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Watcher of Arceus : The World of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}

The following is a collection of side stories taking place in the same world as the story "Watcher of Arceus - Path of the Immortal". These are additional chapters that follow other characters or events within the world that either happen at different times, or don't fit within the main series. Updates will be irregular, but will further expand upon the world already created.

~xXx~

Side Stories

Norva : Part 1

Dark, but warm. The gentle feel of the cool air slowly blowing over the beach and up onto the porch of the beach house, the sounds of the water splashing rhythmically back and forth, the sun in the clear skies casting its strong rays onto her body. There wasn't even the slightest hint of foul weather and all the weather reports said it should have been a beautiful day and long quiet night. Last night's full rest for the first time in ages should have finally let her enjoy the day for once. It wasn't meant to be however.

The day continued slowly and it was filled with dozens of annoyances. Enough was enough though as the glass cup the shiny gardevoir was holding cracked in her grip under the power of her mind as that was the last straw. There was a semi-loud crack of lightning, someone using a electric attack out in the garden trying to catch the source of the real disturbance. She knew it was Cree, her trainer's luxray trying to catch what she could only assume was another ballsy pidgey if the cry was anything to go by.

She quickly stood up and almost just threw down her glass in her rage, not even caring when it broke anyway. She had already cracked it and when she failed to set it on the table properly beside the chair she was sitting on it just fell right off. Although she turned towards the source of the disturbance, her world was still dark even when she opened her eyes once more praying that maybe this time she could see.

Instead, when the shiny gardevoir opened her eyes, two dull purple and gazed over eyes were a clear sign that she was blind and there was nothing for her to see anymore. Focusing her mind, the world went a little quieter around her, and she could sort of make out a few things. There were three minds around her, or close enough to her. In her mind, with all the training she put into this, she could kind of make them out around her.

In the house, there was a human, her trainer. He had clearly heard the glass break and she could sort of feel his movements, sort of seeing his muscles move, a weak and sketchy silhouette of parts of his body moving showing exactly where she felt him. The weak mental silhouette just a guess of where each part of his was, based on his own thoughts as he moved and was aware of himself, but in truth she could only really make out his head turning, as well as his arms and legs, unable to see the movements of the rest of his body. Only his hands really stood out, but otherwise it was just a messy guess of how he was moving.

In the garden, she felt the other two minds, and like with the sketchy silhouette, she could make out a sort of quadrupedal body jumping up and missing what he intended to try and grab. Above it, a much smaller body, bird like, or as much as she could image them now, two small limbs below the head but little else.

She knew where they were now, she knew what was making things so rough and with a hard step forward, a hand just barely on the table help try her try to keep her place on the porch, she gathered up energy between her hands, and with a quick spin with a step forward, she lobbed the shadow ball attack clean off the porch.

It flew out at a quick pace off the far left side of the porch and at first looked like she had thrown it entirely in the wrong direction, but that wasn't the case. She was just trying to be mindful of Cree as the shadow ball started to curve up and arc quickly to the right before coming back down and hard.

With a perfect arc, it came down and smashed into whatever annoying bird was causing a the scene, only for cheers to sound in the distance. It was only then that Norva felt the extra minds, a group of trainers up on the hill over looking the beach and its few scattered huts and a house as she took one more step trying to keep her balance from her throw. It was one step too many though and with the distraction from the highly unwanted audience, she knew she had messed up and bad.

There wasn't even time for her to fix her mistake, she could already feel the upper bar of the railing around the porch pushing into her gut while she kept moving, and she was already toppling over before she knew it. Cleanly up and then right over the railing with a yell, Cree rushed back towards the porch to try and catch her, but there was nothing to be done.

Norva flipped head over heels and fell, landing face first into a set of semi-soft bushes, and then heard a lot of laughs. She couldn't see a thing, she could only hope she got herself out fast enough as she reached around hard, grabbing anything she could. Her hands found many things, and she felt dozens of little things, but not what she wanted as she finally found a broken branch off the shrubbery she landed in. She held it tightly in one hand, and then quickly felt all over it with her other hand before Cree rushed in and gently worked on pulling her out of the bushes onto the open sands.

By then though, she was searching for the minds of her unwelcome audience, and with a fair bit of psychic power lobbed the leafy branch with a ton of force at the viewers, or where she felt them anyway. The branch like the shadow ball before it flew high and would have come down perfectly on one of their heads if not for the large tree above them that it just bounced off its branches.

"Hey! You trying to pick a fight with us!?" Someone yelled out, one of the annoyed people who had spent nearly an hour waiting for a chance to see the blind gardevoir take out another bird. "You're some kind of silly celeb around here, but I'll still knock you down a peg."

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size you little punk. You better run home right now, before I have-" Another voice called out, Norva turning quickly towards the source knowing that her trainer right there, reaching down to help her up, only he didn't get to finish his threat.

"Alright you clowns, pack up and take off. You've seen the blind gardevoir knock another bird out of the air with a single move, now run along." A third, and much louder voice called out walking up from another direction as Norva just grabbed her hair and tugged at everything she wasn't see, trying to focus on to many minds at once and ending up giving herself a massive headache.

"Oh, big man huh? What are you going to do about?" The same voice, the first one called out as Norva heard some much softer voices, unable to hear what they were saying, but knowing that they were talking to the person the first voice belonged too.

