Route 5 was full of surprises. We met Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader and her Lucarios. Then we spent some time at the awesome skate park right next to the Route's entrance. Serena and I had a little challenge to see who could weave in and out of the plastic cones the fastest, and I won of course. We probably spent a little too much time there, but we were having too much fun!
As we were continuing down the Route, a horde of wild Scraggy attacked us! Serena and I called out our partners, but there were too many of them! Things weren't looking good. Suddenly, Fennekin and Froakie evolved! With their new strength, Braixen and Frogadier were able to protect us.
Now, after running the rest of the way, we've escaped the angry Pokémon and arrived in Camphrier Town.
Serena and I sit at a nearby bench to catch our breath.
"That... was crazy," I say, breathing heavily. I lean my head back on the bench.
"I thought we were going to die for a second there," replies Serena, equally breathless.
"Luckily, our Pokémon are awesome," I say.
"You can say that again. Let's get over to the Pokémon Center to let Nurse Joy heal them. Plus... I'm pooped," says Serena with a laugh.
I stand and offer my hand to Serena to help her up. "Need me to carry you?" I ask.
"No," says Serena as I pull her up. "I'm not THAT exhausted!"
Serena takes a few steps but tumbles over, and I catch her.
"Oh really?" I say in a sarcastic tone. I turn around and crouch down. "Get on."
There's a moment's pause, but after a second, I feel her weight collapse onto me. I grab the bottom of her legs and stand up.
"This is so embarrassing," says Serena. "But I'm also very tired."
"It's getting late and nobody's really even out. Don't worry about it," I say as I begin walking. "You're actually pretty light."
We arrive at the Pokémon Center and I let Serena down.
"Thanks," says Serena.
"No problem," I reply.
I successfully check us in, get the keys to our rooms, and give Nurse Joy our Pokémon. As soon as we get to our rooms, we crash for the night.
The next morning, Serena and I sit eating breakfast together.
"The Professor said that this town has a lot of history, but where exactly do we start?" I ask.
"Well, we can just roam around town for a bit and see if we find anything that stands out," says Serena before taking the final bite of her pancakes.
We finish up eating and exit the Pokémon Center. As we turn the corner into the rest of the town, I notice a quite obvious castle on the other side of town.
"Oh... " I say. "How did I not notice that before?"
Serena giggles and says, "Well it was dark out, but you're definitely blind to have missed that."
"Hey! You didn't see it either!" I reply.
"I was super tired! The only thing I saw was the back of your neck!"
We make our way to the castle, bickering playfully. The castle has a drawbridge, and we walk across to enter. Upon entering, we once again meet with a familiar face.
Turning to face us, Shauna says, "Oh! Calem! Serena! Hi!"
There's a man standing next to her. He says, "Acquaintances of yours?"
"Yeah!" says Shauna.
"We sure are," says Serena as we position ourselves by Shauna's side. "I'm surprised you got here before us."
"I can't remember the last time we've been so busy!" says the man.
"You call this busy?" I say. No one besides us is here.
"There aren't very many people nowadays that care about history," replies the man.
"Touché. It is pretty empty in here too," I say.
"Allow me to explain. This castle, chateau if you will, was a manor house of a noble family. It may be a little run down, but that's because there's history to this place. During that history, the owners of this castle gave away a lot of their stuff to everyone, so that's why it feels empty. The end."
"That's it?! Don't you have anything related to Mega Evolution?" asks Shauna.
"That's it. What in the world is Mega Evolution?" asks the man.
"Don't mind her. Thank you for your time," says Serena.
"Thank you for visiting," replies the man.
We turn to exit, but notice a man run into the castle. He runs up to the guide and says, "Sir! It's back again!"
"Is it that time of year already? Well, there's nothing I can do about that now... " says the guide. He then turns to us, "I need to go to Route 7, but please take your time and have a look around." The two then head out of the castle in haste.
"I wonder what that's about?" says Shauna.
"Why don't we go find out?" says Serena.
