The Trial of Juno Saga [PG-13]

[Neo Emolga]

PART II – THE TWISTED FIELDS

Chapter 16
Odd Reoccurrence

Only a week had passed since the incident involving the Quista necklace, but it felt far longer than that. I had lost focus on school and class work, but this time it wasn't because of laziness, disinterest, or because of cutting class early. My head was swimming with different thoughts, and the whole time, I felt and thought like I didn't quite belong here.

The experience still lingered in my mind. My whole mentally changed around, and I was no longer the nasty, bullying creep I used to be. There were some students and teachers who thought I was sick or suddenly depressed in my recent change in behaviors and actions, but it wasn't anything like that at all.

And Frank no longer stayed around Randy like he used to. He kept to himself, and we in turn kept our distance from him as well. But I could see in his eyes he wasn’t the same he used to be either. He ate less, talked less, and stayed away from people like they were a plague. I never bothered him anymore. I felt signs of sympathy, empathy, and consideration for others that I hadn't felt before.

I simply didn't want to be hated or loathed any longer.

In truth, I resented how much of a jerk I had been, but I figured it was just a part of growing up. Never before had I reflected on my mistakes this way, and I found myself often tired, sighing, and still feeling that ping of guilt.

Jeff was too much involved with sports now, always saying to Randy that he had to get to practice for one of the many sports he had signed up for. I had looked at him for the longest time, and all the while it looked like nothing had ever happened. And then again, maybe it was because he was the one least affected by the whole thing after all. The rest of us… we really weren’t the same anymore and never would be again.

I could only wonder what Randy was thinking, and the look on his lost, faraway face during class lectures told me he wasn't bored, but reflecting on what he had done. I only wondered if he longed for what he lost, or if he really had come to terms with it all.

For a week, I had completely avoided Pokémon battling altogether. For some reason I wasn’t ready to do it again. I kept telling myself that I would get back into it soon enough. I definitely didn’t want to completely retire from it, but there was too much on my mind for the moment. If I were to try, I might just not be able to concentrate the way I needed to.

It wasn’t until I had gotten home one afternoon that things took a far more profound turn than I could ever imagine. For once, I hadn’t even been thinking of the incident only a week ago, I was just trying to get back on my feet and keep going on with life. For once I was able to grab the time to be by myself.

I had gotten home, grabbed my belt with my Poké Balls, and had headed out to the small, grassy backyard we had in the back of the house. As I stood by the white stone patio besides the outdoor table and chairs we hadn't used in years since dad left, I could sense and feel it was quiet, still, and almost eerie. It had been on my mind for a while now. I just hadn't gathered up the courage to see if my thoughts were truly correct.

It all came down to that fifth Poké Ball...

I had only started with four when I entered Randy's world, and I wasn't sure... and wasn't ready to see if I had truly pulled something out of Randy's imagined dream world into reality. Could it really be possible? Did that wish... that bond... did it really happen?

The whole week, I was in sheer, utter fear, unable and unwilling to find out. But right now, I knew it was time to stop being scared. It was time to face the truth, whether it was true, or whether it was just a coincidence.

That fifth Poké Ball... I remembered it contained a Latias, a powerful Pokémon and cheerful, optimistic friend that kept me hopeful even just thinking about her and that final battle we had before Randy's world collapsed. But, I couldn’t help but think of a single, beckoning question…

It was time to stop being scared.

I had grabbed the fifth Poké Ball, closed my eyes, pressed the center button to prime it for release, and grabbed all my faith and courage as I tossed it into the air, where it hit the patio stone and released the Pokémon inside.

What I saw completely defied the laws of logic. There she was, the same Latias I remembered from the final battle in Randy's dream world, made truly living. It denied everything I knew about reality and what could be possible.

After emerging from the Poké Ball, she immediately took a curious and fascinated glance at everything around her, admiring the trees, the house, the skies above, and she even looked at me fondly with the same optimistic and cheerful smile I remembered from before.

"Hey there!" She smiled to me. "That's interesting, so you're trying out a human form now, Juno?"

How... how did she know!? And...

...how was I able to perfectly understand what she was saying!?

I almost felt light-headed as the overwhelming thoughts rushed in. No, that was far too strange. Normally, I should have been totally obvious to how to interpret Pokéspeech. There was something else that had to be going on…

"I..." I struggled to speak, not sure what to even say.

"Oh, the look on your face is priceless!" She chuckled. "Look at that face! Redder... redder... oh, how red can it get!?"