"Me... nothing." The third voice called again as Norva's trainer helped her stand and helped to dust her off a bit, as the sounds of a pokeball opening up and releasing a pokemon sounded, another mind now present around them. "But Quads here... well Quads doesn't like bullies. He's also the twelve year reigning champion of the local Tangelo Beach Circuit tournament and likes to bench press cars. If you're so eager for a fight, you'll be fighting him." The third voice continued and Norva knew at once who it was now.

The threat of them having to face off against his machamp though seemed to work, and she could feel the other three minds quickly rush off now leaving them alone. "Thanks for that Jorden..." The second voice, her trainer sounded again as Norva tried to dust herself now and take several small slow breathes to try and calm down.

"No problem Malcolm. Looks like you needed the help anyway and I just came by to give you the specs for the new ship orders. Already had the orders for the electrical parts shipped here for you to assemble, so they'll be arriving by truck in a few days. How's Norva? You okay there?" Jorden asked as he called back his machamp.

Norva just gave a loud yell and slapped her hand into the air a few times as if shooing him off, hating to be considered so delicate despite her weakness though. Jorden just laughed though at her actions, moving up and catching her as she started to fall when she went to walk away and immediately tripped over a large stone. Norva just yelled again, raising her hands to go and hit whoever caught her, but held still, if slow to lower to hand though.

"Yep, you're fine, no harm done." Jordan said, Malcolm giving a small sigh of relief. Jordan took the chance to pull something out of his pocket though, and just stuffed a metal can into Norva's hand.

"I found something that sounds disgusting to me, but Norva likes spicy stuff. One of the bars over on Mandarin Island North, one of those weird home made brewery ones that's getting popular on the west side took part in some kind of challenge. They made this... some kind of really weird super spicy carbonated drink using liechi berries. This is the non-alcoholic version." Jordan stated, Norva going to throw the can but then hearing what it was made from.

She lowered her hand slowly, her other hand feeling over the can now, making sure which side was the top, and where the tab to open it was.

"Well alright then. Those challenge groups really think up some weird stuff, but some of it turns out good." Malcolm stated, looking to Norva as she found the tab and then using some psychic power, pressed a small dent into the can right under where it opened it up. It was a small thing she started to do in recent years, making it easy to find the opening on a can just by feeling it without getting her fingers wet anymore.

She then opened it up and sipped at it, thinking about it, before giving a nod, and offering the can to Malcolm. Malcolm tried it himself, and was entirely unsure about it though, the drink trying to burn his tongue, but there was also a sweet after taste that wasn't that bad after the spicy taste left.

"I... don't know if I'll be drinking this myself, but yeah, Norva appears to like it." Malcolm said as he gave the can back, and Norva took another drink.

"So, what's the deal with these new specs. You usually wait for me to make a trip to the shop." Malcolm asked as they started to slowly head for the house, Malcolm just taking Norva's hand and letting him guide her right now.

"Rush order mostly. New advertising campaign from Halmin Paradise Bakery chain on Halmin Island. They want six boats ready in time for the Orange Challenge Finals, but they want mini-bakeries built on each one. They'll have a much smaller selection then usual for a bakery, but they're hoping that by having some boats on the docks, they'll get a massive boost to advertising. The trick is that they still actually want them to function as a bakery, and they want battery packs that can still be charged by electric type moves to cut back on fuel costs and reduce any exhaust." Jordan explained as he walked with them, pulling out a tablet and handing that off to Malcolm.

"I see. That would be a large job then, I'll need to start checking things as soon as they arrive. Six them of them in three months seems a bit... rough to do though. Can we really meet that deadline?" Malcolm asked.

"If everything arrives on time, I can guarantee four by the deadline. If I dedicate the both my shops on Mikan as well, it will all come down to making sure the electrical parts come in on time and everything can be hooked up and tested." Jordan explained as Malcolm helped Norva up the steps with a simple tap on her shoulders letting her know they were coming.

"Watch your step by the way. Broken glass." Malcolm said as they got up on the porch and looked over, the broken glass right where he was expecting it to be.

"Seems like she's breaking a lot more then usual. You sure you're okay there Norva?" Jordan asked, Novra just an almost snarl and attempting to quickly turn her head away, but stumbling when her foot bumped into a step.

"Its the new table. Its not as big as the last one that she remembers so well, but they quit making that style of table." Malcolm sighed loudly, thinking back to how it broke, and then Norva gave a loud snarl, and ripped her grip from Malcolm, her hand quickly finding the rail and using that to rush her way down the side of the porch.

"Wha-hey, hey!" Malcolm stated, grabbign her and pulling her back right before she stepped on some of the broken glass. This still did nothing to stop her from full on lobbing the still open can of spicy soda towards the road though, it bouncing hard off the door of a car that just pulled up.

"Ohohoho, nicely aimed as always my blind little star." A man grinned not even caring that his car was hit, it being a rental after all, and he wouldn't have to pay for the dent.

"Wha-why you. I'm pressing charges you fat ass clown!" Malcolm yelled out now, Jordan just giving him a confused look.

"Is this that bastard I kept hearing about harassing you two?" Jordan asked.

