Ch. 7: What is to come...
After a good night's rest and some Burn Heal, the once injured Ledyba took a quick liking to Sammie and decided to stay with him.
"Friendly thing, aren't ya?" said Sammie, as he scratched the Ledyba behind the wings. The response from Ledyba was a low hum of enjoyment. Sammie smirked, then sighed as he looked around his surroundings. For the up tenth time. He was currently sitting on his bed, Ledyba laying in his lap. The door was shut and there was nothing to do. Well, nothing he was allowed to do. He was grounded, in a sense.
Sammie gave another sigh and laid back on his bed, counting the ceiling tiles for the twelfth time. He didn't know why he was counting again. There were forty-three ceiling tiles. Twice, during his counting, his counted forty-four, and once forty-five. His eyes were beginning to grow tired of counting again by the time he reach the thirties, so he settled that there were forty-three, no more, no less.
He gave another frustrated sigh. "This is so boring! I should've snuck in quieter!"
As much as he'd repeated that statement to himself since being caught coming in late the night before by an incredibly worried Beth, he knew that he was doomed for trouble the second he left yesterday. And as expected, she had the place surrounded by her Pokemon in search of him. It was a matter of seconds before her Golduck found him creeping back to the laboratory with the hurt Ledyba in his arms. Once Ledyba was taken care of, Beth gave Sammie more than a piece of her mind and, in a lapse of judgment, sent her boss to his room. Despite all that, she still managed to keep Gary from knowing what was going on.
"Another reason why I hired her...," he muttered absentmindedly to himself. He didn't dare argue about being sent to his room by his employee. Quite the opposite, he knew he deserved it. Especially after he saw Beth storm off, trying to hide the tears of worry and frustration that were escaping down her face. She had been worried sick.
That day, he stayed in his room as much as possible, only leaving to grab a quick meal, use the restroom, and to get Ledyba. He did pretty well, no one had spotted him and he hadn't seen no one. It was now half past two that evening and the chances of him visiting Sky again that evening were slim. Suddenly, a soft knock at the door made he and Ledyba jump.
Sammie scrabbled to his feet and attempted to gather his senses. "C-come in!"
The door opened slowly to reveal calmer looking Beth with a plate of snickerdoodle cookies in her hand.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
Sammie nodded, not quite sure what to make of this. Beth walked over to the dresser and set the cookies down. It wasn't long before Ledyba happily flew over to where the cookies lay and began to gobble them, one messy bite at a time.
Beth shook her head at the Pokemon, as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "Well, I did make those for you..."
"Its the thought that counts," said Sammie with a light shrug as he watched Ledyba devour the cookies. He sat down next to Beth, still feeling guilty for causing her so much worry the night before. He started to speak, but Beth interrupted before he could start.
"Me first," she said, holding up a finger to silence him. She gave a pent up sigh before continuing. "I'm sorry. Really, Professor Oak. I should'nt have overreacted. You just had me so worried! Please say you forgive me." She looked down at him, sincerity in her eyes.
"Apology is not accepted, because there is no need to. I'm the one that should be sorry, Beth. You have been working so hard to keep my secret from Gary and have been working on this project night and day. I'm the last person you should worry about, yet, I'm not at all. So, will you forgive me?"
Beth stared dumbfound at her boss. "You mean you're not mad?" she asked in surprise, "Even though I yelled at you and even sent you to your room?"
Sammie laughed. "No! Of course not! How could I? I haven't been sent to my room since...since...I was my age!"
This last statement got laughs from both Beth and Sammie.
"So, you forgive me?" asked Beth, catching her breath from laughing.
"Of course! And you forgive me?"
"How can I say 'no' to my boss?"
Both started laughing again until Beth fell back on the bed and Sammie's side was hurting.
"We're going to have so many inside jokes when this is all over," said Beth, as she sat back up on the bed. Sammie nodded in agreement as his side started to lessen in pain. Ledyba, who had just finished all the cookies, wanted to join the fun as well and flew over to Sammie and landed in his lap.
"New addition to the team, huh?" Beth said, as she petted Ledyba on the head, "That makes how many for you now?"
"Four."
Beth nodded. "Not bad at all, seeing as you've just started collecting Pokemon again. Just two more and you've got a full team. I take it you and that Sky girl are gonna be training again this evening?"
