Yay second chapter! I would like to thank cwizumi for being the first person to favorite this story and to shrrg for reviewing, and following. I hope you all enjoy the next installment to this story, and hope you will review! :D
Chapter 2 - Unexpected
Thwump…Thuwmp…Thwump…Thwump…Thwump. I moaned, squinting my eyes against the bright morning light that was filtering through the trees. Where was I? I lay there staring at the leaf covered sky, trying to figure out where my white plaster ceiling had suddenly gone.
"Vee! Veeee, eevee!"
I propped myself up on my elbows, pushing against the dead weight on my stomach. Remi was staring up at me with his big brown eyes. Right, I wasn't at home anymore. I lifted Remi off of my chest so I could sit up properly, setting him back down in my lap. He pawed at my leg, staring up at me with his big brown eyes.
"I suppose you want to be fed now don't you?" I sighed staring back at the little eevee.
"Vee!" he replied in a tone that said a rather exasperated "yes".
"All right, all right let me get up." He jumped off of my lap as I slowly started to stand. All of my muscles were stiff, aching as they flexed while I stood. Apparently sleeping on the cold hard ground wasn't something my body was all that fond of. I made a mental note to pick up a sleeping bag in Violet city, as I crouched next to my bag grabbing the tin of pokefood. Remi wove in between my legs, and I wobbled trying to keep my balance so I wouldn't squish the poor thing. The soft brown kibbles thunked dully into the lid, which I had turned into a make shift dish, while I poured Remi his breakfast. He excitedly attacked his food, eating at a speed I didn't think possible.
It was still cold, and after a night sleeping in the unforgiving weather I was chilled to the bone, still shivering even in the growing warmth of the sunlight. I pulled out a second sweatshirt, pulling it on, and settled for cold canned ravioli for breakfast. It was only eight in the morning; it had been two in the morning when I had gotten to the little clearing. I suddenly wish I had been able to pack coffee, but I was up, and didn't really find going back to sleep on the ground again all that appealing.
It was maybe half a day's walk back home, maybe mom had ran into a friend, gone to a party. Maybe she had gotten home late, tired, a bit tipsy, thought I was asleep. Maybe she wasn't even awake yet, didn't know I was gone. I could still go home if I wanted to, but all I could think of was the divorce. I picked up my bag, and called Remi who had been playing in a patch of flowers, jumping and swatting at the pink petals. I needed to keep going east till I reached the road to Violet; I wanted to get there before night fall so I could at least find a decent bench to sleep on.
I had been to Violet City once three years ago; I hadn't walked though I had flown with my dad on his pidgeot. I knew the basic way there, but it would be easier if I had been able to take the main paths through the park instead of the small trails that ran through the forest. Remi was trotting along beside me, occasionally sprinting up ahead to check out some noise or smell. It made me nervous, I wasn't sure what kind of pokemon were this far back in the park, I knew in the main fields there were a lot of grass pokemon, but I had never been on the trails before.
"Remi!" I called out, as he shot even farther ahead, running around a bend in the trail. I started jogging after him, the edge of the picture frame digging into my back as it slammed into it with each stride. He was probably just looking at some flowers he smelled up ahead, he seemed to have a bit of an obsession with flower. When I was just about to turn the corner, I froze for just a second, a screamed "Veeeee!" had echoed through the trees. "Remi!" I yelled again running around the corner, my gut twisted.
A rather large and angry growlithe loomed over my tiny pokemon. I could feel my heart in my throat; Remi was young, and pretty much untrained. He stood no chance against the pokemon in this area, especially not this one. Bill had explained to me how that worked out, something along the lines of a few stronger pokemon got into a population and then others had to grow in order to compete with them for resources, in the end making it so only the stronger pokemon could survive in the area, however once they reached a certain level they didn't bother to continue to grow, so they stayed there until another stimuli forced the need to be stronger. Pokemon kept by trainers had an advantage that they could grow a lot more than most pokemon commonly did in the wild, but they also travelled a lot farther, often going into areas where the pokemon were much much stronger than they were. Remi was currently at this disadvantage, he was at a strength of pokemon more commonly found near New Bark town (the reason most young trainers started their journey their), starting near Goldenrod the pokemon were of a considerably higher caliber.
I hadn't planned on trying to deal with any wild pokemon, or trainers until I was a ways past Violet City, but seeing as this fire breathing pokemon, with rather large teeth and claws was blocking the path, we didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I just hoped that Remi would make it out okay, and on some distant wish that he could win it would be a great learning experience for him.
"A-all right! Remi use –"I was suddenly faced with a daunting question, what moves did Remi know? Did he know anything? I decided to guess the most basic attack I could think of. "Use tackle!" I yelled my legs automatically bracing themselves as if I would take the impact myself. Remi looked back at me, and then launched himself at the larger pokemon. The growlithe barely even stumbled, if anything he looked vaguely annoyed. Remi bounced back unable to keep his footing he rolled through the dust, the little eevee started to push himself up when the growlithe retaliated with a body slam.