"I'm not harassing anyone, I'm here with a job-" The man stated as ducked down and rolled off to the side certainly now almost acting like a showman and arcobat as he rolled out of the way of a shadow ball that struck hard in the hill there the trainers had been not too long ago.

"This is harassment, I told you no a thousand times, Norva is not for trade and I'm not putting her in some circus to be gawked at." Malcolm yelled at the man who just kept grinning and trying to walk up before Jordan once again called out his machamp.

"Quads, that man goes back in the car. Sir, you're trespassing on my property. I'm pressing charges on top of his harassment charge." Jordan stated as Norva heard the machamp give a small sound of confirmation and its took a heavy footed walk off the porch and into the yard.

"Now now, there's no need for that. You can't keep a star like that locked up for all time. A blind gardevoir, that repeatedly and accurately strike down birds and fish right out the air or under the surface from fifty some feet away or more. She's the legend of Tangelo Island, everyone wants to see her, to watch her work. Think about it. We can teach her to use a bow and target shoot, or image the spectacle of a knife throwing blind gardevoir." The man cried out, trying to duck under the machamp, but Norva wasn't having it and slapped him with a psychic force that threw him into the dirt and make him an easy target for the machamp to grab.

"Hey hey, unhand me. I've got rights ya know. I'm allowed to be here." The man yelled out.

"Quads, nevermind. Hold him here until the cops get here... and the car too." Jordan announced very loudly and annoyed himself.

The machamp just nodded and still kept a hand on the man, dragging him along as Jordan pulled out his phone and called police, just as Quads reached over and grabbed the front of the man's car, before picking it up and lifting it over his head with his other three arms.

"That's not fair ya know! You put that down, I don't need a machamp showing off, they do that all anyway, its nothing to look at, not like that star of a gardevoir there." The man yelled out as Quads moved the car over a large rock and set it back down, without letting any of its wheels touch the ground.

"Quads, keep him there until the police arrive." Jordan yelled out as he helped Malcolm move Norva back inside, who only just realized what she threw "looking" back and forth between her hands, and then slumping down biting at one of her fingers lightly. "And relax, I've got a few more cans, but try not to threw these."

Norva just nodded her head slow, letting them walk her inside, leaving the man yelling outside.

"So..." Malcolm said as he just helped Norva into a seat.

"Your welcome. I've got a bonus check here for you from the last job. Beat the deadline by almost two months on that yacht and the bonus just cleared, money is in the account ready to paid to everyone. You did a lot more then you usually do, and I know you can use some extra cash. If we can hit the deadline for the next order though, this will be chump change." Jordan explained as he took a seat at the table inside.

"Well, that help out a lot. Let's hope we can meet it." Malcolm said as he went back to sink, finishing up the last few dishes while also checking the crockpot he had going.

"You keeping up with the news by the way?" Jorden asked as he looked around for the broom, figuring he could help as well.

"You mean that Cameran Castle thing and this ... Tom kid?" Malcolm asked.

"Thomas Falston. Whatever is going on, expect things to get a little busy. Some of the parts we get are from around that region though, so let's just hope that none of our shipments get delayed. There's enough problems down here lately as it is." Jorden stated. "Where's the broom, I'll get that glass while you finish up there."

"Moved it to the little closet by the front door for now. I can't wait for these renovations to get done, its annoying having half the house closed off for now, but it will be worth it when its done." Malcolm stated as he pointed it out. "Thanks for that though."

"No worries. I'm happy to help you out." Jorden stated as he got up and went to deal with the glass on the porch.

"Norva, you want a small or large bowl? Might be a little bland, didn't have any bacon to put it, but I still tried to season it up regardless." Malcolm asked, Norva just raising her hands, first holding them apart up just over her head, and then closing them down to a much smaller size showing what she wanted.

"And a cup of orange juice, oran juice, or water?" Malcolm asked, and Norva just raised a hand again, at first all of her fingers close, and then raising her middle finger and a her large thumb, before shaking her head, dropping her hand and then raising it back up, then slowly extending all three of her digits.

"Water it is." Malcolm noted, moving over and pouring her a cup of water, then filling a small bowl with some beans. "Jorden, beans are finished. You staying for dinner?" Malcolm called out just as Jorden came back in.

"I have no reason to, but I can spare a bit of time if you want me... and I'll pass I think. I see a cop car pulling up. Let's go sort this out, then I'll just take off. Got a few more things to do and if I'll have the time, I'd rather get to them." Jorden noted as Malcolm put down the bowl and cup for Norva.

"You stay in here, can't have you assaulting him with the cops here. Salt's at two-thirty, fruit bowl at ten." Malcolm said, letting Norva know where the things on the table where using a clock face and Norva understood it well.

Reaching over carefully, she found the fruit bowl and just took the first thing she found, just wanting something other then a bland bowl of beans, but that was dinner. She just listened in as she tracked the minds of Malcolm and Jorden outside, "watching" their silhouettes in her head while they went down to sort things out with the circus recruiter.

Things proved to go by fairly easily, if slowly while Malcolm and Jorden did their part, and there was some yelling by the other man, but it all amounted to nothing as he was once again forced into the back of a cop car, this time in hand cuffs.

Several minutes later, Malcolm finally came back in and Norva just tapped her spoon in her now empty bowl to let Malcolm know she wanted his attention, before pushing her bowl forward showing she was done.

