"Up first, we have Silvia Arrowe!" the announcer, Gillian Meridian, said into her microphone. Jojo finally stopped slouching in her seat and looked on attentively, despite the scowl still resting on her face.
The tall blonde girl they had met in the contest waiting room ran out onto the field, wearing a glittering bluish- green dress and a ridiculously large bow in her hair that could rival Jojo's. She grinned widely at the audience before expanding the Poké Ball in her hand. "Let's go, Fergie!" she called, and spun as she released the Pokémon within the ball.
A Totodile appeared in a flash as the bubbles from her ball seal floated up. "Alright, Fergie, you know what to do! Use Dig!"
With a confirmation nod, the Totodile sprang high into the air before diving deep beneath the earthy surface of the field. She would pop back up at seemingly random intervals, using the force of each leap to propel herself back into another hole, creating a series of connecting openings.
"Dig isn't a move Totodile normally uses," Jojo stated as she watched the appeal with interest, the nasty look on her face replaced by one of interest.
"There are many ways to teach Pokémon a certain move," Adam replied sagely.
"Whoa, look! It's a heart!" she exclaimed suddenly, leaning forward in her seat. As Adam looked, he realized she was right; the holes Fergie had created formed the shape of a heart.
The Totodile launched herself higher than before from the point of the heart, flipping itself over midair. "Now, Fergie, use Water Gun!" Silvia instructed, and a stream of water was unleashed from the Big Jaw Pokémon's mouth into the same hole she had just come from. She landed lightly onto the ground, while several different jets of water came shooting out from the other holes she had made, creating a water fountain-like effect.
The crowd burst into applause as Silvia and Fergie bowed, each smiling proudly up at everyone.
"That was pretty good," Jojo allowed, looking fairly impressed. "I mean, considering that she's a rookie."
"Please welcome Soryana Vinora!" Gillian announced, and Jojo couldn't help noticing the smile on her face looked as though it had been plastered there. When she looked back down, she saw the brunette they had met earlier wearing a smile of such confidence that even Jojo raised an eyebrow. She looked meticulously clean in her plain but elegant black dress, and with the black rose in her hair, she appeared twelve or thirteen instead of ten. Despite her appearance, however, Jojo's face formed a scowl again.
"She has horrible fashion sense," Jojo stated darkly.
"What?" Adam snapped, whipping around to face her. "What are you talking about?"
"The coordinator's appearance count as ten percent of their overall score," Jojo lectured, crossing her arms. "In other words, if you don't dress up, the highest average you can get is a ninety, and no one gets a perfect score…ever."
"I know that, Jojo," he replied, looked confused and a little offended, as though he took the insult to Sory as a personal attack. "But why do you say she looks bad?"
"So what to the Kimono Girls decide to do?" Jojo rambled on, ignoring her companion. "Turn it into a business opportunity, as though they need more money. Kimono Couture." She spat the unoriginal name of the fashion line viciously.
"Yeah, but Sory doesn't look bad," Adam said fairly. "Aren't girls supposed to love designer dresses, anyway?"
"That dress just so happens to be a Jillian Jones exclusive."
The incredibly bitter tone shocked Adam, but he had no time to reply, because Sory had released a glittering Skarmory is a flash of red light and green notes.
"Alright, Silica, let's go! Steel Wing!"
"Steel Wing?" Adam questioned, frowning. "That's an offensive move…what's it going to attack?"
Jojo threw Adam a scathing look. "You really know nothing about contests, do you?" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "Watch."
"Featherdance!" Sory continued, and the Skarmory took flight, flapping her shimmering wings forcefully. Multiple gleaming feathers fell down from where she hovered a few feet above the arena.
The audience applauded, and Jojo stared intently at Sory, frowning slightly. She was good, and something about her was familiar, though she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was the hands placed firmly on her hips, or maybe it was the cocky, all-knowing, 'I'm-going-to-win' smirk on her face, but the trainer felt connected to her, no matter how hard she tried to shake the feeling.
"Finish with Night Slash!" Her wings then began to glow dark purple, and she flew directly at the feathers, slicing every last one. As they were hit, they turned into little clouds of gleaming dust, which fell down gently onto Silica, who had landed gracefully.
The crowd roared their approval, and Jojo's frown had disappeared. "She's in the battle round," she stated simply, and Adam agreed with her wholeheartedly.
After bowing to the still clapping crowd and recalling her Steel-type, Sory walked coolly out of the arena, her head held high. Not long afterwards, the crowd fell into complete silence.
Everyone's attention was on the girl rolling herself out onto the field. That fact itself was a shock – a young coordinator such as her should have been walking, not rolling. However, that wasn't the case as she pushed the wheelchair on farther until she reached the center, and withdrew a Poké Ball, apparently oblivious to the stunned silence.
"Let's welcome Jennifer!" Gillian said a little pointedly, implying that the silence should end immediately.
As the crowd applauded and cheered notably louder than before, Jen released a Teddiursa into the arena. Wasting no time, she began with, "Use Sweet Kiss, Teddiursa!"
The Little Bear Pokémon brought her honey-covered paws to her lips and blew a kiss to the crowd, a large bright pink heart floating away from her.
"Finish up with Swift!" Jen instructed, and her Teddiursa launched multiple stars into the air, aiming for the heart. When they contacted, it exploded like a balloon, causing a shower of hearts and stars all throughout the crowd.
The reception of her appeal was greater than even Sory's, though the reason was debatable. Multiple coordinators entered and preformed, but none stood out in Jojo's mind (partially because she was distracted by playing with her Pokédex). