-Nate's Prospective-
It's been awhile. Since going against the elite four and even beating the champion. After that, everything just seemed to go back to normal. I'd hate to call it boring, but the word best described life as of late.
I've competed in the battle subway and even come out on top. I've went against nearly every legendary Pokémon there is in the region, by now, it just seems like I've done everything.
I haven't been seeing Hugh as often, which makes me sad. Before, it was fun working together and cooperating. Even in the sewers under Castelia city, even though it smelled, I tried not to complain in front of him.
I stay at home mostly now; sometimes I'm recognized by people I don't know at all. I did beat the champion, after all. Sometimes people even visit me asking for a Pokémon, I gladly give them one, of course. I'd hate for the Pokémon I don't use as much to sit in the PC all day.
…
The brunette trainer yawned in his bed. He covered his mouth thoughtfully. He was awake for a while now, just not very willing to get out of bed. He stretched his arms upwards, he was wearing a simple white tank-top to cover his torso and blue dotted pajama pants. He turned over on his side to look at the clock. It read 11:42. He didn't care much, not like he had anything to actually do today. He might go and walk with his Pokémon or help a few novice trainers, he figured. It's what he mostly did nowadays.
He pondered about taking up the champion role, but thought against it. Even though he had beaten the champion, he didn't want to be challenged every day and constantly have to return to the league. It didn't seem fun to him, but now, he would rather do anything besides just lay in bed until he stops feeling sorry for himself.
He turned back over and shut his eyes again, he went back to sleep, but only for a moment. He felt a hand against his shoulder; the brunette spun around and opened his eyes. He expected to see anyone else. His face leaked some red, blood rushing to his cheeks. He wouldn't care if anyone else had seen him in his present, not all that lively state.
The blue-head said to the other, mockingly, "Hey there, sleepy head." He admired the poorly put together brunette.
Nate tried to put on an irritated face to try and mask his embarrassment, it came out odder then he had anticipated.
"Anyway, you probably won't be interested, seeing how busy you are." Hugh said to the other, blatantly making fun of him.
"Well… I did have plans today." Nate replied, lying through his teeth.
"Hah, I can always tell when you lied. It's hopeless. You haven't done anything meaningful for the past month! Even I know that much." Hugh poked at him some more with his words.
Was I really that easy to read?
"Anyways. There's a ship at Castelia. It's going all the way out to Kanto. Apparently something big is going on; all the champions have been planning it out together for a while now. There's going to be some sort of grand contest, every trainer with at least eight badges in any region is being invited. I'm going. You would know that if you ever stepped outside…" Hugh laughed mockingly at his friend again.
"Oh." The brunette spoke, leaving his voice to drift.
"Oh? You're going aren't you? Anyway, I thought it would be lonely going there alone. You're the only person I know that has eight badges, so you have to go with me." He spoke, his tone took a more demanding and firm tone.
Nate would eat up the chance to go anywhere with Hugh again, but, he didn't want him to know that.
"Maybe. I have to ask my mom first, of course. Then I have to pack too, I can't just suddenly go off just because you tell me to," the brunette said, being honest for once.
"Fine. Remember Castelia city, 2'o clock. If you leave me there, I won't forgive you," Hugh turned and walked from the room and downstairs before he even let Nate reply.
Nate just laid there on his bed with his jaw open. He sat up on his bed and looked to his lap, "2'o clock!? You always are last minute, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised," he said to himself.
He didn't want to disappoint Hugh, even if he was a demanding asshole at times. He went to his closet and put on his usually outfit. His blue jacket, shorts, and that oddity of a hat. He put on the watch he never wore very often so he could check the time if need be. He had to literally wipe away a cobweb from his pack, which told you exactly how often he had gotten out nowadays. He formed an agenda in his head, first he would have to convince his mom, then if he had managed, he would need to collect the Pokémon he wanted to take and train them a bit in anticipation. Travelling around the region was one thing, but going away on boot to a region far away from home was completely different. Telling his mom that Hugh would be coming with him would probably help some.
He went downstairs to see her at that table she had always seemed glued to. He walked over to her, smiling to himself at the thought of going away somewhere with Hugh. She turned to him; sometimes he swore she was psychic.
"Let me guess. You want something; I think I know what it is too," she spoke like she was some all-knowing being.
