The Gin Haze
"Because sometimes all you want to do is forget. With war looming on the horizon, some of us have more reason to want to forget than others. The next generation of Pokémon trainers, what kind of world are they to inherit?" Warning! War stories, dark, gore, sex and real life. This is what it takes to survive in the new war-torn era.
Intro – It was on the news
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"It's just in. In the Kalos region, yet another attack has been confirmed. A group that calls itself 'The Righteous Ones' has committed itself to a third attack in as many months. The death toll is staggering, and the best guess we have totals over a thousand humans and many times that in Pokémon lives. The Righteous Ones have yet to release an official statement as to what their goals are, but as things stand... war is on the ho—"
The TV is switched off, so I turn to find out who'd dare mess with it while I'm watching the news. All I see is a paw that landed on the remote near my feet and a curious little Poochyena watching me carefully. Her red eyes are trained on me, one ear perked up, the other tucked down – she's tired of waiting, she wants her walk now.
"Pistachio, you know mommy likes to watch the news. You'll just have to wait un—"
"Arf!" She interrupts.
"Pistachio, it's rude to interrupt mommy like that," I chastise her. Her ears tuck down and backwards, and there's sorrow in her eyes. She dashes out of my bedroom with a bark, coming back nearly a minute later with her leash. She understands, she just doesn't care. She wants her walk now. I roll my eyes at her. "Somebody's impatient today. You must get that from your father."
"Arf arf!" She wags her tail playfully, knowing that whenever I mention her father we always end up meeting up with Haze. Which... isn't a bad idea. She puts her leash on the bed, she then puts her paws on the foot of my bed, and on the leash, laying her head on her paws. I sigh. She's not done though, the begging isn't enough. No, she has to give me the puppy eyes and that whimpering whine, too!
I grab my Dex, already hitting the speed dial—calling the last number dialled.
"Let me guess," Haze answers, sounding amused. "Your baby just lost patience with you and turned off your TV. Now you want company while walking the dog you keep telling people you've always wanted."
"Stalker," I grouse, wondering how that boy always seems to know what's going on. Psychic trainer or no, that's just scary! "So you coming or not?"
"Only if you're buying the snacks?"
"Bribery is a thing with you," I complain, but he just laughs. "Fine. I'm buying. But that means we're going to M&M's!"
"Oh no, the horror. We're going to eat some place with good food, and where our Pokémon will be treated with respect. No, Gin, don't do this to me." He drones, obviously being sarcastic. Then a wheezing sound draws my attention to Pistachio. Is she laughing?
I fix her with a dull glare. "Who's side are you on?" She just whines and nuzzles her leash again.
"Her trainer's, of course," Haze answers, cryptic as ever. I mean, legally, I am Pistachio's trainer, but Haze trains her more than I do.
"Smart ass."
"Well, I do know my shit, don't I?" I groan. I set that one up for him, didn't I.
I am soooo not giving you the ammunition you need to get under my skin. "So, are we meeting up at the beach? You know Pistachio's not going to want anywhere crowded to run around."
"Pizzy doesn't want people, or her mommy doesn't want people?" I huff, refusing to comment on that. "I'm already on my way to your place. Give me ten minutes and we can walk together."
8-8
Seeing as Haze is on his way, I head downstairs to give whoever's home the head's up that I'm going out for a bit. No one's in the living room, though. I know mom's probably bring daddy his lunch, but it's almost never the case that I'm home alone. Hmm... Adam's probably out dealing with the Pokémon, so I'll go see.
I make sure to tell Pistachio to sit and wait for me, before heading out the backdoor, and into the greenhouse, I find Adam –surprise, surprise– tending to Dad's prized Pokémon eggs and new hatchlings. He's wearing his breeder's apron as well. It looks good on him though; his dark complexion, his brown hair, and his light green apron. Meh, whatever works for him.
"Hey, bro-bro. Pistchio's getting antsy, so I'm heading out with Haze," I explain in one go.
"Mind telling me something I don't know," he says, picking up two Mime Juniors and hugging them. I huff, but don't answer him. "Gin, you head out the same time every day, and you always head out with Haze. It's nothing if not predictable."
"Whatever," I grouse, waving him off. "I'll give you a heads up when I get back."
"Alright. Oh, dad wanted me to tell you that he called for a family meeting tonight after dinner. Says to make sure Haze's there too, or else."
"Are Jerron and Amalia coming?" I ask, trying to understand how big a deal this will turn into. If our eldest siblings are coming, and daddy's demanding that Haze be there too... well, the last time that happened, we found out about mom being pregnant with Aaron. And the time before that it was her being pregnant with Michelle.
"Yeah..." Adam doesn't sound too happy about that either. I nod, understanding how he feels. "You don't think...?"
"I can only guess. We'll find out tonight," I say, waving and going back into the house. Pistachio is, of course, waiting for me in the exact spot I left her. "Who's a good girl? You are! Yes, you are! Mommy's precious Pistachio is a very, very good girl!" I coo, petting her and kissing her on her nose.
She whines pitifully, nosing her leash once again to remind me what she wants. I hook it up to her collar and we start heading outside.
8-8
Almost as if on cue, the second I close the door behind Pistachio and me, Haze comes strolling down the street. He's still in his Mossdeep gym trainer's uniform—he must have just finished training. The black skin-tight shirt with the neck of it almost reaching his chin. The oversized, white, wide and half-sleeve jacket, with the violet inside showing here and there and the violet belt holding it in place. And the black, loose-fitting, seven-eighths pants. He's also wearing slippers, but in the gym they all go barefoot.
