Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, etcetera, etcetera.
I'm going to miss this place... Riley looked over his shoulder, back towards the inner reaches of Ilex forest. It was too early for most of the forest pokémon, but a few first evolution bugs could be seen feasting in the trees. No doubt trying to get a meal in before the Pidgy and Spearow were out and about.
It was so calm, so serene, so-
The teen was interrupted from his musings courtesy of a Caterpie mistaking his now vibrant purple hair for an enemy. With a battle cry that was likely unimpressive even in Pokéspeak, it launched itself towards him. Its efforts were rewarded by startling the lavender-haired trainer, and giving him a face-full of String Shot.
Good feelings gone.
Wiping his face with some of the numerous leaves littering the surrounding area, he turned to leave. The Caterpie had already scurried off into the forest, not wanting to be captured. Lots of the bravery it had possessed was lost once it realized it had attacked a trainer.
"Didn't even find what I was looking for," He muttered, starting off towards the next city. He hadn't expected to find much, maybe a few hints here and there. Finding nothing was seriously frustrating for him, though. He would have much preferred to spend more time searching in the forest, but he'd promised Joey, so off to camp it was.
At least this couldn't get much worse.
The universe, as it turns out, can be quite malicious, as it started raining the moment Riley finished his thought. Within seconds, he was drenched, water cascading down all around him.
As it turned out, the hair dye his Gengar had managed to find was waterproof.
... Riley tried to keep himself from swearing.
He failed.
"You know, I don't know why you were so angry earlier," Joey remarked, feeding Rattata a Pokéblock. Ever since the foreign treat had been introduced to Johto, the young trainer had been sure to be well stocked. After all, they were good for Rattata, it said so on the package. If there was one thing Joey had learned in all of his years of living, it was to always trust the package.
"I mean, sure the start was a little slow, but we've got loads of people now,"
Lyra once again fought the urge to wring Joey's neck. It was an admirable feat, really, seeing how small and easily strangle-able Joey's neck was. But it simply would not do for the champion of a region to be caught strangling a young child, so Joey's neck remained un-strangled.
"The reason I was mad," Lyra began slowly, letting out a deep breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. "... was because we have just over a week before campers start arriving, and not one staff member has shown up yet, and the ones I found won't be here for another couple days,"
She paused, letting Joey digest what she was saying, before continuing. "Not to mention the fact you've contacted... how many people directly, again ?"
"...A few..." Joey admitted, eyes not willing to try and endure The Stare. The Stare deserving capitals in his mind, for such horror deserved special mention, even in his own mind.
"Right, and how many responded to the flyers ?" Lyra went on, raising an eyebrow.
"... A few more..." How was it possible that he could feel The Stare through his hat ? What sort of unholy powers did Lyra possess ? And could he teach it to Rattata ? Just imagine, having a Rattata with super-vision. Why, nothing could compare. Forget top percent of all Rattata, it would be the top percent of all po-
"JOEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME ?!" Lyra roared, eye twitching dangerously.
"THE TOP PRECENT I SAY!" Joey fired back, standing up and knocking his chair back.
"...I mean, yes, yes I am..." Joey trailed off, realizing how very screwed he was. Curse him for falling into the awesomeness of his Rattata. It wasn't Rattata's fault though, it could never be Rattata's fault. Shame on him for even considering that horrible non-possibility. Right then and there, Youngster Joey made a decision, as soon as Lyra was done babbling, he'd go to his room, grab his Rattata tapes, and re-learn the ways of the Ratta-
"JOEY!"
"... I'm in biiiiig trouble, aren't I ?"
He was.
"Mommy, what's wrong with that boy's hair ?"
Riley gritted his teeth, promising for the umpteenth time that day to somehow get back at his Gengar. If the dye had remained until he reached the daycare centre, he would've been ok with that. He'd even be ok if it had at least faded somewhat before he reached Goldenrod. But no, he couldn't have that. If anything, his hair had turned even more purple during the time it took to get from Ilex Forest to Goldenrod.
And so there he was in the department store. Not so that he could stock up on Pokéballs or potions or other travelling essentials. No, he had plenty of supplies. The reason the teen felt a need to visit Goldenrod was so that he could find some hair dye. A chore he'd been positive his whole life would never become a priority. If he'd been asked earlier where it ranked in his list of things to do, it would've been right between satchel shopping (seriously, he'd seen the photos of that new Unovan prodigy dude. What was up with that, did he have something against regular backpacks ?) and ballroom dancing.
Needless to say, he was not a happy camper, which probably wasn't a good thing, seeing as he was going to be looking after a bunch of those in a rather short amount of time.
"I don't even know what colour my hair was to begin with," He muttered, holding up some bottles of dye. He didn't notice the girl that had spoken earlier eyeing his Arcanine from behind one of the displays. Even though it was a common sight to see pokémon out and about with their trainers, large fire types were not usually the type to be seen indoors.
