After the Knowledge test, Lows had to go for the evaluations for Strategy, Care and Skill. He didn't do well in Strategy, but successfully got a full score for Care with his true feelings. For Skill, he got an average score as well, making him getting an overall score of 3.25 out of 5. Feeling satisfied with their scores, Sip and Lows were about to go celebrate until they heard crying near them. They went for the source of all the crying and saw a girl at the bench. What is all the crying about and how will the two comfort her?
P/S: Special thanks to Shslcardiologist for providing me the OC, Lisa Karame!
Chapter 3 - Providing the Needed Comfort
"Sip... What are we supposed to do?" I whispered while we continuing peeking at the crying girl.
"Well... We can't just leave her crying here! We have to do something..."
"I guess you're right. Maybe we should go and ask her what's going on..."
"Yeah, that would be our plan for now. Let's go." We nodded as we walked towards the girl, who still didn't notice us.
"Erm... Hey, are you okay?" I came up with one of the most awkward ways to start a conversation. The girl heard me and looked at me, before looking away in embarrassment.
"H-Have you two heard my crying? I-If so, I'm sorry." The girl said, sounding flustered.
"It's okay. What happened to you that made you cry like this?" Sip asked in concern.
"I-I would rather not talk about it..." She said as she looked down towards the ground, not wanting to tell us what happened.
"Never mind then! Also, we should introduce ourselves. This is Sip Anders from Hoenn, and I'm Lows Landerson from Kanto."
"K-Kanto? That's my hometown... Anyways, my name is... Lisa. Lisa Karame." Lisa introduced herself.
"Cool, you live in the same place as me! Why did you come to Johto, then?"
"W-Well... I came here for my studies in Violet City, and I just graduated at the Pokémon Academy."
"Then, you must have some Pokémon with you too, then. Why don't you let us see them? We will show you our Pokémon, too." Sip gave her a good suggestion, which could also help us with our investigation, since I could talk to her Pokémon and see what was going on.
"I-I guess I can do that." She said as she sent out her three Pokémon and introduced them, "My Totodile's name is Suiryoku, my Vulpix's name is Hibana, while I call my Zorua Bureiku."
I sent out my team as I introduced them one by one to Lisa. Lisa then looked at them, appearing to be interested in Grace.
"Your Gardevoir... She looks gorgeous." She exclaimed as Grace bowed as a way of thanking her compliment.
When Sip was keeping Lisa busy by introducing his Pokémon, I got the opportunity to scan the three with my Pokédex. [Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon. It is small but rough and tough. It won't hesitate to take a bite out of anything that moves.]
I was shocked by the entry, but the Totodile looked friendly as I sighed in relief. Next up, it was the Vulpix. [Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. If it is attacked by an enemy that is stronger than itself, it feigns injury to fool the enemy and escapes.]
Lastly, I scanned Bureiku as the details appeared again, [Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokémon. It changes into the forms of others to surprise them. Apparently, it often transforms into a silent child.]
I didn't forget the main reason I want to meet them, as I asked, "Hello, you three... If you don't mind me asking, do you know why your trainer is crying back there?"
Hibana answered, "No, not really... She has been really down ever since the Trainer Evaluation is over."
Suiryoku also replied, "Yeah! She kept on saying something like, 'I screwed up...' I guess it has something to do with the Trainer Evaluation."
"Thanks, you all." I felt like I gathered a big clue: Lisa was feeling upset after the Trainer Evaluation.
As Sip finished introducing his Pokémon to Lisa, she seemed to have slightly recovered as she said, "T-Thanks for showing me your Pokémon, Lows and Sip."
"No problem! I had fun interacting with them as well." I replied, referring to her Pokémon.
She then turned quiet as she went and held Hibana on her hands. The Vulpix seemed to be enjoying her trainer's company.
She must be still be bothered by whatever that happened... Somehow, we have to help her, and I think I know how. We'll have to get straight into the point.
"Lisa, I'll be honest here. You should really tell us what happened. It will make you feel better. We promise we won't tell anyone, we're here to help you out here." I said.
"Erm..." She said, starting to take my words into her mind. However, she was still slightly hestitant to tell us.
"Let's say... It has something to do with the Trainer Evaluation?" I asked, as her face turned red and her eyes widen in shock.
"H-How did you know about that?" She asked, starting to give in the truth.
"Suiryoku and Hibana told me about it. They are very concerned of you as well, Lisa. You really need to express yourself."
"Oh, Suiryoku, Hibana..." She said while she petted her Pokémon, knowing that she had to give in the truth eventually.
"Well, if you think we're not trustworthy, it's fine to not tell us." Sip said.