"Got it." Malcolm called out, coming up and taking her bowl as she slowly stood up turned around. Another loud spark from outside told them all that Cree was back to trying to chase off something in the garden, Malcolm just dropping his head as Norva just grabbed hers in annoyance.

Malcolm quickly opened the bonus he had and checked the amount, before looking over window and outside. "Norva... its decided. Those blasted birds like the garden too much..." Malcolm stated as Cree ran in and looked around, quickly finding the basket on the floor he was looking for. Moving over, he dropped the now dead bird in the basket as Malcolm nodded.

"We're getting a small greenhouse set up to fix this... On the bright side, two of them are enough to make dinner tomorrow once plucked and dressed. You should be able to rest happy that we're doing our part to handle thieving birds everywhere."

Norva nodded, but still dropped her hands and clapped once to get his attention, and once he was looking, she raised her hands to her head, lightly clapping her hands to her ears, wondering about headphones.

"Not here yet sadly. Shipping order said tomorrow." Malcolm said as he moved over and took her remote off the charger. "Go ahead though, just not too loud."

Handing her the little lightly modified remote, it had some little shaped glass beds glued to various buttons with different textures to make it easy for Norva to use. She just leaned forward, and after making sure that they were alone though, gave him a hug as she took it, wrapping her arms around him entirely for a moment.

"Oh... uh. Thanks." Malcolm said, a bit shocked, but accepting as he wrapped her arms around her too, lightly rubbing her back as he did. Norva just held him for a few though, before letting him go and feeling over the remote to make sure she was holding it the right way.

She raised it up and pressed the power button. "Hello Norva." A small automated voice stated, with a prerecorded clip of her name on it. She thing pressed a few more buttons and it gave a few more voice commands before Norva stopped on some white noise settings and selected a thunder storm hoping that the sounds of rain on a roof would drown out the noise outside since she wouldn't be able to enjoy the waves.

The constant sound started playing all throughout the hut and Norva just slowly worked her way over to the couch and felt around in front of it for the coffee table, finding a small speaker there. Pressing a different button on her remote, the small speaker started up.

"Welcome back. You are currently on chapter seven of book three. Would you like to continue, check your bookmarks, or start a new book?" The speaker asked and Norva just pressed play to continue, listening to the audio book she had under the sound of a storm. "Tales of Sir Aaron, Book Three, Chapter Seven. The dark cave was a perfect place for one to train, and that was exactly what Riley had come with his newly evolved lucario to do." The speaker started and Norva just sat there listening, even Malcolm listening as he went about electronically depositing his check with his pokedex.

~xXx~

"And this ends Book Four. Book Five is not currently loaded on this device. Would you like to download it?" The speaker stated, and Malcolm spoke up now.

"Add Sir Aaron, Book 5 my account." Malcolm stated, invested in the story himself.

"Adding Sir Aaron, Book 5, to your account..." The speaker stated, before giving a small jingle as it connected to the internet and did a check, only to play a small delayed sound, and then a small error beep. "Sir Aaron, Book 5, is not yet currently available. W-" The speaker started, only for Norva to just turn it off as she stood up, sipping her cup of tea.

It was now late in the evening and the sun had just barely set. A chill was spreading over the island and everything was calm at last, Cree having long since given up try to catch any more of the annoying bird pokemon and just tried to keep them from stealing all the berries and herbs.

With the sun setting, Cree was given a chance to calm down at last, just in time for another pokemon to fly in and land on a large post that was set up for it. A loud caw got their attention as a massive bird pokemon landed on the post and Malcolm got up and looked outside. "Velin's back with what looks like a package. I guess Professor Ivy finished early." Malcolm stated as he went to greet his corviknight and unpack whatever it brought with them.

As much as Norva disliked bird pokemon though, Velin was an exception to the rule. Velin was usually very quiet and reserved, and when he chose to stick around or Jordan didn't ask for a favor, Velin's presence alone would keep almost any wild bird pokemon off the property and away from the house, far enough away to not bother Norva at all.

Slowly, Novra got up and followed Malcolm, following in his foot steps from how she saw his silhouette walk, and walking right up to Velin, who she could only make out his head right now since he was just staying still, leaning down and letting Malcolm unpack the case around his neck.

"Looks like the usual assortment of stuff Professor Ivy hands out. A few more jars of berry preserves, some basic supplies, and a few more notes on cases of blind pokemon." Malcolm stated as Norva just slowly reached out and carefully went to touch Velin.

Velin easily noticed and shifted a bit, leaning back up, but also laying down on the post before pushing his chest forward a bit. He knew that Norva couldn't see him, she could only see parts of him when he moved that that never included his feather making him appear several times smaller in her mind then he actually was.

Her hand found him easily with his help and Norva just tried stroking a few feathers while Malcolm finished looking through the crate.

"You want to sleep out here tonight Velin, or in the pokeball?" Malcolm asked, Velin just giving a single caw, not ready to get put in a pokeball again for now, only for something to happen.

Far to north east, out over the water behind North Mandarin Island was the most powerful aurora beam attack that any of them had ever witnessed. The column of aurora like always changing lights was a beacon in the clear night skies seen over all the islands. While Norva couldn't see it physically though, even she turned to face the pillar and backed up a bit, Velin hopping down and spreading wings to try and cover them both.

