“Welcome to Lilycove City! Please ensure you have all of your belongings before disembarking, and have a wonderful day!”
Tia looked up at the announcement over the plane’s intercom, and got up from her seat, slinging a small carry-on bag. After several minutes, she and Aidan stepped off of the plane and onto the airport tarmac. Tia felt the warm, temperate summer breeze blow through her hair, and she breathed out a relaxed sigh.
“Feels great…” she murmured, stretching out her arms as they walked through the airport.
“It must be exciting, coming back to Hoenn after so long,” Aidan said.
Tia nodded. “I haven’t been back since I was 12,” she replied, “but the summer weather is just as nice as I remember.”
Tia’s mother was scheduled to teach a special week-long class on wind and water energy in Lilycove, and she and her father had invited Tia and Aidan to stay with them. After the trial that was capturing Mewtwo, the two Trainers had decided a vacation was in order, and they leapt at the chance to spend a week in Hoenn.
After collecting their luggage, Tia and Aidan exited the airport to find Tia’s parents waiting for them.
“Nice to see you again, dear,” Naomi said, gathering her daughter into a big hug. “We’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Mom,” Tia said, smiling. “Dad.”
Nathan thumped Aidan on the shoulder and looked both him and Tia from top to bottom. “You two are looking well,” he said, “Must be taking great care of each other!”
Tia blushed. “Of course, Dad!”
“Let’s get you two settled,” Naomi spoke up, “Then it’s off to dinner! I want to hear about everything you’ve done!”
As they ate, Tia and Aidan recounted their adventures with tracking down, facing off, and capturing the three Legendary Birds of Kanto, as well as Mewtwo – with some dangerous details left out, so as not to needlessly worry their audience.
“It all sounds so exciting,” Naomi said wistfully, “It reminds me of when we were Trainers.”
“Though we’ve never encountered Pokemon as powerful as the Legendaries,” Nathan pointed out.
“It’s also a blessing to be able to travel wherever you want to, and see great sights,” Naomi added. “Enjoy it while it lasts, kids!”
Tia and Aidan looked at each other and grinned.
The next day, Tia and Aidan were in Fortree City, where the residents were in the midst of celebrating their annual Feather Carnival, which honored Flying-type Pokemon. They had decided to help out a bit during the festival, and let their Flying-type Pokemon give rides to the children.
Naito sat perched on Tia’s shoulder, looking around excitedly at the many Flying Pokemon of all shapes and sizes.
“Hey!” a boy said, pointing at Naito. “That Natu looks weird!”
“I thought Natus were green,” another kid pointed out.
A little girl tugged on Tia’s hand. “Why is your Natu blue?”
Tia smiled down at her. “He was like that when I caught him,” she replied, “He’s a very rare Natu, one of a kind, from the Safari Zone.”
The girl’s face lit up. “I wanna go to the Safari Zone!”
“Me too!” a boy piped up.
“I wanna find a blue Natu like yours!”
Aidan laughed. “See what you just started.”
Tia smirked. “Even though it’s true?”
“Can Natus fly?” another kid asked.
“Come on,” a boy spoke up, “With those dinky little wings? I bet it can’t get one foot off the ground!”
Tia raised an eyebrow. “Hmm.”
Aidan stared back at Tia with a playful smile, waiting to see her answer.
“Natus may not be able to fly far,” Tia addressed the boy, “But they can Teleport as far as they want!” She nodded at Naito, and he jumped off her shoulder, flapping his wings. He landed on the boy’s head, and Teleported him onto Windy’s back.
“Huh?” The boy looked around, confused.
“Take it away, Windy!” Tia sang out.
Windy immediately took off like a bullet, with the boy screaming the entire way.
The other kids laughed.
“And that, folks, is why you don’t mess around with Pokemon Trainers,” Aidan said.
Tia shook her head and laughed a little, then turned her attention to Windy, who was just coming back.
“Had enough?” she asked sweetly.
“Ugh.” The boy was splayed out on Windy’s back, looking like he wanted to throw up. He slid off of Windy’s back and wobbled away, with his friends teasing him along the way.
The festivities continued until the late afternoon, when the sky suddenly grew dark with clouds. As the first raindrops started to fall, people started packing up and heading home.
“Thanks for all your help,” the event organizer said. She was an older lady with glasses and graying hair.