"Veee." He squealed slamming into the ground again. I could barely watch, as he struggled to get up, it had been a powerful attack; I was surprised Remi hadn't been knocked out.
"C'mon Remi, you can do it!" I yelled as the growlithe prowled closer to my pokemon. The tangy taste of blood filled my mouth; I hadn't even realized I had been biting my cheek. Remi struggled to his feet, dust and twigs caught in his silky fur. He made a small growling noise, staring the growlithe down. It wasn't of much use though, the larger pokemon just growled back, and jumped biting down hard, lifting Remi up he shook him hard. Remi's head limply flopped back and forth, Remi was out, but the growlithe didn't seem to be letting up.
"Hey!" I screamed waving my arms back and forth "HEY!" the growlithe stopped, dropping Remi with a dull thud, and turned its gaze on me. "Go! Go, leave us alone!" I gripped the first thing I could get my hands on and threw it hard at the growlithe. I watched as a red and white pokeball sailed through the air, and hit the orange pokemon squarely on the nose. The growlithe disappeared into a flash of red light and the ball hit the ground. Five seconds later there was a cheery ding, like my microwave back home made when the popcorn was done.
Well that was unexpected
Frozen in a state of shock I stared at the pokeball sitting in the dust. I may have just pulled off the biggest fluke in the world, catching a pokemon, a relatively powerful one at that, in one try, when it had taken no damage. My gaze flitted from the ball and the growlithe inside… my growlithe… to Remi.
"Remi!" I yelled throwing my bag to the ground, sliding to the dirt next to him. "Remi… Remi are you okay?" my voice cracked as I picked up the limp pokemon, he was covered in dirt, and had cuts from the growlithe's sharp teeth.
"ee…eevee." He replied weakly, looking up at me with barely opened eyes. I cradled Remi in my arms, and pulled out his pokeball recalling him, and placing the ball on my belt. There was still that one pokeball sitting in the middle of trail. I couldn't help but to glare at it, sure it was a powerful pokemon, but I wasn't sure if I trusted one who had been so vicious. Maybe I wouldn't have said that if I had encountered him when Remi was more equal to him, maybe it would have been a fair fight, and I would have caught him when he was weak; but all I could see was Remi helpless in his jaws. I picked up the ball, glaring at it. I rearranged the balls on my belt so that I could put growlithe as from from Remi as possible, as if even in pokeballs, the space would keep Remi safer.
I picked up my bags and started walking, keeping a quicker pace, I wanted to get to Violet more than ever now, make sure Remi was okay. I had no idea what I was going to do with the growlithe. When I was little, before I had decided to stay home, I had read a plethora of books on pokemon training. Every last one of my idols had said to treat all pokemon with trust, love, and kindness, and you'll get the same back. It was hard though, when my first impression of him was him trying to rip Remi to shreds.
I walked aimlessly lost in thought; my feet following the path while my mind wandered elsewhere. I probably would have only just woken up back home; maybe I would have gotten up a bit early and already be curled on the couch with a bowl of cereal and a blanket. I couldn't help but to think of that one day at Cianwood, the last time I can really remember both of them laughing and smiling with no reservation behind their eyes. Maybe if things had been different, had stayed the way they were on that beach, maybe I would have stayed. Or maybe I would have left a long time ago, maybe I wouldn't have been so desperate to cling to what somewhere in the back of my mind I knew would never last; maybe I would have been able to leave without fear it wouldn't be there when I got back.
My daze was broken as the sunshine suddenly grew brighter. Squinting, and shielding my eyes with a hand over my brow I looked around. I was on a road, a big purple sign across the stretch of dirt read: Violet City, 20 miles. My already low spirits dropped even further, twenty miles, that would take me all day, and probably most of the evening too. I had to keep walking though; I had to make sure Remi got to a pokemon center. Head hung, and eyes trained on my feet, it was going to be a long hard twenty miles.
After a couple more hours of walking I had found an old dead log in the grass on the side of the road. My stomach was growling, and no matter how quickly I wanted to get there, it wasn't going to be any easier on an empty stomach. I pulled out another can of ravioli, and peeled back the metal lid folding it to make a makeshift spoon. I had forgotten to pack any silver ware. It was an awfully quiet lunch in comparison to my breakfast with Remi this morning. Maybe I should let growlithe out I thought looking at the pokeball on the far right of my belt. I would rather deal with him when he wasn't hungry in an even worse mood.
