Of Seas and Skies
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Gin: *reading from script* Well, here's another super lovely, heart pumping chapter of 'Of Seas and'—
Kin: Nooo! Gin, you're doing it all wrong, you need to use emotion! Like this: Hi! Here's another super lovely chapter of the story that makes your heart pump; 'Of Seas and Skies'! See?
Gin: That's stupid. *blunt*
Kin: Ehhhh? Gin, you're mean…
Disclaimer: Uruha: Princess and Gin do not own Pokémon in any way. *wink*
Daiki: *glare* …
Uruha: …You're not still mad from last chapter, are you? Daiki: *GLARE* …
Uruha: *sigh*
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Brush…
Brush…
…Brush…
"Are you done yet, Gin?" Kin asked irritably. Gin sighed, annoyed. "Hang on, Kin. Goddamn knot…" She muttered; tugging a brush through her long red-brown hair, which fell all the way down to a little farther than her waist. It wasn't in a ponytail yet. The two were still in the Pokémon Center in Cherrygrove Town.
Kin scowled and strode across the room angrily. She then ripped the brush out of Gin's hands, taking a good chunk of her hair with it.
"OW!" Gin screamed, rubbing her head. "What the hell was that for!" Kin pouted and plopped on the bed in full on sulk mode now. "Nothing." She murmured. Kin's hair, which also wasn't in its regular pigtailed glory, went down to the middle of her back, turning a little wavy at the end. When the sun hit it, you could see that it wasn't entirely brown; it was singed with the slightest tint of purple. She was holding her right hand close to her chest, and her face was slightly pink.
Gin raised an eyebrow, suddenly understanding.
FLASHBACK
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around, Princess." He then kissed the back of her hand.
Daiki went red and started glaring at his partner.
Gin glared with Daiki.
Kin started blushing furiously.
Uruha smiled up at her. "See you." He said, slowly slipping her hand out of his grasp and walking away with the still glaring Daiki.
END FLASHBACK
"Please don't tell me this is love at first sight."
"Wha-!" Kin exclaimed, looking up in surprise. Gin simply smirked at her best friend.
…
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? STOP JOKING WITH ME!" Kin screamed, throwing a pillow at Gin. Gin neatly dodged the fluffy projectile and sighed, then picking up her Chikorita and stroking her leaf. Chikorita squealed happily at the gesture. "Chika~!" She cried.
Gin looked up at Kin. Kin had Cyndaquil in her arms and was holding it like a five year old would hold their favorite blanket. Gin couldn't blame her; Cyndaquil were naturally warm from their Fire affiliations. She did know, however, that Kin was holding the Pokémon purely for comfort.
"…Gin," She said, picking up her pink barrettes and beginning to tie them in her hair. "What?" Gin asked.
Kin looked up, her purple-brown hair in pigtails now, and said, "Do you know anything about Contests?"
Gin blinked, but then put a hand to her chin and said thoughtfully, "Not much. I do know, however, that they're a bit more complicated than Gym Battles and getting to the Pokémon League. First is the preliminary round; it's where Trai—no, wait, what were Contest participants called again?—oh yeah, Coordinators combine Pokémon's moves to create really pretty displays that show off a Pokémon's intelligence, coolness, beauty, cuteness or toughness depending on the theme of the Contest.
"The next round is battling, but you get points added on for contributing to your Pokémon's appearance during the fight… But that's all I know, I'm pretty sure that the remaining contestants that get through the preliminaries battle it out tournament style until a winner emerges. Oh, and Coordinators usually dress up for Contests in really outrageous costumes, it's some tradition that's been started in Sinnoh recently.
"Any questions?" Gin finished, turning to Kin. The intelligent girl had been pacing the room as she talked the entire time. Kin was gaping at her. "Not much? Not much?" She said. "You just gave an entire god-freaking lecture on Contests!"
Gin sweatdropped. "I-I don't know everything about them." She laughed, slightly flustered. "Most of that was just speculation."
Kin goggled more. Gin blushed lightly, but then coughed nervously and said, "Well, we should be leaving for Mr. Pokémon's house about now." The ponytailed girl then hurriedly picked up her bag and walked out the door, Kin close behind.
As they walked out of the Pokémon Center and through Cherrygrove City, Kin was deep in thought. 'Contests, huh?' She thought. 'They sound kinda fun… No, what am I thinking? I'm going to be a Pokémon TRAINER. That's what Gin is being anyways. C-contests probably wouldn't even be that fun…'
…
'…But still…' Kin thought as she looked up at the gleaming sun, 'It wouldn't hurt to try, right?'