The column of light was quickly joined by more attacks right next to it though. A raging column of fire, an inferno of spiraling braided fire, and beside it, the largest bolt of lightning that they had ever seen spending out dozens of ever changing branches of lightning that even spread to the clouds above the three elemental islands. Everyone knew that the three legendary birds of Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos were nesting there, and everyone who was born on the islands knew it was best not to tangle to with them.

Sure, there was the Legend Festival on Shamouti Island, but they always respected the birds who nested on the three islands neighboring their own. "What in Arceus's name is going on over there?" Malcolm asked in utter awe of the three attacks launched into the sky, but then just as fast as it happened, it was done. Pulling out his pokephone, he quickly made a call.

"Jorden... did you see that?" Malcolm asked, on speaker still just in awe of what happened.

"How could anyone on the islands with a view facing Shamouti Island miss it? By Arceus, that's got all the pokemon over here concerned, how are you... how's Norva? Even she had to feel that." Jordan quickly asked.

"I'm holding her now. She looks fine, but she's got a slightly tight grip on Velin." Malcolm replied.

"Velin's back? Send him over if he's willing, he's one of the strongest flying types in the region being a corviknight, I want to go Shamouti and find out what happened. I know they just had the Legend Festival, but everything went fine. They said it was a complete success." Jordan stated.

Malcolm just nodded as he just gently pulled Norva from Velin and onto him, one arm wrapped protectively around her. "Velin, Jorden is at Dewgong's Retreat. Go." Malcolm stated, and Velin knew where to go, hopping a few good steps over and then jumping up and taking off with a burst of speed over the water while he looked around, seeing how everyone else had witnessed the event and everything was strangely calm.

"He's on his way. Be careful out there." Malcolm stated, only for another massive surge of electricity to show through the sky, the sky growing dark over the elemental islands behind North Mandarin Island.

"Shit... look, Jorden I don't think its safe to go there right now. Maybe you should just wait it out." Malcolm quickly stated as Norva held onto Malcolm harder. She still couldn't see anything, but she could hear the echoes of a storm, and feel the power that was being used even this far away and it wasn't kind for her as she whined out, Malcolm just holding more tightly.

"Something ain't right kid. Something is happening and those three birds are pissed off about something. If something is going on, we need to fix it now and as part of the Orange Challenge League and by holding one of the champion slots for its sub-tournaments, I'm contractually obligated to investigate just like everyone else on the team at this level. Its... hold up, I've got go, The police are calling and I need to take it. Its probably them asking for help anyway." Jordan stated before hanging up and Malcolm just bit his tongue not to swear as he kept his eyes glue to the skies towards the three elemental islands.

"Well no... of course something is wrong, that's never happened before." Malcolm grumbled, but hung up on his end anyway.

"Let's get you inside, its probably safer there. Cree! Cree, inside now. And you stay inside tonight, let them have the garden if they want it, we can replace it, but I'm not risking you outside tonight." Malcolm commanded as Cree ran up, and then ran to the door, pushing it open and holding it open for them.

With a bit of a rush in their step, Malcolm helped Norva along and inside, sitting her down at the couch, and then moving around and locking all the windows, doors, and even turning on his security system. He even went and got out his wildlife control taser that Jorden and got him and turned it on making sure it worked.

"Stay inside tonight." Malcolm repeated as he turned on the TV, but kept it muted and turned on close captions just so Norva wouldn't get more worried then she already was.

He watched for now as the news stations were only just getting reports of anything, but it was clear that no one knew what was going on. More importantly though, there were no reports of anything strange going on before hand on or immediately near Shamouti Island. The only weird thing going on recently on the islands was a series of small time crimes, that finally ended when the robber was caught in a bakery on Hamlin Island.

"He's... well he moves fast apparently..." Malcolm stated as he read the news report about Thomas Falston stopping a robbery just east of New Halmin City at a pier side bakery. He even double checked the location of Cameran Castle on his pokedex. "He really gets around..." He grumbled as he checked the trainer forums as well since already had his pokedex out. There was hundreds of questions and new threads forming in his head as well as everyone else's.

With him starting to try and dig through the forums and changing new stations though, he also moved over and started up his electric kettle. "Norva, its tea time. Berry, Ginger, or Chamomile?" Malcolm asked, and Norva held up both hands. On her left hand, she held up all three digits, clearly needing something to help her calm down, but she also didn't want plain chamomile. To show this, she raised her middle digit on her left hand as well to show she wanted a blend, and Malcolm understood.

He pulled out two boxes of tea and a pitcher, looking through what berry blends he had. It took him a few to settle on some strawberry and oran berry teas, pulling out a few bags and then going for a pair of bags of chamomile to round it out and still be strong enough to have the calming effects. There was a chance they would be in for a long night, and he didn't want to miss anything if something major came up, so he also start a pot of coffee while he was at it.

Norva just remained sitting though and still kept facing to the northeast, even sitting awkwardly the count to keep doing so while Cree jumped up on the couch too. Normally Malcolm didn't like him on the couch, he built up too much static while on the cushions, but Cree also know that it if its for Norva, Malcolm didn't speak up too much.

