MTLNOVEL Chapter 9: Chapter One
Melia and Ren confront Ava as she leaves the Gym. "Congrats on your win, Ava! You were fantastic~!" Melia's excitement beams from underneath the umbrella Ren is holding for the two.
"No one's beaten Venam in quite some time, so it was refreshing to see her lose for once…" Ren scans Ava. "Hey, since you're strong enough to beat Venam, you want to consider challenging the league? I mean, the next Gym is in... Sheridan Village, if I remember right." Ren rubs his chin as he looks up to the dark pouring sky.
Melia taps his shoulder. "Um, Ren... I think you're jumping the gun a little bit. Beating Venam is one thing, but fighting the leader of Sheridan Village is another."
"Nah, that was the plan when I got my card. I don't care who's in my way, I will take on the league. Been having it easy for too long." Ava jokes as she hides from the rain under the door frame.
Melia opens her umbrella and walks over to Ava. "Then you might want to train a bit before you challenge them. They're known for being a lot more of a challenge than Venam." Melia starts to walk away from the doorway, leaving Ava no choice but to follow. "Ren, are you sure you don't want to come to Goldenwood Forest with us?"
Ren walks towards Venam's front door. "Definitely, Venam lost one win streak today; I'm going to see if I can make that two."
Melia chuckles. "Okay, I guess it's just us two!" Melia leans into Ava's ear. "I'll let you in on a little secret too."
"See you, Ren!" the two say as they leave.
"Take care, you two!" he replies as Venam's mother opens the door.
"So what're we doing first, captain?" Ava says, looking down at Melia.
Melia twirls in front of Ava. "I'll get our tickets and you get our snacks! It's a long ride."
"Fine by me…" Ava finishes as the two of them walk further from Venam's house.
"We forgot about my ticket…" Ava remembers as she sits down next to an old man rambling about losing someone. "I'll find it!" Her voice mimicked her irritation.
"Thank you, I'll have a reward for you when she comes back." The old man states with a youthful smile.
"I knew I recognized that voice!" Tesla walks towards Ava with a waving hand in the air. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
W-WHYYYY!! Sculpted like a goddess… King's poison feels like it's at its limit. Ava shifts her eyes to look at anything else. "I'm good, made some friends."
Tesla closes her eyes with an affirmative nod. "Good. You're strong. I admire that strength." She sits down next to Ava. "Please, do not give up hope. Even in the most powerful of despair, we must press on."
Dear god, you smell hot…I really need to find out where Amanda went. I don't think I can last much longer! Ava stands up and starts hopping in place as if she were playing jump rope. "I'm fine, really. You wouldn't have an extra water on you by chance?"
"Oh, I wish I did now. I wasn't expecting to need more than one." Tesla sounds slightly disappointed.
"It's fine! I just forgot to buy another." Ava brushes it off. "Just like how I forgot about my ticket." She mumbles.
"Oh! In that case, please wait here for just a moment." Tesla leaves, her hips unknowingly hypnotizing Ava, and not even a second later she returns with a giddy chuckle. "Everything's taken care of. I'm quite a regular customer here, so I told them you were my friend. You now have a lifetime pass!" Ava steps back a little with her widened eyes. "Are you surprised?" Tesla asks slyly.
"T-Thank you!" Ava bows her head briefly. I'm slappin the shit out of her daughter.
Tesla brightens up from the gratitude. "Don't worry about it! It's the least I could do to help you get out of the nest!" Tesla digs in her bag and brings out 3 potions. "Take these as well! Goldenwood Forest has a lot of beginning trainers there. Be careful about how you use them; the difference between victory and defeat is the timing of a potion." Tesla walks past Ava and gives her a pat on the back. "I have a room at Chrisola Hotel. If you ever need advice or a place to stay, don't hesitate to come see me." Ava's heart skips a beat as she looks at the woman in front of her. "See you soon!"
"U-uh Y-yeah." Ava replies as she turns around. 'I need to NOT take her up on that offer. Think I might be in love. Ava walks through the turnstile, seeing a flustered Melia waiting for her.
"I forgot about your ticket. I'm sorry." Melia bows.
