RE: Winds of Time - PokéBeach CYOA - Chapter 11
The slight hum of an engine vibrates throughout the entirety of space, through your body, through your mind. Your eyes flutter, the lashes clinging to one another and then separating in despair. You observe nothing. Darkness, again, has invaded your vision. You try to stand up and hear the clang of metal; you are restrained. But how? You pull at your arms and find yourself cuffed against some sort of metal rod. The best at standing is an awkwardly bent position, one that you would rather not be in as opposed to just sitting. You're in some car or vehicle, but it couldn’t be a plane.
You pry your lips apart from each other, salivating them with your tongue as if the secretion was some sort of ingredient. Your mouth does not open. There is something covering your mouth. You think back to some of the stories you had heard up north, those about the victim being tied up and pointlessly shouting into the darkness. You decide to prove yourself smarter than those fictional characters and stay calm. You feel for whatever you can on the wall, but it is smooth. You breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale, though it is very shaky and your body is jerking and fidgeting. You are being kidnapped. Taken. What happened? You sit against that wall and, with your arms painfully up in the air, you wait for the vehicle to stop. You wait for some beacon of hope, though the light becomes dimmer and dimmer as time goes by. You feel yourself slipping from the grasp of the world. You failed Professor Rowan and barely got more than two or three entries in your dex. You failed Nikolas in not helping him escape, at least by your recollection. Most of all, though, you failed Piplup and Ralts. Where are they? What happened just a few hours ago?
After a long, silent ride, you find yourself humming something, some song that you know but cannot remember the lyrics. Why are you doing this? Passing the time? Calming your nerves? Trying to get the driver’s attention? You can’t see anything. You are literally humming into the darkness, the unknown. What if the driver doesn’t like humming? Do you care? You shake your head to remove the silly ideas from your mind. You think of Piplup, of all the fun you had with it. You think of Ralts, the Pokemon you haven’t even gotten to train yet. What kind of trainer are you? Actually, what kind of person are you?
Soon enough, the vehicle stops, probably for some fuel or whatever it takes. You don’t have the experience to understand what it needs. You push your body up against the wall and prepare your legs for possible kick reflexes, thinking that would be the best way to go out--fighting. But then, after some brief thoughts, you lower your legs and tuck them under your butt. Fighting will not help you in the long run. After all, look at what had happened with Nikolas. Obviously something went wrong.
The back door of the automobile creates some sort of metallic sound, probably of some latch opening, and then light floods in through a very narrow crack as the door is slowly swung open. The light blinds your eyes, causing your pupils to change sizes and a red flash go through your body. You grimace in pain and sling your head back behind your body. Soon, you are able to slowly stare out the back of the van and look out. You see rocks everywhere, sprinkled with small patches of snow here and there, along with the mountains in the distance. You’re on...some sort of trail? You suddenly try your best to hide once a figure comes from the side of the vehicle.
“Hello again, Mia. I’m sure you have a ton of questions right now. Don’t lash out at me and I will explain everything,” replies a voice--a familiar voice.
“Why do you have my tied up?” you ask.
The man heaves his body into the back of the vehicle and stares at you in the darker area so that the light does not burn your eyes. It’s...Z? The familiar figure is still in the same attire as last time, the loose button shirt and the red gym pants. You squint at him and start screaming out questions.
“How did I get here with you? Where’s Piplup? Where’s Nikolas?”
The man blinks once and swallows loudly. “You were easily defeated by a grunt’s Shellos, which had the ability Storm Drain that ended up defeating your Piplup because of its own Water-type moves.”
You look at him weirdly and he sighs.
“Never mind that. You were then captured. They were going to put you in the helicopter, but there wasn’t enough room for one more. They threw you and your Piplup in the back of a van and floored it. I followed your van in an attempt to save you for your own good. They didn’t seem as concerned about you as they were for your buddy, Nikolas, or whatever his name may’ve been. That dude’s probably a goner,” he admits.
“A goner. What does that even mean? If you kept me tied up in the back of this van, wouldn’t that make you my enemy as well? I would’ve been set free? Never mind all that--where’s Piplup?”
Again, he sighs and wipes his forehead. “We are at a high altitude at the moment, did you know that? The higher we go up these mountains, the colder it is going to be, too. Have you ever wondered why the Shining White City has never shriveled up from the cold?”
You shake your head and wonder how this man could possibly talk about the weather in a time like this. “I don’t care about this city. I care about Piplup. Where is my companion?”