Sammie flushed and stammered, not quite sure of what to say. Beth snorted. "Don't think I don't know what you are up to. I was that age once, too, you know," she said with a wink," just be careful, okay? And try not to see her regularly, if not for yourself or me, then for Gary and Daisy."
Sammie quickly looked down at this remark, his face burning. He simply nodded.
"You're right," he replied, looking up at Beth, "I-I just don't know what's wrong with me."
"Puberty." stated Beth smartly, as she gathered the plate littered with cookie crumbs from the dresser and headed out the door.
"Oh, one more thing," said Beth, as she started to close the door behind her, "the 'Kid's Day' festival would be a great place to practice your Pokemon skills. That is, if you think you can handle it."
Later at the field.
"So, you are going to enter, right? I mean, Pokemon and having fun that's what Kid's Day is all about!"
Sammie listened to Sky go on about the Kid's Day festival for quite some time as they were training. The festival excited him. He loved battling! But, was it worth being recognized? What if he mentally turned ten during the festival? What if going to the festival actually started making him 'de-age' faster? There were so many negatives about going.
But, still...he loved battling.
And Sky was going.
"Oh, I'm definitely entering the Pokemon Battle Contest at the festival," said Sammie, as he watched Sky's Phanpy, Ella, attempt a Roll-Out Attack. The cute elephant Pokemon managed to curl herself into a ball and roll forward a few feet before her rolling became unsteady and wobbly, which sent the Pokemon falling over sideways.
"Phan...," Ella stated in disappointment, as she plumped down on her hunches, staring gloomly at the ground.
"Its okay, Ella, you did your best," said Sky, as she sat down next to her beloved Pokemon.
"Hey! That was a good try, Ella!" said Sammie, running over to them, "You just need to try to gain more speed when starting. That'll help you with your balance and coordination."
Sky looked down at Ella and gave a shrug. "Its worth a try, what do you think?"
"Phan!" exclaimed the little Pokemon, jumping up on her stout legs. She positioned herself for the attack, narrowing her eyes in concentration. Sammie, Sky, and the other Pokemon looked on in support in silence, not wanting to ruin her focus. Ella began to charge forward at full speed, then jumped slightly, landing and turning into a charging, blue ball. Well, more like a 'blur' to Sammie, as he looked on grinning. But, who cared? Ella did it!
The Pokemon and Sky cheered and ran over to where Ella came to a less than perfect stop. Shouts of joy began to ring throughout the small field, as the Pokemon and Sky all hugged and congratulated Ella on a job well done on her first success at a Roll-Out Attack. Ella was red in her cheeks from all the attention, her grin wide with pride. Sammie couldn't help but smile at the scene. He watched and observed, not paying much attention to the voices. That is, until one of those voices was talking to him.
"Sammie? Sammie!"
"Huh?"
Sammie shook his head back to reality and saw that Sky was running towards him with a big smile on her face. Before he knew what was happening, Sky threw her arms around him in a hug. The action stunned Sammie, who forgot everything he knew about being cool, just stood there gaping like a Magikarp on land.
"Don't just stand here, you idiot! Do something!" his conscience seemed to scream at him, but it was too late. Sky had released him and took a step back, her eyes brighter than ever. That's when Sammie realized that his mouth was still opened and that his face felt very hot. He mentally scolded himself for not seizing the opportunity to at least attempt to be romantic.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" squealed Sky in pure delight, as she managed to skip in her place. She didn't seem to notice Sammie's reaction to all this, which Sammie was very thankful for.
"I've been trying to teach Ella that attack for weeks! And here you are, knowing the secret to it all along! I know that we need more practice, but she finally did it! Oh, Sammie you are the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Sammie gave a dry gulp, his face still burning. "Heheh...uh...your welcome?" he managed to say shakily, he voice taking on a high pitched tone. He felt like slapping himself. He wasn't making this any easier on himself.
Sky finally seemed to realize his discomfort and began to blush, which caused Sammie, if it was possible, to turn redder.
"Oh, Sammie," she giggled, as she turned back to her Pokemon, "You are so funny!"
"Yeah."
Sammie continued to stand there, watching her interact with the Pokemon. He was still stunned by what had just happened.
"What's happening to me?"
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Okay, I take back what I said about Chapter 5. This is now, officially, my least favorite chapter. So hard to write out-gah! Well, there was a purpose to why I wrote it...need a hint? Read the title carefully.
Until I write again!