Lisa the Legend - Chapter 52 up!!
After over five weeks, here it is!!!!!!
The final segment - the conclusion - to the Electric Buggy to Victory and Lisa the Legend CROSSOVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINALLY!
Link to corresponding chapter: Electric Buggy to Victory .
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Chapter 29 – Showdown in Port Valeo.
The blasts of ivory light quickly subsided, and the fighters in the battle were revealed. Bouncing out of Jessica’s pokeball in a ball of pink fluff was a Wigglytuff, it’s watery eyes looking very innocent. Lisa’s Dratini, it’s soft blue form slithering onto the ‘field’, turned back to Lisa. Even he could sense that this battle wasn’t ordinary.
Lisa and Jess looked across the large room, which had a very high roof, their eyes locking. Lenina’s gun looked real enough; they were in great danger. This battle had to last until they could get some help, but how? Jess’ eyes flashed brilliantly at Lisa.
“You go first!” she mouthed. “Make it a weak attack!”
“Sure,” Lisa mouthed back, then spoke. “Use Bubble attack!” she called. And she willed her faithful pokemon mentally; ‘Go easy on it … this battle has to last!’
Jessica grinned back at Lisa, exchanging the same emotion; they had to go easy on it. “Use your charm, Wigglytuff!”
With the orders given, it was up to the pokemon to deliver them. Lenina frowned at the weak attacks, but remained silent, patting her gun like she was patting a dog. Slowbro stayed at her side, it’s brain tensed, ready for anything.
Dratini breathed in sharply, while Wigglytuff gave a sweet smile and it’s eyes blinked even more innocently than ever, using Charm attack in the weakest possible way. Dratini exhaled, and three small bubbles drifted slowly to Wigglytuff. One popped in mid-air on the way, and the other two bubbles popped simultaneously on the tips of Wigglytuff’s ears, not damaging it at all.
The girls grinned, but Lenina’s eyes sparkled dangerously. Suddenly, upstairs, there was a faint clunking sound, and a squeak. Before Lenina could say anything, Jessica put in a request.
“Lenina, please can I go to the toilet?” she asked again, so sweetly, but urgently, and this time more believably. “Please?”
Lisa grinned. It hadn’t worked the first time. What made Jess think it would work now?
Lenina grabbed her wild greying hair with a frown, but then smirked. “Of course you can. But I’ll just escort you.” On cue, she tossed her gun up in the air, and caught it again. “I’ll be taking this with me, of course. She turned to Lisa. “ And just to make sure you don’t get any ideas …” Lenina plucked three pokeballs off her belt beneath her lab coat and threw them out onto the tiled floor. Lisa winced, as she stood face-to-face with a Steelix, who filled much of the laboratory, a very ferocious-looking Persian and a Flareon which was bigger than normal and had massive fangs.
“I’ll leave Slowbro here, too,” Lenina smiled evilly, as she gripped Jessica’s arm tightly, and dragged her up the spiralling stairs. Jessica winced, but turned her head, mouthing two words to Lisa before she was dragged away.
“Fight!”
*
Gavin stared out at the sea – it had been almost half an hour since he and Andrew – and all the other trainers from around the village - had sent out all their pokemon to help look for Lisa, Jess and Phil. Glenys had contacted some of the trainers, and so far they had not found any trace of Lisa, Jess, Phil or the pokemon on the mainland. One trainer had suggested looking at the warehouse or the library, another had hinted at the abandoned island a short way across the water from the resort village.
“Have you heard anything?” Andrew appeared from somewhere higher up on the luxury boat and charged towards Gavin, looking hesitant to talk to him after Gavin had yelled at him earlier.
“No, have you?” asked Gavin hopefully.
Andrew shook his head. “Nah … I’ve been to see a couple of the trainers. I was just talking to a guy with a lot of Pidgeys and he said we should try looking on the island near the peninsula.” Andrew pointed out to the sea. Just a kilometre or two off shore was a small, rocky island, which was hazy compared to the resort village, which was on a peninsula. From this side of the boat, Gavin could see the expensive hotel from the night before and the library very clearly. But the island was shrouded … by something.
“Maybe we should tell the pokemon to search on the island, then?” suggested Gavin, after staring at it for some time.