He knew tomorrow might be a long day with him scheduled to talk at a trainer's convention, but this couldn't exactly be put off, not when it so important. He just hoped that he could sneak a nap in at some point tomorrow. Still, it wasn't exactly like the three legendary birds and whatever was going could just go away either though as Malcolm just sighed, pulling the kettle off just as it started to whistle and pouring the boiling water into the pitcher with the tea.

Moving over, he came up and just nodded at Cree for now, Norva just rubbing his ears while he licked at her sides trying to calm her down. "Tea will be ready in a few. Three sugars?" He asked, and Norva gave a nod. Setting down the pitcher, he poured her a cup to start, and then went back to the kitchen for the sugar and some spoons.

He set them down on the table along with the sugar bowl and mixed up her tea for her before heading to his room to get some spare blankets, figuring that they would likely being spending the night on the couch. As he was wrapping a blanket around Norva though, his phone sounded, but it was just a text. "Be safe Jorden. Come back in one piece." He sighed.

-x-

Norva held onto Malcolm as they moved through the stadium. She tried to just keep track of everyone really close by as not to step into them, but she still had a few stumbles from stairs and dropped items, and of course dark types that she couldn't see. She knew that she was getting a lot of looks, and people were talking about her, but for now things were okay.

She could feel the thoughts that people knew she was there, and she could hear a lot of cameras, but with Malcolm guiding her along, she was just a bit eager for the day to be over. At last though they were were at the room they needed to be at.

It was another P.A.R.C.A. event and Malcolm was scheduled to speak at it, with Novra being a tag along guest. A few people were there and guided him in, even taking a moment to make sure that Norva was fine as they walked in and behind the stage.

"Strange night huh..." One of aids asked, Malcolm giving a nod.

"Yeah, I saw it all. I just so happened to be outside just in time to see it happen. Anything I might have missed in my nap?" Malcolm asked.

"Nothing yet. Had a few people say they think they saw the trio heading north, but no one really wants to double check the island. I mean after that display, can you blame anyone for not wanting to go there in person?" The aid replied, handing Malcolm a comb and pulling out a clip on mircophone.

"Not one bit. I'd steer clear of the elemental islands for a while too." Malcolm said as he fixed his hair, then let the aid put the microphone on his collar along with the little head set.

"Hello Norva. Would you be willing to open your eyes for a picture please?" The aid asked holding up a digital camera that wouldn't make any sounds just for her. Norva took a step back and stood there for him looking towards the aid and then opening her eyes. Once more the dark dull purple and glazed orbs that were now her eyes were on display, and the aid took a clean picture. "Thank you Norva." The aid said and Norva just nodded, moving back close to Malcolm again.

"Look, I know your late getting here, but you'll be on in just a moment. Do you think that you can go up next, or should we shuffle you around and have that other guest speaker go first?" The aid asked.

"No, I can do this. Probably better to do it now then wait." Malcolm nodded, and the aid just turned and pointed to the back stage steps. "Everything is hooked up, but you'd better hurry up and do a quick sound check."

Malcolm just nodded again and walked with Norva up to the stage and they were waiting for him already. After a quick sound check, they were ready and Malcolm walked out onto the stage as his name was called.

"And let's all give a nice big hand for our first special guest, Malcolm Silverwinds, and his gardevoir that many of you probably already know, Norva." He was quickly met with cheers and more, and Norva did her best not to lash out at the attention, she knew that this was supposed to help a lot of people and other pokemon.

Malcolm just helped Norva find a seat and sat down beside him as he took the center stage. "Hi, my name is Malcolm, but let's just stick to Malcolm and forget that second part." Malcolm started as he turned around.

"And I'm here today to talk about trainer bullying. And my message for that is simple. If you see anyone, trainer or not bullying anyone else, whether its another trainer, a non-trainer, or even a pokemon, you call them out. If you can take a picture, and report it to the proper authorities. The Police, Pokemon Rangers, or other authority figures. Words do have power, no matter what anyone says." Malcolm started as he turned towards the crowd.

"Let me tell you a story. Like any of you, I grew up with a dream. I was there when the age of the pokemon trainer was still in its infancy and before there were a lot of rules and added regulations, things that help keep us all safe. Like many of you, I thought that my dream was to be the best and I thought that's what I wanted. The truth is, I wanted a journey. And I wanted that journey to take me into adulthood, and along the way I would make friends and maybe find a family. Well, I did find a few friends, and I certainly found someone to call family, but along the way ... my real family paid a terrible price." Malcolm said as he took a few breathes, thinking about the speech that had been handed to him and then just tossing it clean, ignoring the weeks he spent practicing the speech that they asked him to give.

"I grew up watching the early pokemon league on my television and always talked big to my parents. Well, apparently, it was enough to get my parents to get an egg when I turned eight. They thought that a pet would be nice, and help teach me a few things and they hand picked an egg that they knew would be a raltz, an easy to care for pokemon. Boy did that turn out silly. Ya see, Norva was always a handful. Even as a raltz, she was a bit competitive and wanted to show off, but she was scared in those early years. She would often hide and I had to train her not to throw things at other things that annoyed her or tried to pick a fight with her." Malcolm grinned, giving a small laugh knowing how well those lessons turned out.