"Oh really, what is it then?" Nate replied, curious if she would really guess so easily.
"You want to participate in that game, it's been all over TV after all," her mom replied, all matter-of-factly.
"So can I go? Hugh said that he would come with me." Nate begged with his puppy eyes.
"I can't stop you. I guess it's better than sleeping all day. That can't be very healthy. Get something to eat first too. Just stay safe, please. If you get in to any trouble, just let Hugh talk for you, I know how you get," His mom instructed, Nate didn't note how to take that last part, he was slightly offended. He wasn't that oblivious or at least he thought so.
"Thank-you!" The brunette spoke without even turning to look at his mom. He left from the front door and the aroma of grass and nature hit his nose. It really had been awhile since he's gone outside; he stood there a few moments before looking down at his watch. "Crap, 12:56 A.M, only have one hour!" He spoke aloud to himself again. He left all his Pokémon at the daycare center, so he couldn't just fly there; thankfully he had his bike at least. Route three wasn't that far. It would only take about thirty minutes on bike. Once he got his Pokémon he could just fly wherever he needed to go. He did a little math and that gave him only fifteen minutes to train. He sighed and hopped on to his bike that was leaned against the front portion of his house.
He pushed the peddles and went as fast as he could to route 3.
By the time he got there he was panting and sweaty. His clothes clang to him and he felt smelly. He hesitated about going inside in his current state. Did he have time to go back and shower before he met with Hugh? He didn't want any smart remarks coming from the blue-heads mouth. He looked at his watch and he arrived earlier because of his effort. 1:23, he read, 7 whole minutes early. If he flew back to home it would only take 5 minutes, but to reach the city it would take 15, the amount math hurt his head. He could maybe shower really quickly, but that would mean skipping the brief time he had to reunite with his Pokémon.
He rushed in to the daycare, the attendant just stared at him and laughed silently. He ignored the old women and was glad to see he was the only one waiting.
"Can I have my Pokémon please, as fast as you can get them?" He spoke in a hurry, which amused to attendant even more so.
"Name please?" She asked, still holding in her giggles.
"Uhm, oh. It's Nate," He replied embarrassed.
"Very well, wait here," and with that, the attendant went in to the backroom to fetch his Pokémon. She returned struggling to hold all six Poke balls.
Nate pulled his wallet from his pocket that he luckily didn't manage to forget. He pulled out what he thought he owed and took possession of all his Poke balls. He didn't bother to ask which Pokémon she had given him and ran out. He hadn't noticed that he had dropped two of them before putting them in his bag. The attendant tried to call out to him, but he didn't listen. He hopped on his bike and drove to a clear spot he thought he could fly to. He checked his watch and it read 1:30. If he flew to his home it would be 1:35, if he took a quick 10 minute shower it would be 1:45. Then he could fly to the city to make it just on time. He didn't hesitate and pulled a random Poke ball from his pack and send it out. It popped open and sparks of a red light were directed on to the ground. Out from it popped a small Pidove.
(Yay poke physics activate don't hate me for this please LOL.)
He groaned and redundantly, got on to the Pidoves back. He questioned how it managed to lift him, but it sure did help to haul ass back home.
They landed in front of his simple home. He hopped from Pidoves back, quite literally as it was only a few inches from the ground, and sent it back in to his Poke ball. He didn't question why that was the Pidove he caught a fairly long time ago and not his awesome Unfezant he spent so much time evolving. He looked at his watch and surprisingly, that Pidove had only taken 3 minutes to get here. He didn't question how and ran upstairs in to his bathroom. He threw his now smelly clothes in to the basket and stepped inside his shower.
He hurried to wash his arms with soap and even wash his hair. His stomach grumbled, by now he could only hope that they had something to eat on the boat. He put the towel around his waist and looked in to the bathroom mirror. His hair clung to him like wet-dog fur. He didn't have time to brush it or comb it so he just left it as is. He left the bathroom and walked over to his closet. With his usual outfit dirty, he was forced to wear the new one his mom had bought him until he can wash the clothes he usually wore. He chose a simple red hoody and shorts similar to the ones he usually wore, although with a new color scheme of black and red. He wondered if Hugh would even recognize him.
