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Eddies

Chapter 15: Surprise, surprise!

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Eddies 15

Azil was bored.

Stomping grumpily through the dirt on the farm while the others met up for breakfast, he felt he had little to contribute to the conversation.

Especially when most of them couldn't understand him, he thought wryly.

Kicking a clod of dirt before him, he amused himself by spitting small fist-sized fireballs at it, causing it to fly around the yard in a steaming lump. When even that became tedious, he went behind the large barn, and began blowing smoke rings into the leaves of the trees overhead, where they floated hazily through the dappled morning light streaming through the leaves.

Boring!

Lying back into the hay, careful to keep his tail fame away from the flammable material, he dropped to a doze. At least then he might find some entertainment, he snorted, before quiet snores left his resting place.

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Jim wasn't bored, though.

He was actually feeling pretty pissed off, all things considered.

The LAN party he'd attended at his best friend Tom's place had started well, but when Fred Nile arrived, everything went to shit in a bucket real fast.

The sanctimonious, prudish little git!

What made things worse, was he didn't even bring his own laptop! Apparently, his mother said it was too valuable to risk at a play party!

A play party? World of Warcraft isn't a play party!

It's much more important than that!

Git!

Grumbling from the rear seat as Tom's mother drove him home in disgrace, he at least felt satisfaction at achieving one of the few goals he thought worthy, this early in his young life.

Beating the snot out of git-face!

Had he kept his mouth shut, Fred would still be sporting a full head of teeth. But in his know-it-all way, he had kept baiting Jim until he was seething in his seat, gripping his game controller tightly to avoid shoving it down the kid's throat.

Even then, he'd managed to keep under control. That was, until the git decided to bring up Chris's disappearance, mocking Jim's brother as having killed himself through his own stupidity, riding up there all alone as he did.

At that, with all thoughts of the consequences aside, Jimmy launched himself at his nemesis, arms outstretched and hanging out for a handful of throat to squeeze. By the time his other friends had pulled him off Fred, the girly git was wailing like the girly git he was, sporting a black eye and blooded nose.

Admittedly, he had landed a good one on Jim, blackening his own eye, but Jim was still satisfied at the outcome. He'd won, on all accounts, or so his friends swore. After all, he didn't throw a big sooky la la in front of everyone, like git face did.

His triumph lasted a good two minutes, until the room was rocked by the descending thundercloud of Tom's mum, who wasn't as impressed at the victory as Jim himself was. Chewing the whole lot of them out, she sent them straight to bed early, with dark promises to tell all their parents about their disgraceful behaviour! The fact it was only 9pm on a Saturday night made no difference, and she hovered unmoved and forbidding above them, ignoring their plaintive wails of protest.

It took forever for the group to finally get to sleep, and the whole thing turned out to be pretty ordinary.

So much for a fun sleepover!

Git!

With no mobile reception on Jim's dad's farm, and the phone line repeatedly engaged, the next morning Tom's mum simply dumped him in the back seat of her wagon and drove him home early. It wasn't far; only a fifteen minute drive; but every second seemed an eternity as Tom's mum continued her haranguing tirade the entire journey, leaving him sitting with arms crossed, a sullen look on his face as he stared out the window.

Jesus, shut UP, woman!

I won, didn't I?

Sheesh!

Tuning out to her ranting, he stared back outside, trying to avoid thinking about...

About Chris...

Head dripping to his hands, he began hiccoughing, quickly turning into sobs as the emotions overtook him. In the front, Tom's mum glanced up in the reverse mirror, dropping off her rant as she observed his distress. With a sigh, she turned back to the road, before consoling him.

"It's OK, Jimmy. They'll find him."

Nodding mutely as he stared at her eyes framed in the mirror, he wiped his eyes, staring vacantly again at the passing scenery.

By the time they'd arrived at his home, pulling up at the end of the long driveway, Tom's mum turned back to him and gave him a small smile.

