Author's Note: Italics are thoughts, Bold is to show emphasis, and underlining is to show sarcasm.
Second Note: I don't own Pokémon, Skyla, the town of Mistralton, the kinds of Pokémon mentioned, Cliff the mechanic (he's a real trainer in Skyla's gym), the other real trainers of Skyla's gym, and the random Minccino standing around in the shipping building.
Well, we were getting along just swell! Tim the emo boy glared at Malcolm the famous boy while I felt embarrassed and the sweet girl Jamie politely ate her food like nothing was happening. Weren't we the greatest of friends? Only met twenty or so minutes ago and now we wanted to tear out each other's throats out. That's what I get for choosing to join Skyla's brigade…
Just as Malcolm was going to fall into Tim's trap of saying that he barely knew me in the slight, my lovely Larvesta decided that she was cramped in her confines of her Pokéball. Oh Sundazzle, I really hate you sometimes… The fire bug called Larvesta jumped out of her Pokéball in a flash of red and landed on my lap. She then sniffed my plate and chomped on an Oran berry before I could even protest.
Tim the emo dude smirked as if the presence of my little fire-bug was only confirmation of my stupidity.
Malcolm on the other hand regarded the little daughter of the sun (Read a book about Larvesta, they are thought to be born of the sun) with admiration. "Hey, I didn't think about sharing my food with my Pokémon, I usually give them Pokémon chow afterwards. Maybe my Cottonee will get along with your Larvesta." Was I surprised that he already knew the name of my Pokémon? Not at all. If he was related to famous people, heroes and breeders no less, then he would have an ample knowledge of Unovain Pokémon. I was lucky that I found a book on Larvesta when she first hatched or else I would have had to stay in the Pokémon center multiple times due to burning. Flame body ability equals lots of pain for the unsuspecting trainer.
"Are you sure-?" I was about to say "Cottonee won't get toasted by my lava bug?" but he was already flashing out an ultra-ball. Yes, and ultra-ball… it must be amazing to be famous…
Famous red-head called out the little fluffy cotton seed Pokémon on his lap and handed it a little piece of bread. The Cottonee gratefully chewed on it and purred. Wait, purred? I didn't know Cottonees (or is the plural form Cottoni?) purred!
The dark man Tim seemed to take the little grass Pokémon as a joke. "Seriously, why do you have such a weak Pokémon? Only girls like those Pokémon." Now he was just trying to get on people's nerves. I tried to think why in the world someone would be so blatant and rude in the first place. Was it a tactic to make an opponent lose focus from anger? No, I had to be overthinking this. This challenge was getting to my head…
Jamie stood up and, though I thought she was angry with the conversation, she actually went to get seconds on her food. A small girl getting second helpings before someone like Malcolm the food-inhaler? What was this chic hiding?
Sundazzle, being the evil and naughty bug that she was, focused her blue eyes on the little cotton ball Pokémon. I was about to return Sundazzle to stop her from toasting the little creature on a stick and thus ruining any chance Malcolm had of being a slight friend, but she surprised me by turning on Tim the emo and spitting out a little Flame Burst attack at the trainer.
Tim jumped up and began to pat where the ball of fire had hit him, trying to put out the flames. I wanted to help Tim, but I felt better watching and laughing. Maybe the little fire-bug knew more than I did about the right and wrong kinds of people.
Tim doused the small flames on his now ruined shirt with the glass of water he had drunk out of not two minutes ago. He glared at me and my Larvesta, undoubtedly wishing a slow and painful death in this gym challenge.
I didn't care, it was the most fun I had people-wise for a long time. I had had funny moments with Pokémon, but this was funnier! I didn't stifle my laughs because I thought they were deserved. I found myself laughing so hard that I snorted terribly. After that, I calmed myself so I wouldn't ever make a Tepig sound like that again.
Malcolm looked amused but unwilling to let Tim hate me or him. I guess he's the kind of person who wants to be everyone's friend… "Hey, let's call it a truce, 'kay?" he held out his right hand while his left held up the little cotton ball Pokémon purring and munching on bread.
Tim on the other hand was either embarrassed or so angry that he stormed off without another word. If I had watched him walk all the way out, I would have sworn he would've kicked a table in rage. He's not an emotionless emo I guess, more of an angst one.
I giggled a little and patted the white bug-hair on Sundazzle's head. Obviously bug-like hair doesn't make me sneeze, and neither does cotton, or else I would've been begging the famous Malcolm to return his Pokémon from whence it came. "I didn't expect that…" I said, showing my amusement.
Jamie returned to the table and sat down, eating her food without question of where Tim the emo had gone or why the seat beside her was covered in water droplets or even why the entirety of the trainers in the room were staring at us. No, Just-Jamie ate, in a world of her own. I'm just going to say that I'm going to watch out for the creepy Jamie from now on. Maybe she's a robot…
Cliff the mechanic saw the dark haired guy stomp off and came to our table with a stern look on his face. He made the connection between Tim and my Larvesta quickly. "You are not allowed to use your Pokémon to attack each other in this nice café. I suggest you return that Pokémon before I get you thrown out." His voice wasn't completely angry, but he knew his authority.
I jumped and returned the bug as fast as I could. I didn't know what else I wanted to be in life besides training in a gym, so my Pokémon would have to learn that I was under a tough law now. Then again, a new life choice might be easier to come by… maybe I could take up the gym challenge… or maybe not. I can't imagine myself as the Pokémon Master of Unova, no way! What am I good at? I needed to think about that tonight… I nodded in agreement and mumbled an apology to the mechanic called Cliff for my Larvesta being a jerk to a jerk, but he didn't catch it.
I was about to ask Malcolm to stand up and let me get some more food, but Cliff had decided that we had eaten enough. Cursed luck for being in the back of the line in the first place! I looked over at Jamie, the lucky one who got more food before we had to go. I looked again and saw that her plate was empty! I examined her and thought, she's got a young-looking face, solemn eyes, and is as skinny as can be. Much skinnier than myself! And yet here she was, completed in eating two whole plates worth of buffet food. I mentally shuddered again, she was super strange now. I half wondered if her face was her real face, and if I pulled on her hair, the mask would come off to reveal an Elgyem actually operating her. Did I have weird daydreams? You bet!
Marcus – wait, no, wrong name-, I mean Malcolm returned his ball of fluff to his Pokéball (Stinking ultra-ball…) and let me out of the booth. He grinned and began to talk a little about his cotton ball. "Even though Cottonee is a grass-type Pokémon, when she grows up, she'll learn moves like gust and hurricane, so I didn't know if she would be allowed to fight in Skyla's gym you know?"
I nodded but turned my focus away from him. Right now Cliff was taking the rest of us back to our places. In other words, since I torched a jerk out eating was cut short and now we had to sleep on the warm and soft concrete of the hanger. I wanted to act like I was innocent of our early exit, but I felt my cheeks redden and thus giving myself away.
Other trainers, white and black skinned alike (Unova boasts of having ethnic diversity and equality), were forming a line behind Cliff and walking out of the café. I joined the line after a super tall dude with super short hair and a large massive red jacket that made him look much bulkier than I guessed he was. Malcolm fell in step behind me and fell gratefully silent. I didn't know where the robot girl Jamie went, but as long as she wasn't radioing Mars for a U.F.O., I didn't care what she was doing.
I followed the tall dude out of the basement and out of the Pokémon Center. It was about evening time now, with the sun beginning to turn the sky orange. I looked forward to getting some rest and thinking things over. After all, I was still second-guessing myself for starting this challenge. Flying Pokémon were ok, I didn't love them a huge amount… Once again I was spacing off.
"Trainers, the first assignment of the training program will begin shortly. I will take you to Skyla's gym and she will tell you what to do. You are not to address her; you will only get that privilege after a week of training." The ever so helpful Cliff mechanic man addressed us.
