"Oh okay, that sounds smart. Make sure that since you'll be staying in Ecruteak, get the darn autograph! I want no less than five signatures!" I said before hanging up on Sebastian. That way he couldn't tell me 'no'. Or give me any Eevee references. Those were the two things I wasn't going to stand. Still, he sounded well. Catching a Machop already was great for him. I just hoped he wouldn't lose too fast against Morty. Just a Hitmonchan and Machop against one Gastly, two Haunter, and a Gengar was bad news for him. I just knew he was going to lose. Badly too, may I add. He probably won't even get a hit in. But everyone needs that kicking. That one sided battle where you had no hope of winning. I wanted Sebastian to have it now, rather than later. And don't get me wrong, I want Sebastian to succeed. Which is why I want him to face total defeat now before his ego inflates. I went on to predict his next move after the loss: Sebastian comes back to Goldenrod, and I'll have him go to Violet City to face Falkner and take care of my special errand. I decided to think this way as his sister, not as a fellow Trainer. Did that make me, Isidora, a bad person?
I saw Jiggly looking into my mirror with one of my hats. She was looking really cute as always, as all of my Pokémon. But I didn't really take the others out as much as Jiggly, and that was because she was the one that understood why I acted the way I do, instead of moping around. Bella didn't. Toby didn't. Lola didn't. I didn't really expect them to, anyway. Still, I felt like I was neglecting them in favor for Jiggly too much lately. Sebastian's excited voice over his new Machop made me realize the detachment I had with the rest of my party, and it slightly made me sad. But I soon got an idea. I grabbed a picnic box in my room I got as a gift from Julia, and then went over to Jiggly and picked her up, dropping her (my) hat on the floor.
"We're going out for dinner!" I said cheerfully. She pouted at me ending her dress up time.
It was another beautiful twilight in Goldenrod, and first place I went was to the Department Store. I got some food, some drinks, plates and napkins, and some clothes sizes much smaller than mine for later. Now I had a full box for what I had in mind. I looked at the time on my Pokégear. Almost a half hour to eight. Everything was going according to plan. My next move was to head over to National Park, and we made it in the next twenty minutes of walking. It was pretty dark out, but I wanted us to have this time to ourselves.
This was nothing compared when I traveled, but I felt a little out of breath nowadays walking over. We found a nice table to sit in near the picnic area. I set out five plates, took out the food, set my Pokégear to the scheduled radio drama I wanted everyone to listen to. I set out the bottles of Leppa Berry juice out along with the plates. Jiggly helped out too, setting the napkins. When I saw that everything was perfect, I took out two Pokéballs and Great Ball from my bag. Then I released the rest of my party.
The three petit Pokémon all smiled at coming out, but then their attention went over to the table with food. Then they all slowly glanced back at me, and I smiled. They were cast aglow from the now lit lanterns in the park. These Pokémon traveled with me to get six badges.
"Come on, let's eat!" I said. Toby the Togetic went up to me and flew on my left shoulder, opposite of the shoulder Jiggly was on. Bella the Bellosom and Lola the Corsola jumped to hug me, and I grabbed them in my arms. I then directed them over to the picnic table, and turned up the Pokégear's radio. It began to play the current radio drama, while we all listened on. This one was about an adopted orphan training Pokémon to find his real birth parents. It was a nice, well written play to be placed on the radio. One day, I hoped to take part of that; whether it was voice acting, writing it, I didn't know. But I thought it would give me something fun to do that didn't involve battling. I didn't want to battle any more, my Pokémon didn't deserve being hurt. My other Pokémon continued eating their food. I did too. All my Pokémon were relatively short, so they all ate on top of the table, not that I minded. We were all having such a nice time. And I had to thank that Machop Sebastian caught for reminding me what I forgot. My irreplaceable team. My lifetime friends.
When drama ended, we were all left laughing because the voice actor ended up screaming in the middle due to a spider in the room while they were airing live. I switched to the next station that was playing Pokémon Lullaby. It began to get us drowsy and before we got struck with laziness, we decided to clean up the food and garbage before heading back home. I didn't return anyone back into their Pokéballs, and we all happily walked back. I grinned to what my next plan was, thinking to the clothes inside my bag.
Dress up competitions. Just like old times. I knew everyone would enjoy it.
I woke up sort of sore the following morning. Mars and Adonis the Machop were right beside me, sleeping still. I yawned, and then I went to the bathroom to change and get other business done. I guess I woke everyone up when I left the bed because by the time I got back, Mars and Adonis were both up and ready, wrestling already. It was still pretty early, but I didn't have the cold atmosphere surround me to make me want to stay another hour asleep like out in Route 37. I decided to get out of the Pokémon Center as fast as possible. There were a lot of things I wanted to do around Ecruteak City today. Training was the most important. Getting to know what Adonis can do was the most important. Of course, keeping an update with Mars was obvious too. We walked out together, and I wasn't sure where to train or go. There was the Tin Tower I could go to, the ruins called the Burned Tower, the Dance Theater where I could go and see the Kimono Girls and… and battle them of course! Stay in for a show, maybe, but battling them would be more practical. Not to mention, I should check if I can get those autographs.
So I made up a list of what to do today. One. Go to Ecruteak's Dance Theater. Two. Go check out the Bell Tower. Three. Explore the Burned Tower. While I did that, Adonis would surely start getting used to Mars and me. Morty would be a piece of cake.
Our first stop was nearby the Pokémon Center, and sure was crowded. We managed to get inside for their show, though. I think they were wrapping up their routine. The three of us squeezed though the standing crowd until we got to see them rather up close. And they sure were amazing. The oriental music being played certainly made the atmosphere. I went down to my two Pokémon. Mars was in awe, but Adonis was just shrugging them off, like they were nothing. I wasn't going to stand for his stubbornness though. Those Kimono Girls were amazing!
"Hey, Adonis, it's not like you're a better dancer than them. You probably suck badly." I said. He cringed and pushed me. And then he went to prove me wrong. Which would be fine and all, but… He went onto the stage and began doing some sort of dance that totally contradicted the whole routine and atmosphere. And in the end, he wasn't as terrible as I thought. He stepped and jumped around, having tons of fun with the crowd watching and Kimono Girls staring, but this was embarrassing me. My face turned even redder when Mars went to join him in his antics. The Kimono Girls were looking at them curiously, giggling to themselves, even though they were being upstaged. How the three of us weren't kicked out yet, I'm not sure. Some of the hardcore Kimono Girl fans were telling them to get off the stage, but soon they began to cheer when the Kimono Girls went to dance in a similar fashion with the two Fighting types. It was… different than I expected. The seriousness and playfulness of the two parties collided and began a completely different dance. They kept at it in synch somehow until the bell rang, ending their performance. The crowd ended up cheering for the five girls in kimonos, as well as the two random Fighting type Pokémon that came on. The Dance Theater soon emptied out, and I went to pick up my Pokémon who were still receiving kind words from the girls. One of them noticed me, awkwardly going up.
"Oh are these two wonderful Pokémon yours?" she asked. The other four soon looked up, and Mars and Adonis, noticing me, ran up towards me. They were both panting around and sweating. Wrestling and fighting they were used to. Dancing must have been quite the change. I looked at the Kimono Girl speaking.
"U-um, yes! I'm so sorry they upstaged your performance, it won't happen again!" I clasped my hands and apologized profoundly. It was embarrassing having to beg for forgiveness like this. I was expecting a lecture on keeping Pokémon under control but instead I got a bunch of laughs and giggles.
"Don't apologize! That was really fun! The girls and I have been doing that same dance for a few days now. It's not terribly boring, but it does get duller every performance. When the Machop came up, I was wondering what was going on, but when the Hitmonchan came up, they looked like they were having so much fun. So I got everyone else into." She explained and took a deep breath. She looked at her fellow dancers.
"I agree, and the audience certainly liked the change of pace. You noticed, right? You were awfully red during the dance!" another Kimono Girls said. And it was true. I wanted to leave right then and there. I nodded swiftly.
"Pokémon do make everything much lively. I'm glad they went up!" a third one said. Then they began a conversation about Mars and Adonis between themselves. It was funny. Adonis didn't think much of the dancers, but they certainly loved him. How ironic. Mars got love too, but I think it was because he did have more moves than Adonis. Adonis had the guts to come up to the stage though, even just to prove me wrong. I then remembered why I went to the Dance Theater in the first place.