“Good idea,” Andrew nodded vehemently. “We’ll have to wait until they return, though.” A grin crossed his face. “ I can’t believe Jess has gone and gotten herself into trouble again. I’ll be the one who gets blamed, I bet.”
Gavin smirked. “Again? How often does she get into these messes?”
Andrew laughed half-heartedly. “Hardly ever. Maybe I over exaggerated,” he said, leaning on the rail on the edge of the deck. “But it’s just so hard to have her travelling with me. She’s like a full time job sometimes.”
“She travels with you?” Gavin asked curiously. “So you’re on a journey then?”
“Yeah!” said Andrew quickly. “I thought I already told you?” Gavin shook his head, so Andrew took out a handful of badges and showed him them. “I have five badges … I was actually just driving through here to go to the next gym, after we caught up with Glenys and Ripper, that is. But then … Jess and Phil had to go and disappear, didn’t they.”
“I guess I’m lucky to be an only child then,” Gavin said slowly, regretting the words as soon as they left his lips.
Surprisingly, Andrew shook his head. “Jess is alright. I mean, we normally get along OK. It would be SO boring to be an only child.” He turned to Gavin. “Is it?”
Gavin paused, a lump building up in his throat. Memories flooded back. “I … suppose so …”
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2001, September
“ Hurry up, Gavin, or you will be late!” his mother’s cry came bellowing down the hallway.
Gavin tossed and turned in his bed, still asleep. He wanted to wake up … he was screaming mentally, but nothing came out. The images that were flashing through his head were distressing, terrifying. He had seen them before, in a dream, but never so clearly. And they were different this time. The beams of green light were lighter … more vicious. More deadly.
Finally, it ended, and Gavin jolted to consciousness with a cry. The dreams always were realistic, so life-like, but never so painful, he had almost felt the pain, he had definitely heard the bloodcurdling screams of torture and anguish. He had felt the hot breath, the searing hot beams of dark light.
Slowly, the thirteen-year-old boy awoke, and wiped his sweaty forehead. He was absolutely soaked in his sweat. At least the dream was over … Gavin calmed himself down and slowly got out of his bed, leaving it unmade and rushing into the hallway and into the kitchen.
“You alright, Gavin?” asked his mother, bustling around the kitchen, a few bowls on the bench which looked like the ingredients for some sort of cake.
“I’m OK,” he replied dully, preparing a bowl of Coco’s Crunch. “Where’s Talia?”
“In bed still, I suppose,” said his mother, whipping the contents of one of the bowls furiously. “She’s still not feeling well today, poor thing.”
“Shame she missed out on the theatre last night,” Gavin said, wondering if his twelve year old sister was alright. “She would have loved to see the dances. They were really skilful.”
“I thought you didn’t like the outing last night?” Gavin’s mum raised an eyebrow.
“Er … I didn’t … I only went to see the pokemon. The Eevee evolutions are really great … they are really strong in their own ways …” he said quickly, before munching on his breakfast cereal. “School is really boring this time of year,” he moaned. “The tests and stuff are already done, we go on holidays in a couple of days so what’s the point?”
“The point is that it’s a legal requirement,” his Mum grinned. “I’m not going to work today, but Talia is probably staying home from school. I’m going to go collect some herbs today, for a medicine for poor Talia.”
Gavin rolled his eyes.
"Or you could go the pharmacy and, you know, buy something real."
His mother scoffed.
"Please, naturopathy was passed on to me from my mother, and her mother before her. It's always worked for us before, you just need to know which plants to use, and when." She put down her spoons. “In fact, I could go right now - the nectar from Alem Flowers is the most potent before the flowers open in the morning. You just keep getting ready for school and I’ll nip down to the thicket behind the tower and get some Alem.” With that split-second decision made, she covered up her cooking ingredients and threw a bag over her shoulder. “Seeya in a minute, Gavin,” she said, kissing him on the head.
“Bye Mum.”
*
“Talia! Mum’s just gone to get a medicine for you!” Gavin called, slamming his hand onto the door of his sister’s bedroom and throwing it open, as it was already ajar. It revealed a very messy room, clothes were thrown over the floor, hiding the carpet. But it was more messy than usual – the drawers were open and the bedcovers were messed up haphazardly.