Even with the anxiety, I couldn't help but laugh. She was so funny and cool like that.

"I... I have no clue what's going on," I laughed, flushing with embarrassment. "Really, I don't."

"Juno, I really don't know how you did it, but I owe you a big one!" She smiled to me. "Somehow... you saved my butt when that whole place collapsed. If it weren't for you...!"

She would have been gone. Forever. The very thought of someone as friendly, cheerful, and as optimistic as her vanishing from existence forevermore was hollow, appalling, and depressing. I've never had any kind of friend like her and to have lost her to that would have been pure misery.

"How were... you able to tell I was Juno?" I asked her, wondering what made it so obvious.

"Was?" She asked with a smile. "Your aura and your spirit...it's got Juno the Pikachu all over it! Looks like I wasn't the only thing you pulled out of that place!"

I was feeling very anxious. It obviously didn't bother Latias in the slightest and she thought it was comical, but to me, this was beyond strange and I wasn't sure what it would mean in the end. Was I really still soul-linked with a Pikachu born from Randy's dreams? Even though I was now back in reality in a form that... at least felt like human?

But Latias couldn't have been kidding. After all, she was the same way, and standing right before me as a dream now made real. Made possible... somehow because I wished and connected with her spiritually. And it made me wonder... what kind of effect would soul-linking with a Pikachu born of dreams and imagination have? Never before has such a thing like this ever happened...

I tried my best to just treat all of this like she would. Maybe... this was all just okay.

"That's..." I replied to her, smiling at it a bit. "That does sound a bit crazy, you know? Before I entered that dream world Randy created, you know, I was a perfectly normal human."

"I think I know exactly what happened," Latias replied with a smile, wearing a smug and confident smirk. "You assimilated with Juno the dream Pikachu and you thought it was just going to be temporary, didn't you? You linked a dream Pikachu with your own immortal soul! Oh man, yes.. that's got to be it! Wow, just what are the chances of that happening?"

She was right, such an occurrence like that has probably never happened before. Physically, I felt human, but all those feelings of renewed compassion, empathy, kindness, and determination... did I feel all those positive things because of this merge? Was becoming Juno really having that kind effect on my personality?

...

...It was.

When I did the math and thought out how differently I had changed since the incident, it was true. When it happened, something about it felt beyond even destiny that broke all fibers of realities and possibilities. If what was imagined was able to become real by coming into contact with a soul, what kind of effect would that forever have?

I didn't know how to take it, and it was probably something that could never be undone now. What would this all mean in the end?

"I never actually thought it would be permanent even after Randy's world fell to pieces," I told her, somehow still not regretting the decision for unknown reasons. "It's weird, but something about it feels... right."

"Ah, I can tell you're a little shaken up!" Latias smiled, putting her hand gently on my shoulder as she levitated around. "Trust me, it's a pretty powerful, positive, and pure aura filled with some really great and cool emotions. You may just look human for now, but you've got a spirit of a beloved Pikachu born from dreams and fond imagination! Heck, you got a feel for it yourself, you know how special that is!"

And at the same time, we both had saved each other. Without her, I never, ever would have defeated Randy, and if it hadn't been for me to save her at that last moment with whatever soul wish or bonding I had performed at that last, crucial second to save her spirit and give her life beyond the world of dreams, she would have been gone forever.

If she was happy about this and strongly felt it was something I should be happy about also, I trusted her emotions, even though we had only known each other for a short while. Something about it all just felt right, as it was supposed to happen.

"Well, for now, it's got to be our little secret," I told her sheepishly, knowing walking around with a legendary Pokémon like a Latias was going to draw too much attention, especially from Randy and the others. "If Randy was to find out about all this..."

"Ha, ha, wouldn't that knock him out of his socks!" Latias laughed as she spun around in the air like a comical dance. "But hey, I'm in no rush to surprise him. I can hang out in the ball until you feel the time is right."

"That would probably be best for now," I smiled to her, glad she was willing to agree to this.

I then used her Poké Ball and aimed the recall beam at her, dematerializing her and returning her to the Poké Ball. As I looked at the ball, I kept thinking about so many things. What would being Juno inside mean? What was I to do?

I then thought of something. If I had pulled something from Randy’s world, Randy must have had to as well. I had decided I would have to try and talk to him tomorrow. It was going to be hard to approach him as I was sure the incident was as clear as day in his mind as it was in mine. But how would I tell him without revealing the truth? How long could I hide this for?

