Yuki tried not to just start screaming. Calvin was asking questions that made it hard to answer without revealing herself. They had walked all day, and Yuki's feet and mind were exhausted. Her pokemon stayed near her to try to give her some comfort, but it wasn't helping much. It was getting darker, and almost time to set up camp. Yuki was almost frightened to. She wished that they had gotten to a pokemon center, but they were only halfway through route 16.
"Alright, we're making camp for the night." Yuki announced. She looked back, surprised that Calvin didn't look tired at all. He must be good a long distances, but not fast sprints. Instead of speaking, he just nodded and followed her off the road. She was tempted to take off her hat; it had become a routine when setting up for dinner and the night. She couldn't with Calvin around.
Her pokemon branched off to start collecting the materials for dinner. Calvin stood awkwardly to the side, looking a bit lost. It made Yuki smile. Something about him being clueless was funny. "Could you follow Umbreon down to the stream and get some water?"
"Um...sure." He looked relieved to finally get to do something. Yuki hadn't watched him during their travel, but she had a feeling that he had been bored out of his mind. Umbreon brushed up against his leg to show him where he was. Umbreon blended into the night, so it was hard for even Yuki to see him sometimes.
She got started on dinner, doing an easy recipe with the fruits and supplies in her bag. Bayleef came from the forest carrying an assortment of berries in it's leaf. As Yuki cooked, she hummed the song that she would use for her showcase. While she hummed she kept glancing the way that Calvin had gone, making sure that he hadn't come back yet. Unfortunately she couldn't sing like a guy. Hearing her voice would give her away.
Soon enough she was finished with the dinner. Now all she needed was the water for tea. Calvin and Umbreon were sure taking a long time. Yuki glanced one more time in the direction that they had gone, and then pulled off her hat. She fanned her face, letting her man made air cool her face. Cooking so close to a fire made it hot and sticky. When she felt cool enough she put back on her cap, tucking in her hair.
Not a second sooner.
"Ow. Did not see that branch." Yuki heard Calvin groan. Umbreon padded toward Yuki. It's voice entered into her mind.
"He's not a police officer that you want to be traveling with. He is surprisingly very dumb." Yuki covered her mouth to hide the giggles trying to escape her. She had never hear Umbreon so openly insult someone. She felt a little bad that it was Calvin that her pokemon was insulting, but it was hilarious all the same. She gave Umbreon a little scolding, and the pokemon proceed to roll his eyes. Yes, pokemon can roll their eyes.
"Here's the water." Calvin handed her the water then sat down on a log that Yuki had dragged over close to the fire. She noticed for the first time that his clothes were wet. Realization hit her like a freight train. She couldn't stop the question that escaped her lips.
"Did you fall in the stream?" Again giggles threatened to escape her. The color that rose to his cheeks made it harder to suppress the giggles.
"Maybe. The rocks were slicker than I thought." There was a snap, and both their heads jerked to the sound. Yuki's laughter had been replaced with her heart pounding in her ears. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Calvin reach for something strapped around his waist. Alarms rang in her head when she realized that he had been carrying a gun this whole time. The gun scared her more than what was hiding in the bushes.
When Sylveons head poked up Yuki felt like collapsing. Calvin relaxed and his hand moved away from the gun. Yuki felt a bit betrayed that her own pokemon would scare her like that. "That was quite the jump scare." Calvin mumbled.
"I guess." Yuki tried to calm down. She turned to the meal sitting on the fire. "Are you ready to eat?"
Calvin ate his portion of the meal without a word. Yuki wondered if he thought it tasted bad. She wasn't the most confident person in her cooking abilities. She thought that it tasted fine, and her pokemon didn't complain. For some odd reason she waited for Calvin's reaction. Maybe he didn't like soup. She had forgotten to ask for allergies.
"Are you allergic to anything?" She asked the question quickly, wondering if she needed to get an ambulance. Calvin looked up, looking a bit confused.
"No. At least not to any foods." He smiled. "Worried that I was allergic to soup?" Yuki now regretted asking the question. In the way that he worded it, it seemed like he was making fun of her. If he was, it was certainly working. She felt embarrassed. "Don't worry. It's good soup. A hundred times better than what we have to eat during training camps."
"That's good." Yuki took a mouthful of soup. She watched Sylveon, Espeon, and Umbreon practice the routine for the pokemon showcase. She found pride in her pokemon that they could practice without her. She only hoped that Calvin wouldn't notice what it was.
Calvin finished his soup and asked what he needed to do with the bowl. Yuki told him that she would take responsibility for it. He nodded then went to his bag. He started to unpack his sleeping bag. She thought about what he said about not being allergic. She realized that he was allergic to something, just not food. His specific wording made that clear. It made her curious. She decided to bombard him with the question.
"What are you allergic to?" She took another bite of soup, watching Calvin's reaction in the firelight. He seemed to smile.
"I'm allergic to Anesthetic medicine. I once broke my ribs and they put me under." He took a deep breath and laughed. "Did not go well." Yuki choked on her soup. It sent her into a coughing fit. She couldn't imagine that. At the age of 10 she had to have her appendix removed. If they didn't put her under she couldn't imagine how much pain she would be in.
"That's terrible!" Calvin just laughed it off. Her reaction didn't seem to surprise him. He must get that same answer frequently. "How did you break your ribs?" His hands fumbled with the knots he was trying to untie. His expression changed dramatically. Instead of his kind smile and easy going look, he looked like he was going to murder someone.
Electricity went down her spine. She had just stepped on a huge much was obvious. He had completely stopped what he was doing. He finally smiled painfully.