“It’s no problem,” Tia replied, “We had fun!”
The woman looked up at the sky, frowning. “You said you’re staying in Lilycove City, right? I hope you two make it there before the storm gets worse! We get these sudden storms every couple of days during the summer, but they can get to be too much for tourists!”
“We’ll be fine,” Aidan reassured her.
The woman nodded. “I hope you two enjoy the rest of your time in Hoenn!”
The rain grew steadily heavier and heavier as Tia and Aidan walked further away from Fortree City. By the time they reached halfway through Route 120, the rainfall had turned into a near-monsoon.
“Maybe we should stop for a bit,” Aidan shouted into the storm.
“What?” Tia called out. The rain was falling in such thick sheets that she could barely see or hear him.
“We should look for a cave, or a tree to rest under!” Aidan shouted back.
“Okay!” Tia looked around, knowing exactly what they were looking for. They had heard from some Hoenn-based Trainers about special areas hidden in rock walls and trees, where the rooms were spacious and comfortable, and could act as shelters from the numerous storms. The Trainers called them Secret Bases.
As Tia and Aidan continued to search for shelter, they entered into a winding, maze-like area of Route 120, with trees and bushes that grew thick like topiary.
Tia walked a few paces, then stopped, realizing she couldn’t see anyone around her. “Hello?” she called out. “Aidan?”
No one answered.
Tia looked around again, then pulled a flashlight from her pack and turned it on. The sky was steadily getting darker, as evening turned into night.
“Hello?” she called out again, playing the flashlight beam across the path. Again, no one answered.
Then, Tia saw a flash of light from the corner of her eye, and she whipped around to face it. It was a steady, blue light that did not flicker, as if it were from another flashlight.
“Aidan?” she called out, moving toward the light.
As she moved closer to the light, she could see it wasn’t Aidan. But she couldn’t tell who exactly it was.
A strange, calm feeling came over her. The noise of the storm faded away, as well as the falling rain. She moved even closer to the light, as if hypnotized, and reached out a hand to touch it.
The light suddenly flickered, morphing into a small, blue-furred creature with blue eyes and a long tail.
Tia’s eyes widened, and she drew her hand back in surprise. After a few moments, as the blue creature continued to hover in place, she reached her hand out again toward it.
“Mew…?” she whispered breathlessly.
“Tia!”
Tia blinked, immediately dropping out of her trance, and looked behind her, seeing Aidan running toward her, flashlight in hand.
“Aidan?” she said, questioningly. She turned again to where Mew had been, and there was nothing. She looked up quickly enough to see a bright blue light streak through the sky.
“Tia, are you all right?” Aidan asked, catching his breath. “I got worried when I lost sight of you.”
“I’m… fine,” Tia answered, looking from Aidan, to the space behind her, then to the sky.
Aidan looked back at her, puzzled. “Did you see something?” He looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The rain was letting up, and stars dotted the night sky.
“I think…” Tia answered, “I saw Mew again.”
“Mew?” Aidan said in surprise. “Was it the same one? The shiny blue Mew?”
Tia nodded.
“That’s so strange,” Aidan answered, “Why would it be in Hoenn – on Route 120, of all places?”
“I don’t know,” Tia replied, “But I saw it.”
“I’m not doubting you,” Aidan said, “It’s just weird… and amazing that you got to see it twice!”
Tia said nothing for a few moments.
“Oh!” Aidan spoke up, “I found a place in a rock wall where we can spend the night.”
Tia’s face lit up. “A Secret Base?”
Aidan nodded. “Come on, let’s go. We can dry up and get some sleep.”
Tia and Aidan showed up at the Cove Lily Motel early the next morning, to the relief of Tia’s parents.
“We were going to organize a search party if you two didn’t come back before noon!” Naomi said.
“See, what did I tell you?” Nathan said, nudging his wife in the side. “They got delayed by the storm and camped out!”
“Anyway, it’s good that you’re back!” Naomi replied, shoving Nathan back playfully. “Did you have fun, at least?”
Tia nodded. “We did, and we got to see some pretty cool sights!” She looked at Aidan and smiled.
Later, Tia checked Mew’s entry in the Pokedex, only to be met with the “Area Unknown” message once again. She closed the Pokedex and sighed.
Someday, she thought, she would track down Mew and meet it properly.