Pokemon: Ribbons and Badges
Chapter one:
When the going gets good.
Akaine had finished packing all of her things into her backpack when her mother walked into her room, a lovely golden Ninetales following after her.
"Are you really leaving the region?" she asked.
"Yeah," Akaine replied.
"You'll be careful, won't you?"
Akaine slung her pack over her shoulder and looked over at her mother. She smiled reassuringly at her mom and nodded her head.
"Of course, besides I won't be alone, I have all my pokemon besides me," she said motioning to the dark red belt on her hips, and then the black sheets of her bed, where a large white furry ball was currently on top of.
Her mother smiled, though it wasn't the answer she had hoped for, she knew she trusted her daughter enough to let her go off and see the world. She realized though, that it will never be easy for her to say goodbye, no matter how many times she does it. Akaine saw the look in her mother's eyes and walked to her, embracing her mom for what may be the last time. Her elder sisters had already gone off to see the world, to be a part of something much bigger than the estate and the local contests and such. It was her turn now, and soon it will be Candy's turn as well.
"Mom, please don't worry, I'll be fine," Akaine said softly.
"I know you will," her mother breathed.
Akaine let go of her mom and walked past her out the bedroom door. "Come on Duchess!" she called.
The white fur ball on her bed shuddered, then unwound to become a shiny Ninetales. The fox pokemon hopped off of the queen sized bed and made her way to her trainer's side. Akaine smiled as she saw her beloved pokemon, she patted her head and then continued down the stairs. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of galloping paws coming down the hall towards her. Akaine turned around and opened her arms to embrace the large furry pokemon that came her way.
"Mira, I knew you'd hear me," she chuckled. "Ready to go?"
Mira barked happily in response. "That's my girl!" Akaine exclaimed as she took out her pokeball.
"Duchess, you're taking a break," she smiled as she sent her ninetales back to her pokeball.
As the two walked out of the house they were welcomed by the afternoon sun, the warmth of the day, and the cool breeze that came from the sea. Akaine knew that today was going to be a very good day. She looked at the very large Aracanine before her and smiled.
"Come on Mira, we don't want to miss our boat," she exclaimed as she climbed on top of Mira's back.
Mira howled in delight, and then ran off at full speed. Akaine was forced to hold onto Mira's mane tightly.
The horn of the large cruise ship blared, letting everyone know that it was about to take off, and that everyone should be getting on the loading ramps, or already be on board. The ship was leaving the Jhoto area, and was headed to Hoenn on its world tour. Everyone who could buy a ticket to take this cruise, not only to relax, but to see the many different kinds of water pokemon and regions that they wouldn't normally visit. The ship had also offered their services for cheap for the pokemon trainers, and though Akaine could have used that. There was no way she was going to spend her time in a place that was almost as bad the crew quarters, instead she had bought herself a ticket for one of the finest rooms they had.
"No no!" Akaine yelled. "Wait for us!" she and Mira had just arrived at the docks, in time to watch the ship leave. Not wanting her money to go to waste, or wait for another ship, she looked around for an easy way onto the ship.
"Mira! Run up the first ramp, let's try and get on that ship!" she called out, pointing to a loading ramp to the far right.
Mira barked pressing her paws into the ground, and pushing off into a sprint. Mira ran as fast as she could force Akaine to be pressed against the pokemon's back. It wasn't long until the trainer felt the lightlessness of being suspended in air, and she knew that Mira had taken a large jump.
"What is that?!"
"Is that a pokemon!?"
People gasped, some shrieked as they tried to move out of Mira's way, afraid that she would land on top of them or their possessions.
SPLASH!
Akaine and Mira had landed inside the outdoor pool on the ship. Mira crawled out of the pool and shook herself. When she finished she saw two men wearing uniforms walk towards her and Akaine, she shook again, and Akaine slid off of Mira and lay sprawled on the floor.
"Ma'am, you better have a ticket."
"It's…It's in my bag," Akaine muttered.
After she was set up in a beach chair one of the men who had come to her asked for her ticket, he was of course one of the employees and needed to scan her ticket to see if it was genuine. Akaine complied, digging into one of her pockets and pulling out a hard case. Opening it she reviled a new looking ticket. The man took his scanner and scanned the barcode, happy that he wouldn't have to throw Akaine off the boat or something.
"Ah, miss Minto, well, let's get you to your room," he smiled kindly at her.
"Thanks."
The door to her room opened and Akaine walked into the light blue room, decorated in the theme of the sea. There were two rooms, a bathroom, and a walk in closet. Akaine didn't think she would need the walk in closet, but was glad there was. She walked to the bedroom and threw her pokeballs up into the air.
"Alright gang, come on out!"
The balls opened and in a flash of light all of her pokemon were in the room.
"Now, you guys can pick a place to sleep for the night, no fighting, and no breaking things, and don't leave the room, I'm going to take a shower and change," she instructed then looked at Duchess. "You're in charge Duchess, make for sure they listen."
With that Akaine had walked to the closet to pull out something to wear and then rushed to the bathroom. This left her five pokemon alone in their suite. A Typhlosion, named Axel, had found a spot next to Mira. The two relaxed against the wall by the bed, and snuggled. A flareon (Flare) and Houndoom (Night) had made their way to the waiting room, where they decided the eggshell couch would be their bed. Duchess, as always, had taken her spot on the bed. It was not negotiable, and everyone knew it. The ninetales always sleeps next to Akaine, and she made for sure that, that never changed.