And with that, we head out the castle, out of town, and down Route 7. We quickly come across a bridge that runs over a river. Something isn't right though. A large mass is sitting in the center of the bridge, and the two men are inspecting it.
"What's that?" asks Shauna.
"I think it's a Snorlax!" says Serena.
"Here we go again. It's sleeping so soundly, the end of the world wouldn't wake it," says the castle guide.
"Look! It's practically a mountain, right? It's blocking the road completely. Come now, sir. Use the Poké Flute!" says the other man. "Oh, wait... Do you even have it anymore?"
"Nope. I handed it over," replies the guide.
"Or you could say it was taken... By the owner of the palace," replies the other man.
"Huh? What's a Poké Flute?" asks Shauna.
Hearing this, the guide takes notice of us. "Basically, the Poké Flute is what we need to wake up Snorlax. But it's currently at Parfum Palace," replies the guide.
"Oh, that's it?" asks Shauna. "All we need to do is go get it then!"
"Hold up, do we even know where this Parfum Palace is?" I ask.
"It's just past Route 6," says Serena.
"C'mon, C-Meister! We might even learn something about Mega Evolution!" says Shauna.
"She has a point," says Serena.
"Alright! Alright! Let's go," I say.
"Hooray!" shouts Shauna in victory. Without hesitation, we turn around and head for Route 6.
"We probably should have asked those guys a few more questions," says Serena.
"What's the fun in that?" asks Shauna. "It shouldn't be too hard. We'll just search the palace until we find it!"
As Shauna finishes saying this, we turn the corner onto Route 6. The Route itself is a straight path covered in shade by bordering trees, and large patches of tall grass on either side are bustling with Pokémon. In the distance, I see the ginormous palace. Even at this distance it seems to be bigger than some of the towns we've been through.
"I'm not doing that," I say.
"Nope," says Serena.
"Let's ask for information when we get in there," says Shauna with a nervous laugh.
The walk down the path is very peaceful. Tourists visiting the Palace walk up and down it.
"It's as if this entire Route is the palace's front yard," I say.
"I wonder if the backyard is just as large then," replies Serena with a laugh.
We arrive at the entrance to the palace. A butler stands in front a large gold swing gate. The gate is symmetrical with a majestic gold Serperior on each side.
"Hello! We would like to enter please," says Serena.
"The entrance fee will be 1000 Poké Dollars per person," says the butler.
"You've got to be kidding! It costs money to go inside!" yells Shauna.
"And it's expensive too!" I say.
"You see, the owner of the palace follows the school of thought that you can never have too much money," says the butler.
"Sheesh! This is how the rich get richer!" yells Shauna.
I turn to look to Serena, and she is sweating buckets!
"Hey, are you okay?" I ask.
Serena lets out a nervous laugh and says, "Yeah, I'm fine!"
"Here's your entrance fee!" says Shauna, handing the butler her money. Serena's face goes back to being grim. She starts looking through her bag. Looks like someone spent too much on clothes.
"And here's the rest of it," I say, handing over 2000 Poké Dollars. There goes my spending money.
"The proceeds from the entrance fee help pay for repairing and restoring the palace. Probably..." says the butler before turning around and opening the gate.
"Let's go!" says Shauna, running forward.
I find the confusion on Serena's face very amusing.
"What?" says Serena.
I laugh and grab her hand, "Come on!" We run and catch up to Shauna entering the palace.
I let go of Serena as we enter the palace. The inside is just as beautiful as the outside. Just within this first room stands a golden statue of a Milotic, known to be one of the most beautiful Pokémon. A middle aged man paces back and forth in front of the statue, biting at his finger.
"Where is it?" he says. "Where could it be?! My Furfrou! My beloved little Furfrou has disappeared!"
"Sounds like he's lost his Pokémon," I say quietly to the girls.
"We should probably help him," replies Serena.
"I mean... If my Pokémon was missing, I'd be sick with worry!" says Shauna.
"But let's be realistic here, how are we going to search this entire place?" I say.
Silence falls as we think to ourselves.