The man closes his eyes for a second and opens them again. “He’s asleep in the passenger seat. Please calm down, or you’re going to wake him from his slumber. He was glad to see me, the stranger I was, and I explained the situation in the most basic way to my best abilities. Your bag is also with Piplup, acting as a pillow, as a matter of fact. Sweet penguin. Anyway, I saved you. I told you--I specifically told you--to stop focusing on the present. Saving Nikolas would have only gotten you captured or worse. You’re lucky I was watching the whole time. Think before you act or else you won’t last a second when my back is turned. Ever since you stepped in Sandalstraw City, you became a target. Go ahead and expect there to be a bullseye right on the back of your head now, missy, because you have entered the danger zone. Your mission is no longer for some Pokedex quest. Now you have to focus on surviving. You aren't a pedestrian. You're a threat.”
"Look, I can't think about the future!" you assert. "When I think about everyone, everything, those people I met at the village. Nikolas, Rex...I can't change a thing! I can only take life one day, one moment at a time."
"But as you do such, you watch the sands of time itself slip out of your fingers. I was once like you, a different man. This carving is a symbol of a man who has died, but yet I still have the time to mend his wrongs. I have time to pave the way for a new future, even though everything in the past has vanished among the winds. In the present, you have no time. How are you ever going to meet tranquility if all you do is dwell in what’s already happening?"
You look at him, the scar buried deep in his chest. “I want to see my Pokemon,” you tell him, and he nods. The two of you jump out of the back of the van and walk around its side. The vehicle is white and has a slogan reading “SWC: it’s all you need” written in the gold lettering of a fancy calligraphic style. You jump in the passenger seat and see that Piplup is indeed asleep. You exit the door and let it keep snoring. Z looks back up to you.
“I know you declined my offer before, but I think now is the right time for you to join me in my quest to defeat this city.”
You think back. Nikolas did actually think of some dangerous ideas of the Shining White City, and he must have done so often. Has the city actually done anything wrong? Was it all just Nikolas?
“Did they take him there? To the City?”
Z shakes his head. “Doubtful. They have created several jailed communities within the rock of this very mountain. It is said that there used to be a path within Mt. Coronet that connected several cities together, and another path leading to some strange set of ruins. However, the City has cancelled all public transportation through the area. It’s a likely area for harboring criminals. The City itself is outside the mountain, but the only way to get there is apparently through some inside passageway as well. The mountain is a mystery. I’m not sure how they manage police forces and political affairs outside of it.”
You think for a moment. If Nikolas isn't in the City and Z only wants to go straight there, should you even bother traveling with him or just go save Nikolas on your own? “How many people do you have in this resistance?”
“Approximately seventy five spread out through the whole Sinnoh region, though I have a select few that are very prepared and experienced--some working under the very nose of the White Lord himself. You would only benefit on the rest of our journey up the mountain. Many attempt to arrive there through the outskirts of the terrain, and while most have either died or retreated, we could have one heck of a journey.”
“Before I say anything, I need to know one thing: who are you?”
Z smiles, apparently waiting for a revisitation to this question the whole time. "They say, they say humans are different. We can reason and not react. We can have the power of choice; no matter the circumstance, we can choose. My real name is Riley. I used to be a powerful trainer years ago, but I stopped training. My Lucario became the trainer of the rest of my team while I set out on a future on my own. I left Iron Island to become an upcoming politician in Canalave City. I started a life for myself. I had a fiancee. I had my Pokemon. I had the strongest approval rating out of any politician in the Sinnoh Region. I was Canalave City’s biggest attraction. I practically placed the barrel of the gun straight to my temple and asked the White Lord to shoot. I became the easiest target. I had the life, but I do not know. I hope my answer will suffice. Now I need your answer. My choice now is to do everything in my power to bring this White Lord down. My choice now is to usurp his throne and use it in a democratic way; Sinnoh should be able to choose who the real leader should be. Our last president was assassinated, and the White Lord himself took over. My choice now, Mia, is to bring to light the injustices this organization has brought to the once-powerful region of the Pokemon world. What’s your choice?”
You feel an emptiness inside yourself. The story was touching, you admit. You had heard stories about an aura guardian named Riley, but could it really be the same man? This Riley was big and rough, while the man in the paintings was smooth and mentally at peace. Has the Shining White City actually caused this pain? You then remember the common saying that politicians are often liars. How can you even trust this man? He looks nothing like Riley, not the one you’re aware of, at least. Is it really worth trusting him for?
PB, you have been on this decision before, and look where it has gotten you. Alas, there are other viable options that may lead to an even better outcome. In the case of Z, are you going to…
A) Finally join Z on the trip to the Shining White City (go up the mountain’s exterior)
B) Tell him to wait for you at a desired location on the mountain so that you can save Nikolas first (go inside the mountain)
C) Have Z take you to his defense group before pursuing any sort of goal (going down the mountain temporarily)
You have until November 9th to vote! Good luck!
Let me also say that I really liked writing this chapter. I borrowed some quotes from Fancy in this, too!
