(3/29) Hey everyone. I'm sorry about the lack of update, though four days really isn't that much, so don't complain. I've waited two months. Anyway, it was the last week of the quarter at school and I had lots of work (several tests and two projects) and I had bigass writer's block anyway. I apologize. But here's the deal. I should get the next chapter (another battle chapter, which is hard for me to write) done by tomorrow night, but Saturday afternoon at the latest. I'm going to a party Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning I leave to visit family for Passover (Jewish holiday). I'll be back Thursday, but if I have inspiration, I'll be able to do somewriting there and on the plane rides, but I hate typing things up, so I don't know what'll happen. I've got a few idea for what's going to happen (came into this with no idea where the hell I was going) and I've decided that eventually (way, way, way later, there will be a sequel, but expect about 25-30 chapters for this one. Uh... I believe that's it. Thanks for the all the reviews.
------
(3/31) Yes, I finally got it up. Longer than expected, and I've edited this one. I get back Thursday evening, so Friday at the earliest. Sorry about the wait and enjoy this chapter.
After a hearty breakfast made by yours truly, Jack and I set off at a steady pace, our current path being flatter and more troublesome than the earlier one. I was dressed in a pair of long sport shorts and a simple white t-shirt, my blue fedora on my head, and Jack was clad in a pair of khaki shorts and a grey shirt that read "Pewter City Festival" on it. Using some thick string and an extra jacket, I'd made a kind of safety net for my egg in the basket, tying the jacket around the basket so it only bounced around slightly. As I struggled stupidly with it for twenty minutes, Jack had tried not to laugh and regaled me with the tale of my egg's saving. He'd seen the rock and quickly called out Lunus, telling the already speedy Pokémon to use quick attack in order to catch it, knowing he could take care of me. We'd finally set off and it was about noon when a voice wandered from the trees around the path.
"Hey!" came the voice of a girl. We coasted to a halt and looked around, shrugging at each other. "Are you Pokémon trainers?" the speaker dropped from a branch overhanging the road. She was a good height, about mine, but seemed to be about Jack's age or older. She had waist length blond hair that hung in wavy locks around her slim figure, tanned skin, and warm brown eyes. A short black t-shirt stopped a few inches above her navel and a red, long sleeved jacket fell to her hips, where a belt with Pokéballs also held up a pair of denim capris. A small gold bag was slung over her shoulder, and an easy smile adorned her lips as she put a hand on her hip. "My name's Kate, Kate White, from Pallet Town," she introduced herself. "Either of you up for a battle?" she offered, looking at us. Jack smiled.
"Jack Marcum, Pewter City," he replied, shaking her hand.
"Ari Nightingale, Vermillion City," I said, doing the same. "A pleasure."
"I'm a trainer," Jack told her, stepping off his bike and putting up the kickstand. I copied him, taking my egg out of its cloth trap as he pulled off his bag. Kate looked delighted.
"Excellent. How about a double battle?" she suggested. Jack nodded.
"Sounds great." He turned to me. "Ever officiated before?" he asked. I shook my head.
"I know how to though, and I should get used to it." He grinned and Kate smiled.
"Thanks, Ari," she said. I nodded. "Go ahead and take your places," I said, dumping my own bag on the ground as they nodded, shook hands, and departed to opposite sides of the road. I myself went to stand in the middle. I looked between them, recalling all the battles I'd ever seen and how they'd been refereed. "This is the battle between Kate White of Pallet Town and Jack Marcum of Pewter City!" I said loudly. "This is a double battle. Each trainer will use three Pokémon, and the first trainer to two victories is the winner!" I continued. "BEGIN!" There were several red flashes as the two released their Pokémon.
"Lunus! Storm! Let's go!" Jack shouted, tossing both Pokéballs into the air. Lunus chirped and Storm barked happily as they were released onto the ground and Kate held out two Pokéballs, pressing the buttons.
"Wartortle! Persian!" she yelled. The two appeared. The wartortle stamped its feet and called out its name; the Persian meowed primly and began to wash itself.
"Storm! Bite!" Jack ordered. "On the Persian! Lunus, quick attack!" The two raced to do his bidding.
"Wartortle! Hit the growlithe with a water gun!" Kate commanded. "Persian, dodge!" Jack grimaced.
"Storm! Wait till the last minute, dodge, and tackle!" Storm yipped and kept running, jumping clear over the stream of water, which followed it determinedly, but Storm was obviously faster. In fact, all of Jack's team seemed to be versed in speed. He hopped two more blasts and slammed into the wartortle's hard shell. Regardless, the turtle Pokémon was slammed onto its back. Jack turned his attention to his umbreon. "Lunus! Into the air!" he yelled. Lunus chirped and sprung into the air, the confused Persian stopping in its track. "Now iron tail!" Jack shouted. The ring on Lunus' tail began to glow and his lower body headed towards Persian.
"Persian! Faint attack! Wartortle, rapid spin!" Kate commanded quickly. Persian leapt towards Lunus and they collided mid-air, bouncing back to the ground, both seeming to have sustained the same amount of damage, as wartortle spun in quick circles, fending off Storm as he tried to bite the Pokémon. Jack growled.
"Lunus! Pursuit!" he shouted. I nodded- it was a good choice. Pursuit was an attack that grew in strength as the opponent fled. Kate bit her lip. "Storm! Ember!" Jack yelled. Kate panicked and seemed to freeze as Storm scorched her wartortle and Persian tried to run, Lunus following quickly and executing the attack with great power. Persian fainted and wartortle sprung to his feet, shell smoking as Storm yipped happily and Lunus looked proud. Kate bit her lip and recalled Persian.
"Persian is unable to battle!" I remembered to yell.
"Sorry girl. My fault. Good job," she said before taking a new ball and popping it open. "Graveler! Show 'em who's boss!" she yelled as the boulder Pokémon appeared, smacking its arms together in a show of aggression. "Graveler, rock throw!" Before I knew it, a barrage of rocks was showering over Storm and Lunus and I winced. Jack grimaced.
"Storm, try to dodge them! Lunus, quick attack from rock to rock!" he shouted, clearly worried. I watched with rapt attention as Lunus skillfully pulled off the move I'd planned to do with Aquatrix. Storm barked with pain and I turned to see him, stuck under a rock and whimpering.
"Wartortle! Water gun!" Kate yelled. The wartortle called its name and let flow a stream of water, hitting Storm squarely as Lunus continued to jump from rock to rock. Jack growled and recalled Storm.
"Good job boy," he murmured. He tossed his next Pokéball into the air. "Let's go Azure!" he shouted. The Pokémon appeared and clapped his gloved paws, calling its name. "Azure! Water gun and follow up with double slap! Lunus! Pursuit on the wartortle!" he commanded. Azure was already running with an amazing speed for a poliwhirl that left even Kate gaping, dodging rocks like mad as Jack smiled confidently. Again, Kate seemed to freeze. The wartortle looked back at its master worriedly, but by the time he turned around, Lunus was on him, just as the Azure's jet hit graveler squarely and he was knocked side to side by double slap. Kate shook her head and opened her mouth, but it was too late. Both had been KO'd.
"Graveler and wartortle are unable to battle! The match goes to Jack of Pewter City!" I yelled.
"Excellent work!" Jack called with a smile. Lunus barked happily and Azure clapped again as he let them back into their Pokéballs. Kate sighed and recalled her Pokémon. I waited for Jack to reach me before we moved over to Kate. She forced a smile and held out a hand. Jack's face was unreadable as he shook it, then I did.
"Congratulations," she said quietly.
"Can I help you out?" he asked suddenly. She looked surprised, but nodded. I listened carefully. "Here's you're problem. You're Pokémon are strong, very strong. I can tell by their attacks." Kate nodded. "It's you though." She pursed her lips but continued to listen. "When my Pokémon's attacks were coming at yours at the end, you froze up. You're wartortle even turned to you for direction," he explained. "You're Pokémon obviously trust you, but you can't only train your Pokémon, you have to train yourself," he continued. She nodded, then a smile pulled at her lips.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She told him with a smile.
"Good job today," I added quietly. She smiled and her eyes fell to my egg.
"Ooh, is that a Pokémon egg?" she asked, excited. I nodded, smiling. "Looks like an eevee egg," she murmured. I nodded again, surprised.
"It is. How'd you know?" She smiled.
"My parents own an egg nursery," she explained. "I've only seen two eevees. They're quite rare. How'd you get yours?" she asked curiously. I smiled.
"It was a gift, from Jack," I told her. She smiled.
"Cute," she murmured. Jack actually blushed. I grinned. "From your umbreon?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I rescued a girl whose parents ran a daycare center. She was finding a wild parent for an egg, which she does for her parents," he began. "She was being attacked by a wild mightyena, Lunus and I rescued her, and she offered us the egg," he told her. She nodded.
"Pretty cool." Jack looked at her.
"So are you going to go on the next Pokémon center?" he asked. "You could come with us, if you like." Kate shook her head and smiled.
"I've got a whole store of berries and potions. Oh, that reminds me." We waited as she dug in her purse. She pulled out a small, humped yellow berry and some money from her bag. She handed them to Jack, who furrowed his brow. "Your victory money," she told him, her voice hinting at its obviousness. He shook his head.
"I know that. What's this?" he asked, confused, holding up the berry. She smiled.
"A sitrus berry, for your growlithe," she explained. "It'll perk him up right away, I promise," she told us. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go heal Persian, wartortle and graveler. I hope we meet again," she said, smiling. She shook our hands.
"It was a good battle. Keep training," Jack said.
"Good luck," I added. She smiled and disappeared into the wooded exterior of the path. Jack and I turned to each other and shrugged. "Should we heal Storm?" I asked. He shrugged again.
"Sure." We migrated to the roadside where we'd parked our bikes. He called out Storm, positioning the ball so the Pokémon would appear in my waiting arms. I readjusted my grip as the Pokémon panted sadly, trying to bark loyally for his trainer. Jack smiled and offered the berry to the growlithe, who sniffed it cautiously. "Go on, boy," he murmured. "You'll feel better," he assured him. Storm licked his hand and scooped the berry into is mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. The affect was almost immediate, and Storm sprung from my arms to tackle Jack, licking his face joyfully. We laughed and Jack managed to hold the happy Pokémon at arms length.
"Well that worked," I murmured. Jack laughed.
"Wanna run with us, boy?" he asked. Storm nodded and yipped happily. He laughed. "Come on then." He turned to me. "Shall we?" He suggested. I nodded.
"To the Batmobile, Robin!" I muttered, in one of my sardonic moods for no reason. Jack rolled his eyes, but I saw a smile pull at his lips. One pulled at my own and I trotted over to my bike. Then I screamed. Jack ran over and stopped short, staring down at our bags. All of our leftover food, a few of our supplies, Jack's spare shirts and, to my immense embarrassment, my bras lay scattered on the ground. In the middle sat a pleased looking pichu. I saw Jack's eyes skid over the items on the ground as my face turned hot. I calmed myself and knelt down, shielding the destruction from Jack's eyes. I didn't want to startle the little thing- it was adorable, actually.
"C'mere sweetheart," I murmured, smiling and holding out my hands. The pichu panicked and in its rush to run away, tripped and stumbled over something. It was the little white drawstring bag pinned to my messenger bag. The bag spilled open as the little pichu spilled onto the ground, one of the Pokéballs becoming large and rolling until it hit the little Pokémon. Jack and I gasped as the pichu disappeared into the Pokéball in a flash of red. The ball twitched and I watched in amazement as it made a pinging noise and stopped. I turned to Jack, gaping.
"What just happened?" I whispered. Jack shook his head.
"I've heard the Pokémon can be accidentally caught, but I've never seen it in action. I rubbed my temples.
"Wonderful, now I've got a little hell raiser on my team," I muttered darkly. Jack laughed and knelt down as well, handing me the Pokéball. I noticed his eyes avoiding looking at the ground or me as I saw a red tinge on his face. I smirked. "Shall we clean up then?" I asked. He nodded, eyes fixed on his knee. I grinned, amused at his bashfulness, and began to shove my stuff back into my bag after slipping the Pokéball into my pocket as Jack did the same. Finally, we were packed up again. I stood up and recollected my egg into my arms. As I was tying the egg back into its little protective covering, Jack spoke.
"So what are you going to do with it?" he asked, already sitting on his bike as he waited.
"What?" I asked, struggling with a too-short piece of string.
"You know, that Pokémon you just caught?" he reminded me wryly, leaning on his handlebars.
"I'm intelligent," I muttered. He chuckled. "I dunno," I admitted, finally tying the knot and settling onto the seat as Jack watched and Storm panted happily by his side. I took the Pokéball from my pocket and stared at it for a minute. Suddenly the ball popped open. A flash of red was all I could see before I was blinded by yellow and I heard Jack laughing. I reached up and grabbed the pichu off my face. He looked happy and he nibbled my finger affectionately. "I hate you!" I called over to Jack, who ran a hand over his face in exasperation, rolling his eyes. I turned my eyes back to the pichu, who struggled out of my grasp to land on my shoulder before scrambling up my braid and onto my head, holding onto my fedora.
"I wouldn't stay there," Jack warned the Pokémon. "She's prone to falling," he advised. Pichu merely chirped happily as I glared at Jack.
"I'm not rooting for you in your next battle," I said loftily. He laughed. "Are you going to stay up there?" I asked the little Pokémon. His head popped into my vision upside down. He chirped again and nodded. I smiled. "All right then. Mind if I name you?" I asked. The pichu smiled brightly and nodded his head vigorously. I pursed my lips. "How about Spark?" I asked. He trilled his agreement and disappeared from my line of vision to return to his spot on the back of my head. Jack smiled.
"Let's go," he said. I nodded and we began our trek again. Delayed by the Spark incident and the battle with Kate, we reached Saffron city at about two thirty, famished and ready for a break. The road was rough and long, not to mention hilly. We pulled to a stop in front of the Pokémon center, getting off our bikes and trudging wearily inside. I was interested to see yet another exact copy of the Joy I'd known in Vermillion. And her nametag read, "Joy". I sighed. She smiled at us.
"Good afternoon and welcome to the Saffron Pokémon Center," she said cheerfully. "What can I do for you?" she asked.
"I need my Pokémon healed. Nothing big, just a recovery," he told her. She nodded and turned to me. I shook my head.
"I'm fine." I said. She nodded and Jack began handing over his Pokémon. I turned to Jack. "I'm gonna go call my parents," I said, pointing to a videophone over in the corner of the center. He nodded and I trotted over, quickly dialing in my home number. It rang a few times before my mom picked up.
"Oh, Ari!" She squealed, her face lighting up. I smiled.
"'Afternoon, mom," I said.
"How are you?" She asked. "Do you need anything? Where are you? How was- what is that thing on your head?" she asked, her brow furrowing. I laughed and Spark scrambled to the front edge of my hat, accidentally tumbling over and landing on top of my egg. My mom looked closer.
"It's a pichu, mum. He uh… Caught himself today." I said. She raised an eyebrow.
"Caught himself?" she asked. I grinned and regaled her with the story. She shook her head when I was finished. "Well, there you go. And what is that?" she asked. I realized that only the top bit of my egg could be seen.
"It's an egg, mom. An eevee egg!" I exclaimed. She gasped.
"How did you get an eevee egg?" she whispered. I smiled.
"Jack." She narrowed her eyes.
"A boy? Are you traveling with a boy?" I groaned inwardly. "Let me see him, now!" she ordered in her commanding tone. I sighed.
"Mom, I'm 13. I'll be fourteen in a few weeks. I think I can handle traveling with a boy-" I began.
"Now." She ordered. Another sigh escaped my lips. The last thing I wanted was for Jack to be exposed to the insanity of my incredibly weird family.
"But ma," I protested. "He's a good kid and he's a great battler-" She cut me off again.
"Arabel Sara Nightingale, now!" she said. I sighed for the third time.
"Hold on," I said sullenly. She had that satisfied parent look on her face, the one I hated. "Jack!" I called softly as Nurse Joy handed back his Pokéballs. He turned to look at me, minimizing them again and clipping them to his belt. I beckoned him over, meeting him halfway. "My mom wants to meet you. Keep it as short as you possibly can," I warned him. He grinned.
"Can do, boss," he told me with a salute. I rolled my eyes and lead him over to the phone.
"Mom, Jack Marcum. Jack, my mom, Sara," I said. Her name was my middle name. My mother scrutinized Jack with a raised eyebrow as I waited nervously in the background, rubbing Spark's head to his immense enjoyment.
"So where are you from?" she asked.
"Pewter City," he said.
"Your parents?" she inquired.
"Divorced, my father is dead. He used to train carrier Pokémon, and my mom runs a book store café." He told her. She nodded.
"How old are you and when did you leave?" I groaned and smacked my forehead silently. Why did she have to interrogate him?
"I'm 15, I'll be sixteen in September, and I left two years ago." He replied.
"How many Pokémon do you have?" she queried.
"Four." He informed her.
"And they are…?" she trailed off expectantly.
"An umbreon, poliwhirl, growlithe and pidgeot." He said. Suddenly I saw my dad in the background.
"Oh god no-" I began horrified.
"Who are you talking to?" My dad asked, looking intently at Jack with furrowed eyebrows.
"The boy our daughter is traveling with!" she exclaimed. I groaned again and hit my forehead as Spark clapped in delight. My father turned an angry redish purple color, which appeared to interest Jack. It did to most people- that color wasn't normally seen on human flesh.
"And can you protect my daughter?" he said angrily. Jack kept his cool.
"I can sir," he replied. He opened his mouth but I tapped his shoulder and shook my head. He stepped back.
"Yes he can, dad," I told him wearily. "I fell off my bike yesterday and hit my head. Jack saved my egg and me," I informed him. My father narrowed his eyes. "Oh would you just give it a rest?" I asked, exasperated. They looked taken aback. "You let me go on this journey and now you're even more scared now that I'm with a boy?" I said, letting my hysterics get the better of me. Jack put a hand on my shoulder and I calmed down a little. "You two need to get your priorities straight," I warned them. My mom's face faded from anger to amusement.
"Yes ma'am. Check in whenever you get to a new city. Goodbye, dear," she said, reaching for the button to turn off the phone.
"Hey I'm not do-" my father was saying before he was cut off. I sighed in relief. I turned around. Jack looked amused.
"I hate my family," I muttered.