"Hello there! You two pretty girls!"
"Hm?" Gin said as she and Kin turned to see an elderly man with a short white beard. He seemed to be very energetic despite his old age. He sprinted up to the two girls.
"You two girls look rather lost!" The man said.
Gin blinked and said, "Actually, we—"
"No matter! I, this town's elder and wise man, will give you a tour of our humble city!" He went on.
Kin sweatdropped and tried, "No, it's not that we're lost it's—"
"Do not fret, young girl! I don't mind at all!" The man cut in again. The girls sighed. The elderly man continued to say, "You see that red building over there? That is the—"
"Pokémon Center. We know." Gin interrupted. The old man blinked and pointed to a building with a blue roof. "Well, I bet you really didn't know about—"
"Oooh! I know, I know!" Kin jumped up. "That's a PokéMart!"
The man's eye twitched, but then he pointed towards another direction and announced: "Well, this one has got to be very tough for you, it's—"
"The sea." The girls said together.
The man sighed morosely and muttered, "Well, I guess there's no use telling you what that one is…" He pointed towards a nearby small house as he said this.
"…Actually no, we don't know that one." Gin stated, blinking. "Tell us, tell us!" Kin chirped happily.
The man's spirits were instantly refreshed and replenished. "Ahh, so you DON'T know everything!" He yelled triumphantly. "That, my friends, is my house! Do drop by for a visit, would you?"
'Note to self: Stay away from that house,' Gin thought, but to the man she answered, "Of course we will, sir. It would be rude not to show our thanks after all the help you have given us."
The old man grinned, and then he seemed to remember something. "Ah! Hold on there!" He said suddenly, running into his house.
Gin tugged on Kin's sleeve. "Let's go." She murmured. "No, wait!" Kin said. "I bet he wants to give us something important!"
Gin scoffed and rolled her eyes, but then the man exited his house while holding two boxes. "Take these Running Shoes!" He said happily, handing each girl a box. Gin blinked. Kin smiled.
"Er… Thanks…?" Gin muttered. "Thank you very much!" Kin said sweetly. The man nodded and handed Kin a sheet. "These are the instructions for the shoes! I hope you two have a good time speeding along the roads of Johto!" The man laughed, and then walked back into his house.
Gin sat down to replace her current shoes while Kin read the instructions. "It was nice of the old man to give us these nice shoes; I was beginning to outgrow my old ones…" Gin said. Kin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, same here… Huh? What's this?"
Gin looked up. "Something wrong?" She asked. Kin seemed uncertain. "Err… Well, these instructions are a little weird." She said. "They say that we have to press the 'B Button' to run."
Kin looked down at Gin. "…What's the B Button?" She asked. Gin looked just as confused as her. "Don't ask me…" She answered. "Anyways, let's just go."
Gin waited for Kin to replace her current shoes, then since they had no need for their old ones they threw them out. As they walked down the path to Route 30, Kin suddenly asked another question.
"Even weirder, how did that old man know our shoe size…?"
"…I don't know, and I don't want to know."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
As the duo walked down Route 30, Kin suddenly pointed ahead and proclaimed; "That must be Mr. Pokémon's house!"
Gin looked up to see a small, wooden house that did indeed fit the description that Professor Elm had given them. Kin ran up ahead to knock on the door when—
BANG!
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Oh my goodness, are you OK?"
"Owie…" Just when Kin had been about to knock, the door had swung open and whacked her in the face. Kin looked up to see a tall girl with extremely long black hair that fell to almost around her ankles. She wore glasses and a yellow headband to hold her dark tresses back. The girl was wearing a yellow dress and a green minijacket.
"I'm so, so, so sorry!" The girl was wailing. Kin stood up quickly. "No, it's OK! I'm not right in the head anyway, so being hit doesn't really make a difference! Ahahahaha! …Ow." Kin said, rubbing her forehead tenderly.
"Everything alright, Noriko?" A man said as he walked up from behind the black-haired girl. The girl now had tears in her eyes. "I-I was leaving, and I opened the door, and this girl was here, and I hit her, and—"
"Alright, alright. I get it." The man sighed as if he was used to it. He turned to Gin and Kin. "Sorry about her, she's my neighbor. Noriko, wipe your tears and introduce yourself." He said.