Talia was gone.
Gavin’s heart thudded. This wasn’t normal! She wasn’t just in the toilet either, the window had been thrown open, the curtains rippling in the light breeze, and many of Talia's treasured items were missing – her necklace, her pink teddy from when she was born, her highly treasured crystal dove – given to her by her father when she was two years old. Everything of importance was gone.
He didn’t even yell out for her. This wasn’t a stupid twelve-year-old trick. This wasn’t a kidnapping. She had run away. Gavin’s throat swelled up. How could this happen? His only sister! She had been so happy until yesterday, what possibly could have happened to her?
Trying to calm himself, Gavin ran pointlessly through all the rooms in the house, trying to sort things out in his mind, but his brain was chattering and his heart was aching.
‘Just wait until Mum comes home … she can do something about it,’ he convinced himself.
Just at that moment, a terrible feeling overcame him. It was not a mental thought, nor a physical feeling. It was a soulful experience; a soundless scream, which wrenched its way through his heart, hurting him more than he had been ever hurt before. His mind throbbed with terror. He didn’t know what it was. His dream from last night came tearing back at him, images screaming at him to paralyse him with fear.
‘Wait until Mum comes home …’ he repeated in his mind.
Gavin sat perfectly still for a further six hours, silent tears pouring down his cheeks. He didn’t move, for food, for water, for anything.
His mother never returned.
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*
Wigglytuff and Dratini were talking to each other rapidly and secretly. Maybe they were plotting something? Lisa stared at them for a moment, then at the shiny grey Steelix, the Flareon and Persian, and Slowbro. They all looked vicious, like they could do a LOT of damage if they wanted to. But they simply stood or sat, staring back at her.
“Hello,” said Lisa, not knowing why.
They all blinked back.
“So do you all work for Lenina or are you like her pets?” she said.
Slowbro stared at her curiously. //Lenina is my master, and my boss// he replied mentally. Lisa felt the words travel to her mind; a sensation which caused some people fear, but in the last two months she had become almost accostomed to the method of communication. //We are all here to do her bidding//
“Why?” asked Lisa, brushing strands of ebony hair from her face so as to get a clearer look at the Slowbro, which maybe wasn’t as psychotic as it had first looked. It was surprisingly rational. “She is part of Team Rocket, right?”
//Yes//
“Do you know much about Team Rocket’s operations?” Lisa asked the invasive question gingerly. Slowbro could know a lot, which could help her find why Team Rocket was after her.
//Yes. If you like, I will tell you// At this reply, Lisa could barely believe her ears. She had struck gold! While Lenina might have trained her Slowbro to be strong with its psychic powers, she had evidently neglected the fact that Psychic pokemon could communicate easily with humans in their own way. Lenina had never disciplined the Slowbro, or taught it to keep secrets; consequently, it didn’t know that it wasn’t meant to divulge secrets. It was a price she was now going to pay.
//My master belongs to Team Rocket. She is in the medium ranks of the organisation, but still has a strong link to Joseph Sterling// Slowbro began.
“Who is he?” asked Lisa, sure she had heard the name before.
//Joseph Sterling is the man who resurrected Team Rocket just over three years ago. Joseph Sterling is the man who controls the comings and goings of Team Rocket. Joseph Sterling is the man who wants Lisa Walters dead// Slowbro’s face showed no emotion of fear, shock or alarm, or of triumph or happiness. Just blank.
Lisa’s heart, for a change, did not leap at this statement. “Why does he want me dead?” she asked, squaring her jaw, determined to find the answer.
//I do not know. Three people have been sent to kill you over the past few months. One did not succeed, although he came close. One died trying. And one, Lenina, will succeed in your death//
It was one of the most bizarre situations Lisa had ever been in. She was talking to someone – an enemy – who was trying to kill her for an unknown reason. Slowbro would kill her if he was ordered. But he was incapable of feeling hatred. And then it clicked.
These pokemon that Lenina had … Lisa looked at them all. All of them were looking at her with blank eyes. Lisa felt a suspicion that these pokemon had been created by laboratories somewhere. Not clones, just created. But they had no experience of normal life. They had no emotion.