"I won't mention this to your mum this time, Jimmy. I know what that little dirt bag said; Tom told me. But your brother is a good kid, and smart. I'll bet he'll turn up sooner or later, alright?"

Nodding but not feeling up to speaking, Jim grabbed the carryall holding his laptop and overnight gear, and bolted from the door. Standing by the gate, he watched as she drove back down the road towards town, waving from the window through the cloud of dust sent up by the wagon.

Shouldering his burden, Chris's brother sprinted through the trees towards the homestead.

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It was the noise of the car arriving that stirred Azil from slumber.

Waking with a start, the charmander sat bolt upright, head cocked as he placed the noise of the retreating vehicle. Jumping to his feet, he sprinted from the shaded rear of the barn to investigate further.

Rounding the corner of the barn, he didn't register the looming figure charging from the opposite direction until they ploughed right into each other. Seeing stars, the charmander flew backwards to the ground, cursing loudly as he landed in the dirt. With the sunlight in his eyes, he could barely make out the shape of the person who had run into him, until it leaned forward with a gasp, crouching over him and whispering "Charmander?"

Jim sat stunned, still in shock as he stared at the small orange lizard sitting in the dirt in front of him, eyes clenched closed as it rubbed it's head with a clawed paw, grumbling to itself. When it started and peered up at him, blinking wide eyes at the unrecognised human, Jim sat back with a thump, leaving the pair to look uncertainly at each other.

Once his vision cleared, Azil exchanged wary glances with the small human. He recognised the scent from the house, so he knew who it was; Chris's brother. But when the kid simply sat there, gaping at him like a magicarp out of water, the humour of the situation registered, and the charmander began giggling.

The mouth shut with a snap, as Chris's brother began chuckling in reply, which turned to heavy laughter as the pair exchanged further amused glances. Finally, recovering enough to gasp for air and wipe the tears from his eyes, Jim got up, reaching a tentative hand down to help the small creature to its feet.

Azil stared at the hand in confusion, before a wide grin split his face. Grabbing the proffered hand, he got up, only to have the human poke him on the shoulder.

Eyes widening again, Jim swore "Oh, you're real!"

Nodding wryly, Azil pointed to himself, and said "Charmander!"

Jim nodded, and replied "Yeah, I know who you are! I'm a huge fan!"

Confused, Azil shrugged, before his paw was grabbed firmly, and he had to hurry to keep up with Jim as he bolted towards the house.

Gasping for breath, Chris's brother shouted back at him "Wait till mum gets a load of you!", as the charmander struggled on short legs to keep pace with his new friend.

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"MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!!"

Gwen jumped, as the unexpected shrieking yell of her younger son split the peace within the kitchen. Storm dropped his coffee with a curse. Swearing further as the spilt liquid spread rapidly across the timber top to be soaked up by the napkins, he frantically tried to use to contain the mess.

The rest of the group exchanged glances, meal forgotten. With buttered toast paused half way to his mouth, Skyy froze as the screen door burst open, and Chris's younger brother charged into the room, a puffing charmander in tow.

"MUM!! Look who I found..... OOOOOOOH!"

The last spoken as he skidded to a stop in the middle of the kitchen, Jim stared around his family home at the coolest group it had ever held. Forget the bad-ass looking guy in khaki uniform at the rear, or his mum and dad signalling him to hush up and behave. Sitting right there at the dining table was a lucario, and a typhlosion and a raikou and a.....

Chris....

Dropping the paw, he bolted around the table, throwing himself against his brother with a cry. Juggling his own coffee, Chris threw an arm around his sibling, who'd buried his head in his chest, refusing to let him go.

"Hey scamp!" he chuckled, rubbing the thick head of hair beneath him. "How you doing?"

Pulling back, Jim beamed, before his smile turned to a frown as he scowled at Chris.

"I thought you were dead!" he cursed, as his brother stopped smiling, exchanging a glance at the lucario who sat next to him. When it shrugged, Chris sighed, and said "Yeah, well reports of that are overrated, thankfully. Good to see you, though, kiddo."

