The Messanger of Time

Chapter 4: An Old Friend

~March 11, 2004~

"Vincent? You've been on there for quite a while. Why don't you say goodbye to your friend and shut it down?"

"One moment, mother." Vincent, who has been talking to someone over an instant messaging client on Chrissa's laptop, interrupts his conversation to send a message that he needs to leave.

"Well, you still have your phone, don't you?"

Vincent then responds with another message. "Of course I do, James. I'll talk to you more on there."

"Right then. Send me a message and we'll talk more."

And on the response, he closes the program and sets the laptop to shut down, closing the lid. He then gets up from the chair and nods to Chrissa, walking out of the room.

Several weeks prior to this day, Vincent had heard of another individual whom was talked about to be similar to him. So he asked Chrissa to use her laptop in order to search online for any traces of the person. And what he found was more than he expected... A direct address to contact James over a messaging service.

Since then, he has been talking to him on both the messenger and his own cellphone.

As he goes into his room and sits down on his bed, it is seen from the window that it is night. The clock on his phone shows 10:34pm. A logo shows 'Silph Networks' in metallic style lettering, over a dark blue background, which is set to represent the time of night. He figures it would be best to sleep soon, so he tells James that he'll be ending the conversation early.

"I should probably be going soon as well. I need to start getting up earlier if I'm going to go over there."

Vincent responds to the text message, "You did manage to convince him then?"

"Jack's a handful, but he'll do what I want with the right motivation."

Vincent raises a brow and replies again. "Motivation?"

"I told him the Silph Corporation is hosting a convention in Saffron in a few days, and him being so into technology, he wanted to go there."

Vincent smiles a bit and shakes his head. "And you being in Cianwood, I guess I'm right in the way."

"That's the idea. So pretty soon, we get to see each other. And I get to meet your family."

Vincent looks over at Hector, who is asleep on the bed on the other side of the room, then back at the message on his phone and replies after a short moment. "I'm sure they'll be delighted to meet you. Though my brother may like to go to that convention too. Maybe if Jack will take him for a while and mother lets him go."

"Hah, I remember Hector. Who knows, maybe he'll be nice and take him along. I also have a present for you. Jack made it a while ago, but it wasn't up to his expectations, so he wanted to scrap it. I convinced him otherwise."

Vincent reads the message in curiosity. "Oh? What is it?"

"You'll just have to see when I give it to you. You'll love it. But Jack wants me to get to sleep now. He expects me to get on a timely schedule so we're up early for him to go. Says it'll take a couple days, and if we don't waste time, he can be there before it starts."

Vincent rolls onto his back and replies to James again. "Alright. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Good night, James."

"Good night, Vincent."

He then puts his phone on the desk next to his bed and stretches out, looking around the dark room. "I guess I'd better sleep too... I just hope I can..."

He rolls over again and looks out the window. The sky is clear and a mass of stars can be seen, along with the moon which gives a small illuminating glow in the night sky. Even as simple as he lives, he always likes to wonder what this world holds for him in places outside Pallet.

Shortly, he rolls onto his other side and closes his eyes, soon falling asleep.

- - - - -

"A Messanger... I was told your kind would come to this world. But I did not expect one such as you to find me... You are not the one I was supposed to meet, are you?"

"No... The one you've been seeking is not me. However, I am trying to find him. I fear that he may soon be in danger..."

"So I have expected. I just hope we can find him before it is too late. Perhaps if we search together, we may help one another in finding him."

"I was thinking that might be wise. Very well, then... I'll go with you."

"What is your name, Messanger?"

"...My name is Lucas Crane."

- - - - -

~March 14, 2004~

"Come on, pipsqueak. We're gonna be late."

James digs through his drawers, until he finally finds a small box, and pulls it out. "Aha. Found it."

"I'm gonna leave without you!"