"I just made a stupid mistake." His smile and eyes told a different story. Yuki suddenly lost her appetite. She wanted to get as far as she could away from this man. Her pokemon seemed to sense her urgency. They all came to her side. Sylveon wrapped her ribbon around her wrist. After a few minutes of suffocating silence Yuki stood up and collected the bowls. She made her way into the darkness, following the sound of the river.
She wondered why the subject was a land mine for him. She had never seen anyone react that violently to a question. He didn't even move. It was his eyes that scared her the most. Yuki didn't think that she had ever seen such a murderous intent before. She never wanted to ever again.
When she came back to the camp, Calvin was curled up in his sleeping bag, almost like a Butterfree in its cocoon. Yuki doused the fire and packed up some of her equipment. She had a tent in her bag and quickly set it up. It was a difficult task in the dark, but her pokemon helped her. She crawled inside and zipped up the tent.
Next was the sleeping bag. Yuki never rolled it up properly so there was no trouble getting it open and rolled out. She took off her cap and set it gently at the head of her sleeping bag. Then she crawled inside. Her tent had an opening at the top so that she could see the stars. She always thought of the legendary pokemon Rayquaza out there, protecting the world they lived in today. Pokemon were so kind and considerate. Yuki closed her eyes, aware of her pokemon nuzzling up beside her. They were her best friends, and she couldn't imagine ever leaving them.
Calvin was plagued with his actions tonight. He had lost control. Well, not fully, but close enough to scare himself. It was quite obvious that he had scared Max. The young boys silence was result of Calvin's actions. He wanted to hit himself. He just couldn't help it. Whenever he thought of his father he could only think of the screams of his mother. The old man was still in jail, far away from Lumiose city.
He had pretended to be asleep when Max came back from the stream. He heard the soft clattering of the pot that Max had used to cook the soup. To be honest, and with sorry regards to Light, Max had made the best food Calvin had ever tasted. As much as both Light and Calvin's mom tried to cook, it was nothing compared to the expertise of Max.
Calvin cooked very little. He could only make some poke food for Flareon and easy meal for himself. He felt bad for the kid. Calvin had ruined his appetite. He was well aware of the half eaten food that Max had taken to the stream. Calvin froze when he heard the sound of Max coming closer to his area. He hoped that his breathing sounded normal so the kid wouldn't know that he was still awake.
There was the clanking of polls then the unzipping of a zipper. Calvin decided to give the sounds to a tent being set up and opened. The zipper sound came through again, so Calvin figured that he was right. There was some shuffling, then silence. Calvin waited until he heard the soft breathing of Max.
He slowly got up, trying his hardest to make as less sound as possible. Calvin grabbed his gun and sat back down on the log. He was going to stay up tonight. Team Rocket was known for their relentless attacking. They wouldn't stop to take a break. They wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted.
It was quite normal for evil organizations to seek someone as powerful as Max. As far as Calvin knew, there was no one in pokemon history that never lost a Gym battle. Not even Ash. You have to fail once or twice. Max hadn't yet. Most trainers feared that he never would. Numerous people were interested in who Max really was. He never answered personal questions of his life. What Calvin had gotten today from the guy was stuff that reporters were trying to get since his second win in a row.
There was some other famous person who had an air of mystery surrounding them. It was Yuki. She told almost no one about even where she was from. There were a few private interviews that got leaked to the public that gave basic information. He wondered if Max and Yuki were friends. Maybe even twins. They did have the same midnight black hair and crystal blue eyes. They even shared some pokemon similarities. Yuki had a Sylveon, Umbreon, and an Espeon that she used in showcases. Max had the same pokemon. Calvin stared into the almost dead embers of the fire. There was a connection somewhere between the two. He was too curious to let it go.
Calvin walked to the main road. He looked both ways, making sure that no one was following them. He checked the bushes for any suspicious people. When it was clear that there was no one in sight, Calvin turned back to camp and sat on the log again. Calvin finally realized how hard it would be to have this job. At first he was just excited to finally get his own taste of a pokemon journey, but now he was feeling the weight of responsibility. It terrified him that he wouldn't be able to do his job correctly.
Team Rocket activity had been slowly increasing over the years. They hadn't become such a treat that the police needed to start coming after them, but it was getting close. Millions of trainers were still missing their pokemon. When Calvin thought about losing Flareon it made him so sick he stopped breathing. He could never replace the fiery and quite stubborn pokemon that he had now.
Speaking of his friend, Calvin needed some company. He let out his companion and the fire pokemon appeared. It yawned, and curled up at his feet. Calvin grinned. As soon as Calvin had seen the Flareon as a choice for a police companion he had signed up for one right away. He was the only one in his unit who had wanted a Flareon. He heard stirring in the tent, and a zipper being unzipped. Calvin expected Max to come out, but to his surprise it was the Espeon.
"Espe?" It looked quizzically at Calvin before stepping out of the tent completely. Then it turned around and, it's eyes started to glow. The zipper on the tent started to glow the same mysterious blue light as the Espeon's eyes. Calvin was speechless. Then he realized that the pokemon was using psychic to move the zipper.
When it was done it came over and sat in front of Calvin. Flareon stood up and sniffed at the pokemon now staring at its master. Then it started to wag its tail. Calvin had never seen this side of his pokemon. The Espeon pranced away, and Flareon chased it. Calvin watched the behavior. It seemed oddly like tag. As soon as Flareon touched Espeon it ran away, with Espeon chasing it. It was adorable. Seeing his pokemon interact like this, it made Clavin happy.
Being part of the police force the pokemon never had any time for fun. It was always work. Sniff out this person, attack this robber, wait hours for your owner to get done with work. Calvin never really gave Flareon time to play. He hadn't really treated his pokemon right. Calvin finally understood this by watching the two pokemon. He was going to change. This journey would give him that opportunity.