"What do you think ?" Riley asked, turning to his bored starter, holding up two different bottles.
Ifrit made a face at the first one, and hid his head underneath his paws at the second.
"Yeah, didn't think so," Riley sighed, turning to back to the shelves looming in front of him. I never thought that this could be so difficult... he mused, starting to appreciate exactly how hard it was to find the right shade. I'll never tease mother about it again, that's for sure.
Ifrit's ears twitched, signalling that he was aware of his watcher. As the fire type turned to get a better look, all he saw was the flash of a blue sundress disappearing behind a large Gary-O's stand. Gary-O's being a shameless product trying to ride off of the popularity that came with anything associated to the great Professor Oak's grandson. Gary himself had found the idea hilarious, and went along with it.
"'Frit, come on,"
The Arcanine's head snapped back towards his trainer, to see him moving down the isle, searching for the right colour. Shaking his large head, he followed his trainer, wishing that the shopping trip would just be over soon.
That, or maybe his trainer would let him just burn the offending hair.
"Ah, Vermillion City. Home to loads of people not as awesome as I am," Tori announced proudly, standing at the city's entrance with her pokémon. She got a few odd looks from people passing bye, but she didn't pay them any mind. Why should she, when she was so much more awesome than they were anyway ?
After taking in the sight of the admittedly grand city, Tori turned to the group. "Ok guys, you know the city rules. Who wants to stay out ?" While the rules regarding pokémon outside of their balls were quite lax out in the countryside, there was still a limit of one pokémon allowed out while in the city, two if they were small like a Plusle or Minun.
Her pokémon seemed to have a short discussion, ending with Kal shaking his head and tapping his pokéball, disappearing with a flash at Tori's waist. Her Houndoom and Arcanine seemed indifferent, with the former curling up to sleep, and the later yawning. Uni seemed pretty happy, flitting about the area, inspecting everything that caught his attention, which was, admittedly, just about everything.
"Ok then," Tori recalled the two canines, before raising an eyebrow at her hyperactive bug. "Having fun ?" She asked, slightly amused.
The Heracross nodded, busily inspecting some rocks near the sign that signified Vermillion City's entrance.
"Well, I'm happy for you, and normally I'd let you finish, but I just wanted to remind you we still have to actually get to the camp," She remarked, her foot making a light tapping sound against the ground. Uni looked mareepish, but still returned to his trainer's side, buzzing dejectedly.
"Lighten up, you'll have plenty of exploring to do at the camp," Tori reminded him, leading the way into the city.
Uni brightened up at that thought, and followed his trainer towards the docks.
"And remember, try to have fun," A large man wearing a suit said, unloading some luggage from a large Unovan vessel. It was much too large be called a simple yacht, but it didn't possess the massive bulk required to be classed as a cruise ship.
"Don't worry, Charles, I will," His companion said, sighing as he accepted the luggage.
"And be safe, master Dawson," The first one said.
"I will be safe, I can assure you," The second one replied, a young adult in his own right. "I will be taking care of some children at a camp, what sort of dangers could I possibly face ?"
"You never know," Charles said with a small smile, stepping back onto the boat. "You might get stuck with a bunch of crazies," He started the engine, and guided the boat away from the harbour, with only a small wave as a final goodbye.
The now alone young man scoffed, a blue gem attached to his black leather jacket gleaming as it caught the light of the midday Kanto sun. "What are the chances of that ?"
"This is impossible !" Riley moaned, leaning against a support pillar inside the department store. "I'll be here forever,"
Ifrit made a questioning sound, tilting his head at his trainer. He never did understand why his trainer acted like that. From what he had gleaned from other Pokémon, this wasn't considered to be normal human behaviour.
"Foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr," Riley whispered, a haunted look in his eyes.
A few rows away, a muffled giggle came from behind a display of Oran Juice.
Ifrit snorted, a few small tongues of flame escaping his nostrils. The flame continued to dance on a carton of Razz-berry juice for a few seconds, though it went out before any serious damage was done.
"You don't get it," Riley informed the Arcanine. "We've been here for ages, and the closest thing we've found to a regular hair colour is aqua silver," He paused, no doubt trying to let it sink in for his companion. A rather pointless thing to do, seeing as his Arcanine seemed smarter than his trainer at times. "Aqua. Silver. Know what that sounds like ? Grey. Know what that looks like ? Grey. Know what my hair is ? Purple. Know wha-" His rant was cut off by loud peals of laughter coming from nearby.
"What's so funny ?" He asked, a bit miffed. Both at the fact that he couldn't see who was laughing at him, but also the fact that someone had heard his outburst.