Chapter 12
The slight hum of an engine vibrates throughout the entirety of space, through your body, through your mind. Your eyes flutter, the lashes clinging to one another and then separating in despair. You observe nothing. Darkness, again, has invaded your vision. You try to stand up and hear the clang of metal; you are restrained. But how? You pull at your arms and find yourself cuffed against some sort of metal rod. The best at standing is an awkwardly bent position, one that you would rather not be in as opposed to just sitting. You're in some car or vehicle, but it couldn’t be a plane.
You pry your lips apart from each other, salivating them with your tongue as if the secretion was some sort of ingredient. Your mouth does not open. There is something covering your mouth. You think back to some of the stories you had heard up north, those about the victim being tied up and pointlessly shouting into the darkness. You decide to prove yourself smarter than those fictional characters and stay calm. You feel for whatever you can on the wall, but it is smooth. You breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale, though it is very shaky and your body is jerking and fidgeting. You are being kidnapped. Taken. What happened? You sit against that wall and, with your arms painfully up in the air, you wait for the vehicle to stop. You wait for some beacon of hope, though the light becomes dimmer and dimmer as time goes by. You feel yourself slipping from the grasp of the world. You failed Professor Rowan and barely got more than two or three entries in your dex. You failed Nikolas in not helping him escape, at least by your recollection. Most of all, though, you failed Piplup and Ralts. Where are they? What happened just a few hours ago?
After a long, silent ride, you find yourself humming something, some song that you know but cannot remember the lyrics. Why are you doing this? Passing the time? Calming your nerves? Trying to get the driver’s attention? You can’t see anything. You are literally humming into the darkness, the unknown. What if the driver doesn’t like humming? Do you care? You shake your head to remove the silly ideas from your mind. You think of Piplup, of all the fun you had with it. You think of Ralts, the Pokemon you haven’t even gotten to train yet. What kind of trainer are you? Actually, what kind of person are you?
Soon enough, the vehicle stops, probably for some fuel or whatever it takes. You don’t have the experience to understand what it needs. You push your body up against the wall and prepare your legs for possible kick reflexes, thinking that would be the best way to go out--fighting. But then, after some brief thoughts, you lower your legs and tuck them under your butt. Fighting will not help you in the long run. After all, look at what had happened with Nikolas. Obviously something went wrong.
The back door of the automobile creates some sort of metallic sound, probably of some latch opening, and then light floods in through a very narrow crack as the door is slowly swung open. The light blinds your eyes, causing your pupils to change sizes and a red flash go through your body. You grimace in pain and sling your head back behind your body. Soon, you are able to slowly stare out the back of the van and look out. You see rocks everywhere, sprinkled with small patches of snow here and there, along with the mountains in the distance. You’re on...some sort of trail? You suddenly try your best to hide once a figure comes from the side of the vehicle.
“Hello again, Mia. I’m sure you have a ton of questions right now. Don’t lash out at me and I will explain everything,” replies a voice--a familiar voice.
“Why do you have my tied up?” you ask.
The man heaves his body into the back of the vehicle and stares at you in the darker area so that the light does not burn your eyes. It’s...Z? The familiar figure is still in the same attire as last time, the loose button shirt and the red gym pants. You squint at him and start screaming out questions.
“How did I get here with you? Where’s Piplup? Where’s Nikolas?”
The man blinks once and swallows loudly. “You were easily defeated by a grunt’s Shellos, which had the ability Storm Drain that ended up defeating your Piplup because of its own Water-type moves.”
You look at him weirdly and he sighs.
“Never mind that. You were then captured. They were going to put you in the helicopter, but there wasn’t enough room for one more. They threw you and your Piplup in the back of a van and floored it. I followed your van in an attempt to save you for your own good. They didn’t seem as concerned about you as they were for your buddy, Nikolas, or whatever his name may’ve been. That dude’s probably a goner,” he admits.
“A goner. What does that even mean? If you kept me tied up in the back of this van, wouldn’t that make you my enemy as well? I would’ve been set free? Never mind all that--where’s Piplup?”
Again, he sighs and wipes his forehead. “We are at a high altitude at the moment, did you know that? The higher we go up these mountains, the colder it is going to be, too. Have you ever wondered why the Shining White City has never shriveled up from the cold?”
You shake your head and wonder how this man could possibly talk about the weather in a time like this. “I don’t care about this city. I care about Piplup. Where is my companion?”