The girl used her minijacket to wipe her eyes briefly, then straightened up. "My name is Noriko Ishikawa. I'm here in Johto to study Pokémon Breeding, but I decided to stay briefly with my grandfather, Mr. Pokémon, before setting out…"
Suddenly, a blue Pokémon that bore some similarity to a cat walked out from behind Noriko. Despite resembling a feline, it seemed as if it would most be at home in water, as a long mermaid's tail sprouted out from behind it and a finlike collar sprouted from its neck.
"Ah!" Noriko exclaimed. "T-this is my partner, Vaporeon, but I call her Vapa… Say hi, Vapa!"
"Vapor! Vaporeon!" The Pokémon cried out.
Kin squealed over the cuteness of it, but Gin was simply blinking, surprised. "…Wait. You're Mr. Pokémon's granddaughter?" She asked. Noriko stared blankly. "Yes, is something wrong?"
"Oh, no, quite the opposite… In fact, me and my friend Kin Aomori here have to see him on orders of Professor Elm. My name is Gin, by the way," Gin added curtly. "Gin Suzuki."
Noriko blinked.
Then she blinked again.
Then she screamed, "I'M SO SORRY!"
Gin, Kin, and their two Pokémon were blasted backwards into a bush by the force of her scream. Cyndaquil's back flared up in protest at the loud noise, catching the bush on fire.
"Ahhhh!" Gin, Kin, and Chikorita immediately jumped aside as the bush flamed. Chikorita ran as far as she could behind the house, intimidated by the heat.
"V-Vapa, use Water Gun!" Noriko commanded instantly, and a stream of water issued itself from Vapa's mouth, putting out the fire. As soon as it was over, Kin ran over and picked up Cyndaquil. "Bad Cyndaquil!" She scolded. "You could have started a forest fire!"
Cyndaquil hung his head, obviously embarrassed. Kin's expression softened by a fraction. "As long as you understand, it's fine." She assured the little fire mouse.
"Anyways, why are you 'sorry'?" Gin asked. Noriko was tearing up again. The man behind her sighed.
"Grandfather told me to keep an eye out for two young girl trainers with rare Pokémon, and if I saw them I was to lead them to his house, but I saw you and I didn't recognize you and I'm so sorry!" Noriko sobbed.
Gin sweatdropped. "It's OK, but could you please take us to Mr. Pokémon's house?" She asked. Noriko nodded, unable to say anything more. The man, who had been watching this whole scene, suddenly said "Hold on a sec."
He left for a few seconds, but then returned almost instantly while holding an orange basket with a gray lid. He held it out to Gin. "This Apricorn Box can store hundreds of Apricorns. Apricorns are similar to Berries, and they can be found all around Johto. They make good traveling snacks and you can even use them to make Pokéballs, so I would suggest collecting a lot.
Gin nodded, hooking the basket onto her bag. She turned to the man and said, "Thank you very much." Just then, Chikorita peeped out from behind the house. Gin smiled slightly. "The fire's all gone now, Chika." She said softly. "You can come out now."
Chikorita immediately ran out from behind the house and leaped into Gin's arms, still spooked by the previous scare. Noriko picked up a backpack, turned to Gin and Kin and said, "Well then, shall we go?"
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
About twenty minutes later, the threesome had arrived at another house, this one a bit more stately than the previous. Noriko smiled.
"This is my Grandfather's house," She said. "Won't you please come in?"
Gin nodded and Kin said, "Yes, please!" The three walked into the house and were greeted by utter chaos.
Papers and books were scattered everywhere, computer wires trailed around the floor, and countless picture frames and architectural drawings were hung and posted on the walls. The group heard a voice coming from behind a few bookshelves.
"…Utter chaos, Masahiro, you should really clean up in this place, especially since your granddaughter is staying!"
Another voice said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Sam, I know exactly where everything is!"
"Then where are those papers I faxed you two weeks ago?"
"They're… err… Hold on a moment, I…"
"You lost them?"
"I DID NOT! I simply misplaced them!"
The girls and their Pokémon peeped around a shelf to see two rather elderly men bickering. One wore a brown bowler hat and had white hair and a mustache, the other had a clean shaven face, a white lab coat and grayish-brown hair. Noriko said timidly. "G-Grandfather, we have visitors…"
The man with the mustache looked up at the girls. "Ah, Noriko! And you two must be the messengers Elm sent! Come here, my dears!"
Kin and Gin walked up slowly. The other man in the lab coat was shaking his head wearily. "Honestly, Masahiro…" He muttered angrily. He then noticed Cyndaquil and Chikorita. He blinked. "Ah!" He said suddenly, "Those are rare Pokémon!"