"N-No, I never thought about it that way! I enjoyed you two's company and efforts..." She sounded flustered as she sighed, "A-Alright then, I'll tell you two."
She didn't tell us the story, instead she gave me a piece of paper, which we soon knew that it was the certificate for the Trainer Evaluation. I looked at the score and it turned out that Lisa was a pretty decent trainer, getting a 3 for Knowledge, a 4 for Strategy and 4 for Care. However, when I looked at the score for Skill...
"Zero points?" I curiously looked at the score, hoping that the score was wrong. However, noticing Lisa's changing expression, I knew that the score was correct. She got a 0 for Skill, somehow...
"W-Well, you see what happened..." She said, tears starting to form in her eyes again, "I really messed up, didn't I..."
She was starting to sob again as she hugged Hibana, who was willing to give the comfort she needed. We knew we had to help her recover as well.
"Hey, it's okay! It's not like failing this evaluation is the end of the world..." Sip exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's right. Besides that, you can prove them wrong by improving yourself more and more as the time goes! I'm sure that you'll do well in the future."
She heard our words and looked at us, "A-Are you sure?"
"Of course! Besides, it's not like this evaluation determines all abilities of a trainer. It's just a test, and sometimes even the best trainers could fail at times as well! Don't let this bother you, there are so many things you can do." I suddenly became a motivational speaker. Maybe, I could be one someday...
"I... I guess... We still have our Pokémon by our side, after all..." She said as she hugged Hibana and petted Suiryoku and Bureiku. However, I suddenly felt dizzy and black out for a second as I heard a voice in my head,
"I just wished I could've done better... That trauma really affected me... It's okay though, I have them with me, that's all it matters."
I opened my eyes, recognizing the voice as Lisa's. I was going to ask her what was going on, but knowing that she just recovered, I didn't want to make her upset again.
"Sip, did you hear her talking a few seconds ago?" I whispered.
"Erm... No, why?" Sip curiously looked at me.
"Nothing..." I said as we stared at Lisa, who was returning her Pokémon and appearing to be waiting for something.
I guess it's just my imagination...
Lisa suddenly saw a cab and immediately stopped it. She then asked the driver some questions and started to head towards the passenger seat. Before leaving, she thanked us, "Thanks, you two! You two really cheered me up today. And..." She asked while her voice became slightly flustered, "W-Will we meet again?"
I answered, "Definitely. We will see you soon, Lisa!"
"Yeah, see you!" Sip exclaimed, while the girl nodded and went into the cab. We then looked at the cab as it left New Bark Town.
"Guess we did a great job on comforting her," Sip said.
"Yeah, maybe we can be motivational speakers one day!" Sip chuckled at my joke, as he suddenly thought about something, "Hey... Lows?"
"What is it?"
"So... is the celebration still on?" He curiously asked.
"Hahaha... It's still on, don't worry. Let's go right now!" I chuckled as we ran straight into the restaurant, ready to enjoy some delicious cuisines.
Since the Trainer Evaluation was over and we had explored almost everywhere around New Bark Town, we were going to leave this nice town the next day for our next destination. When we were packing up our things, Sip asked, "Where are we going next?"
"Hmm..." I said as I looked at the Map App in the Pokégear, "Looks like we'll be heading to Cherrygrove City next. It is also mentioned that this city is the city of cute, fragrant flowers."
"Looks like we'll be enjoying some fresh air in this city!" Sip joked.
"Hahaha... I guessed you're right. I'm ready, what about you?" I chuckled.
"Just a few more things..." He said as he put his red cap inside the backpack, just in case he needed it on the way. I looked at the pile of things he hadn't put in his backpack, and an item caught my attention.
I took the item as I looked at it, and it was a photoframe with a picture of Sip and his parents.
"You really miss your parents, don't you?" I asked.
"Yeah... I guess you can say that." He said, "I took this picture with me, just so I can see my parents whenever I feel homesick. However, I always make sure to call them from time to time..."
"Same, I miss home. However, I call them during my free time as well, I want to see how they are doing. Maybe, I should call them after I reached Cherrygrove."
"That's a plan, Lows." He said as he finished packing up, and we left the PokéCentre and went for our next destination: Cherrygrove City. It wasn't that hard of a journey to Cherrygrove. In fact, it was easier than we thought. We reached the city in about thirty minutes. The Pokégear apparently didn't lie to us, as the city was full of fresh flowers, which made us more comfortable around the city.
We were going to look for the PokéCentre, until an old man suddenly jumped out from an alley between two houses as he said, "You two are new faces! Wondering where to go?"
"Well, I guess..." Sip said, shocked by the old man's sudden appearance.
