Animation Source Forums

Shay shot another glare at Jesse, then turned her frustrated gaze to the younger girl (who was still older than her though). "I'd like to see you try," she retorted. She glanced at Jesse again, frustration causing her to be rash. "And yes, I was," she replied cooly. "My mother sold me for money when I was little. So forgive me if I don't exactly greet new people with a smile."

His eyes flickered with surprise. "SOLD you? We were kidnapped." He shrugged helplessly, his flute jiggling lightly on his belt.
---
Glow ignored her, and darted back up the tree, watching them with suspicious eyes.

"Yeah, sold me," Shay shrugged uncomfortably. "I think I would've preferred to been kidnapped though. I mean, my mom and I were never close, but still..." she allowed the sentence to trail off, cheeks flushing red with embarrassment this time. Why had she opened up like that? She barely knew their names; James and Flo, or something like that.

Jesse rolled his eyes as his sister darted back up the tree. "Don't mind Glow. She's very touchy around strangers. Just ignore her until she comes back." His eyes flickered slightly. "Don't you have a guardian...pokemon?" He gestured to the Linoone at his feet.

Shay hesitated, then shook her head. "I wish," she said, almost wistfully. "Then it might not be so hard-"She cut herself off abruptly, once again embarassed at how open she was suddenly being. She would have to keep a lid on that in the future.

The Linoone gave a low cry and dashed off into the forest. Jesse stared after it, curious. Suddenly jolts of lightning shook the bewildered forest, and a pack of Pikachu thundered into the clearing.
Jesse grinned and rubbed the blue-eyed Linoone on the head. "You should be able to talk with Pokemon of your type, you know Pikachu. Maybe even Electric Pokemon, if they gave you enough cells. See if any fit you."

Shay glanced at the Pikachu, wonder in her green eyes. "Th-thank you, Linoone," she said, stumbling slightly over the words. Glancing at the Pikachu, some of them only glanced at her before dashing off, or ignoring her. One, however, a small male, came up to her, tail twitching curiously. Smiling, Shay reached out a hand, easily communicating she meant no harm.

The Pikachu didn't hesitate before climbing up on to her shoulder. Shay gave a wide grin at Jesse, scratching the Pikachu behind his ear. "His name is Aster," she smiled.

Jesse smiled at Aster, and murmured something softly to the Pikachu. Linoone twitched its ears, and starting dashing happily around Jesse's feet. "Fishtail-the Linoone-if you can understand him, wants to have some fun with Aster." Jesse laughed lightly. "And in case you're wondering, they mixed me until I was almost entirely Pokemon, before they brought the human back. I can understand any Pokemon..." his smile faltered when he saw a blazing shadow walk out of the woods. "Oh. Hero's back," he said in a nervous voice. "He was one of the first to break out of the lab."
---
Hero's eyes flickered when he saw Shay. "Ah, new PokeHuman, eh?" A large and tough-looking Charizard followed him, eyeing the Pikachu suspiciously.

Shay felt electricity crackle in her cheeks, an automatic reaction to new presences. She could tell Aster let out a few sparks in his surprise as well, and their power seemed to mix unintentionally, a few bolts of electricity crackling around her fingertips. "Yeah," she replied carefully. "So, you're Hero, then?" Aster glanced at the Charizard warily as she spoke.

Jesse's eyes warned her not to get angry around this particular newcomer, who was particularly sensitive to anger and very, very dangerous...
---
Hero raised an eyebrow and he scanned the looks of this young newcomer. "As long as she's strong, fit and ready. We need only the best for the war against the scientists." He jerked his finger backwards. "Jesse. Take Glow and this girl with you. Training. NOW. You've been lazing off this summer." He gave a light wink and walked off, the powerful Charizard at his heels.
---
Jesse gave a breath of relief. "He always creeps me out. It's only training. Don't worry." His eyes rested at her dagger. "A dagger, huh? You better be quick with it. You DO want to fight the scientists, right?" He started jogging deeper into the woods. With a rustle, Glow and a dainty young Leafeon went after him."

Shay glanced at Aster, who gave her an encouraging look. With a shrug, she followed Jesse and Glow into the forest. Learning to fight better could be useful; and the goal of fighting against the scientists who had done this made it even better. She would go along with this for now.

Jesse walked into the dark forest, his eyes dull and flushed with terrible anger at something only he knew.

Shay noticed Jesse's anger. Aster, seemingly sensitive to emotions, picked up on it too, and his tail twitched as he cast a questioning glance at Jesse. "Uh, you okay?" she asked hesitantly, the words pouring awkwardly out of her mouth; she was still somewhat unused to speaking with people again, after closing herself off for quite a while.

He shook his head with frustration. "I HATE Hero. He's so stuck up sometimes." he muttered. Fishtail twitched her ear and dashed in front of him, chittering away.

"He does seem a bit arrogant and bossy," Shay agreed sullenly. She could tell that this probably wouldn't end very well. "And those are two things I don't usually respond well to." She could care less if he had a huge Charizard backing him up, who appeared quite intimidating. She wasn't going to be bossed around by someone she had just met. It was still at the point where she couldn't relax at all around him.