(no subject)
11.
A few days later, Pokémon Trainer was playing a game of chess with Ness outside. He had actually first started talking with the psychic boy about an old gameshow the two of them used to watch when they were little, and now they hung out quite frequently with each other. Although he was only thirteen years old, Ness actually seemed a little bit older, even older than Pokémon Trainer, sometimes.
“Aw man!” Pokémon Trainer lamented as Ness checkmated his king a third time. “Are you sure you’re not using your mind-reading to cheat?”
Ness grinned. “Nope! I always turn them off before I play anyone.”
“Aw man…I guess I just stink then. Oh well,” Pokémon Trainer laughed, setting back up his pieces. “Again?”
“Sure,” Ness nodded. Pikachu, who was napping on the table beside them, shifting in his sleep. Lucas, the younger blonde psychic boy who almost always tagged along after Ness, pulled playfully on the Pokémon’s ears.
“Pikachu, Pikachu!” Lucas sang. Ness smiled, shaking his head, while Pikachu yawned irritably and scooted way from Lucas.
“So how do you turn off your powers?” Pokémon Trainer asked, moving forward his first pawn.
“I just sort of…stop thinking about them. That’s all,” Ness replied, pushing a knight into place. “It’s kind of like a lightswitch. I just flip them off.”
“Ohhhh,” Pokémon Trainer said. “…What about Mewtwo?”
Pikachu’s head suddenly shot up and looked at Ness. Ness frowned. “I don’t know about Mewtwo. His powers are way beyond any of mine. Mine are very simple, just moving things around without physical contact, reading other people’s minds, teleportation. His are much more…” He looked to Pikachu. “All-encompassing. His have to do with time and space and I think possibly even other dimensions-” Pikachu suddenly growled at him. “Uh-oh…”
Pokémon Trainer gave Pikachu a curious glance. “What’s up with Pikachu?”
“He and the other Pokémon are very protective of Mewtwo. It’s sort of a kinship thing, I think. I think Mewtwo’s been screwed over from birth, for lack of a better term. He hasn’t had a very good life…” Pikachu’s growled deepened.
Pokémon Trainer nodded. “I can respect that…” He really wanted Pikachu to calm down. The little yellow Pokémon glared at him, then curled back up into a ball. “So…could Mewtwo be reading our minds right now?”
“He could-well, I don’t know. He could read all our minds all the time, probably. Whether he does or not, I don’t know-or maybe he can know what we’re saying, but doesn’t focus on it-oh, I don’t know, really,” Ness babbled, seeming flustered. “I’ve never even tried to delve into Mewtwo’s mind, because I’m afraid that if I did, I would be seriously injured for how much more powerful he is than I am. I think my mind would just be crushed.”
“Whoa,” Pokémon Trainer said, suddenly remembering that they were playing. He pushed forward his queen. “He’s that powerful, huh?”
“More than any of us will ever realize, I think,” Ness said. He moved a pawn forward with his mind. “Check!”
“Aw man…” Pokémon Trainer looked to Lucas, who was folding up a paper air plane. “What about Lucas?”
“I think Lucas may be more powerful than I am,” Ness admitted, clearing his half of the board. He glanced at the blonde boy thoughtfully. “But I’m not sure…”
Zelda stopped by a few minutes later to drop off a book to Pokémon Trainer, but she stuck around to talk with the boys. Pokémon Trainer had become much closer friends with the princess over the past month, and he was surprised to find she was actually a bit different from Link once you got to know her. She could be quite the wit.
“Oooh, did you all see the update today?” Zelda said, her eyes widening with excitement. Pikachu got up, and then nudged against the princess, who petted him absentmindedly.
“Oh yeah, I did,” Ness nodded.
“No, what is it?” Pokémon Trainer asked, looking eagerly between them.
“They’re explaining Smash Balls tomorrow!” Zelda exclaimed. “Cool, huh?”
“Really?” Pokémon Trainer asked. “That’s so cool…I wonder what they do.” The Smashers had been madly speculating about this item since Mario dropped the hint that it would be appearing in the Singles Tournament. Normally no items whatsoever were allowed in the Singles Tournament, so that it was just Smasher versus Smasher, and nothing else. Until this Smash Ball…
“Yes! I’m really excited…I think it will give us an extra power, or something along those lines. Try there, dear,” Zelda said, pointing to a spot on the board. Pokémon Trainer moved his piece forward and nodded. Lucas tugged on one of Zelda’s braids.
“Yeah…”
“I think so, too,” Ness said. “At least, I hope it does…that would be neat.”
Pokémon Trainer nodded, suddenly feeling very excited for tomorrow. If it really did give them an extra power, he wondered what his would be?…
“I hope mine uses all three of my Pokémon or something…that’d be nice.”
“I hope mine actually makes me good at fighting,” Zelda replied, and they all laughed.
“No, Zelda, you’re good!”
“No, I’m not, I’m terrible. I don’t even have Sheik to rely on anymore…”
Sonic then walked by, accompanied by Fox. Both of the animal-like beings waved to the small group.
“Hey Zelda, hey Red, hey Ness, hey Lucas…and Pikachu,” the blue hedgehog said. “You guys coming to see our battle?”
“Oh, you guys have a battle today? I didn’t know that,” Pokémon Trainer said, standing up. “You guys wanna see?” Zelda and Ness nodded, but Pikachu got up, chattered something to Fox, and bounded off. Sonic shrugged.
“I don’t think Pikachu likes me very much,” he said. The other four laughed, they and followed the two boys to one of the practice arenas. Most everyone liked Sonic and Fox, although Sonic seemed a little bit full of himself sometimes, and Fox seemed to be permanently attached to the hip with his girlfriend, Krystal.
“Who’s it against?” Pokémon Trainer asked.
“Peach and Krystal,” Fox answered quickly.
“Ooooooh, Foooox…” Zelda sang, and everyone laughed, even Fox.
On the way there, Zelda held to the back of the group with Pokémon Trainer. The princess turned suddenly and looked him directly in the eye.
“Oh…what did Sonic call you earlier, by the way?” she asked. Pokémon Trainer raised his eyebrows, frowning.
“Huh?”
“He called you…something…like Red?”
“Oh! Yeah, he called me ‘Red’…he just…started calling me that. I don’t know why,” he answered. He actually couldn’t remember when Sonic had started calling him that. The casual hedgehog just seemed fond of nicknames. “Maybe because I always wear red in battle…ha ha…” Zelda smiled.
“Oh…well, could I call you that?” she asked. Pokémon Trainer blinked.
“Sure, I guess so…why?”
“Well, you said you didn’t like ‘Pokémon Trainer’ much, and I think ‘Red’ fits you really well,” Zelda explained matter-of-factedly. “So…if you would like that…”
“Well…yeah!” Pokémon Trainer said, blinking. “Actually…I think that would be really good!” He turned the name over in his head a bit…Red…
Zelda smiled widely. “Okay! I’ll tell everyone else to call you that, too, if you would like.”
“Sure!” Pokémon Trainer answered, grinning back. Suddenly, he felt very excited, and he practically skipped off with Zelda to the battle.