"Well, if it makes it even, I forgot the extra water so… Even?" Ava pushes the bag in Melia's direction.
"Even…" Melia pauses after taking the bag. "If you need help with anything, you can always come to me." She says sincerely with a faint smile.
"Same here. Now let's get on that train." Ava follows her friend onto the bullet train. 'Whatever is causing this smell from every woman I meet needs to. Chill. The. Fuck. Out!'
The train smoothly pierces through the air, whistling through the rain, being nothing more than a blur of neon yellow and gray through the darkness. "Are you absolutely sure you're okay?" Melia's questioning is filled with concern.
"I'm good, I just haven't worked out today, so I'm a little overflowing with energy." Ava responds by biting her bottom lip, non-seductively.
Melia arches a brow. "You shouldn't abuse energy drinks; they're a leading cause of trainer deaths," she says like a concerned therapist.
"Yeah…" Ava looks at Melia, on the borderline of staring at her. Ah, fuck it... I'm sorry, me. "Can I be completely honest with you?"
"We're friends, Ava, of course you can." Melia leans in with a caring smile.
"I was born with nymphomania, and I… I am struggling right now." Ava says as her breathing hastens. "I was wondering if you could let me rest on your shoulder. I just feel like it would help to have a calming touch."
Melia's head moves back a bit in shock before gathering her stuff and sitting next to Ava with a warm yet pained expression. "Sure..." Melia's flushed face looks away from Ava.
"Thanks."
"It's nothing, really."
Ava moans softly into Melia's neck, trying to find comfort. 'DAMN IT! Why can't I cum? All the rubbing only made me HARDER! I feel even more sorry for Melia.'
Melia beams her attention to her pokegear. "Interesting." she says loudly.
Ava sighs as she sits up. "Thanks for trying."
"Well at least it's not as big an issue, right?" Melia turns towards Ava with an overwhelmingly bright smile, her eyes closed
"Y-yeah... " Ava looks towards the window If there's a time to be me, now is definitely it "Talk about awkward." Ava says looking at Char who's cleaning themself like a dog. "Taste good down there?"
Char stops licking "Veevee~..."
Melia laughs a little. "He can't help it!"
"Uh huh. Sure he can't." Ava takes out a brush "Come here mate." Ava starts brushing Char and looks over to Melia who starts a conversation about Pokémon Hygiene. You just busted my ass, 6 ribs for you.
The train pulls into Goldenwood station with the two friends laughing as they step out, "I was still getting used to field research!"
"And battling apparently!" Ava lets out a hearty laugh as the cool wind howls through the trees
"You try doing field research then!." Melia switches the hand she holds the briefcase with. "But before I give you your training, let's take care of the cave."
"Why the cave?" Ava says looking at the golden sign that reads "GOLDENWOOD FOREST"
"My dad also wanted me to finish investigating the ruins back in Goldenwood Cave. But I'm really interested in investigating the-" Melia looks at a few Vivillon fluttering about. "-Butterflies of Fate!"
"...?" Ava looks at Melia like she just asked if her hair was pink
"Right, you're new here. So there are rumors of Vivillons with translucent crystal blue wings. They're extremely rare and people seldom see them…. Well, anywhere? But there have been reports of sightings in this area!"
"We need some photos of them!" Ava's eyes dart around "..For research purposes, ya know…"
"Haha, Agreed. Research must be thorough."
Water drips into one of the two ponds as Melia stands before a mural that sits in the middle of the platform, encased and edged into clay bricks with pillars standing on opposite ends of the Mural. "These are the ruins I've been investigating for a few weeks now." She gets closer to some writings on it. "It's hard to decipher what it looks like, but currently it has a few interpretations." Char hops into a pond. "The blocky bits on the sides resemble buildings, and the circle in the center looks like the sun. It also has ancient letters from the Garufa civilization scattered across… Do you know anything about them?" Melia turns towards Ava who's up to her knees in water
"Yeah, they were geniuses that created base versions of most of our current tech." Melia turns back to the mural
"You know some things about our local ancient tribe but not our Butterflies?"
"Hey!" The newcomer's false pain is voiced, with Char hopping on her back.