"Maybe we don't have to... " says Serena. She then grabs one of her Pokéballs. With a flash of light, Frogadier appears in front of us. "Frogadier's swiftness is incredible! He can search through this entire place in a matter of minutes!" Frogadier nods his head in agreement.
"That's a great idea!" I say.
"Frogadier, you search the building for Furfrou. We'll search the backyard. Come find us once you're finished, okay?" says Serena. Frogadier acknowledges and then runs off.
We exit out into the backyard, only to find our fears of its size correct. An arching bridge before us connects to a garden the size of the house itself. On both sides of the bridge stands a giant statue.
"Let's split up. Shauna, you search the back of the garden. Serena, you take the front. I'll search the middle area," I say. The others nod in agreement.
The garden itself is very much like a maze. Upon reaching the center of the garden, I notice something move out of the corner of my eye. With a little bit of stealth, I'm able to peek around to see what it is. And would you look at that, it's a Furfrou!
I call Serena immediately, "Serena! I think I found him!"
"That's great! Frogadier already reported back to me just a minute ago with nothing, so that has to be it!" says Serena.
"Call Shauna and meet me in the center of the garden. I'll make sure it doesn't go anywhere."
"Alright!" replies Serena.
There's no major movement from Furfrou, and the girls eventually find me. Serena comes up with a plan to pin the Furfrou in. Shauna, Serena, and I will position ourselves in a way so that the Furfrou can't run away from us.
Shauna remains at our original position, while Serena and I sneak over to the other exits. Right as we are getting into our positions though, Shauna sneezes.
The Furfrou jumps to attention, and bolts the opposite direction of Shauna. Serena jumps out of the bushes and scares it towards me. I jump out at the last second and scare it into a dead end.
The Furfrou sits close to the wall of leaves in fear.
"What's all this commotion about!" says the Furfrou's owner, running up to us. "I heard a Pokémon was running through my palace, and now you are running around in my garden." This guy owns this palace? The man turns, seeing Furfrou. "Oh! My dear Furfrou! My beloved Furfrou!"
"Sorry about that! But it was the fastest way," says Serena.
"Could you three be responsible for my wonderfrou reunion with my dear Furfrou? How wonderfrou indeed! It's marvelous, simply marvelous!" says the man. We try to contain our laughter at his use of the word wonderfrou. "A situation like this demands fireworks! We shall put on a show! My Pokémon and I are reunited! We'll commemorate this joyous occasion with a tremendous fireworks display!"
"Isn't that a bit much!" I say.
"Nonsense!" he replies. "It shall also serve as your reward for the trouble you went through. Make sure to get up on the balcony so you can see them well!" He then picks up his Furfrou, and promptly walks away.
"Maybe Furfrou would have been better off if we hadn't found it..." says Shauna.
"What a very... sincere... trainer," says Serena. We all laugh in response.
"Still no Flute though," I say.
"But I really love fireworks, so let's make the best of it!" says Shauna.
The three of us rush up to the balcony on the second level of the palace. Unaware of when the fireworks will actually start, we wait.
"So Serena, have you ever watched fireworks alone with a boy before?" asks Shauna, slightly elbowing Serena in the side.
Serena's eyes widen. "No... Have you?" she replies.
"No... But I can leave if you want me to," says Shauna.
"What are you talking about! Maybe I should leave you and Calem here alone!" says Serena in embarrassment.
"That doesn't make any sense! You know you don't want that!" says Shauna.
"You don't know what I want!" says Serena, puffing out her cheeks.
"Yes I do!" replies Shauna. "You want Calem to-"
"Well I'm going to leave and be perfectly happy about it," interrupts Serena. She starts to walk off, but I grab her hand.
"Nobody is going anywhere. Now stop messing around and get over here," I say, pulling her to the railing. "I think they're going to start."
A whistle sounds as a firework shoots into the air over the garden and explodes. More fireworks follow and form extravagant explosions in the daylight sky. I never knew fireworks could look so amazing during the day. Serena's eyes glisten with fascination. The show is short, but filling.
"Wow!" says Serena.
"That. Was. AMAZING!" yells Shauna.
"That's one to put in the books," I say.