"But, with two years to get ready, I saw my task and I put in the effort. I worked with her, I put time into training with her, I did my schooling so I could take a trainer's exam, and I thought I was ready when I turned ten. My parents thought otherwise though and didn't let me leave home right away, but I wasn't deterred. I knew that if I wanted to be a proper trainer, I needed permission. I needed my parents permission to be a real trainer from all the books I read and I knew that if I wanted to become a big time trainer, I had to play the rules, and I will admit, there are a lot of rules, more now then when I tried to apply, but we have those for a reason. You all need to be safe after all, and so do your pokemon." Malcolm continued.

"I knew that bullies that existed, but I never had many encounters with them. That was only because I wasn't looking hard enough though. People left me alone readily enough, and they were always nice or acted nice to me because of my parents. They were my parents, they treated me well, so I just kind of ignored things, things I never should have and that's why I'm here today, and why I don't like my last name." He stated, dropping his head a little, but with a quick shake of his head, just pressed on figuring out what to say on the spot.

"Still, I stuck with it, and I wanted to prove to my parents that I was ready. Even in the early days, there were rules against being mean and needlessly picking fights, and abusing pokemon, and like many of you, I tried to stand up for good people and good pokemon. I continued to raise Norva in a way that I thought was right, and I knew that she was my starter pokemon, so that bond was even more special for me, for us." Malcolm continued as he thought back to his early years, and how much work he put into just getting ready for his pokemon, and what all he wasn't really ready for.

"It took another three years, and then when I turned thirteen, I thought I proved to my parents how ready I was to go out into the world. I would do my schooling at night, my journey during the day and compete for badges in the beginner's league. They gave their permission, I took my trainer's exams and passed them all, earning myself and Norva a pokedex, and the rights to go out and take the pokemon league challenge. I never realized why I was really allowed to leave home back then, or why some people gave me strange looks when I was back in my home town." Malcolm explained.

"You see, bullies don't just appear over night. They aren't just born, they don't just show up one day, they aren't always there. It takes a while for them to become what they are, and that's what was happening back then, but I did nothing. You see, the reason why no one picked on me when I was home wasn't because my parents defended me. People didn't start treating me more nicely out of being happy for my journey, they saw what my parents were becoming while I wasn't there and didn't want to get involved." Malcolm took a deep breath now.

"Over the next three years, I choose to ignore what I was seeing, the little things that happened. I made up the same excuses some of you did. Well that's not too bad, and it was just a prank, and well they have to be over exaggerating were the first ones. I later had to justify things to myself with things like they are my family, and I can't stand up to them because other's don't understand, and I have to protect them." Malcolm took a chance to take a small break and just looked over the crowd.

"I know its not easy, but trust me. Sometimes the best thing you can do to help someone, may not seem kind or even right at first, but it really is what you need to do. Sure, a lot of the time people grow out of it, but the problem is that there are many who don't. They like the feeling of someone else suffering for their pleasure, and if you let them, it gets out of control." He stated judging the crowd and he knew that some were listening to his words.

"When I turned sixteen, I was out on the road, just walking up to the town of Lilygrove City in the Hoenn region. I checked in at one of the local pokemon centers, and within the hour, a pair of officers arrived and informed me that I was to head back home, that my parents were in the middle of a vicious divorce and I was needed back home because I was still a minor. It was the weirdest trip home I ever had and what I came back to were grown adults practically spitting nails at each other." Malcolm shook his head and then stood back up straight.

"They hated each other, they wanted the other to suffer, and to do that, they were going to drag me through the mudpit that they made themselves just to make the other feel bad. It got so bad that even the town wanted them gone. Both of them were moving, they sold the house and demanded as much of the cash as they could get from it, and wanted to drag me along. Eventually, I was allowed to pick who I went with because things got that bad, and I choose to follow my father, here to the Orange Islands because I wanted a fresh start myself." He turned towards Norva and made sure that she was okay still, and feeling him looking at her, Norva just gave a nod.

"As it turns out, I grew up with the bullies. I just didn't want to admit it. When I finally got out there, I wanted nothing to do with my father and took as many part time jobs as I could get. I wanted to just ignore him and began saving up money, and I thought that I got lucky. I found a good job, and by the time I turned eighteen, my boss employed me full time and sold me a little beach house. I thought I would be done with people like my parents. I doubled my efforts and wanted to give it one more try with a pokemon journey and I thought that maybe I could take the Orange Challenge." He explained.

"Instead, what battles and training I did with Norva here on the Orange Islands earned me an invite to a private sponsored tournament event. I placed in the top sixteen over the next month, and earned a place in the championship bout and me and Norva thought we were ready. The night that it was announced that we had placed in the top sixteen, I went out to celebrate with Norva at a lovely little local bar and grill. They were very happy to serve me and Norva, but that night still haunts me because I met a man there." Malcolm took a few deep breathes now and steadied himself a bit, even Norva starting to clench her fists a bit.

"I'm sure there might be a few of you who still remember his name. Former league contender Hurk Handlers, now blacklisted trainer banned from legally training pokemon ever again. This man... this man is a bully." Malcolm stated and it took a minute, but the screens behind on the stage shifted to show the man in question, the disgraced former trainer on multiple headlines from news clips back in the day.