He jumps up and looks out the bedroom door. "I'm coming, Jack! Sheesh, you're so impatient!" He runs out of the room and into the garage, which looks completely packed with metal parts and various electronic objects. Waiting for him is a man of average height, with short black hair and dark purple eyes. He is wearing what would look like normal clothing, except for the various tools and high-tech gadgets attached to different areas of his grey jacket and black pants.

"Any longer and I would've left you here, James."

He rolls his eyes and Jack walks over to a small vehicle, which looks similar to a silver motorcycle, but it has no wheels. Instead are large circular pads mounted to the front and back of it, which sit flat on the ground. Painted on the sides are various different designs in dark colors to contrast to the rest of the vehicle.

He gets on and James climbs on behind him, putting the box inside a compartment in the back and then holding onto him.

"...James, how many times do I have to tell you, get your feet off the ground or you'll lose them."

James rolls his eyes and puts his feet up on the small mounts on each side, then Jack puts his key in the ignition and starts up the vehicle. And immediately, a large amount of heat emits from the two pads and it lifts up into the air, flying out of the garage. Jack then taps a button on it and the door closes behind them as they take off into the sky.

- - - - -

~March 15, 2004~

"I'm going out, mother! I'll be back soon!"

"Okay, don't be too long. You don't want to miss meeting your friend."

"Don't worry, I won't miss him."

Vincent goes outside and looks around, then runs down the stairs of the patio and out into the fields. He pulls out his phone and sees two text messages received on it.

He opens the first, sent at 5:08am, and reads it. "Hey, Vincent. We left Violet early and are coming close to you. I hope you're awake."

He then looks at the next message. "Vincent, wake up already! We're at New Bark, so get out of bed already!"

He then looks at the time sent, 6:28am. It is now 7:04am, meaning James would already be very close. He rubs his eyes a bit, then replies.

"Sorry, I overslept. I'm outside right now. Just tell me when you get to the town."

He puts his phone away and stretches, then hears a high ringing behind him, turning to look as a small hovercraft comes down from the sky and flies off a distance, before landing on a nearby sidewalk, away from the grassy field.

James quickly gets off, then immediately jumps and run away from the craft and falls into the grass. Jack rolls his eyes and looks down at him.

"You impatient twit. You know the air above the ground is very hot when we first land. I don't want to have to replace your shoes again because you decided to rush off and they melted."

James sits up and beams at him. "You're more worried about my shoes than my burning feet. I see how it is." Vincent blinks and walks towards them.

"My apologies, I just can't feel remorse for idiots who get what they deserve."

James gets up and folds his arms. "I love you too, Jackie."

Jack smirks and takes a box and tosses it to him, then puts his hand on the handlebars again. "Yeah yeah. I'd love to stay and chat with your friend, but I'm gonna be late as it is. I'll come get you tomorrow. Don't get into too much trouble."

They hear shouting from the house and Hector runs out, looking overly prepared for this occasion. Jack looks at him curiously, then realizes who he is. He pants as he reaches them. "Sorry, I hope I'm not too late..."

Jack looks down at him from the craft, somewhat surprised at the many things he has on him. "You're... Hector, right?"

He looks up at him and nods. "Yeah, that's me. Jack?"

Jack nods, then smiles. "Hurry, we have no time to waste."

Hector quickly runs over and gets onto the craft, looking back at Vincent. "Tell mom that I left already. Don't worry, I'll be good."

Vincent slowly nods, and Jack looks back at him for a moment. "...Feet off the ground."

Hector blinks and looks down, then puts his feet up and looks back at Jack, who shifts the gear on the craft forward, and it lifts into the air again, before flying off as James and Vincent watch.

Vincent then finally speaks up, causing James to jump from his sudden voice. "That's your brother, huh?"

"Don't surprise me like that! I didn't even know you were there."

Vincent looks at him, chuckling a bit. "Sorry, I guess I should've warned you."

James nudges him, then tosses the box to him and he looks at it curiously, opening it up to reveal what looks like an advanced cellphone. He pulls it out and looks it over, seeing that it would closely resemble that of a smartphone, which have rarely been seen in the world.