"I'll keep this memory in an album in my heart!" says Shauna.
The palace owner and his butler walk up behind us, and the owner says, "And that was my wonderfrou fireworks show for my Furfrou! I assume you're satisfied with that."
"Oh!" says Shauna. "We almost forgot!"
"We need to wake up a Snorlax!" says Serena.
"Sigh... The Poké Flute, huh... " says the owner with a disturbed look. He waves his hand and says "Go get it." The butler walks off.
"How did you come to have the Poké Flute in the first place?" I ask.
"It was Shabboneau Castle's treasure, but I took it as payment for a loan. A rich guy like me and a common guy like that just didn't go together," he replies. The butler returns, carrying the Flute. "Give it to them."
The butler hands me the Poké Flute, and I place it into my bag.
"Remember to return what you borrow," says the owner before walking off.
"I'll be okay with forgetting about that guy though. What's his deal?" says Shauna.
"Please, understand. Running this place is a very stressful job," says the butler.
"Still... " says Shauna.
"We'll return the Flute later, but right now, we need to go wake that Snorlax," says Serena.
We make our way down to the first level and out of the palace. The walk back down Route 6 is normal, until I notice Serena looking over her shoulder every few seconds.
"Is something wrong, Serena?" I ask.
"Well... I just feel like I'm being stared at," says Serena as we stop.
"That's not unusual," says Shauna, looking at me. I give her a glare.
"I feel like something or someone is following us," says Serena.
"Let's keep walking," I say. We continue forward.
"What are we going to do?" asks Shauna.
"On the count of three, we are all going to turn around," I say. The other two nod in agreement. "Okay. One. Two. Three!"
We all turn around quickly and see a scared Pokémon run behind a tree.
"I think it's more scared of us then we are it..." I say.
Serena walks up to the tree and says, "It's okay. You can come out. We won't hurt you." The Pokémon pokes its head out at first, but then slowly walks out towards her. "Awww. Aren't you a cutie."
The Pokémon is covered with gray fur and has huge eyes that feel like they're staring into my soul. I pull out my Pokédex.
"It's an Espurr," I say.
"Its eyes are a little creepy," says Shauna. Thank goodness someone else noticed.
"He's just got big eyes because he's a curious," says Serena. He's probably curious about what my soul tastes like.
Serena and Espurr take a liking to each other, and she decides to catch him. Hopefully I'll still be able to sleep at night. With our new addition, we continue towards Route 7.
After fetching the Shabboneau Castle's guide and giving him the Poké Flute, we all arrive in front of the Snorlax. In case the Snorlax gets angry when he wakes up, Shauna, Serena, and I have called out our partners.
"Feels nice to have this Flute in my hands again. Ok, I guess I'll start playing," says the man. He places the flute to his lips and begins to play. A soothing whistles fills the air, and the Snorlax's eyes open wide.
The Snorlax cries out in anger and gets up, but it then notices the Pokémon on this side of the bridge and flees towards the mountains.
"That went well," says Serena with a smile.
"Where do you think it went?" asks Shauna.
A bark from behind us turns us around. The Parfum Palace owner and his Furfrou walk up to the castle guide.
"Oh..." says Shauna.
"The only thing I can do with that Flute is put it on display. But you've been playing it since you were little, and the tone is lovely," says the man, turning to his Furfrou. "It seems like my Furfrou also likes the sound of that flute. Not as much as it likes my beautiful, wonderfrou fireworks, of course."
"Uh... Yeah... I guess so..." replies the guide.
"Still, your playing sounded better back in the day. I'll let you take care of that Flute, so be sure to practice more," says the palace owner before walking off.
The castle guide looks down at his flute and smiles before walking off too.
"Was THAT supposed to be an attempt to patch things up?" says Shauna.
"Hey, at least he tried. Give him some credit," says Serena.
"Now... Let's see what's beyond this bridge," I say, and the three of us restart down Route 7.
YOU ARE READING
Mega Love
FanfictionA Calem and Serena fanfic. Calem and friends start their adventure to solve the mysteries of mega evolution!
