The Nidoking slammed into the wall as Espeon's psychic attack hit it.
I glanced down at my watch. The face was illuminated by a pale green light and the stopwatch mode was on. It read 1 minute and 46.23 seconds. I looked up again, my eyes only straining slightly in the darkness. The four corners of the room were lit with small, spherical lights. They gave off a little light, but not much. I could only just see the energy attacks Espeon was using. In pitch black her psychic attacks would light up the whole room.
{Finish it. You're taking too long.} I thought coldly to my Espeon through the link that connected us. I know that might not sound very friendly, especially towards my own Poke'mon, but I didn't like the way Espeon was fighting- she was just playing with it.
Espeon had been walking slowly toward the shaking form of the Nidoking slumped in a corner. She stopped and turned to look at me.
{I was only having a little fun.} she said in her strange, chirpy, emotionless thought-voice.
Espeon's tail twitched and her dark lavender eyes met my own.
I looked back at her. I'd had Espeon since I was 5 and I knew her pretty well. I loved her dearly; she was like a sister to me. But I still wasn't sure I liked what she become when she fought. It made me… uncomfortable, reminded me that she would never be that close to me as long as I was human and she was a Poke'mon. Albeit a very intelligent, sentient one, but there was something they lacked when it came to emotions like compassion.
{You've had enough fun.} I replied.
Espeon stepped forward. Her tail twitched.
{Fine then.}
Her eyes glowed. I saw a rush of purple energy flood toward the Nidoking and hit it. It struggled to get up for a moment, then lay still. I hit the stop button on my watch.
The floor beneath the huge Nidoking dropped and it fell down. I wasn't worried about it. The Poke'mon we use for practice are raised in the labs. It would go straight to the Gym's Poke Center. I uncrossed my arms, reached out my hand and flicked the light switch. The lights whirred as they slowly shifted to full power. I bashed the switch with my fist and they came on completely. Espeon walked over to me.
{We should get in an electrician to change those lights.} She commented, tilting her head toward the steadily buzzing light next to me.
I smiled at her.
"You did good." I told her, speaking aloud this time.
I dropped down into a crouch and ran my hand along her back.
{Grammar.} she absently reminded me, purring.
"Not even a scratch. That was a pretty strong Nidoking. You're getting better."
{It was easy} Espeon boasted happily, arching her back.
"1 minute and 55.09 seconds." I said as I checked my watch.
{Sugoi! Am I getting better?}
I nodded then looked down at my watch. It was late.
I turned off the light and walked out the door.
Espeon followed, her thought voice filling my head as she continued talking about her battle times. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans and smiled lightly at her as we walked into the corridor.
Nearly everyone was gone. The lights in the corridors were off. I knew my way around the corridors pretty well, but there were lots of corridors. A lot of the junior trainers got lost in here. I was certainly not a junior trainer, but it was pitch black in the corridor.
"Light please." I murmured quietly to Espeon, lifting up my hand and running it along the wall as I walked, feeling the strip of wood that ran along the middle of the wall.
A small ball of purple light appeared in front of us. The walls of the corridor were suddenly lit by an eerie purple glow. The doors to various rooms were all closed. Only a few people would still be here, training in one of the many training rooms or working in the offices or labs. We turned into the main corridor. It was brighter in here- light coming from the foyer and…. A trickle of light flowing from under a door. A sign told me it was a lab.
{Who could be in here at this hour of night?} I asked Espeon through our link.
I cautiously opened the door. It looked just like any other laboratory. A white tiled floor and rows of desks cluttered with equipment, computers and papers. The room was devoid of people except for a tiny figure hunched over a glowing computer screen muttering to itself. From the dim glow of the computer screen I noted the person had bright blue hair. Now I knew who it was. I rolled my eyes ceiling-ward.
{Should of known it'd be Ektome} I thought scornfully, partly to my self and partly to Espeon.