He looked at his watch again and it read 10:43. He would have barely more time then he needed to get to the city! He partially worried about what Pokémon that attendant had given him, but didn't dwindle on it for long. He ran downstairs and out the door and back on to the Pidoves back. He had to squat on it awkwardly just so his whole body would fit. People who saw him just laughed, but hey, this was the way to travel. Nothing beats riding on a Pidove's back. It flapped its small miniscule wings and darted off.
He got a few stairs while he landed at the Castelia city Pokecenter. He returned the Pidove to his Pokeball and laughed awkwardly. All sorts of trainers were battle and practicing for the journey when he got there. A few people noticed him somehow, but he just apologized and tried to find Hugh at the port. The head of spikey blue-hair wasn't hard to find, Nate walked over to him as soon as he saw him.
Hugh smirked the second he saw his brunette friend.
"Didn't think you were coming, you're almost late," Hugh said, scolding him.
"Well? I'm here aren't I? Don't complain, I did make it, after all. I could have just left you here," Nate spoke. He put a lot of effort in to just coming here last minute and didn't want it to have it shrugged off like nothing.
"You wouldn't, you like me way too much," Hugh teased again, laughing to himself after.
Nate just turned red, not sure of what he meant by that.
Hugh turned to face the large ship and by large, I mean ginormous. It was about the length of two streets of Castelia city being connected. It seemed like more of a mansion then a ship.
"Huge ship, isn't it? We're stopping at all of the other regions first before we go to Kanto too; get ready to spend a few weeks here. A lot better than sitting in bed? I don't think we'll be treated poorly either. They even have an entire area devoted for Pokémon battles. Speaking of which, once we get on board, how about a battle?" Hugh informed the brunette. Although, that last part seemed more like a demand with a question mark at the end.
"Okay, three on three. If you think being on a boat will make it easier to beat me, then you're dead wrong!" Hugh replied, his voice was full of both confidence and arrogance.
"Cool it down; you can prove that once we're actually on board," Hugh taunted.
Hugh sighed, they were so busy talking that they didn't notice that the bridge of the ship was let down and they had started boarding passengers. Even if Hugh teased him, Nate loved to be around him, he knew he only joked with him by now.
"Crap, looks like they're boarding, we should get on, then," Hugh smiled at him.
Nate nodded and they made their way on board, through the large crowd of trainers. Some people were leaving from the ship; they hadn't had all eight badges and were sent back. The man at the top had checked for badges and if they didn't have them all he sent them away. Luckily, Nate had his, he would have forgotten them if he hadn't always kept his trainer case in his bag. He just quickly pulled it from his bag and showed it to the guy before he let him in, Hugh had done the same. Once they got in, they noticed it was extremely spacious. They were notified to get their room number before they go to bed, but first thing's first.
Hugh went to the informant and got a map of the ship.
"Looks like it's all the way up there. We should get moving before it's full," Hugh pointed at the map as he spoke.
Nate just walked to the side of Hugh, it wasn't very full yet, or at least this part of the ship. This was the first region the ship had stopped at and they were one of the first to get in. They made their way to the deck of the ship, passing through a few crowds of friends. Looks like they weren't the only ones who had the same idea, either. Going to other regions by yourselves would be lonely, Nate was contempt that he hadn't left Hugh alone. Best part, he was actually enjoying the time he had spent so far with him and it had just been a few minutes. Any contact he had with Hugh was usually only brief until now; just a few hours at most, they would only meet in-between journeys, never formally. But now, he would get to spend weeks with him.
They found an empty battle plot and Hugh took the opposite side as Nate.
"Ready?" Hugh asked, grabbing a Poke ball from his belt.
"As ready as ever." Nate confirmed, as he dug in to his bag, before pulling from it a Poke ball.
Hugh tossed the Poke Ball, it hit the ground with a bounce before opening in a brilliant array of red light, and once it cleared a Skarmory had appeared. The Pokémon was a little intimidating and not one Nate had seen before.
He tossed out his Poke ball as well. Guess it was time to see what Pokémon that attendant had given him… The ball cracked open and a similar red light had shined. The light cleared revealing the Pokémon. Hugh broke in to a fit of laughter. There the thing flopped on the wooden floor of the ship; the Basculin was completely helpless against the forces of Oxygen.
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