Before she could explain this, or even say anything to Slowbro, there was a deafening crash from upstairs, and what sounded like gunshots, and screeching pokemon. There were sudden footsteps pelted along a metal walkway somewhere. It sounded to Lisa both close, yet far away.
Moments later, Jessica came screaming down the ramp which led in a spiral to the observatory floor, panting but trying to yell out to Lisa between gasps. She looked urgent. “Lisa, quickly, we have to get out of here!!” she screeched.
Lisa quickly threw out her other two pokeballs – Fiskmire and Elekid, and Jessica threw out a Murkrow, which was pure white. It looked very odd, but Lisa had no time to consider things. By the looks of it, Jessica had somehow deprived Lenina of her gun, and managed to get away from her momentarily. But they had to act fast!
“Murkrow – use –” Jessica was just yelling out orders as she came to the floor when Lenina appeared at the top of the spiral ramp. The shiny back gun she held was pointed directly at Jessica’s heart.
“Now, now girls, I warned you not to try anything stupid …” she said. “Foolish kids … she descended the ramp, still keeping the gun trained on Jess. “Now, get back to where you’re supposed to be.” She barked at Jess, who shivered and ran back to face Lisa, recalling the Albino Murkrow. Wigglytuff and Dratini quickly took their places, and the other pokemon stood back.
“FIGHT!” bellowed Lenina, and the girls were forced to do so.
“Water gun, Dratini!”
“Use POUND, Wigglytuff!”
It was a very short round indeed, Dratini shot one weak blast of water at Wigglytuff, and the inflatable pokemon punched Dratini on the tail.
Lisa grinned, the battle was so fake. But Lenina didn’t look pleased.
“Hurry it up, girls,” Lenina smirked, handling her metal weapon. “My gun is getting restless.”
The time had come, Lisa thought. They had stalled for a while, but it was too late now. Suddenly, while Lisa stared blankly in Jessica’s direction, she noticed that the door of the room Phil was in was directly behind Wigglytuff. If they could blast it open somehow, Phil would be able to help them …
“Dratini, Ice Beam! Full strength!” cried Lisa, and Jessica gaped while Lenina grinned. Dratini turned it’s head and looked with confused ebony eyes at its master. Lisa winked at it, and the dragon got the rough idea. Then she sent the best mental message she could.
‘AIM for the door!’
Dratini fired its attack up at once, a beam of azure hue shot out from his mouth, and zipped quickly past Wigglytuff, missing it by a fraction of a centimetre. As Lisa had hoped, the beam slammed into the door and it was dented badly – it had half folded in.
Luckily, Lenina hadn’t noticed it, she was too intent on watching Jessica’s face; Lisa’s friend hadn’t yet caught onto Lisa’s plan, unfortunately, so she thought Lisa was savagely battling.
“Shadow Ball, Wigglytuff!” she roared.
Lisa tried to signal somehow to Jess what her plan was, but the other girl took no notice. Wigglytuff took no notice, and formed a massive ball of black and lavender energy and light. It fired the ball at Dratini. Lisa’s agile mind flicked to a quick decision; a way she could turn this setback into a positive event.
“Mirror Shield!” Lisa called to Dratini. And again, she added mentally, (believing correctly that Dratini WAS getting her messages) ‘Aim for the door!!’
Dratini had only once used the highly advanced and highly defensive move, and that wasn’t even in a battle. Lisa had taught him the technique on the road to Moo Moo Farm, and he had practised by Lisa throwing rocks at him. Mirror Shield was an advanced version of Mirror Coat; it completely deflected an attack, physical or elemental, but took a lot of concentration.
The tiny blue dragon screwed up his face as the Shadow Ball left Wigglytuff’s hands and shot at him. He squinted, concentrating on an image in his brain. He invisaged the ball bouncing of an almost-transparent dome around him. And, within seconds, a flat rectangular shield appeared resplendently before him. Mirror Coat. Now he just needed to concentrate on upgrading it. Summoning every last drop of determination in succeeding against the evil fuel of the battle, Dratini willed the Mirror Coat to expand into a dome, and it did, just as the Shadow Ball pelted into it. The attack had worked!