Nodding mutely, Jim grabbed him again for another hug, as his muffled voice came from Chris's shirt. "Yeah, you too, bro!"

The moment was broken when Storm grumbled from across the table "Has anyone got another napkin? This crap is going everywhere!"

Nodding happily, beyond comforted at seeing her family reunited again, Gwen slipped to the pantry, as the table again buzzed in conversation.

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Jim sat at the table next to Azil, who regarded the new addition with confusion. Unlike the others, this human didn't seem at all surprised at their appearance, and indeed recognised them all, although his eyes did widen at the sight of Raikou, face down in a plate of pancakes on the floor. Apparently once Chris's mother knew the big legendary had a thing for them, she took charge of the meal preparations from Chris and Skyy, and made up an enormous batch for breakfast.

Even Chris was amazed at his brother's easy acceptance, not to mention his recognition of their species and abilities. Admittedly, when he began a ranting, rambling descriptive of their "hit points" and "battle damage", the pokemon exchanged confused glances, clearly having no idea what he was on about.

Noticing Storm shrugging at his partner, Jim's explanation wound down, and he turned on the typhlosion and asked "But it's just like the game, right?"

Exchanging glances, Scott shrugged, having no idea what the kid was talking about. Storm looked back at him and rumbled "Dunno. Where'd you come up with this stuff?"

Jim shrugged, suddenly ravenous as only a teenager could be, and attacked the pile of pancakes before him with wild abandon. "The game!" he mumbled through a face full of food. "Black and White; Diamond and Pearl. That stuff!"

Now confused fully, Scott put a hand on his partners shoulder, and said "Sorry, Jim. We don't know any game like that!"

Face stuffed full, Jim reached down to his bag and fumbled out his 3DS, tossing the unit to the Ranger, who caught it in surprise. Opening it tentatively, his eyes widened as the game loaded, clearly depicting various pokemon in a battle scenario. Turning the screen to his partner, they flicked through some of the menus, his face tightening into a scowl as the reality began to hit.

Here was the truth they'd been searching for.

The loaded gun.

There was only one way this much detailed information could have made it to this world.

Sinnotech.

Turning to Chris, he said solemnly "Did you know about this?"

Chris looked at the game, and shook his head. "I don't own one of those things" he said. "It's not my thing"

Jim took in their conversation, and laughed. "Yeah, you never were into the game or show, huh, bro?"

Storm's eyes widened further. "Show? What show?"

Jim nodded, jumping up from the table and grabbing the typhlosion's hand, pulling him to the lounge room as Scott followed. Flicking through the menu on the TV's DVR, he found some old episodes recorded months before, running the programs on the television as the two Rangers watched on grimly.

Finally having seen enough, Scott leaned back in the couch and rubbed his head tiredly. It was worst than they had feared. Clearly, the media had been saturated with heavily edited and censored information from his world, the reason for which escaped him. Why bother, unless there was something else behind it?

Suddenly alert as something Jim's rambling commentary mentioned, he brought his attention back to the kid, who was animatedly telling Storm about the different stuff he'd collected about pokemon, and the huge amount of related merchandise that was available. This, then, was the key; corporate financing. A good way to make some serious money, he thought dryly. It more than explained Sinnotech's ability to remain so well funded, when so many of their sources had been closed off by the Rangers in Scott's own world.

Staring at his partner, he received a slight nod in reply; Storm had caught the inference too. They had a lot to talk about, and the big pokemon knew it.

Still at the kitchen table, Chris grinned as his little brother left the room with the Rangers. Chuckling, he turned to his mother, seeing her happily watching them as they left.

"Looks like Jim's adapted to these guys presence better than anyone", he joked, and she nodded.

"Just shows that all that time he wasted watching cartoons and playing computer games wasn't for nothing, then", Gwen said, handing Skyy some more toast, which the lucario happily accepted.