"U-um, excuse me, but are you free right now? I want your autographs! I-I was hoping I can have a battle too…" I said, nervously, cutting in between their conversation. I was still nervous talking to these girls. They all turned to me, and one of them stepped up. The last part was my mind working on its own.
"We're all due for another rehearsal in a half hour, but I think I can fit one battle in. Is that alright for you? We can get the autographs right after, right girls?" One of them asked me, and then the rest. The rest of them nodded along, and then looked at me. I nodded quickly, and she directed me to the other side of the stage while she took her side. The other four Kimono Girls, with Mars following them, stepped down and sat in the place mats where the up close seats were. I was kinda nervous, but I was going to battle alongside with Adonis. It was about time to know what he can do.
"Okay Adonis, let's battle!" I declared. Adonis looked at me with a confused gaze, shrugged, and walked over to me. Then he used Low Kick to sweep me off and fall down. Then while I was down, he used Karate Chop on my stomach. And it really hurt. Why did he just attack me! Mars and the Kimono Girls gasped but were otherwise silent. I almost choked and clenched my teeth in pain. When I recovered slightly, I called over Adonis to clear something up. Adonis came over, and I head-butted him to teach him a lesson. Of course he and his proud attitude weren't going to stand for it. He ended up taking it the wrong way and we began fighting on stage, while the Kimono Girl we were supposed to be battling hadn't even released her Pokémon. After back and forth hits, I called Time Out.
"Adonis, I think you misinterpreted. By "Okay Adonis, let's battle", I mean we battle with the other Pokémon that the opponent sends out! Not me!" I yelled. Adonis face got the light bulb at what I just said, and sweat dropped. Then he began to nervously laugh an apology.
"C-chop!" he said. He stayed a few seconds longer staring at me. I glared.
"Just face forward and battle the Pokémon she sends outmygod!" I yelled and then he swiftly faced back towards the other side, scared. I heard Mars laughing at us. From embarrassed to irate, I was having a colorful day as usual. The other Kimono Girls giggled.
"You two have quite the chemistry together... It's so nice seeing Trainers and Pokémon having so much fun!" The Kimono Girl on the other side of the stage said. 'Yeah okay' I thought to myself, giving up. She took out a Pokéball and tossed it. A new opponent came out, and I squealed when I saw what it was. A Vaporeon. I loved Vaporeon. When Isidora had an Eevee, I kept telling her to evolve it into that.
"Alright, Vaporeon, let's use Water Gun!" she commanded. And the Bubble Jet Pokémon sent a fast and furious stream of water at Adonis. It hit, and Adonis stumbled back, soaked.
"Adonis, go and use Low Kick!" I yelled out, and surprisingly enough, he followed. It was our first battle together, and he wasn't putting up any problems. I was delighted. He ran out, and tripped the opposing Water type. I guess the Vaporeon weighed a lot, because it looked hurt.
"Ah, so you're not weak like I imagined. Vaporeon, use Acid Armor!" she instructed. I guess the kind personality she had before ended up underestimating us. The Vaporeon began to melt slightly, and it quickly came back hardened and waxy. I was guessing that it raised its defense. So I told Adonis to follow up with a Karate Chop, and it still hit hard. Even from before I began traveling, I knew that Karate Chop had a higher rate of landing massive damage though weak spots. The Vaporeon continued growling in agony. The Kimono Girl began her counter attack, clenching her teeth. She was getting serious.
"Vaporeon, use Water Gun again!" she ordered her Pokémon. The Water type once again sprayed Adonis back with water, and I saw he was feeling the pressure. He turned back to give me a sharp, disapproving glare. I had to act fast, or I'd lose this. Adonis stood around for a little, and I looked over at Mars and the other Kimono Girls in the audience. The Kimono Girls were busy writing something in a scroll, tearing part of it off after they each passed it and a pen around. At least Mars was noticing us.
