't want to know what brought that up. "Can we get back to the subject?"

She laughed nervously and took a deep breath. "She's opening this museum in Altomare on artifacts from some ruins she found in the Whirl Islands. I guess she wants my approval or something. And then she had to drag her son into this and say that he wanted to see his stepsister. He doesn't even like me."

"You talk about this guy like you're not related to him."

"Not by blood. See, my dad's Japanese. When my mother died, he married my stepmother. I almost couldn't handle the culture shock. She's Greek! She's loudmouthed and brutally honest and her son is just like her." She growled the last three words.

"Do they have a nice home?" Bubbles asked her, not worrying about the family issue.

"Small, but nice. And Altomare is preparing for their Canal Festival so there will be plenty for you to do while I deal with my family."

"I'm sold!" Bubbles said.

"I can help you with your family if you want," I offered.

"Thank you," Kanna said quietly.

Shonta's POV

(Day 1, Evening)

"Welcome to the Slateport Pokemon Center! How may I help you?"

"Hi there, Nurse Joy! I know I don't have any Pokemon with me but I would be thrilled if you could give me a room for the night!" I said as cheerfully as possible.

A moment of silence followed. I was smiling nervously. She was frowning slightly, an invisible sweatdrop on her forehead. Finally she dangled a key in front of my face. "Do you at least have your trainer ID?" she asked me.

I pulled out my newly updated Pokedex and pressed a button. A picture of me looking solemn stared at Nurse Joy while an electronic voice confirmed my name, age, birthday, gender, and hometown. "Before you ask, I'm not competing in the Pokemon league," I groaned as she opened her mouth to speak. "Too many ten-year-old brats have asked me that already."

The key that Nurse Joy reluctantly gave me led to a plain-looking room with two twin beds. I set my backpack on one bed and looked out at the setting sun. Dairyuu had only opened one portal to Littleroot in Hoenn and told me to hoof it. That was easy for him to say; I would be doing all the walking and he would just have to dangle around my neck and psychically bark out directions. "Okay, Lord Dairyuu. We're alone now. I want an explanation."

I braced myself for a blackout, which was how I used to start my one-on-one conversations with the Light Dragon. But the blackout never came. Instead, the crystal that contained his spirit and powers glowed brightly, blinding me. When the spots in front of my eyes cleared a guy that looked to be in his mid-twenties sat on the bed across from me. Something was strange about him, and it wasn't his elaborate black-and-gold kimono. Or his striking red eyes. Or even his spiky, golden hair.

It was the two dragon wings that he sported on his back. And the fact that he was slightly see-through.

"Dairyuu?" I guessed in disbelief.

He nodded and looked down at his hand. "Translucent. I thought as much."

"You look...young. For a legendary that has existed since the dawn of man." I chose my words carefully, not knowing what to say first.

"I decided to take the form of someone you would be comfortable with. You wouldn't like talking to an old man." He growled at his translucence. "I hate not having a body."

"So what are you? A ghost?"

He looked at me like I insulted him and then sighed. "I guess that one way of putting it. I have no body, but I'm still alive. So don't put any labels on me for the time being. It would be nice to have a body of my own. I need yours in order to see properly; even in this form everything is blurred. And I can't touch anything."

"Are there any alternatives?"

He scratched his chin. "I can't remember any. But there might not be any alternatives. Even if I could find another body, I wouldn't be able to use my power. You are the only one I am fully compatible with."

I rested my head in my hands. "Great. Let's not resort to necromancy." Then I got an idea. "Would you need to use your power?"

"No, just need something with eyes, hands, and a mouth."

A wide smile graced my lips. "We can pull a Kon."

"A what?" His form disappeared as I sprang up and ran out of the room. Not far from the Pokemon Center were stands selling all sorts of goods for contest fanatics.

"I want you to take over my body and find a stuffed animal!" I told him as we approached a big stand selling Secret Base decorations. I sensed hesitation before he invaded my mind and gently pushed me aside.

A wide array of Pokemon plushies waited for him. He seemed to be excited about the idea. "So I take a toy and become a familiar when necessary," he said in a low voice. Our eyes scanned the choices and shared his thoughts with me.

Not Dragonite...too cliche. Same with Charizard.

He looked at the owner. "What would you recommend as a good reptilian Pokemon?" he asked.

The woman looked into our eyes -- probably weirded out by the color -- and showed him a green lizardlike Pokemon that had feathers or something on his head and arms. He was a good size too. "It's a Grovyle," the woman told Dairyuu. "He's a new addition and very popular."

He smiled. "I'll take it." He paid for it and walked back to my room in the Pokemon Center.

The plushie stayed beside me on my bed while he sat on the other bed, looking at me. "What's wrong?" I asked him after an unbearable silence.

He looked down at the floor. "What do you think...about that human friend of yours? Ryan?"

I felt a blush on my cheeks and turned around so I was facing the wall. "He's the best friend I ever had. And more." Of course, I could've just told him that it was none of his business. But he would've found out anyway.

He chuckled. "Not often do I see my vessel fall for someone other than the vessel for Kagetsubasa."

I flinched at the mention of Riku. "Riku's nice, I guess. But there's something about him that makes me uncomfortable."

"It's the pull, the reason why Kagetsubasa and I always choose vessels of different genders. We cannot stand to be apart for long. We are less powerful that way. It seems like Riku is more attracted to you than the other way around."

"He'll have to get used to a girl not falling for him." I smiled, knowing that I was probably breaking his heart. Maybe that was heartless of me.

Something like a growl escaped his ghostly lips but he said nothing else on the subject. "Our best bet on getting our answers is finding the archives."

"Archives?"

"There is an archive somewhere that contains all the known information on the Aurora Crystals, including information that I may have missed." His tone had a certain edge of uncertainty that I didn't miss.

"And it's...somewhere." I looked back to see him clenching his fist. "You don't know where it is!"

"I know who does!" he yelled. "Before the Pokemon took lead of the Knights, the archives were moved to a secure place and the way in trusted to only one. The Kai Terra Knight."

"You don't know where he is either," I predicted.

He got up from the bed and stormed over to me. "I'm no fool. If I had no idea where he or she was, I wouldn't have had you leaving your home!"

Despite his lack of a body, I found myself cowering under his red eyes and height. "Okay, you're the boss."

"We shall talk of this in the morning while heading east." His spirit faded back into the crystal.

Something was eating at him. And I thought I found out the answer as I lay half-asleep in the middle of the night. It felt like something was hovering. Watching.

Waiting.