When the trio returned some time later, Scott motioned to Chris that they wanted a word. Glancing at Skyy, and receiving a nod in return, the pair excused themselves, joining the Rangers as they went to the back veranda to confer.

However, as he went to leave, Jim grabbed his shirt, and whispered "Is it OK if the charmander comes with me?"

Giving Azil a glance, he received a quick nod from the pokemon so, chuckling at their eagerness, he agreed. As the pair raced away, he yelled out after them "His name is Azil, sprout! Play nice!"

"Yeah, I know!" his brother shouted back, and Chris shook his head in amusement at the pair's antics.

Giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, he was surprised when she grabbed both him and Skyy into a warm hug. The lucario squeaked in surprised, but beamed at her as she released them.

"Now, you too play nice also!" she joked, as the pair followed the smirking Rangers out through the house to the patio area.

Storm nudged his partner, and whispered loudly "Oh, I think they'll play nice, huh. REAL nice!" as Scott coughed, near choking on his mouthful of coffee as he laughed suddenly.

Skyy spared Chris a quick glance, grinning at seeing his human friend turn beetroot red at the loaded statement. With a quick smirk, the lucario turned to the typhlosion, and said "Well, his chest is already pretty clean, so he probably won't need soaping there!" causing the typhlosion to stumble into the door frame in shock, realising his secret was also out.

Turning to the lucario, Storm said "Buu whaa whaa...", as words escaped him, before having a human arm wrap around his waist as his partner broke into cackling laughter.

"Congrats, Skyy! I think you're the first one to ever manage to render Mr Motor Mouth here speechless!", as the typhlosion glared down at him, before smirking in return.

As the trip dropped to the lounge on the rear deck, facing towards the misty mountains in the distance, the atmosphere became serious, as they brought up their real reason for returning.

Shortly into the conversation, Jasper joined them, a grumpy looking raichu in tow. Apologising for being late, he rolled his eyes at Sparky, who sat sullenly on the couch besides him. At the questioning glance, he said dryly "Someone's unhappy at being left in the ball so long. I said it was all muddy up there, but someone won't listen!"

At that, the raichu broke into furious pokespeak, berating the trainer for a long minute, before again crossing its arms and refusing to look at him.

"Bitch!" mumbled Jasper, rolling his eyes again, and receiving another glare in return, before the raichu jumped up and stormed away in disgust, leaping over the veranda railing to drop into the garden below.

Embarrassed by the audience, Jasper said "Oh, she'll get over it eventually. It's worst than living with my mother!", only to be drowned out by a further barrage of abuse from the obviously listening raichu. Groaning, he put his head in both hands, as silence again descended on the group.

Clearing his throat again, Scott continued "OK, now that's over, we need to think about where to go from here. I've reported back to the Rangers on duty at the portal, and they've advised by radio that we're on our own for the moment, as HQ isn't prepared to commit any further resources without more proof. Especially when allocating such resources might bring unwanted attention on either their operation or the Rangers back home.

Looking at Chris, Scott asked "So, open to suggestions. How do we track them down?"

Chris thought for a moment, and suggested they ask his dad. He knew more about business than Chris did, and might have some ideas.

Reluctant at first, Scott bowed to the inevitable, as Chris raced to bring his father through. As Paul joined them, curious at his sudden inclusion, Scott gave him an abridged version of their needs, keeping the main reasons behind their search a secret.

After hearing him out, Paul pursed his lips, reaching for a cigarette. Thinking it through, he puffed in concentration for a moment, before dropping his arm over the lounge side, fag hanging loosely from between his fingers.

"So, you're saying you need to find this company and its subsidiaries? Hmm, I'd say use the net to track down its registration details with ASIC, and check the business registries for company information. That should show the directors and main board members. A bit of cross referencing, and you should be able to build a picture of their operations. Admittedly, there are many ways of masking these sort of activities, but let's face it; they don't know you're here, so why would they bother? Far as they're aware, they'd have free reign to do anything they like in this world. Why try to hide it?"