"Adonis, get close, and use Karate Chop!" I ordered, and he did so. Or at least that's what was supposed to happen. Adonis completely ignored my command and began to step back progressively. The blue Pokémon made his move by gaining distance against the other blue Pokémon, and I'm not sure if I liked this. Both the Vaporeon and its Trainer looked on, curiously, but then decided to attack with yet another Water Gun. I yelled at Adonis to dodge it from that distance, but still, he blocked out my voice by making his own decisions. I felt the emotional distance between the two of us steadily increasing as far away as the physical distance between him and the Vaporeon. I was speechless, knowing that we were going to lose because Adonis quit listening.
Adonis took the Water Gun head on, with a Karate Chop to slice the stream of water in two. I don't know what gave him the idea for it. I don't know why he decided to stop listening to me. He made a crafty move, sure, but this isn't us being a team. Adonis kept attacking without my command, and the Vaporeon loyally followed orders. The Kimono Girl gave us an averted stare. I think Mars and the rest of the spectators were confused with our development. I looked Adonis, who gave me a second of eye contact, before looking away quickly, avoiding my gaze. Even without my commands, Adonis went to strike. He hit hard and fast with a Low Kick, closing in on the Vaporeon while avoiding the Water Gun that kept being ordered from the Kimono Girl with his Karate Chop method. He had them when he cornered them, with no chance of pulling off any attacks without Adonis striking first. I said nothing, and Adonis gave the final blow. The Karate Chop hit with sheer force that knocked out the Bubble Jet Pokémon. As soon as the Vaporeon was returned, Adonis began cheering, jumping around. I still said nothing, took my Pokéball out, and promptly returned Adonis. He turned back the last second, and gave me a surprised look before getting hit by the red beam of light that returned him back into the ball.
Adonis won. But only Adonis won.
I slugged my shoulders down, and made my way down the stairs to meet Mars. I didn't say anything to the Kimono Girl. I just wanted to get Mars and leave the Dance Theater. They stopped me before I could, however. They all gave me disapproving stares. The Kimono Girl Adonis defeated joined the rest of us down, and went to speak before being interrupted. One Kimono Girl passed the sheet of paper to her, and she wrote something on it.
"The Machop sure was strong. But, it'd be just redundant telling you to improve your cooperation, so I'll just leave it at that. You two have great potential; you just need to gain its trust. " she said. The others softly nodded. Mars stepped over to my side.
"…" I didn't say anything. I gave Adonis my whole trust just to get it ignored. I was thinking back… Adonis became the newest member of my team. Before that, I could only give my full undivided trust to my family, and Mars. Having the renegade Machop on my team wasn't the most comforting fact right now. My thoughts were interrupted by a sheet of scroll paper that was placed in my hand. I looked up.
"We've all had an interesting day today because of you and your Pokémon, so we thank you. I hope you remember us!" another Kimono Girl said. I looked back at the scroll paper. All five signatures from the Kimono Girls were there, all with different comments. There was even a small illustration of Mars and Adonis with me. The two Fighting type Pokémon had big, carefree grins, with me in the background patting their heads. I smiled at it, but it didn't help my mood out too much. I thanked them for allowing me to waste their lunch, and left the theater after a few short goodbyes.
Mars followed me outside, and looked at me. He stared at me. I stared back. He wanted me to talk. I didn't want to. At least he cared at all. Instead, I evaded talking about my mood, and went back to the Pokémon Center. I dropped off Adonis by himself to Nurse Joy. He probably didn't have many severe injuries, but I'd rather leave him with Nurse Joy. I was distancing myself from my new Pokémon. It hurt me to do so, but maybe it was for the best right now. I looked over at Mars, who still wanted me to give my thoughts. I decided to push his interrogatory gaze away from me, and I pushed our next agenda list. It was only one in the afternoon, so we'd grab a bite before moving along.
Not before I took out my journal and wrote my next journey entry, though. I wrote about how I got Adonis, how I named him, and how he betrayed my trust. It became a depressing entry even for me at a time like this, so I closed my journal. I left the Pokémon Center with Mars by my side after eating some sandwiches and lemonade they served. I didn't tell him where we were headed, but he didn't seem to care. As long as I could improve my mood, he'd settle with anywhere, I thought.