That was new to me, we couldn't address Skyla? What was she, a legendary Pokémon? I didn't check to see if Malcolm was thinking along the same lines. Another thing bothered me. Unless we were training inside, we weren't going to have much time to participate in this first assignment. What was the deal here? This was Mistralton, a rinky-dink place where people shipped packages and vegies. What else was there to do here? Why the rush? I thought to myself, maybe Skyla just wants to come across like a drill sergeant…
So we walked after the gym underling to the far away gym placed on the landing strip (Who puts a gym on a landing strip in the first place?). On the way I noticed a few more things about the tiny town that I hadn't noticed on the way up. There was a control tower, a few residential houses, and gardens everywhere. It was autumn so most of the crops were harvested and shipped off already, but it was still weird to see a garden in everyone's yard. And I mean everyone.
Then as I was watching the few children romping around in their front lawns, pretending to be a Pokémon or Pokémon trainer of sorts, I saw Tim again. The dreaded emo glowered at me from a distance. He was following the group, but off to the side and away from the others. Did I still think he was a bit paranoid? Whatever gave you that idea? But Tim looked different, mainly because his charred skirt was off and hanging on his finger and draped over his back as if it was a cape. I unfortunately saw him without a shirt on.
I looked away from the topless emo, but I had to admit that he wasn't terrible looking. He wasn't sculpted, more like lanky. His chest was bear and seemed way too white to be living flesh. I tried to think of other things besides Tim and his wardrobe change. Don't get me wrong, I don't squee when I see a shirtless guy; it makes me uncomfortable. Again, I don't get out often and don't swim a whole lot either.
Ahem, the group of us trainers made it to the landing strip, a whole line of black asphalt marked with painted lines and a few skid marks. I didn't want to think of what might have caused the skid marks. As far as I knew, they could've been made from a crash.
Skyla, the scantily-clad gym leader, stood with her hip out to one side, a sign of attitude. I gulped as I saw her leg resting on a cage of Pidoves. There was about twenty of those little grey birds in the cage all jumping about and flapping their wings. If I watched close enough, I could even see their little hearts thudding against their ribcages.
All the hopefuls gathered around her, hanging on her words. I even felt the clear distinction of power. This lady was allowed to dress so weirdly because it defined her as an important person (Seriously, take a look at the Champion Alder and see what I mean by dressing weird). She smirked to us, as if enjoying the thought of making us suffer… maybe that was just me.
Cliff scuttled to Skyla's side, joining two other mechanics and two pilots. These other were the accepted gym underlings, and they looked like they had fought tooth and claw to keep their position. One of the guys with the nametag of Arnold looked more like a gladiator or war hero than a mechanic. I'll dub him Arnold Schwarzenegger, complete with Austrian accent, body building, and movie staring. I'll be able to remember him better that way anyways, I thought. I know I take first impressions to the max… the other didn't stand out to me, so I looked back to the Gym Leader.
Skyla called out to us, "Welcome to the first test. It's relatively simple concept, I release these collared Pidoves and you capture one and bring it back. The rules are that you can't kill it, you can only catch one Pidove, and you have the time limit of 24 hours. The Pidoves will stay within a two-mile radius, so I don't think that it should take you that long. After it begins, you can either track them down immediately or run back to the hanger to get your stuff."
Oh Landorus…
"Begin!" the Gym Leader cried and kicked the caged, freeing the twenty some birds from the small cage.
In a dash of grey feathers they took to the air in every direction. I quickly decided that if we had 24 hours, it was going to be an overnighter. I turned tail and ran to the hanger as quickly as I could to get my stuff so that I could camp out. I had my Pokémon on my person at all times and little Sundazzle would probably make a fire and Len the Palpitoad could provide water for whatever, but I wanted to camp.
Obviously, lots of other trainers were thinking along the same lines. Other joined in the race to get their stuff before the Pidoves completely disappeared. I saw Tim glaring at me once again for toasting his shirt, as if I had known about this first test and that I had done it to delay him. I looked away from Mr. Emo and dashed into the crowded hanger. I scrambled around to find my camper backpack on the ground.
I found it and witnessed another trainer stepping on it. I grumbled and hoisted the thing on my shoulders. I just hoped that my Pokechow box didn't rupture and cover the whole of my other items with kibble. I didn't think I had anything breakable in my backpack, no family heirlooms or expensive grandma's gift.
I ran as quickly as I could back to the entrance of the hanger and looked up to the sky. Landorus, all the Pidoves are gone from the sky! This was going to be a very irritating test!