Ektome was one of the lab workers at the Gym. She was 2 years younger than my 15, and painfully bright. Well, in the world of geniuses, I guess you could say she wasn't great, I mean for all her IQ points her handwriting was awful really. She had been working here a few months, specializing in Biotechnics (and everything else really), and already she was proving to know much more than most of the senior lab workers. Obviously, they hated being outshined by a kid, so Ektome wasn't really popular with her co- workers. Or anyone else really. Everyone found her intimidating. God knows why.
Ektome heard my footsteps, and her ears practically pricked. She spun around with an expression of surprise on her face, which quickly changed to joy.
"Hi Grialis!" she cried, waving so hard I thought her arm would fly off.
I raised a hand in greeting.
"Have you been drinking coffee again? I told you not to. It'll stunt your growth." I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh come on!" she replied airily, vigorously shaking her head. Her short bob bounced in all directions.
"You know I'm always gonna be small!"
I shook my head, then walked over to her. Espeon leaped onto the desk, curling around the computer and mewing in fascination. Espeon loves computers. Ektome's pet Magnemite buzzed in annoyance as it was forced to rise into the air. I ran my head over the shiny surface of its head to calm it down before it decided to shock us.
Leaning over her shoulder, I squinted at the screen. A bunch of meaningless letters and symbols. I'm not big on computers, and I couldn't understand any of it. They obviously meant something to Ektome though, who was typing so fast I could hardly see her hands. Something good must have happened then, because the colour of the screen changed to green and more weird symbols flooded the screen. Ektome flung her arms into the air, knocking me onto my butt.
"Hurray!" she shrieked.
I got up and dusted my self off, then leaned over her shoulder again and frowned. These symbols didn't look promising. I'd seen them before, mainly in lame movies about hackers, but also when I was with Ektome.
"Are you hacking again?"
{I think she i-is! I know these symbols!} sang Espeon inside my head.
I made a face inwardly. It was embarrassing having a Poke'mon who knew more about computers than you. Ektome spun her chair around and put on a face.
"I wasn't doing anything!" she whined, giving me her most sad and pathetic puppy dog look.
"Ek, you know you'll lose your job here if you get caught again!"
Ek hung her head. I knew she wasn't worried about a job. There were plenty of jobs for smart kids like her. She was thinking about the part I had neglected to add- 'And your home.'
Ektome didn't really have parents. Well she did, but I got the feeling they barely knew she was alive, and didn't care where she was. I didn't know much about them. I had heard some things about them, but apparently they had worked long hours and never had much time for her. When they did have time, they went out to parties and left her at home. They knew nothing about her. She did pretty badly at school, which they weren't happy with, so they sent her to tutors. The tutors always found there was nothing wrong with her, so they sent her back. What her parents didn't realize was that she wasn't trying in school because it was far too easy for her. Eventually Ek ran away. I'm not sure when- maybe one, two years ago. The Gym leader, Sabrina, found her and took her in. Ek got a room in the Gym dorm for free. A lot of trainers choose to live here rather than somewhere else. It made it easier, plus rooms were cheap, and hard to find elsewhere. If Ek was caught hacking, her co-workers wouldn't hesitate to report her. Like I said, she's not exactly popular. If she lost her job, she lost her home. At her age, the only place she could go to was a foster home- or live on the street. Ek would never go to a foster home if her life depended on it. Actually, neither would I. And I wasn't too sure Ek would do well on the street either.
{Say something!} announced Espeon in my head. {Look at her. She's unhappy.}
I patted Ektome's shoulder awkwardly. It seemed the right thing to do, given the current situation.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Just don't take chances ok?"
Ek glanced up and smiled.
"Kay."
"I'd better go now. It's late. See ya." I said, drawing my hand back quickly and sticking it in my pocket. I'm not exactly a touchy-feely kind of person, and forced contact doesn't feel right.
Espeon leaped gracefully down from the desk and walked toward me, rubbing along Ektome's leg as a passing gesture.
"Bye!"
As I walked toward the door I turned and raised my hand with a smile.