"You can come on out." I said quietly holding the ball out, the growlithe appearing in a burst of white light. He stared at me with eyes that weren't cold or malicious, just indifferent, he looked me over I couldn't help but squirm a little, I felt as if he were judging me. Giving me his best, I am mightier than thou glare he huffed, and turned to examine something just so he didn't have to look at me. I rolled my eyes, and pulled the tin of pokefood out of; pouring some into the lid I set it on the ground next to him.
The look he gave me said "are you kidding me?" he sniffed at the food, taking a wary bite of a kibble. His muzzle scrunched and he growled slightly, but he must have been hungry because he ate anyway. I watched him, as I scarffed down my ravioli. He wasn't as violent as he had been earlier; of course he wasn't exactly interacting with any other pokemon at the moment. He was just as unpleasant though. All the growlithes I had seen back in Goldenrod had been so friendly, and to a certain extent were pretty dumb, loyal, but lacking in the I.Q. department. This particular growlithe seemed to be just the opposite; he was stand offish, and seemed just a bit too smart for my good.
I had to give it to him, he was regal looking; his cool disposition and the shock of creamy fur over sleek orange and black hair that rippled over muscles.
"Caesar." I said, and he looked up at the sound of my voice. "What do you think of that? Would you like to be called Caesar?" He seemed to give a shrug, as if he didn't completely hate it, and I really didn't want to take the time to find something he would actually love. "Well, it looks like you're going to be Caesar from now on." I said, a slight smile on my lips, though I didn't dare try to pat him on the head. Once we had both finished our meals I recalled him, seriously doubting he would give me the time of day to walk and actually keep the pace I wanted.
I packed up, and started walking.
The sun was starting to set as I passed a sign that read "Five Miles to Violet City" I was getting close. I just prayed five miles would be shorter than it seemed in my mind, my feet ached, and every muscle groaned with every step. More than anything I wanted to be in a soft warm bed, I shuddered to think of the cold metal bench I would probably be camped out on tonight, maybe I could find a park and sleep in the grass, if there were any stores open I could even buy a sleeping bag.
My mental planning was suddenly interrupted by a screeched "Spearow." I stopped looking up to the tree tops in, scanning the leaves for a sign of the notoriously aggressive bird pokemon. I didn't see one though; there were at least fifty of them lining the branches, watching me with beady eyes. I walked slowly, trying to avoid their gazes as I walked the gauntlet. My already stiff body tensed even more with every step. I was almost there almost clear, when there was a sharp snap. I wanted nothing more than to make it to Violet City unscathed, but apparently the universe just didn't have that in her cards today.
"Shit!" I screamed, the single curse lost in the cacophony of screeching spearow. I ran, pushing my tired body as hard as I could, but the spearow were gaining. I could feel the pulses of wind the fastest ones were creating as they flitted around my head. I threw my arms over my face as one swooped for it with razor claws, tearing the skin on my forearm. I screamed ducking down; I wasn't going to make it to Violet without a lot of bleeding if I didn't do something.
"Go Caesar!" I yelled pointing his pokeball at the ground; he growled and snapped at the bird pokemon that made the mistake to get to close to him, occasionally letting out a thin jet of flame. Yet he made no move to go for the spearow that swarmed around me.
"Caesar! Help!" I called out while spinning and swatting at the pokemon, more often than not just getting my arms cut again. He just watched, and for the first time looked almost bemused. Sadistic bastard. "Well if you aren't going to help me at least run with me would ya?" I screamed as I started to move again, keeping my head ducked under my arms. I heard Caesar's paws thudding in the dirt behind me, but only just barely over the screams of the spearow. I knew I couldn't run another four and a something miles, and Caesar wouldn't be of any help. In other words I was screwed.
I could hear the spearow getting closer, and closer behind me. Even Caesar yelped as a spearow scratched at his back. Just as I felt feathers graze my arms and saw the sparkle of menacing eyes in my peripheral vision something slammed into my side, and my feet left the ground. We hit the dirt in a tangle of limbs, rolling. Whatever, or whoever it was, was heavy and had landed on me pinning me between it and the dirt.
"Luxray, thunder!" a masculine voice yelled just over my ear. I could see the flash from the sudden burst of electricity, hear the popping and crackle. It faded, and everything was finally silent. "Are you all right?" the voice above me asked.
"A bit squished, but otherwise okay…" I mumbled into the dirt.
"Sorry!" he said quickly jumping back, the weight lifting suddenly and I could breathe. I sat up, and finally got a look at the guy. Even sitting he looked tall, long legs sprawled in front of him. He was thin too, which surprised me he had seemed heavier. He grinned, light blue eyes sparkling against his pale complexion that contrasted his dark black hair.
"Well….umm thanks for that." I said slowly, looking at the spearow that lay twitching in the road. "I'm Gwyn," I reached out to shake his hand, "and that useless lug is Caesar." I nodded towards my growlithe who looked back at me disdainfully. The guy smirked looking at my rather sassy pokemon. He took my hand, and shook it in return.
"Cameron."