Gin blinked. "Uh… yeah… Who're you?" She asked.
The man straightened and said, "My name is Professor Samuel Oak."
…
"OH MY ARCEUS!" Gin suddenly screamed. "YOU'RE PROFESSOR OAK!"
"…Err… Yes, I believe I established that…" The man said, sweatdropping. Gin turned to Kin, pointing at Oak. "Kin, are you getting this? ARE YOU GETTING THIS?" She yelled. Kin sweatdropped. "Uhh… Sorta… Isn't Professor Oak that smart guy in all the books you read…?" She guessed. Gin kept freaking out.
"YES! HE IS! THIS IS THE PROFESSOR SAMUEL OAK, BORN AND RAISED IN KANTO, CURRENTLY LIVING IN PALLET TOWN AT HIS LABORATORY ON 3871 VILEPLUME AVENUE, DISCOVERER OF NEARLY 100 NEW SPECIES OF POKÉMON AND THE AUTHORITY ON THE MYSTERY OF POKÉMON EVOLUTION! AND HERE HE IS AND HE'S STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"
Gin took a deep breath, turned to Oak, and said calmly, "Pleased to meet you sir, my name is Gin Suzuki. I'm a huge fan."
Oak was still a little shaken by Gin's sudden outburst. "Err. No, the pleasure is mine, Miss Suzuki." He laughed nervously. "You should probably calm your Chikorita, by the way, it seems that it was a bit more than startled at your… seeing me…"
Gin looked over to see Chikorita running around in circles frantically, obviously frightened. She sighed and picked up the little Grass Type, calming her down. "There, there…" She sighed. She then looked to Mr. Pokémon, who also seemed surprised at her freak fest. Gin coughed embarrassedly, but then said, "You, ah, had something to give to us?"
Mr. Pokémon blinked, then proclaimed; "A-ah! Yes, yes… Now, where was it…" The man ducked into a closet briefly, but then returned carrying a glass case. Inside of it was a white egg with red and blue triangles on it.
Kin peered through the glass at the egg. "Wow, this is… wow," was all she could say. Noriko was beaming.
"Anyways, this is nothing other than a Pokémon Egg!" Mr. Pokémon said importantly, drawing himself up. "It is to be delivered to the good Professor Elm posthaste! Oh, and Noriko," He paused, turning to the dark haired beauty, "Noriko, my sweet, would you please go with these two girls? Just so you can visit Professor Elm, Arceus knows it's been at least 13 years since the man saw you."
Noriko jumped, but then said, "O-of course I will, Grandfather!" She exclaimed. Mr. Pokémon nodded. "That's my girl!" He laughed. "Well then, off you go!"
The girls turned to leave, but were stopped by none other than Professor Oak. "Wait there, you two girls!" He said. Gin and Kin turned.
"W-what is it?" Gin asked, still in awe of the figure before her. Professor Oak reached into his coat pocket and took out two small compact machines, one a deep blue color and the other a shining pink.
"These are a new invention of mine called Pokédexes." Oak informed. "You just point it at a Pokémon and it scans it, tells you any information you need to know about it and then records it in its database. What I want you to do is take these with you while you are traveling around Johto. I'm sure they'll come in handy. I need the data of as many Pokémon as you can find registered into it by the time you give it back—which you actually will never truly do, you'll just lend it to me every so often so I can check what you've got and download it into my computer. Simple, no? So will you do it?"
Kin's eyes were swirly from all the talking he had done, but Gin nodded. "Of course we will, Professor." She said, taking the dark blue one for herself and handing the pink one to Kin.
"Actually, Noriko has one also. Hers is green," Oak continued, and Noriko smiled and held up her green Pokedex.
"Now then!" Mr. Pokémon burst out. "It's about time you three got going, don't you think?"
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Kin: OH MY GOD. *falls onto floor* I NEED SLEEP.
Gin: …Kin typed most of this with me last night on a sleepover. And if I'm right about you working the entire time after I left, you finished it when?
Kin: 9:43 PM. That is over 10 hours' work. Just shoot me in the head now, will ya?
Gin: No. And we have a special announcement: Of Seas and Skies is being drawn as a manga, or comic, on DeviantArt. You can't post links on stories, so go to our profile to check out the manga and more artwork for this story. By the way, Kin illustrates all this.
Kin: Yay! More work for me! *bangs head on wall repeatedly*
Please review!
And read the manga too!
(Hey, it rhymes.)