The black sphere shot rapidly in the other direction, right on target; it slammed into the metal door, like the Ice Beam Had, except this ball had much more power behind it; the door caved it amazingly, slamming with a metallic clang to the metal floor of the room. After the sound had finished reverberating, Lenina glared at Lisa and Jess, and realised that Lisa’s plan had worked. Jess also seemed to notice that Lisa had been raging at the door, and not at her, and looked apologetic.
Phil appeared at the door of the office, but he looked panicky.
“Phil, are you alright?” called Jess, not noticing Lenina’s grip becoming tighter on the gun.
The man, Lisa noticed, looked faint, and his words were coming out in shallow gasps. “Smoke … fire!” he coughed urgently. Lisa took a couple of steps to look into the office, and saw thick black smoke billowing from somewhere inside, and figured the Shadow Ball had ignited with something; Phil had inhaled some smoke by the looks of him.
Lenina’s eyes flicked towards the room, which had now filled with smoke, but her hand remained steady on the gun.
“No,” she breathed, showing a brief lapse in her evilness. “Not that … no … it’s on fire …”
Before anyone could make a move from the standstill, there was a small explosion in the office, and smoke poured out and began filling the observatory. Everything was obscured from view, and Lisa grabbed her pokeballs urgently, aiming them everywhere until three zaps meant she had recalled her pokemon. By the sound of it, Jess had done the same.
“Drop to the ground!” Lisa said, trying not to breath, her eyes streaming. There were a couple of thuds and she presumed Jess and Phil had dropped to the ground behind her.
“The floor’s filthy!” muttered Jess, only a hint of a whine to her voice.
Lisa rolled her eyes, but this came at a price, as they began stinging even more by the smoke. She screwed them to a squint and threw her arm behind her. “Grab onto my hand, we can follow easier that way.”
“Alright,” Phil’s reply was a cough, but Lisa felt his hand grasp hers, and by a squeeze on her hand, Phil signified that Jess had his hand.
There was suddenly a shot from the gun; Lenina was shooting wildly at them now. Lisa crawled on one-handedly and blindly, hoping against hope not to come to a dead end or crash into Lenina herself, or one of her pokemon. A moment later, her hand came up against a wall. Lenina was yelling out muffled cries now (Lisa couldn’t understand them through the smoke and loud crackling of fire), and then three shots came from her gun at once, followed by a long stream of them.
There was a muffled scream from Jess further back, and Lisa thought she must have been hit by one of the bullets, when she herself felt something dig into her shoulder sharply, and her body gave a lurch.
*
“This is ridiculous,” said Gavin bluntly.
“The only thing more boring is the Lord of the Rings,” agreed Andrew.
They were still cruising around the island where Lisa, Jess and Phil might well have been held captive. Gavin thought it was unfitting to be bored when three people were in danger, but what else could he do? Worrying endlessly wouldn’t save them.
Without warning, there was a light thud around the corner of the deck. Gavin and Andrew exchanged glances, and were just about to look around when Natu came fluttering along, holding something in his small talons.
“Hey …” Andrew muttered.
“I think Natu found something … back on the mainland,” cried Gavin. Andrew came over to examine with Gavin what it was that Natu had found. Gavin took the rolled up document and patted Natu on the head, but the tiny green bird seemed to want to tell them something.
“Hang on Natu,” Gavin muttered impatiently.
“It still doesn’t explain it,” Andrew exclaimed. “ Who took them both?”
Gavin shrugged. “ At least we know why.”
“Wassat?” cried Andrew, coming up beside him and peering over his shoulder to look at the document.
“It’s an experiment …” Gavin read hurriedly through the page. “Something about … lab reports … experimenting on people; someone’s planning to inject pokemon’s genes into humans to test the effects!”
Andrew’s eyes goggled. “Sort of like Spiderman, then?”
Gavin nodded, gaping. “I wonder who’s planning to do this … oh, there’s a name, how convenient … Professor Lenina Johnson – OH MY GOD!”
“What?” said Andrew.
“Professor Lenina Johnson – head of the Pokemon-Human experimentation team, of the ranks of Team Rocket! Whoever wrote this was planning to do these experiments on someone … and they’re from Team Rocket …” Gavin cried urgently, his mind knotting, with good reason.
Andrew snorted, and began to laugh, but he turned it into a kind of sneeze/cough/hiccup. “Well, how evil then …” he muttered, looking amused.