"Is this what you were talking about..?"

He nods and smiles. "Jack spent a few months modeling that and setting it up. It actually works quite well and does a few nifty things, but he just didn't think it was good enough for him. I think it'll do good for you though. All you have to do is transfer service from your phone to it and you'll be set."

Vincent smiles a bit and puts his hand on James' shoulder. "Thanks, it's a great gift."

James nods, then pulls out a similar, but more advanced, phone to it. "This one, Jack made for me. I quite like it."

He chuckles a bit, then puts the phone and its cord in his pocket, then walks back to the house, James following. He has never been much into phones, and has used them for only communication. But he is deciding to try it. After all, it couldn't hurt him.

As they get to the house, they are stopped by another voice and then turn to see Christina running towards them from the town. Samuel is seen behind her as he jumps down from Sierra and runs after her. The Flygon watches them and then flies off into the sky again.

"You're rather early... Did you really take the first meeting time?"

She smiles and nods. "Of course I did. I got up bright and early and dragged dad out of bed to take me."

Samuel yawns, then looks at her and pokes her shoulder. "Bright and early... You woke me up at three in the morning just for that. And you simply wouldn't let me go back to sleep."

She looks up at him. "Sorry, dad... I was excited."

"Well, you're lucky it was for such an occasion or I wouldn't have done it."

James looks between them, confused, and Vincent speaks up. "So... what did they say?"

She looks back at him and smiles, looking almost ecstatic. "They accepted me! I'm in! Starting next week, I'll be taking music classes in Saffron. Aerthos and Sierra have already agreed to give me a ride there and back, and keep watch so mom and dad don't have to wake up so early anymore."

"Which means I can sleep again..." Samuel walks by them, then stops and looks at James for a moment. "You must be... James, right?"

He nods and holds his hand out, Samuel shaking it. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

Samuel smiles and nods to him. "Always good to meet friends of Vincent. You seem quite mature for your age too. Just like him."

James chuckles a bit and shrugs. "Fast growing these days, huh?"

"Of course..." Samuel then looks at Vincent. "I guess Hector's already gone then, if your friend's here, right?"

He nods, and Samuel sighs. "That boy's so persistent. But that's a good thing. He pursues his dreams and interests." He then yawns again and opens the door to the house. "Now I'm gonna go back to sleep for an hour or so. I need to catch up on my sleep."

They watch as he goes in, followed by Christina and Vincent calls to her. "Hey, sis."

She stops and looks at him, holding the door open.

"Congrats on getting in. I'm happy for you."

She smiles. "Thanks, Vincent. I'll try my best."

He nods, then she goes inside and he looks back at James. "...So."

James blinks and looks back at him. "So?"

"We... could go to the Western Forest. I haven't been there in a while."

James looks across the field at the nearby forest, staring at it for a bit. "You do realize that place has been known to be dangerous, right? Even people in Johto refuse to go in there. It would take a skilled trainer to even make it through there in one piece."

"Pfft. Pokemon Trainers are overrated these days. Putting pokemon into little pokeballs and carrying them around isn't a good way to treat them. They should be raised with care and allowed to roam free when they please."

James snickers a bit. "You really must have been born a pokemon before. You have that distinguishing nature that people normally don't have."

Vincent shrugs. "If only I knew." He then walks away from the house and James follows him. "Either way, I'm sure we'll be fine. The rumors talk about a Celebi living there, and I've read some things about them. They don't seem all that bad."

"Well, if we notice something, we should get out while we can. I'm still not all that comfortable about this, Vincent..."

- - - - -

"I see him now... He's going into the forest."

"Good. Approach him carefully. Attacking directly would be a foolish move, especially on him..."

- - - - -

"See, there's nothing scary about this place. It's just really messy and hard to just walk through."

James looks around, then sits down. "I guess you're right. But man... I've never hiked through such a place like this. I need a break."