In truth, we were heading to the Tin Tower out in the northeastern section of the city. There were supposedly Ghost type Pokémon in there, and they would help me out in training against Morty. I still didn't know what to do about not knowing any moves that can hit Ghosts, or what I was going to do about Adonis… But I could at least count on Mars here. He would become my trump card here, my star player. He won me the Plain Badge, so why not the Fog Badge too? Of course, the idea of neglecting Adonis didn't cross my mind until later.
We arrived at the house that lead up to the Bellchime Path, the short road to the Tin Tower. I found a guard, and old man, blocking the entrance. I didn't understand why they were letting an old man take guard, but I kept my insolent comment to myself. There were other people in the gate, but just chatting around idly.
"May I help you, young lad?" The old man asked me. His balding head reflected light in a comical way, but I went to respond.
"Um, I wanted passage to see the Tin Tower, please." I asked. I wasn't as nervous as asking for autographs from the Kimono Girls.
"Oh, okay. It's nice seeing the youth of today appreciate the magnificence of the Tin Tower. Can I see your Fog Badge?" he asked. I flinched.
"F-Fog Badge?" I stuttered quietly. No one told me I needed that to pass. Not that I really asked anyone, but still. Needing a Gym Badge to gain entrance to the place that I wanted to train to get the Badge itself was mind boggling in my opinion. Absurd.
"Oh, you don't have one? I'm so sorry, but I cannot allow you to proceed. Pity. I look forward when youngling's take interest… " He mumbled to himself. Mars and I made our way out of the gate soon after.
I kicked the ground outside when I left. Nothing was working out for me today.
Instead of moping around, I tried to not let it get to me, since we still have one more place we could train; the Burned Tower. There was a legend concerning it. Something about a fire that broke out, Pokémon dying… another Pokémon giving them new life… something like that. And now we have ruins here that will be used to train Mars. I wondered to myself why there weren't any Ghost Pokémon in here; it was waycreepier than the Tin Tower.
Still, we found our targets. Rattata, Raticate, and Koffing. They were pretty simple to take down. All Mars had to do was use a few Mach Punch. We were really getting the hang of it. Mach Punch's strength was really improving, and instead of having to use it twice, most of our opponents went down in one shot. There was the occasional Magmar that appeared to use fire attacks, but Mars was even better than the Spitfire Pokémon. Mars knew Mach Punch, Rock Smash, Fake Out, and Helping Hand. None of those moves would have any profound effect on Ghosts. Because of that, we trained, and trained and trained. We both went at it for a few more hours, until we were both completely exhausted.
We found one last Koffing to defeat, which I told Mars to make it fast. I told him that in order to beat Morty, I'd have to rely on him the most. I told him to give everything he had into his punches. The Koffing wasn't fast or nimble enough to avoid his fists. He defeated the attacker cleanly, and it didn't look like it was a critical, which was odd, since Fighting type moves didn't do much against Poison types. Then something stuck out to me. I looked at Mars' arms, and then ran down my line of sight to his gloves.
They were glowing silver for a moment. It must have been a new move.
An hour later, we headed back to the Pokémon Center. I was right, Mars had learned Bullet Punch. It was a Steel type move that worked very much in the likeness of Mach Punch. I was psyched. Now we had an attack that could help us beat Morty. In fact I was so excited, that I ran out of the Pokémon Center after getting back Mars. I took back Adonis too. I wouldn't have to rely on him for this match, and that was good. I carelessly placed his Pokéball into my pocket, and then I took Mars by the glove to the Ecruteak City Gym for my challenge. I looked at the time, and it was comparable to the time I went to challenge Whitney. I was excited to win my second badge.
I kicked a large rock out of frustration when I left the sliding doors of the Gym.
This Chapter... Where to start... Well, I started it last week, right after Chapter 5, which is unusual itself. But then it became increasingly harder and header to write it. Not because I was getting bored with the story, but the theme of 'nothing working out for you no matter how much you try' isn't just in this fictional chapter, but it's how I've felt this week. So I like this chapter because I got to express myself and still progress the story. Anyway, enough about that. Next Chapter, we'll see what exactly happened during the Gym Match. And also, the beginning flashbacks will become less Sebastian oriented. Everything there is covered, now moving on and away from that. R/C as usual, please. I smile everytime I read what you've written. C: