~Falkner~

Despite being embarrassed out of my mind at the pokemon gym leaders meeting, I was actually quite happy with the way things worked out. Zephyr had insisted on ruining my life, but no one seemed too horribly fazed by it. Of course the little bird got a stern talking to anyways, while he pecked at seeds too big for his little beak to crack open. I had to take the snack away before I got his attention, and even after that I wasn't sure he listened. Everything I said seemed to go in one ear and out the other, so it was barely even worth it anyways.

Later the next day Zephyr had come to be with a half- eaten leaf of apology, and despite the mud plastered to his feathers and the honey all over his face, I accepted with a roll of my eyes. What can I say? I've got a soft spot for that bird.

It had been two weeks since I opened the doors of this gym for the first time, and over twenty battles later I was only missing two of my new badges, which I had reluctantly given to raven hair boy with striking gold eyes, and a lanky redhead with pale silver eyes. Both of them had Johto starters, and both of those starters had evolved during battle, which was the only reason I believed they won at all.
This had pushed my ego down a notch, and with a sinking depression I had called Jasmine to tell her about the battle.

"Don't let it get to you!" she had cheered peacefully, claiming that nearly every water or fire trainer than came to her would win. She wasn't daunted by loss at all, and it seemed she had more to worry about anyways, with talk of the lighthouse in Olivine flickering every now and again without reason; she couldn't afford to let losing bother her.

We talked for a little while, about things here and there and what was going on in our towns at the moment. Apparently there was a Fall festival thing they would hold on the docs down in Olivine, and she was determined to get me to come. She said it would be fun and I needed to get away from the gym for a little while, which only made me want to stay more.

I hated leaving my birds, and the fact of the matter was I just had way too many of them in the sanctuary to put in pokeballs. I didn't fancy keeping birds in cages, which inncluded pokeballs, and so leaving for long periods of time required a lot of effort on my part. Those birds were like family. Would you drop everything, put your family in a cage, and then take off for a day? If I had a family, I knew I wouldn't…

Jasmine had a point though, and she told me that he birds could probably use a break from a perfectionist like me as well (which made me laugh), and in the end I left her with a maybe, only to call back two days later saying that I would indeed go. Some blue haired little girl had beaten me in battle with a terribly strong ice type, and I was ready to shut the gym down for the day.

Today was that day of the festival in Olivine, and it was also a week before the next gym leader meeting, which was approaching too quickly. I got the feeling that all the gym leaders secretly distasted the meetings, but found them to be necessary under certain circumstances. I guess I understood, but thinking about it wasn't helping. At least this time it wouldn't be so awkward…

"Mama Bird!" I called, heading out the backdoor of the gym to the glorious sanctuary that overlooked a pond lined with trees. They were turning orange as Autumn had fallen upon them quickly, and I found I quite liked the way it matched the Pidgeot's chestnut tinted feathers.

Mama Bird was my father's beloved bird, and though he was not the one to name it, I felt as if she had always lived up to the name. My own mother died giving bird to me, and so the closest thing I had to a mom growing up was this Pidgeot. My father hated that I called her Mama at first, saying that it was no name for such a strong creature of his, but in the end I knew he warmed up to the idea.

It always made me sad to know that my father past before Mama Bird actually became a real mother. Not only plucking at my hair anymore, trying to clean me of dirt and grime, but her own kinds too. She had a real son of her own now (which was my unruly little Zephyr) and I knew that she was proud.

My father would have been proud too, because I had battled a temperamental male Pidgeot for months trying to get him to warm up to the idea of mating with Mama Bird. He wasn't fond of her—mostly because she wanted to be in control all the time—but had succumbed to her beauty eventually. I remembered the day I found Zepyhr's egg, it was the same day that I released the male Pidgeot into the wild so that he could escape the threat of fatherhood.

Mama Bird was the best mother I had, and the best mother that Zephyr had. In her old age she was tender and gray around the beak, but still had a brightness to her eyes. I loved that bird terribly, and feared every day for her. She was losing more and more feathers lately, looking fatigued though she never EVER had to fight a battle, and often finding it hard to take flight from off of a flat surface.

I called to the bird again, whistling and yelling her name into the bird's sanctuary. This attracted a lot of attention from a very curious and playful Swellow (named Jake) that had been donated to me not long after my father passed away. He was handsome and great in battle, though skittish around people he didn't know. This was another bird that I loved dearly, and in the event that he came over to me I knew I just had to give him a good rub down.

Zephyr hissed jealously at Jake, who lovingly pecked him back on the top of the head. All the birds here got along with one another—except when I wanted to mate them it seemed—and they all held the same kind of love for Zephyr that I did. He was the baby of the flock, and he was the child of the flock's elder, so of course everyone was going to love him and his spunky nature.

"I'm leaving for the day." I said to the Swellow. "You'll help Mama Bird keep everyone in check right?"