"You're in the cosplay section," A slightly older girl giggled, skipping up to the pair. She took a red lollipop, likely cherry, out her mouth, and seemed to size up the two. "You don't, like, look like the kind that's usually into that sorta stuff, so I'm guessing you got pranked ?" She stuck the lollipop back in, beaming. "I'm right, aren't I ?"
Riley sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, my Gengar got me during my sleep, died my hair purple,"
The girl laughed again, showing a row of perfect white teeth. "Sounds funny,"
"Hilarious," Riley muttered, turning his attention back to the wall of stuff he was quickly coming to hate.
"Sooooooo," His new companion began, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Want me to show you where the real hair dye is ?"
"Or you could like, stay here with the weird stuff. That works too, I guess,"
"...Yes please," Riley admitted, mentally kicking himself for searching in the area he'd just been told didn't have what he was looking for.
"It's this way," The girl said, leading him to a different part of the store, a bounce in her step. "I'm Cherry, by the way. Cherrygrove, not the berry. Then I'd be Cheri, but I'm not that kind of Cheri," Cherry kept babbling as she walked away, oblivious to the look of disdain on Riley's face.
This is going to be a looooooooong day... Riley thought, following after.
While Lester had not encountered any crazies between the spot where he'd been dropped off and the boarding area for the Johto bound Ferry, he had run into some very... odd people, to say the least.
What is it with this region and Pokémon popping out everywhere ? The unova native thought to himself, approaching the bulletin that showed arrival and departure times. It wasn't that he had a problem with Pokémon out and about, it was just a strange sight for him.
He was interrupted in his musings by a loud voice coming from behind him.
"Not that the sign isn't a marvel of modern technology, but could ya admire it from somewhere not in the way of everybody ?"
Lester rolled his eyes, before turning to regard whoever had spoken. His efforts rewarded him with a view of a girl slightly shorter than he was, standing a few feet away with a teasing look on her face. A large Bug type buzzed around her, inspecting almost everything that caught its eye. It didn't seem that interested in Lester, which he was thankful for. Not that he hated Bug types, it was just that the Bugs outside of Unova were so... odd.
"I'm not in the way of everybody, just you,"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Touché, but you're still in the way,"
Lester's eye's once again became reacquainted with the sky. Nevertheless, he moved aside so his tormentor could read the sign.
"Ugh," She said to her companion. "We're not getting there until almost nine tonight,"
The Heracross buzzed sadly, its head drooping.
"Seven-thirty," Lester corrected.
"Hm ?"
"Seven thirty, it says it right there," He pointed to where the times of arrival were posted. "Plain as day..." He added under his breath.
The girl looked at her Pokémon, and they both started laughing, or buzzing, in the case of the Heracross.
"Oh, that's cute, you think we'll arrive on schedule,"
"Of course we will, that's why it's posted," Lester retorted, feeling himself growing quite annoyed.
"You have soooooo much to learn about the state of public transportation, my dear," The irksome girl replied, the sign creaking as she leaned against it.
"I have nothing to learn," Lester insisted. "If they posted seven-thirty, we should arrive at seven-thirty. It is no fault of mine if we don't get there on time,"
"Care to make a bet ?" The girl asked, a mischievous smile forming.
"No, but if it will get you to stop bugging me, I suppose I may as well oblige," Lester said, glaring daggers.
"Wonderful, I'll meet you at the front of the boat once we get there," The girl straightened up, turning to leave.
"Wait, we haven't decided the stakes yet," Lester reminded her.
"Oh, we'll get to that after," She said, walking away. "Unless you're afraid you're going to lose," She added over her shoulder.
"Of course not," Lester called after her. "I will need you're name, though. It wouldn't do to collect from some stranger,"
The girl stopped on the ramp, tuning back to look at him. "The name's Tori," She said with a grin. "Et tu ?"
"Lester,"
"Well, Lester, it seems that there's only one thing left to do," Tori said, grinning.
"And that is ?" Lester asked, though he was eager to be rid of her.
"Start praying I'm merciful, because I'm winning this bet," She said, her grin changing to a smirk.
"Although, being perfectly honest: I'm never merciful,"
With that, she turned around and boarded the ship.
Lester rolled his eyes again. Who did she think she was, challenging him to a bet like that ? It didn't matter, there was no way that she could be right, while he was wrong.
Right ?
Welp, there's chapter two. It only took me just over two months, which is much shorter than the first one took :D
Who knows, I may even be able to do monthly updates eventually ~
Anyways, any sort of feedback is appreciated, and does wonders for one's self esteem.
And now for the promotions:
TiNa: It's the pokémon forum, you know the one.
Sunbean's Forum of Wonder and Excitement: It's the other Pokémon forum, you may not know it, but it knows you.
Mythological Games: Exactly what it says on the tin, only not really. SAO, awesomeness, and dragons, what more could one ask for ? Found in general forums.
Until next time,
Sky ~