"It's strange though. If this mural was made by the Garufans, then these blocky parts can't be buildings… Their technology had not given them the opportunity to build such structures."
"So it's hidden in the walls!" Ava shouts from the pond
"Exactly! The text itself is in an ancient language and is completely unreadable…" Melai turns around with her head lowered. " Until today, that is! My dad took all the pictures I've taken of this place and wrote an algorithm to decode the message."
"So you can decipher it!?"
"Not quite, I need three new snapshots and we wait for the database to decipher it. " Melia takes three photos of the mural from different angles. "Cheese!" She runs over to Ava and Char who's already posing
"Got our good side?"
"Eeevee?"
"Oh yeah, I got your good sides. Don't worry about that! Well, anyway, I have to upload the picture to the database and have the algorithm do its thing."
"How long?"
"Approximately an hour… You want to start your training?"
Melia sits in front of her open suitcase "I got it!" Ava says walking up to Melia with a rainbow flower petal. 'Man my pants got damp fast! It's probably been an hour by now, I should check on MY jacket. Amanda's not getting that shit back, not that I think she'd actually want it back.'
"Great, the database just finished deciphering the holograph too! Here is what the message says when it's fully decoded. Honors?"
"Sure." Ava clears her throat." The light within the belly of Ouroboros shall never cease, least the flame be doused by the will of the suffering. I pray for the safety of all good people who come to our lands."
"It doesn't say that last part."
"It doesn't. We can agree that the ancients did say something that implies therapy right?"
"Yeah-!" The cave shakes causing Melia to stumble back onto Ava.
The cave shakes again causing a part of the mural to collapse again. "A part of the mural collapsed!" Ava holds on to Melia
"But why?" The cave's tremors seem to have stopped. Melia walks towards the hole underneath the mural. "We didn't even touch it…!" Melia turns her head over her shoulder "There's a whole other part of the cave back here!" Ava comes behind Melia with her jacket around her waist, holding Melia's suitcase. "I think we came across a huge discovery!" The scientist squirms on the spot "This is so exciting! Let's investigate right away!" Melia grabs Ava's hand and rushes inside the hole.
"So many murals. Well, pictures, but who's keeping track?"
"You can see? I can barely see my own hand!" Melia shivers "Ava, this place is giving me the creeps… I think I feel a breeze up ahead." Melia rushes past the last mural and out.
"Its Goldenwood again?" Ava questions fairly disappointedly upon seeing the gold and faded green leaves of the trees.
"Oh… Who would've thought a place like this existed all the way back here?
"You've been here before?" Ava asks walking over to the cliff, pointing at the bridge
"No" the trainers look up to the sky, the sun beams strongly through the hole further up. "Oh, there's a bridge? That means Someone's definitely been back here before." Melia's shoulders slouch over " Aw man, what a bummer… Still, it's not on any map and as such this place lacks a name!" Her tone becomes enlightened by the idea. "Hm… Let's see… What about "The Silent Grove"? It's a cute little grove located in secrecy. The person who's been here before has been Silent about its existence. Therefore it's "The Silent Grove"! Get it?"
It's officially a graveyard. Well done Melia.Ava climbs down the hill. "Let's take a look around shall we? Might even find our true treasure."
"Sure." Melia says walking down a set of stairs edged into the hill.
The two continue to walk for a bit until they come to an iron barred gate in a well maintained stone bridge with a set of stairs not so far from it. "Well it looks like they intended to keep it a good secret." Ava says as Melia walks up behind her
"Whoa… What did we just stumble onto?" Melia walks up to the gate
"I already checked, it's locked."
"Could… Could this place be an undiscovered castle of some sort?"
"This place looks too maintained to be undiscovered, plus you can't really Hide a castle nowadays."
"Yeah, you're right… I just got a little excited is all. When I get excited I tend to blurt out the things that come to mind right away."