"Later."
I glanced down at my watch. The face was illuminated by a pale green light and the stopwatch mode was on. It read 1 minute and 46.23 seconds. I looked up again, my eyes only straining slightly in the darkness. The four corners of the room were lit with small, spherical lights. They gave off a little light, but not much. I could only just see the energy attacks Espeon was using. In pitch black her psychic attacks would light up the whole room.
{Finish it. You're taking too long.} I thought coldly to my Espeon through the link that connected us. I know that might not sound very friendly, especially towards my own Poke'mon, but I didn't like the way Espeon was fighting- she was just playing with it.
Espeon had been walking slowly toward the shaking form of the Nidoking slumped in a corner. She stopped and turned to look at me.
{I was only having a little fun.} she said in her strange, chirpy, emotionless thought-voice.
Espeon's tail twitched and her dark lavender eyes met my own.
I looked back at her. I'd had Espeon since I was 5 and I knew her pretty well. I loved her dearly; she was like a sister to me. But I still wasn't sure I liked what she become when she fought. It made me… uncomfortable, reminded me that she would never be that close to me as long as I was human and she was a Poke'mon. Albeit a very intelligent, sentient one, but there was something they lacked when it came to emotions like compassion.
{You've had enough fun.} I replied.
Espeon stepped forward. Her tail twitched.
{Fine then.}
Her eyes glowed. I saw a rush of purple energy flood toward the Nidoking and hit it. It struggled to get up for a moment, then lay still. I hit the stop button on my watch.
The floor beneath the huge Nidoking dropped and it fell down. I wasn't worried about it. The Poke'mon we use for practice are raised in the labs. It would go straight to the Gym's Poke Center. I uncrossed my arms, reached out my hand and flicked the light switch. The lights whirred as they slowly shifted to full power. I bashed the switch with my fist and they came on completely. Espeon walked over to me.
{We should get in an electrician to change those lights.} She commented, tilting her head toward the steadily buzzing light next to me.
I smiled at her.
"You did good." I told her, speaking aloud this time.
I dropped down into a crouch and ran my hand along her back.
{Grammar.} she absently reminded me, purring.
"Not even a scratch. That was a pretty strong Nidoking. You're getting better."
{It was easy} Espeon boasted happily, arching her back.
"1 minute and 55.09 seconds." I said as I checked my watch.
{Sugoi! Am I getting better?}
I nodded then looked down at my watch. It was late.
I turned off the light and walked out the door.
Espeon followed, her thought voice filling my head as she continued talking about her battle times. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans and smiled lightly at her as we walked into the corridor.
Nearly everyone was gone. The lights in the corridors were off. I knew my way around the corridors pretty well, but there were lots of corridors. A lot of the junior trainers got lost in here. I was certainly not a junior trainer, but it was pitch black in the corridor.
"Light please." I murmured quietly to Espeon, lifting up my hand and running it along the wall as I walked, feeling the strip of wood that ran along the middle of the wall.
A small ball of purple light appeared in front of us. The walls of the corridor were suddenly lit by an eerie purple glow. The doors to various rooms were all closed. Only a few people would still be here, training in one of the many training rooms or working in the offices or labs. We turned into the main corridor. It was brighter in here- light coming from the foyer and…. A trickle of light flowing from under a door. A sign told me it was a lab.
{Who could be in here at this hour of night?} I asked Espeon through our link.
I cautiously opened the door. It looked just like any other laboratory. A white tiled floor and rows of desks cluttered with equipment, computers and papers. The room was devoid of people except for a tiny figure hunched over a glowing computer screen muttering to itself. From the dim glow of the computer screen I noted the person had bright blue hair. Now I knew who it was. I rolled my eyes ceiling-ward.
{Should of known it'd be Ektome} I thought scornfully, partly to my self and partly to Espeon.
Ektome was one of the lab workers at the Gym. She was 2 years younger than my 15, and painfully bright. Well, in the world of geniuses, I guess you could say she wasn't great, I mean for all her IQ points her handwriting was awful really. She had been working here a few months, specializing in Biotechnics (and everything else really), and already she was proving to know much more than most of the senior lab workers. Obviously, they hated being outshined by a kid, so Ektome wasn't really popular with her co- workers. Or anyone else really. Everyone found her intimidating. God knows why.
Ektome heard my footsteps, and her ears practically pricked. She spun around with an expression of surprise on her face, which quickly changed to joy.
"Hi Grialis!" she cried, waving so hard I thought her arm would fly off.
I raised a hand in greeting.
"Have you been drinking coffee again? I told you not to. It'll stunt your growth." I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh come on!" she replied airily, vigorously shaking her head. Her short bob bounced in all directions.
"You know I'm always gonna be small!"
I shook my head, then walked over to her. Espeon leaped onto the desk, curling around the computer and mewing in fascination. Espeon loves computers. Ektome's pet Magnemite buzzed in annoyance as it was forced to rise into the air. I ran my head over the shiny surface of its head to calm it down before it decided to shock us.
Leaning over her shoulder, I squinted at the screen. A bunch of meaningless letters and symbols. I'm not big on computers, and I couldn't understand any of it. They obviously meant something to Ektome though, who was typing so fast I could hardly see her hands. Something good must have happened then, because the colour of the screen changed to green and more weird symbols flooded the screen. Ektome flung her arms into the air, knocking me onto my butt.
"Hurray!" she shrieked.
I got up and dusted my self off, then leaned over her shoulder again and frowned. These symbols didn't look promising. I'd seen them before, mainly in lame movies about hackers, but also when I was with Ektome.
"Are you hacking again?"
{I think she i-is! I know these symbols!} sang Espeon inside my head.
I made a face inwardly. It was embarrassing having a Poke'mon who knew more about computers than you. Ektome spun her chair around and put on a face.
"I wasn't doing anything!" she whined, giving me her most sad and pathetic puppy dog look.
"Ek, you know you'll lose your job here if you get caught again!"
Ek hung her head. I knew she wasn't worried about a job. There were plenty of jobs for smart kids like her. She was thinking about the part I had neglected to add- 'And your home.'
Ektome didn't really have parents. Well she did, but I got the feeling they barely knew she was alive, and didn't care where she was. I didn't know much about them. I had heard some things about them, but apparently they had worked long hours and never had much time for her. When they did have time, they went out to parties and left her at home. They knew nothing about her. She did pretty badly at school, which they weren't happy with, so they sent her to tutors. The tutors always found there was nothing wrong with her, so they sent her back. What her parents didn't realize was that she wasn't trying in school because it was far too easy for her. Eventually Ek ran away. I'm not sure when- maybe one, two years ago. The Gym leader, Sabrina, found her and took her in. Ek got a room in the Gym dorm for free. A lot of trainers choose to live here rather than somewhere else. It made it easier, plus rooms were cheap, and hard to find elsewhere. If Ek was caught hacking, her co-workers wouldn't hesitate to report her. Like I said, she's not exactly popular. If she lost her job, she lost her home. At her age, the only place she could go to was a foster home- or live on the street. Ek would never go to a foster home if her life depended on it. Actually, neither would I. And I wasn't too sure Ek would do well on the street either.
{Say something!} announced Espeon in my head. {Look at her. She's unhappy.}
I patted Ektome's shoulder awkwardly. It seemed the right thing to do, given the current situation.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Just don't take chances ok?"
Ek glanced up and smiled.
"Kay."
"I'd better go now. It's late. See ya." I said, drawing my hand back quickly and sticking it in my pocket. I'm not exactly a touchy-feely kind of person, and forced contact doesn't feel right.
Espeon leaped gracefully down from the desk and walked toward me, rubbing along Ektome's leg as a passing gesture.
"Bye!"
As I walked toward the door I turned and raised my hand with a smile.
"Later."