"Alright then! I'll show you around this city!" He happily said as he grabbed our hands and pulled us around the city. He showed us some buildings and houses, which were quite useless to trainers like us. He explained a lot about them, making us slightly annoyed. At least he showed us the PokéCentre is the end, which was where we wanted to go.
At least that was some free time spent... I thought as the old man said, "That's it for the Cherrygrove City Tour!"
He suddenly looked at his watch and turned into a worried expression as he said, "Oh no, she is going to be back from work... I can't let her find me here! I gotta go..."
He started running back to his house, but he turned back to us as he asked, "You two, if a lady asks about me, just deny everything she ask, alright?" He then dashed to his house, making us confused.
"Well, that was weird..." I rubbed my head as Sip nodded, agreeing with my words. Just when we wanted to head to the PokéCentre, we saw a lady staring at us. She was holding a handbag with an exhausted look on her face.
"You two seem to be new trainer in this region... Did an old man give you two a tour? He always give tours to new trainers in Cherrygrove, which annoyed some of the trainers."
I immediately knew who she was, and remembering the old man's request, I answered with a lie, "Erm... No?"
"No? That's strange! For once, he is being a homebody! Anyways, thanks for the information." She said as she went to the house that the old man lived.
"I guess that's settled... Shall we get into the PokéCentre now?" Sip asked.
"Yeah, let's go. It's getting late, anyway." I said as I stared at the sky, which was slowly getting darker.
We went to the PokéCentre as we healed our Pokémon and booked a room. After that, we immediately went to the room and settled down as we were quite exhausted. However, I still didn't forget what I wanted to do as after a quick shower, I went ahead and called my parents with my Pokégear. Fortunately, they answered as their faces appeared on the screen.
"Mom, Dad!" I happily greeted.
[Lows! It's great to see you again. How are you doing in Johto?] My parents smiled.
"It's pretty good so far! I just reached Cherrygrove City, and I'm going to Violet City soon!"
[It's good that you planned everything, but don't overwork yourself, Lows.] My mother adviced.
[You don't have to worry about Lows, Irene. I'm sure he can do this on his own with his abilities.] My father said as my mother nodded.
"Yeah, don't worry! I'll be fine. Anyways, how are you two doing in Kanto?" I asked back.
[It's been fine. Actually, our house has been more crowded after some guests came!] My mother happily exclaimed.
"Guests? What guests?" I asked in curiosity.
[Oh, what am I saying! They're not guests, they're family! I'll show them to you right now.] She chuckled as she turned their Pokégear to two familiar faces.
"Sis, Wally!" I happily said.
[Little bro! You're right, after we got back home, Mom and Dad started sticking to me like glue! Help!] I laughed at my sister's words.
[At least we're able to have some date time now that we have tons of time.] Wally said as my sister nodded with a smile.
"I'm glad that you returned home... Times at home are something we should always cherish in our life." I said, starting to miss home again.
[Little bro, don't worry! After the Silver League, maybe you can come back to Kanto and participate in the Indigo League! I'll be guiding you to victory!] She eagerly said.
[Yeah, Lows. Why don't you return home after everything is done? We would all like it.] Wally smiled.
"Hmm... Maybe you two are right. I'll think about it..." The two smiled as we talked about what was going on lately. After quite a while, I looked at the time and I was shocked: It has been thirty minutes?! I looked at the Pokégear and realized the battery was low too.
"Everyone, the battery is quite low, and we talked a lot today. I'm gonna go now, see you soon!" I waved my right hand to them.
[Alright, see you!] They all waved their hands as well as I ended the call and charged my Pokégear. As I had some time, I thought about their suggestion.
[Little bro, don't worry! After the Silver League, maybe you can come back to Kanto and participate in the Indigo League!]
[Yeah, Lows. Why don't you return home after everything is done? We would all like it.]
Hmm... Going back home is a nice choice. However, let's not think about it right now. I haven't even started the Silver League, after all.
I stared at the charging Pokégear as I smiled. I'll return home soon, I promise...
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Blastoise, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Surf, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam, Iron Defense
Ziggs (Linoone, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Dig, Iron Tail, Facade, Protect
Grace (Gardevoir, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Calm Mind
Woody (Grovyle, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Leaf Blade, Giga Drain, Rock Tomb, Agility
Power (Machoke, Male) Timid Nature, moves: Submission, Seismic Toss, Rock Tomb, Scary Face
Shadow (Absol, Female) Quiet Nature, moves: Night Slash, Payback, Psycho Cut, Protect
Questions of the Chapter:
Do you think Lisa and Lows will meet again? If so, where would it be?
What do you think is the reason behind Lisa's failure in the Skill evaluation?
Do you think Lows should go back to Kanto after the Silver League?