Scott nodded slowly, looking at his partner who shrugged furry shoulders, and said "How do we do this?"

Paul chuckled, and gestured for the pair to follow him to the study, with Jasper in tow, so they could search the net.

Left suddenly alone, Chris and Skyy exchanged a loaded look, before the human reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the yard.

Throwing an arm around his shoulders, Chris said "I want to show you around my home, if you're interested?"

When Skyy nodded, leaning against his friend, the pair wandered towards the barn area, heads close as they spoke quietly. Reaching the big timber structure, Chris pushed open the heavy doors, slipping inside and dragging the laughing lucario in after him. As he pushed them closed, he turned to his curious friend, before wrapping both arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his lips. The surprised lucario shuddered, before hugging him back, as they exchanged their embrace for long moments.

Finally drawing a needed breath, Chris leaned back, arms still around his friend, and said happily "Welcome home!"

Skyy chuckled, and kissed him again. "Very welcome" he breathed, holding his friend close.

Breaking away, Chris smiled, and raced off deeper into the barn, climbing the heavy timber ladder into the loft. He was unsurprised as the lucario bounded up behind him, seemingly effortlessly.

Landing onto his back in the fragrant, soft hay, he let out an "Ooomf!" as Skyy dropped onto him, straddling his waist with an arm on either side of his chest, and bending down to kiss him again, before dropping against his chest. As Chris wrapped warm arms around him, the pair rested together, as Skyy slipped to his side, taking the weight from him.

As Chris nuzzled the long ears affectionately, breathing in the lucario's musk, he hugged him hard, and said "Thanks for supporting me this morning."

Skyy sat up onto one elbow, and said "Of course! You're my friend!"

Chris avoided his gaze for a moment, and then stared into those gorgeous ruby eyes. "Just friends?" he whispered, as the lucario's gaze became suddenly intent.

Leaning down, he pressed his nose to the human's, who blinked at the cold touch, and said "No. Not just friends. Never just friends", before again pressing lips to Chris's own.

Which would have been fine had not Jim chose that moment to stick his head over the railing, catching the pair in mid embrace.

Eyes wide, he said to the startled pair "Hey! Whatcha doing?"

Rolling his eyes, Chris cursed, shouting at his brother "Don't you ever knock?"

Glancing around, Jim looked confused for a moment, and said "Knock on what? There's no door, dufus!"

Spluttering in frustration, Chris went to cuss out his brother, until Skyy started a loud giggle, breaking the tension. Grabbing the lucario, he pushed him back into the hay, tickling him through his thick fur as the creature squirmed in gasping laughter to escape his fingers.

"What do you think you're laughing at, fuzzball?" Chris smirked at his cackling friend, while Skyy tried frantically to reply. When Jim clambered up the remaining rungs, followed by a nervous Azil who glanced down at the long drop in discomfort, Chris told the charmander to watch his tail in the kindling. Azil huffed, stating in pokespeak he was well aware of where his flame was, thank you very much, and plopped down beside his new friend in silence.

When Chris finally let the lucario go, Skyy sat back gasping for air, while Jim leaned forward and smirked at his brother.

"You were kissing huh?"

Caught out, Chris went to reply, spluttering at his sibling, until Jim pointed a finger at him, and said "Ha! Busted, big time! You were pashing his brains out!"

Rolling his eyes at the humour of a fourteen year old, Chris grinned and gave Skyy a hug from the side. "And so what if I was?" he half joked, still tensing for the reply.

Jim paused, thinking through the question. Finally, he simply shrugged and said "Cool. I don't care."

Silent a moment, Chris leaned forward and said "Don't tell mum or dad though, OK?"

Shaking his head, Jim promised, grinning at the lucario happily. "Skyy's much cooler than Leanne ever was, and I never told mum about her, so I reckon pashing him would be a much better idea!"

As Chris spluttered for a response, Skyy nudged him in the ribs and said slyly "So, who's Leanne?"

The conversation went downhill fast from there...

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