"Hurk here was at the same bar that night, and he came there for me and Norva. I watched him taunt some pokemon, make fun of some new trainers, and abuse his own pokemon. A lot of people called him out, but at his state, it meant nothing to him. He found too much fun in it, and no one was really going to stand up to him, not like they needed to. He goaded me and Norva into a fight later that night, and like a fool, I accepted his challenge not knowing who he really was back then. My two years of dealing with my family made it hard to keep up with my hobbies and I didn't know that he was a League contender." Malcolm explained, his voice more firm, a bit mad with himself, and a bit concerned.

"The fight was supposed to be a regulation match on the beach. It turned out to be a bust. He wasn't holding back, he wasn't controlling his pokemon, he was fighting to humiliate us. Norva did her best, but it wasn't enough and even from the start, I failed her as a trainer. I should have called off the match, I should have let it be, but I wanted to do this. It was a one on one match, Norva versus his krokorok. He toyed with us just to get us into a battle, and he didn't stop toying with us even after the match started." Malcolm had to grip the podium in front of him and just held it for a few as he talked recalling that day.

"Norva held her own as best she could, and eventually landed one good hit on his krokorok, but that wasn't what was meant to happen. Hurk was the one who beat others, he didn't get beat, not by some lesser trainer. He ordered his krokorok to end the fight and that's exactly what happened. Norva was pinned by the next move before either of us knew what happened and he could have had a knock out right then and there. Instead, he choose to be enjoy himself and ordered one more attack." Norva was having a little trouble keeping still now, but she was doing her best to stay still. She knew why this talk was happening, to prevent others from having it happen to them, but it was still a hard thing to talk about as she felt Malcolm look to her again.

She gave a firm nod and Malcolm still took a second to make sure she was okay before continuing looking back over the crowd.

"Hurk had already won and then ordered his krokorok to use a sledge bomb attack in a mean rough voice. It wasn't a suggestion for his pokemon, it was a command to end it. His krokorok did exactly as it was told, exactly how it was told to do it. It stomped on Norva's leg to make her scream in pain and then with her mouth and eyes wide open, her guard down from being attacked somewhere else, the krokorok put everything into a sludge bomb attack, not holding itself back in a regulation manner." Malcolm stated slowly.

"That match was called, I rushed up to Norva and tried to help her, and Hurk just taunted me. He wanted his pay for winning, and then some for doing it so well. He didn't care about what happened to my pokemon and when I told him no, I wasn't going to pay for what he did to my pokemon, he threatened to do it to me. I was saved, and rushed Norva to the pokemon center, but the damage was done. There was no saving her eyes, and I'm lucky that they could save her at all because there were real heroes there that day. There were people who stood up to him where I couldn't." Malcolm take a number of deep breathes now, going silent as Norva got up and moved to him, almost tripping over a cord, but Malcolm noticed and caught her.

"I failed her as a trainer. I let a bully do this, and now we're both still paying the price. Norva is lucky to be alive today. She's had problems ever since her eyes were taken from and yes, I know all of you here had heard about how well she's adapted. Yes, she can still drop a wild pidgeotto out of the sky in one move without missing, and she even helped toss a rampaging gyarados around despite her lack of eyes, but it doesn't mean much. The life she has now is because I'm trying to make up for my mistake, for my failures. There was so much more I could have done before then to stop things, but I made a choice that I regret now. " Malcolm explained as the screens behind him showed Norva's dull purple eyes now.

"Your word of the day should be Bully. You don't just start one day doing something really mean or worse. They start small, just to test the limits, to see what they can get away with. Because their words can make things happen, they embolden themselves, and when no one tells them that they can't do that, and no one makes it a point to stop them early on, they think that they are allowed to keep doing it. With each step up the bully ladder, that's one more step towards becoming a monster, towards eventually becoming the next trainer who deserves to be locked up, but by then the damage is already done." Malcolm said as he just gently helped guide Norva in front of him to stand between his arms at the podium as well.

"And here's another truth for you. You can stop a bully. You can stand up to them. Take a picture and report it to the police or the rangers or whoever you think can help. If you leave them alone, they will get worse, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are ways to deal with them, lots of ways. Try talking it out if you can, help each other other, stand up to them. If its your friend, then be a real friend to them. Don't help them make fun of others, get them to stop. The worse thing you can though is just do nothing. Its because no one stood up to them, that no one challenged them, that they did not get talked to or punished that they continued to do this." Malcolm just kept his eyes on Norva now, making sure that she was okay.

Norva just kept "looking" forward for a bit though as Malcolm stayed quiet, before slowly getting an applause. Malcolm knew that most of it was of course just to be nice and for show, and a lot of it was just for Norva, but he could tell from some looks that he had the attention of some people, and would have a more talking about the topic at least.

With a gentle tap on her shoulder, Novra gave a bow, and then Malcolm followed suit before they walked off stage and the host returned thanking them again for talking about hard topics. Walking back stage again, the same aid came up and undid the mircophone from Malcolm's shirt. "Thanks again for this. I see you made something up though."

"Yeah, I know it sucked." Malcolm said softly, only for the aid to laugh.

"But, it was true and heartfelt... and let's face it a lot better then the crappy speech I gave you. I know it was, but you want to talk about this to help others and I just gave you a little push." The aid smirked, before rushing off again, leaving Malcolm shaking his head again.