Gavin stared at him for a second, while Natu dug into his shoulders urgently.
“TU! TU NATU!” it chirped, ripping his shirt.
“Rack off Natu!” cried Gavin, but the persistent green bird grabbed a heap of Gavin’s dark hair in its talons and yanked until Gavin was at it’s mercy. Natu dragged him around the corner, until he saw.
Lying sprawled on the ground were three people. Lisa, Phil, and Jessica.
“Guys!” called Andrew, running up to them. Lisa and Phil stirred, but Jess’ eyes remained shut.
“You alright, Lisa?” asked Gavin, kneeling down as Natu fluttered into the air proudly. Lisa blinked, then glanced hesitantly at her shoulder.
A smile wavered weakly on her face. “I thought I got shot,” said Lisa, gesturing to a tiny rip in the shoulder of her – actually, Gavin’s – shirt. “Oh, sorry for wearing your shirt by the way, it was cold outside the tent and I couldn’t find my own clothes quickly enough … oh and sorry for not leaving a note or anything but I was just checking I didn’t think we’d get kidnapped,” she gabbled nervously.
“Don’t worry about – hey, hang on!” Gavin cried. “You got kidnapped and SHOT?”
“Yeah … kidnapping’s just the usual routine,” Lisa gave a shaky giggle, as Aipom ran up suddenly from somewhere about the boat, and pelted into Lisa, hugging her tightly for the first time. “And I THOUGHT I got shot, but it turns out that Natu just grazed my shoulder … he teleported us three back here.” Natu fluttered to her lap and Lisa gave him a stroke under his mouth. “Thanks Natu … you’re a lot stronger, and kinder, than I give you credit for.”
While Lisa and Gavin had been talking, Andrew and Phil were panicking. Jess had not woken, and there was something red on her shoulder … it looked like blood.
“Was she … shot?” Gavin breathed, noticing the situation with fear and shock.
Lisa blinked away tears as she saw Jessica’s still body. “I heard her cry out just before we teleported back here … when Lenina was shooting. I think she might have been shot!”
“In the shoulder …” Phil murmured, looking subdued.
“Lenina …” said Gavin, under his breath.
Andrew was staring silently at his younger sister, when suddenly, she shook all over, and her eyes opened. It was a moment before she sat up and glanced around at the worried faces circling her.
“What’s your problem?” she said bluntly.
Andrew exhaled heavily and looked like he was about to hug her with relief, then kind of gave her an awkward smile. “You’re alright … you’re alive.”
“Well duh!” she said, clicking her tongue. “What, did you think I got shot?”
“Yuh huh!” cried Phil, Gavin, Andrew and Lisa.
“Oh … no …” Jess said, with a look of disgust. “I thought I did, but it turns out the bullet just grazed my arm … it ripped through my top though!” she moaned.
“What about the blood?” choked Andrew.
Jessica turned her head and looked at her shoulder with great difficulty, and rolled her eyes in disgust. “I bet it’s stained my top now … stupid Lenina … it’s not blood,” she reassured them all calmly. “When I was upstairs Lenina led me through the kitchen to go to the toilet, and then this Natu shot through the window and pecked at her face and she dropped her gun, so I grabbed the nearest thing … a bottle of pasta sauce … and squirted it in her face to get away.”
It made sense to Lisa now. Gavin sniffed the air. “Was it Dolmio … the sauce, I mean?”
Jessica stared at him curiously. “Yeah, why?”
“Horrible stuff,” said Gavin.
*
The search party was called to a halt by Glenys and Ripper when they found that Phil and Jess (and Lisa) had been found safely, and all the pokemon returned after awhile, reuniting with their trainers. The trainers on other boats gave cheers when they heard the victims had been saved. Then, to celebrate, Ripper took the boat back to the mainland for a feast at the resort, as everyone was starving. Lisa had a craving for a Pepperoni Pizza, while Gavin was thinking along the lines of anything edible in sight.
“We’ll walk back to the resort,” proposed Glenys, smiling, after they had moored the boat in the port in town. Gavin had had enough of boating to last him a long time. “Just after we stop in at the Police Station.”