I headed back inside, and it wasn't long until we had a nice, steak dinner. Mom, Vicky, and myself were together for one of the few times we ate at the table that week. For the past few days, things had seemed better than they did before. There just seemed to be less arguing, less of a rush to get done with dinner, and things felt calm and easy.

And I was beginning to see mom and Vicky were suspecting something...

"Jake, pass the mashed potatoes," Vicky requested as she served herself some mixed vegetables.

"Sure thing," I replied softly, taking the bowl and gently placing it besides her.

And there was total silence after Vicky just dropped her metal serving spoons in disbelief as the spoons rang in the bowl with a clatter. She just blinked at me twice and looked at me with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Wow, what is new with you!?" Vicky asked, very surprised. "I didn't even have to say 'please' with that one! It's like you're somebody else! When did you ever become polite?"

I was anxious. It was true, as the old Jake Kossak, I would have told her to just get them herself and buzz off. They both looked at me like this was completely unusual...

...and they were right.

"I'm... sorry for all those things I did to you," I told her, barely able to speak.

"Did something happen!?" Vicky asked, shocked I was acting so differently. "Did someone at school die or something!?"

If I told her the absolute and honest truth, she would never, ever believe me.

"I... I don't know if I can talk about it..." I told her, still feeling anxious about being put on the spot like that. "I just hope you can accept my apology."

At that moment, she likely thought it had to be something like the death of a student at school. She could never fathom it was something so much deeper than even that.

"Well, I'll try, but this better not be some kind of trick or something," She replied, still doubtful.

And ever since then, I was impulsively nice and polite to her, and she slowly began to show the same respect but with that same look of surprise. Even with my mom, fights over homework, studying, or misbehaving all stopped and melted away like a snowball in summer.

When night had fallen, I sat by my bedside, looking at my hands, and I knew... deep inside, Juno had taken over, just as Latias had mentioned. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared about it, but it was strong and it had already influenced all of my day-to-day actions and decisions.

After getting into bed, my mind raced with many thoughts and considerations, but eventually I was able to find sleep in my dark room. I wasn't sure where this would take me, but maybe it would be better this way. As Juno, I seemed to be bringing calm and sincerity wherever I went, and I noticed it with myself, my family, and with school.

And then it happened like it did with all the other nights.

A transformed in personality human named Jake... and Juno by night. In my own dreams, I was Juno, exactly as before in the last days of Randy's world.

But the dream itself was unsettling.

I felt like I had been thrown on the floor, which felt like cold, hardened metal against my back. I couldn’t see anything for a harsh, chilling moment as everything was bathed in black, but then I was able to open my eyes.

All around me was metal, industrial and chaotic with piping, dark steam, and strange, flashing lights that illuminated parts of the area with hellish, flickering glows.

It felt like I was in a normal hallway, only I could barely see anything. I had gotten back up on my feet, now strangely but oddly familiar in their Pikachu size and shape, as if I had been Juno this whole time and never once was a human being. I didn’t understand it, but I never thought anything was wrong in my dream trance. In my dream, I accepted being Juno completely and didn't even think twice about it.

Then, a bright, red light had emerged from the end of the hallway, and a silhouette of a dark, tall figure was slowly walking toward me, holding some sort of large, blunt weapon in his hands. I put my tiny hands behind me and slowly crept away on my back in a hopeless retreat, and begging that he wouldn’t notice me or I wasn’t worth his time to kill anyway.

"Stop... please..." I muttered softly to the cloaked figure. "I mean no harm..."

Pipes mounted on the ceiling were blowing dark steam in front of him, and I had trouble trying to recognize who it was, only to discover it was a complete stranger. Still, I frantically tried to crawl away, but I wasn’t getting very far. Then, I had stood up, and began running in the opposite direction, but I was met with a nasty surprise. I had been running in pitch black darkness until I slammed right into a metal wall. I painfully and frantically looked behind me only to see the figure move closer and closer.

He was going to kill me, and for reasons I didn’t know why. I had stayed in the darkness, thinking he wouldn’t see me, but it seemed like he already knew where I was. He began to approach me, slowly just to keep my anxiety rushing for a longer amount of time. Then, he was standing right above me, and he took his weapon, raised it in the air, and it forcefully came toward me at a feverish pace.

I nearly woke up screaming. I kicked and had thrown off my bed covers, and looked at my hands to make sure I still wasn’t Juno. I had sighed in relief when I realized I was still normal, and more importantly, untouched despite the fear. I simply turned and I checked the clock by my bed and it was only four in the morning.

But I didn’t dare go back to sleep. And still those feelings of being Juno persisted...