His silver hair doesn't stand out very much when he's dressed like this, nor do his golden yellow eyes. Still, he wears the outfit well, all things considered. Most of the gym trainers are... wusses. Sorry, it's true. I know there are more guys than girls there, but other than Haze, those guys look more delicate than the girls! I even overheard one of them complaining that he broke a nail!
"How'd your shift go?" Not a commonly known fact, but there are always four active gym trainers meant to weed out the weaker challengers when they come to the gym. Mossdeep, being so high profile with our Space Centre and all, ends up getting a steady stream of challengers, so they have the three shifts spread out from eight in the morning until like eight at night, I think. Haze is in the morning shift most days. He makes a killing, seeing as he never admits to losing a battle—whether he just doesn't talk about the losses or he just never loses is not something I claim know.
"I got paid." He shrugs. That's exactly what I mean. He makes money, so that means he wins more than he loses. More than that... is anyone's guess really. "Tate's been running me ragged with training though."
"Oh? I thought Carmen was still your senior?" I ask, curious. The only reason I even know that, is because he told me a funny story about how he walked in on Carmen and her Kadabra... getting down to business one afternoon. I'm so glad I don't know who this Carmen is, because I'd never be able to look at her and not picture that scene.
"We all move up eventually." He shrugs again. What I wouldn't give to understand what goes on in your head, Haze. We start walking together, in the direction of the beach. "Tate's been bugging me about taking on more Pokémon again. Says it's time."
"Oh? You're not getting enough victories anymore?" Maybe this is my in to get him to open up about his fights at the gym?
He just glares at me dully. "Cute."
"Aw, come on, Haze! I'm gorgeous!"
He pinches the bridge of his nose lightly. I can tell he's thinking something really snarky right now. "The point is, he's telling me it's time I stop using the gym's Pokémon and start training my own."
"... That's... kind of a big thing, isn't it?" I remember Haze saying something about how only the top four students are given that right, or something.
"It is." He says evenly. His eyes are slightly glossed over. "The problem is... that I only have Grey, and he's still a Beldum. That means..."
"You need to go out hunting. But Psychic Pokémon are really hard to find," I theorize, not that I'd know. Haze just needs a nudge sometimes to say anything I can make sense out of.
"Well, no. Not really, at least. There are plenty of places not too far off that I can get some Ghost and Psychic Type Pokémon. It's just..." He trails off again. Why is he like this? What's he holding back?
"You're picky with who you let on your team?" I coax him again. He shrugs, obviously already having said more than he wants to. "Well, anyway. Dad called for a family meeting. Says you need to be there, or else."
"Is it that time already? I mean, Aaron's like... four now? Jeez, that went quick."
"I know, right?" We're almost to the beach, and Pistachio's getting really antsy. "You mind? If Pistachio doesn't have her usual company, she'll be unbearable."
"You spoil that pup, you know that." He rolls his eyes, but takes out his two Pokéballs anyway. From the Premier Ball comes Grey, his shiny Beldum—and his first Pokémon ever. From the standard Pokéball, comes Jade, his Vibrava. Now that they're out, I unhook Pistachio's leash and the three of them dash off down to the sand and shallow waters on the skirts of Mossdeep. Haze smiles that little, unsure smile of his. Something's bothering him again.
"Spill or I'm gonna start tickling," I warn, and he knows I mean it.
"I've... got a bad feeling, Gin," he says. The smile's completely gone now. "You heard about what's going on in Kalos? It's not just there... there's been a group in Kanto and Johto doing the same thing. And dad's been telling me of whispers in Unova of the same thing."
"Hmm... Pistachio doesn't like hearing about it. She always ends up turning off the news when it comes to something like that," I tell him honestly. Today's not the first, and it won't be the last, time Pistachio's done that.
"She just doesn't like it when you start to worry. She's very in-tuned with you, you know," he says, a faraway look in his eyes.
"Hazel Ketchum! You'd better start telling me what's going on or I'm seriously gonna start a war here!" I warn him for the last time. But... but... those words strike the wrong chord with him. "Haze... why is the word 'war' making your eyebrow twitch?" And just to prove my point, his eyebrow twitches again!
"The Celebi count dropped below twenty this morning," he says, almost to the point of tears. I can't say I even understand what that means. "Celebi, a legendary Psychic/Grass Pokémon. Can travel back and forth through time. Only appears in peaceful times."
"O...kay?"
"Psychic type gyms track the amount of Celebis present at any given time. Normally there are about thirty during peaceful times, during episodes like that thing in Kalos, the count drops to twenty-five," he drones. He really does not like what that means. "If the count drops below ten, you can almost bet..."
"A war's coming?" I finish for him. He nods sullenly. "Then you getting your own team now makes sense, doesn't it?"
"..."
"I mean, if there's anyone that's defensive of my family, it's you. So maybe Tate's right. Maybe you should start gathering your team, making sure you're ready for whatever is to come." I turn to him, smiling a bit. "Right?"
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End Intro
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A/N: Three of the four major players have been introduced already. Me likey! Don't worry, this is just a taste of things to come. Let's see what the future shall bring these two, shall we?
Smoothed out on 19-Oct-2017.