Gavin and Andrew were pleased to walk into the Police Station with the case solved, although the criminal was still not apprehended. The constable and his partner immediately left in a speedboat to the observatory island, and the policewoman behind the desk called the Fire Station to tell them about the fire at the observatory. And then, the whole group began walking to the resort along the footpath.
“Lisa, did you say you were kidnapped by a woman called Lenina?” asked Gavin suspiciously.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Why?”
Gavin held up the plans that Natu had delivered in his talons, and Lisa stared at them. But before she could say anything, they passed the library. Andrew, Jess, Phil, Glenys and Ripper kept walking, talking amongst themselves, but Lisa and Gavin stopped and stared up at the building. The Suicune book … Lisa had forgotten about that. Gavin checked his watch … only 3pm, the library was open for another hour.
“Let’s go then,” Gavin grinned, pushing the door open, while Lisa called something to Jess and Andrew, before following him through the glass doors.
The library was huge, and obviously newly made, but it had been architectured with an old theme about it … the roof was domed and sloping, with carvings and engravings on it. A circular desk was at the front of the library, where two librerians sat typing at very thin computers.
“Excuse me …” Lisa murmured.
The blonde librarian, older than the other, looked at her through spectacles as large as her own head. “Yes, dear?” she said softly.
“I was wondering if you have any books of Legendary Pokemon in this library, I’ve been told that you do.”
Without a word, the woman tapped away at a few keys on her computer and printed a very long list. She handed it to Lisa. “There you are, dear.”
Gavin looked at it over Lisa’s shoulder. Within a few minutes, Lisa sighed. The list wasn’t right, she decided, reading down it: Suicune’s Magical Day, Mew and Mewtwo go to Town, The Adventures of Albert Articuno, Volumes 1 – 4 …
“I have the wrong kind of list,” said Lisa to the woman.
“We want factual books, please,” chimed in Gavin.
The receptionist’s mouth grew thin. “I’m sorry, all our books have been restricted to research purposes only, not for some children –”
“We want to research it!” Lisa protested. “It’s because …” she paused; it wasn’t exactly a great angle to say that she needed the book because Suicune had been following her occasionally for two months … nobody except Gavin, and maybe Professor Westwood … would believe her.
“It’s because we need it for school.” She said, and Gavin guffawed.
“Isn’t it almost Christmas, little girl? School finished about a week ago,” the blonde woman said. “Besides, you both look a bit old to be going to school.” She finished nastily.
Lisa had been caught both ways … school had finished for the summer, until early February, and people over the age of 13 didn’t go to school … unless they went to University, in which case they were given a card to prove their identity.
“Um … well, we’re really interested in Suicune, so can we just please take a particular book?”
“No.”
Gavin and Lisa exchanged annoyed glances. “We’d just like to borrow Suicune: the Legend.”
“No.”
Aipom, who had been running around Lisa’s legs, sprinted off into the section which was under the stairs, jail bars were locking it up, but Aipom was very small, and he slipped through the gaps easy. Due to the Maple Syrup overdose he had had a few days ago back in Ecruteak, his mind was very sharp and he knew what Lisa wanted … Suicune books …
“Well, I think that’s just rude not to let us at least see the books!” cried Lisa indignantly. “Can’t we just look at it while we stay in the library?”
“No.”
Aipom came scurrying out from the Restricted Section, a thick book held in his tail. He raced through the aisles until he was at Lisa’s feet, holding the book up to her. She looked down, and with pleasant surprise saw that it was the book she had been looking for. Gavin noticed too.
“Well, thanks anyway,” he said quickly, turning around, picking Aipom up and holiding him and the book to his chest so they would be obscured. “Bye.” He called over his shoulder.
Lisa blinked, then trailed out.
“I’ve never done anything illegal before!” she squealed at Gavin as they walked briskly to catch up with Andrew and Jess, who were waiting at a corner up ahead.
“Firstly, don’t go screaming around that we just stole a book. Secondly … well, sometimes … it’s necessary,” he grinned. “Although, Aipom’s the real criminal mastermind.”
Lisa hugged Aipom. “Thanks, Aipom … I’ll get you some Maple Syrup when we get – OH!” She cried as something wrapped around her tightly, clutching her chest.
Originally Posted by mr_pikachu
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