The handsome bird turned his head up, eyes shining and feathers sleek. He nodded eagerly, being one of the younger birds around here.

"Good boy." I ruffled his feathers once again before the elderly Pidgeot made her way down a thick rope from a structure built halfway into a tree. She screeched softly at me—not a bad sound at all—and climbed far enough so that she was able to hang in my direction, talons strong and sharply imbedded into the rope.

"Take care." I leaned up to nuzzle the upside down bird gently, while she went back and forth, trying to straighten her two son's hair. Zephyr shied away with a snort, and I merely rolled my eyes.

The flock of hidden birds in the sanctuary watched as me and Zephyr turned to leave without another word. I had to worry about my birds of course, and glance over my shoulder to make sure that everything was in order one last time before heading to the gate and going around to the front of the gym.

Pride—a name given to the jet black Staraptor that I raised from a starly—was waiting around the front of the gym, perched on the rooftop where people passing by could not try to approach him. Pride was the strongest bird I had around here, my ace in battle, my rock, and my number one ride. He had a wingspan of twelve feet, and enough strength to carry my easily from town to town. He loved to fight however, so I often had to restrain him with a pokeball around wild pokemon.

The black bird swooped down to the ground gracefully at the sight of me, lashing its huge wings in excitement and screaming loud enough to make the people sitting outside the shop across the street flinch. I waved them a sorry before nudging Pride a little roughly. Depending on the bird, I had my own way of showing affection; with Mama Bird it was respect, with Jake it was trust, with Zephyr it was structure, and with Pride it was dominance.

Pride would take to being the flock leader in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the fact that I was his master in this particular family. I knew he felt like an outsider sometimes, and thus I trained him to be the strongest he could be. No other bird in this sanctuary could match him in speed or strength—perhaps skill if Mama Bird was still in her youth, but he was by far the fiercest.

I wasted no time clamoring up on the bird and stuffing Zephyr between my chest and my jacket. I zipped him up so that he wouldn't have a chance of falling out, and laughed when he squealed in frustration. Perhaps by the time he was a Pidgeotto he could keep up with the other birds in flight, but for now he was stuck riding with me.

"Let's go Pride!" I hooted excitedly. He screeched again, feeling powerful as he tucked his wings and launched himself into the sky like no other bird could. I took a deep breath, letting the wind push my hair back and the sound of feathers flapping soothe me. There was nothing in this world that compared to flying. Nothing.

We wasted no time getting out the area, while my eyes stayed directed at the ground and behind me until the gym was long out of sight. I sighed peacefully, telling myself one more time that those birds would be fine without me for a few hours. I finally turned myself to be facing forward while we glided, seeing the glorious ground from so high above. Puffs of orange and red displayed the year around trees of Ecruteak City, while two large towers stood tall above them.

While I was in sort of a hurry to see Jasmine—and happy to be—I couldn't help but wonder what—the ghost gym leader was doing right now. I couldn't quite remember his name, though everyone else's had stuck, but I was curious to know if he was out somewhere flying with his ghosts. Was that even possible? I shook my head and pushed the thoughts away. Ghosts couldn't really make people fly with them; that was a myth. How thoughtless of me.

Only birds could fly.

….

~Jasmine~

What a day!

How absolutely thrilling it was to be able to wear a short billowy sun dress and a warm jacket without worrying about getting it dirty in battle.

Today was my day off because the whole seaside town was shut down for the Fall Festival that happened once a year to celebrate the coloring of the leaves and the lightening of the wild blue skies. It was both chilly and warm at the same time, with straddling effects on the ocean. The normally warm water would turn into a nippy ice block to anyone not used to it, and while large waves tended to bring in surfers from the east, it was relatively quiet until the season changed again.

I loved the summer, the heat, and the sun in general. But like most people I appreciated a break from it every now and again. Our short cold season was just the thing to ease the harsh sunburns and calices everyone seemed to sport like a fad around here.

The wild orange trees sprouted from Ecruteak all the way to Olivine at this time of year, and while I walked out side of my gym to head to the festival, I couldn't help but acknowledge their beauty. It was no secret to the world that Johto was the most beautiful of all the Regions, with its white sandy beaches and glorious year around weather.

My name is Jasmine, and I was born in this seaside town that I now lead the gym of steel pokemon in. I grew up traveling from here to Cianwood to visit my "Uncle", Chuck, who was both the fighting gym leader there, and not actually my Uncle. He was great friends with my father, who opened the Safari Zone not far from him, but after he decided to move back to Kanto for business, Chuck was left putting all his friendship in me.

Part of me felt sorry for him, and part of me just felt like he was looking down my shirt whenever he was around. Chuck was a mountain of a man with a bellowing laugh and a beer belly that shook with it. He loved to get drunk, train pokemon, watch porn, and most of all call me his niece. Of course I loved Chuck, in a strange way—that creepy uncle kind of way—but I had to admit he was probably one of the most annoying people I had ever met.

And I knew he would be at this festival tonight, harassing me about my "hot date" like he tried to over the phone before I hung up on him. It was not a date no matter how much I wished it was. Me and the hot rookie bird trainer were friends (for now), that was it.

Falkner was meeting me on the docs any moment now, and I was eagerly awaiting his awkward smile and striking clear blue eyes. He was tall, lean, soft in a strange way, and I was absolutely enthralled with him. Ever since I met him a few weeks ago he had been on my mind, making me lose easy battles and making my heart beat when his number rang on my pokegear. That boy was something special, and though I had only seen him once, I was recreating his face in my mind to see it.

I wanted to see the pain and the loss that he so bravely hid behind a mask of happy. I wanted to embrace him losing his father; I wanted to—dare I say—be there for him. Which was absolutely preposterous since I had never wanted such things for anyone else before. I loved life, I loved people, I loved pokemon, but what I didn't love was having to bear others problems concerning their life. In my opinion it was your business and should remain as such, so when I suddenly felt so curious towards Falkner, I actually scared myself.

Sure I had crushes on boys here and there growing up, but I had never been flattered with rejection either, so I didn't think much of it. Most boys absolutely loved me, not to float my own boat or anything, but I wasn't exactly ugly. I was fragile, small with petite features; completely breakable, which somehow made guys want to protect me. It was a part of their dominant nature I suppose. But hey, I'm not complaining.

My best friend Whitney used to tell me that I was a "sensible hopeless romantic", meaning that I was just as susceptible to going gaga over boys, but I did so realistically. Unlike her, who had called me every other day of her teenage life to tell me about boys that kissed her or made giddy. She was twenty this year—only a year older than me—and you would think that she was a peppy sixteen year old with no life and too many romance novels to read.

Within the last few weeks this particular feature about my best friend had skyrocketed. She claimed love at first sight with Falkner, and though it put a bad taste in my mouth, I tried not to let it bother me. Whitney would be over him and onto the next boy within a month or so and then I could keep him all to myself.

Was that controlling of me? To think… I was already planning out that he was going to be mine. I sighed at the thought, hoping that Whitney wouldn't be here tonight so that I wouldn't have to face the fact that I was whipped around her.

"Jasmine!"

I jumped in surprise, looking around at the strangers and familiar faces of the people of this town. No one here had called out from me, so I was completely shocked when a black blur flew before my eyes, screeching wildly and sending my dress up in surprise.

"Rough landing! Arceus Pride, you're getting' rusty."

I looked over, blushing at the bird trainer before me, talking to his—what kind of pokemon was that?

"Hey Falkner." I ran my hand through my hair, glad that I hadn't curled it like I considered. That may have made me look like I was begging for attention, and then of course I would be too nervous not to leave it alone. I would have messed it up.

"Hey." The navy haired boy turned and smiled at me, that straight smile with his ever so slight dimples. He had such a baby face, and yet it was clear as day that he was his father's son. Eighteen years old and thriving. He was spared the suffering of acne, as well as that awkward voice cracking thing. Of course by eighteen I would hope he didn't do that, but still.

He was a boy… but a very mature, handsome, classy and—the hell with it. Falkner was a man. Who was I kidding? He was oozing a sort of sex appeal that no child could master.

Or maybe that was just me putting him on some lovely pedestal and dressing him up into something bigger than he really was. It wouldn't be the first time a girl judged a boy blindly. I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts before they got out of hand.

"What kind of bird is this?" I stepped towards the sleek oil colored pokemon with its beak open and panting. It looked excited, still feeling the adrenalin from flying as it folded its wings back and shook its head to straighten the windblown feathers around its face. It was extremely pretty, and strong, which was saying a lot considering the usual pokemon I found attractive involved sharp edges and hard bodies that couldn't be damaged.

I always wondered why steel type pokemon stuck out to me, and it wasn't until recently that I realized it was because they could protect me. I felt like maybe it was the fact that I was so small and delicate, that made me want to raise monstrosity pokemon like Steelix. It counteracted what I lacked.

"A Staraptor." Falkner explained. "Originally from Hoenn, but they tend to migrate this direction. I found this one— He set his hand on the pokemon's head—lost from its flock a couple years ago. I took him in."

I smiled as he pulled out a pokeball and called the bird back, thanking it again for its flight. He tucked the ball back onto his belt and then reached up to his jacket.

Only now did I realize that he had a large bundle wrapped between his chest and his shirt, tucked away in a place I wished I could be; Falkner's heart. He plucked the much smaller bird from his jacket and held it in his arm until it snapped out of its sleepiness and jerked away from him.

"Oh hi little—Zephyr? Right?" I looked at Falkner as I reached out to pet the little bird on the head. In the same instant it lifted its face and opened its mouth wide to make a harsh hissing noise at me.

Falkner pulled him back, scowling at the unruly thing. "Stop it!"

"No, no. That's my fault." I laughed sheepishly, thinking about the reaction my Steelix may have to a stranger. "I think he's just protecting you."

"He's a brat." Falkner shook his head, obviously not amused. He changed the subject swiftly. "How have you been?"

My heart fluttered. "Good! Pretty darn good." Nodding and smiling I turned from him. "You're going to like this Festival—I think. It's pretty interesting, they do a lot of shows off the docs, and since so many water pokemon live around here trainers for them aren't uncommon."

"Well what are we waiting for?" He flashed me that endearing smile and gestured forward, telling me to lead the way. I couldn't help it, I had to giggle. Like a pathetic little school girl with her first kiss lingering on her cheek. My head spun. I just felt so giddy around him. It was as if his constant flying high had transferred over to me and picked me up and dropped me, so that my stomach was flipping upside down with happiness. Was that how it felt to fly?

I sure didn't know much about emotions like this, but I knew one thing was for sure. If anyone was going to make me feel so high, it surely was going to be Falkner.

….

~Falkner~

"I—I'm so sorry! I—I have to go."

"Wait! Jasmine I'll come with you!" I suggested, though not eagerly for it had been ten o'clock and well past Zephyr's bedtime.

"No no no no!" Jasmine insisted. "This is my city, don't you worry about it. I'm sure everything is fine. Just go ahead home. I'll see you at the leaders meeting in a week."

She took off after that, leaving me to fly home thinking about what could be so important about the lighthouse going out. Jasmine had said lately it had been flickering, but it didn't seem to concern her until tonight when it went out, leaving the whole seaside city to gasp in fear.

I had to admit, despite not wanting anything to be wrong with my new friend's beloved city, I was happy to escape from the long day and retreat home. Because no matter how much new friendship I had for Jasmine, it didn't compare to my birds. They were my family, and snuggling up in a king size bed with them sprawled out around me was perhaps the nicest feeling in the world.

Jasmine and I did everything that could be done at that Fall festival. Eating vanilla bean ice-cream with Zephyr chirping over my shoulder for more than just a taste. He wanted to rub his stubby beak in it like he did the honey from the trees out behind the gym. Jasmine laughed and allowed him to do so in her share, even after I said no and that too much dairy was bad for him. It actually seemed to amuse her that I was so strict, and I could only sigh and shake my head, knowing that Jasmine was a force to be reckoned with.

Zephyr pushed his sticky little face against my newly cleaned face all night long, while trying to resume closeness to his keeper, who I knew he thought of as his father. That was me of course, his best friend, his buddy, his tough love trainer that was too soft to actually train him. I wondered if this was an ongoing thing, or if perhaps it was just the fact that he was the first bird I ever hatched from an egg. He was my baby, and I was becoming the father to him that my father was to his beloved birds before me.

Over the past few weeks I had suffered over trying to find out what I was doing with my life, and if this gym would ever be as great as when my father was its leader, but for that night—if only for a night—I allowed myself to feel justified with the way things were going.

I had a new friend, a girl that obviously liked me very much, and I was finally settling in well to this whole gym leader thing. For once in a long while I felt perfectly content. I was actually a little excited about going to this meeting this week. If Jasmine and I could be friends there was no reason why I couldn't be friends with the other leaders.

Pryce was already at ease with me, telling me stories over coffee on the phone. He called me one morning asking if I had heard about any strange activity in the region, but I told him no. He didn't seem all that fazed, but saying that large boulders had been placed strategically through the ice path by someone who obviously didn't want people coming through. He said it may have been Clair at first, but decided otherwise when I suggested she wouldn't lesson her battles by blocking trainers. It was a short and sweet conversation for the most part, until he got caught up in telling me about how this meeting was going to be a quiet one. The Elite four members were doing a random training session in that big open gym from last time, so we would all be spending the evening together outside at a group of picnic tables, which I had to admit sounded nice.

The next few days went by at ease, battling, training, loving my birds to the fullest of my potential while trying to overcome a certain nagging in the back of my head. I knew I should have called Jasmine to see if she solved the lighthouse problem, but it all sounded silly in my head when I tried to summon the simple words. In the end I decided that whatever happened wasn't serious enough that it couldn't wait until the meeting, and that she couldn't be upset because she made it sound like it was no big deal in the first place.

Two more days later and I was preparing myself for tonight, wondering who I would speak to and who would speak to me, and if I was cut out for this kind of casual conversation yet. I washed myself and Zephyr thoroughly, got around to filling the food bowls, hosed off the back patio and sprayed the treetops so the pollen wouldn't get too bad, and then finally summoned Pride to travel.