The man closes his eyes for a second and opens them again. “He’s asleep in the passenger seat. Please calm down, or you’re going to wake him from his slumber. He was glad to see me, the stranger I was, and I explained the situation in the most basic way to my best abilities. Your bag is also with Piplup, acting as a pillow, as a matter of fact. Sweet penguin. Anyway, I saved you. I told you--I specifically told you--to stop focusing on the present. Saving Nikolas would have only gotten you captured or worse. You’re lucky I was watching the whole time. Think before you act or else you won’t last a second when my back is turned. Ever since you stepped in Sandalstraw City, you became a target. Go ahead and expect there to be a bullseye right on the back of your head now, missy, because you have entered the danger zone. Your mission is no longer for some Pokedex quest. Now you have to focus on surviving. You aren't a pedestrian. You're a threat.”
"Look, I can't think about the future!" you assert. "When I think about everyone, everything, those people I met at the village. Nikolas, Rex...I can't change a thing! I can only take life one day, one moment at a time."
"But as you do such, you watch the sands of time itself slip out of your fingers. I was once like you, a different man. This carving is a symbol of a man who has died, but yet I still have the time to mend his wrongs. I have time to pave the way for a new future, even though everything in the past has vanished among the winds. In the present, you have no time. How are you ever going to meet tranquility if all you do is dwell in what’s already happening?"
You look at him, the scar buried deep in his chest. “I want to see my Pokemon,” you tell him, and he nods. The two of you jump out of the back of the van and walk around its side. The vehicle is white and has a slogan reading “SWC: it’s all you need” written in the gold lettering of a fancy calligraphic style. You jump in the passenger seat and see that Piplup is indeed asleep. You exit the door and let it keep snoring. Z looks back up to you.
“I know you declined my offer before, but I think now is the right time for you to join me in my quest to defeat this city.”
You think back. Nikolas did actually think of some dangerous ideas of the Shining White City, and he must have done so often. Has the city actually done anything wrong? Was it all just Nikolas?
“Did they take him there? To the City?”
Z shakes his head. “Doubtful. They have created several jailed communities within the rock of this very mountain. It is said that there used to be a path within Mt. Coronet that connected several cities together, and another path leading to some strange set of ruins. However, the City has cancelled all public transportation through the area. It’s a likely area for harboring criminals. The City itself is outside the mountain, but the only way to get there is apparently through some inside passageway as well. The mountain is a mystery. I’m not sure how they manage police forces and political affairs outside of it.”
You think for a moment. If Nikolas isn't in the City and Z only wants to go straight there, should you even bother traveling with him or just go save Nikolas on your own? “How many people do you have in this resistance?”
“Approximately seventy five spread out through the whole Sinnoh region, though I have a select few that are very prepared and experienced--some working under the very nose of the White Lord himself. You would only benefit on the rest of our journey up the mountain. Many attempt to arrive there through the outskirts of the terrain, and while most have either died or retreated, we could have one heck of a journey.”
“Before I say anything, I need to know one thing: who are you?”
Z smiles, apparently waiting for a revisitation to this question the whole time. "They say, they say humans are different. We can reason and not react. We can have the power of choice; no matter the circumstance, we can choose. My real name is Riley. I used to be a powerful trainer years ago, but I stopped training. My Lucario became the trainer of the rest of my team while I set out on a future on my own. I left Iron Island to become an upcoming politician in Canalave City. I started a life for myself. I had a fiancee. I had my Pokemon. I had the strongest approval rating out of any politician in the Sinnoh Region. I was Canalave City’s biggest attraction. I practically placed the barrel of the gun straight to my temple and asked the White Lord to shoot. I became the easiest target. I had the life, but I do not know. I hope my answer will suffice. Now I need your answer. My choice now is to do everything in my power to bring this White Lord down. My choice now is to usurp his throne and use it in a democratic way; Sinnoh should be able to choose who the real leader should be. Our last president was assassinated, and the White Lord himself took over. My choice now, Mia, is to bring to light the injustices this organization has brought to the once-powerful region of the Pokemon world. What’s your choice?”
You feel an emptiness inside yourself. The story was touching, you admit. You had heard stories about an aura guardian named Riley, but could it really be the same man? This Riley was big and rough, while the man in the paintings was smooth and mentally at peace. Has the Shining White City actually caused this pain? You then remember the common saying that politicians are often liars. How can you even trust this man? He looks nothing like Riley, not the one you’re aware of, at least. Is it really worth trusting him for?
PB, you have been on this decision before, and look where it has gotten you. Alas, there are other viable options that may lead to an even better outcome. In the case of Z, are you going to…
A) Finally join Z on the trip to the Shining White City (go up the mountain’s exterior)
B) Tell him to wait for you at a desired location on the mountain so that you can save Nikolas first (go inside the mountain)
C) Have Z take you to his defense group before pursuing any sort of goal (going down the mountain temporarily)
You have until November 9th to vote! Good luck!
Let me also say that I really liked writing this chapter. I borrowed some quotes from Fancy in this, too!
I'll edit that out, but it doesn't really affect the chapter in any way.