"It's a shame your blurts aren't as useful as mine." Ava chuckles as Melia takes out her camera. "Two photos back to back? Bit much, no matter how beautiful I am." She says posing
"It's a Butterfly of fate!" She whispers loudly with her eyes almost sparkling. Her words make Ava freeze. "Translucent crystal blue wings!" Melia's hand kept shaking, the Vivillon flew away upon sensing the aura from Melia and Ava. "I-I have to take a picture of it before it flies away for goo-!" A blur of coral pink and black dashes past Melia.
"Let's fucking go!" The young trainer says from atop the recently scaled wall
"Wait for me!" Melia takes the stairs that weren't so far away. Once Melia caught up to Ava she stopped upon seeing an Arceus statue with Fateflies orbiting it. The sun casting a shadow behind it "This statue…"
"It's the statue of God. A.K.A Arseus."
"Arkeus or "Almighty sinnoh" as some call it. The great creator of the world and all of its inhabitants. All of this is so strange…"
"First the Murals, then the secret passageway behind the mural, and last but most indefinitely not least, a statue of God."
"What do you think it's doing all the way back here? Why is this place crawling with the Vivillon that were said to be extremely rare?"
"Well, either way we gotta take pictures… You pose first?" Ava gestures for Melia, who accepts with an eloquent bow.
The shadow behind the statue shortens as Char pounces from atop the statue, startling some of the resting Fateflies. "That's that!" Melia says as Ava finishes her quick grab ribs. "We got everything I needed. Guess we can head back home now… Are ya still hungry?" Melia unpacks her suitcase and brings out a blue and white picnic blanket along with a few butt cushions. After a few minutes Melia and Ava stand on opposing sides of the blanket with Char and Hapi (Melia's Togepi) conversing at its center. "Ta-da~!"
"You fixed us up a full on dinner!"
"Yea~. There's no way I can finish all of this so don't hesitate to munch on up everyone!" Melia leans close to Ava "I don't think I got your story, why'd you come to East Gearen?" Char starts eating some of Ava's massive Omelet.
"Well, it started on a great yacht…" Ava starts drinking some of her green tea.
Ava's lips leave the cup as Char lays on his back, Hapi comes over to them with a few berries. "Again, I'm sorry about all that's happened to you. But if there's any silver lining to all of this, it's that you got to hang out with Ren, Venam, and I!" Melia takes her hand off of her friend's leg. "We're not like, the most exciting crew ever, but we're here to welcome a new friend." She puts her hand on Ava's shoulder. "Especially one that's in need of some people looking out for them. Well I guess… That offer is only on the table for Ren and Venam. Today was my last day in East Gearen City." Char's ears perk up. "Because tomorrow I'm headed over to Grand Dream City to become the Normal Type Gym Leader."
"No way! Good on ya!"
"Thanks, but if I'm honest, I'm not really sure how to feel about this. It wasn't really my decision to become a Gym Leader. It was my dad's. He's the one who pushed me to get this far. I'm about to be thrown into a huge city I know nothing about. Alone." Melia's voice raises in pitch
My poor girl. Anxious much? Ava scoots behind Melia and starts massaging her shoulder with one hand. "You'd like some company? A Big Strong~ Trainer by your side?" Ava's hand reaches closer to Melia's thigh. "Someone to keep you occupied all night and day?" And she grabs one of the macaroons in Melia's lap. "All jokes aside, you need to relax. Stress over everything in your life and you'll fold. It's alright to feel scared, but if you don't learn to control it you'll be controlled by it.. Are any of these hitting?"
"They were before that, but there may be truth in them." Melia giggles as Ava continues to massage her shoulders. "For a second there I was actually thinking of asking you to tag along. You can stop now." Melia stands up and walks towards the Arceus statue
She really is too trusting. Ren was right to be worried for her. Ava starts to get up herself. "Fine… You wanna fight? Get your mind right." Ava cracks her knuckles, making Melia sweat.
"Not hand-to-hand of course?" Ava starts walking up to Melia who's now wearing a wide close mouthed smile "Of course?!"
"Of course." Ava squats down to grab her last macaroon.
Melia looks over her shoulder with a warry smile. "Good, I don't think I could win a fight like that." She turns her head back towards the statue"I'll need the practice if I'm going to be a Gym Leader."
"On top of the castle thing."
"A suitable battlefield for us, no?"