Akaine wrapped herself in one of the towels and walked to the large mirror, using her palm she did her best to get rid water that had collected on the mirror. She looked at herself, her red eyes seemed more red than usual, and she figured it was because of the chlorine in the pool. Long dark blue hair lay messily against her back and draped over her shoulder. With another sigh she quickly dressed into the white sun dress she had found in the closet. It was the complete opposite of her usual black and white pants, top, and black jacket. She hung her wet clothes on the shower curtain rail and sighed again as she put her favorite red and black scarf, next to her only bandanna, which was also red and black. Feeling more awkward then a magickarp out of water, she walked out into her bedroom, all her pokemon were resting, and she smiled at the site.
"I'll be back later, I'm just going to check things out, be good." She said, going to each one and planting a delicate kiss on their heads. She slipped on the matching sandals and was out of the suite, and making her way down the corridor. Turning at the end of the hall however she collided with someone.
"Watch where you're going!"
A pair of slightly aggravated yet not particularly hostile voices said in unison, one belonging to Akaine, and the other belonging to a boy. Both of which had been put on their bottoms by the impact. The boy was up first however, offering a hand to Akaine.
"Ah you, I recognize you. You're the one I 'dropped' in the pool aren't you? What were you thinking trying that jump on an Arcanine. What if you missed, your poor pokemon could've been really hurt fire-types don't do water remember?" The boy chastised
"I had full faith that she would make it, and if she didn't think she could, she would have let me know." She defended
"Faith isn't any reason to be reckless…"
The boy's body tensed for a moment, as though he had just been prodded in the spine by an electric spark. A lightning-bolt shaped tail would lean out from behind the boy, followed by the somewhat large dark yellow body of a Raichu.
"Fine, fine" He turned his attention back to Akaine "My name's Mael, Mael Strom. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time, but you should be a little less reckless. Anyway I was looking for you, Shockbox here thinks that Nightshade…er…my Gothorita should apologize to your Arcanine for dropping him in the pool instead of helping for a smoother landing…Is that alright with you?" He asked.
Akaine blinked, a bit shaken, but she managed a smile and nodded her head. "You don't really have to, Mira is a strange one, she loves the water, so to her it was a pleasant surprise," she laughed.
Mael seemed pleased that he wouldn't have to coax his pokemon into an apology; one which he knew wouldn't come easy. However, Shockbox was persistent, and he pushed him trainer closer to Akaine.
"Fine then, I'll try again," he whispered down at his Raichu. "Uh, even so, I would still like it if she said sorry," he pushed.
Akaine scratched the back of her head. "Well, alright, follow me," She said then walked back towards her room. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude, I'm Akaine Minto," she introduced.
Sliding the keycard in its slot to unlock the door to her room, she could hear the faint sounds of feet rushing around. She waited for the feet to stop moving for her to open the door. Everything was just the way she had left it, though Flare's and Duchess' irritation for each other had obviously heightened.
"Mira, someone is here to see you," she called. Akaine laughed as all her pokemon had come, curious as to who was here, and why. Mira had stepped forward, and Akaine hugged her. "this is Mael, he wanted to see you."
Mael stepped forward smiling proud to see all of her pokemon. He extended his hand gently to Mira, awaiting her to give him a sign that it was alright to move forward. Once she did however he would give her a quick pet.
"You're a contest trainer" His observant eye caught how well taken care of all her pokemon were, they all looked their best, his on the other hand looked much more rugged, it was clear that his pokemon were no strangers to sleeping outdoors or traveling. Not to say they looked bad at all, his were well taken care of and loved too.
He reached down to his belt and pulled out a poke ball, showing it to Mira before calling out the Gothorita within.
Nightshade looked around for a moment, first to Mael, smiling and walking over to him proudly before being intercepted by his Raichu. Who after a few moments seemed to quickly explain in no light terms that she needed to apologize to Mira. She lifted her head and looked to Akaine and then to Mira and the others in the room, her eyes narrowing as she looked back to Shockbox. He was unamused. The Gothita now with nowhere else to go reached into and dug around in Maels bag, coming up with a poffin. She'd quickly carry it over and offer it up to Mira.
The Arcanine stared for a moment, surprised at the scene that had just unfolded. She'd look to her master, and upon receiving an approving nod from her she'd lean down and eat up the pokemon-food pastry. Her tail swaying as she enjoyed its taste.
"Looks like she likes it, heh, maybe I should start selling these." Mael said apparently proud of his cooking. Gothorita however made a noise, a bit between a scoff and a laugh before returning to Mael's side and smacking her own poke ball recalling herself.
"Sorry, shes a bit of a prima-donna. She doesn't mean anything mean by it though" He explained. "Anyway, keep out of trouble, We'll probably see you around later, enjoy your cruise"
And with that , he left. Disappearing off to another part of the ship along with his Raichu companion.
Akaine waved goodbye, she was amazed that he had made something that Mira liked, though she wasn't always a picky eater. Pastries though were the last things she'd like to eat. Akaine knelt down next to Mira and patted her neck affectionately.
"Strange day huh?" she asked, with a light pat she turned to the couch. Upon sitting down Flare had taken a spot on Akaine's lap, and soon everyone found their place near her. In an hour or so she had fallen asleep, head resting on one of her beloved pokemon.