Vincent nods slowly and sits down by another tree, then looks at him. "Hey. Do you know anything about your task yet?"

He shakes his head. "The Peace Messanger... Such a name doesn't really tell me anything. But I have read up on some things. Apparently two different countries are wavering and starting to turn against each other. So maybe my task is to make 'peace' between them? I don't know..."

"Make peace between two countries... How do you even get that many people to listen to you?"

James shrugs and leans back against the tree. "I dunno. But what about your task, Vincent? Have you learned anything about it?"

"I'm not sure... All I can convey is that it would have something to do with Dialga, the ruler of Time. I get the feeling I may have to meet him, eventually... But how I'll meet him, I have no idea. I just hope we can finish our tasks before it's too late."

James nods, then twitches when he hears a pile of dead leaves crumble behind them. He quickly gets up, and Vincent does the same, the two looking around.

"...Did you hear that, Vincent?"

"Yeah... I get the feeling we're not alone here. Someone's definitely watching us."

After looking around a bit more, a green flash comes from behind a nearby tree, and a streak of energy is shot towards Vincent, James immediately seeing it and throwing his hand out. "Praesidio!"

Vincent jumps back as the green energy hits an invisible sheild in front of him and dissipates. He looks in the direction it came from. "Was that..."

"That was a spell that almost hit you. No question about it."

"Then that means..."

The two immediately release a silver stream of energy, which quickly forms into two swords, each curved in a way that the back ends have three points and the front, sharp end curves inward to a point at the top. In the hilt is a glowing blue gem, shining brightly with Spiritual energy.

Vincent quickly swings his sword, parrying another attack from a pitch black sword, and throwing his assailant back. In front of him now is a man cloaked in all black and a hood over his head to where his face can barely be seen. And two others in the same cloaks come out of hiding, surrounding them.

"These people... Could they be..."

"Vincent, watch out!"

Vincent quickly ducks forward as one of the men jumps at him from behind in an attempt to slash him with his sword. He then spins around, swinging his sword and taking a direct hit to his stomach. The man gasps and he looks up at him as he vanishes into a dark cloud, which quickly fades away.

The other two men stay where they are, now growing more cautious as one of their own as been quickly slain. Vincent then stands up and looks around at them, growling a bit. "What brings them here..?"

They step forward and Vincent and James back up closer to each other, watching them closely.

"I don't know, but they're clearly after us."

One of them throws his hand out, firing another streak of energy at James, and he quickly swings his sword to deflect it. The other man then releases another streak, followed by the words, "Expello Phasmatis!" And Vincent, immediately hearing him, quickly holds his sword in the way, causing the spell to bounce off it and hit a nearby tree. Upon contact, the tree is seen to gradually whither away as if it has grown completely dehydrated.

James turns to him, growling. "How dare you use that on my friend!"

He then runs ahead and Vincent calls out, "James, wait!" as the other person who was facing him fires the same spell. Vincent swings his sword in the way, causing it to backfire and hit the caster, killing him immediately as he fades away like the first one did.

James jumps forward, using one of his selected abilities of Speedster to quickly reach him and slash at him. The man, taken off guard, is sent back from the force of the attack, not taking as much damage as the first one did, but still wounded. He staggers, sticking his sword into the ground as he nearly falls over and catches himself. But he is given no chance to fight back as Vincent swings his sword out and releases a blade of energy to finish him off, making him fade like the others.

The two pant a bit from the sudden attack and look at each other. And Vincent speaks in a low tone.

"Them being here means this world has become far more dangerous than we thought... We'll have to be very careful, from now on."

James slowly nods and casts his sword away, Vincent doing the same. "Let's not tell anyone of this. They will just get in the way and be led into unnecessary harm..."

"Right... Let's head back. I get the feeling these ones will leave traces. We should get out of here, immediately."

James nods again, and the two run off, leaving the forest to go back to the house.

- - - - -

"Heheheh... I found you..."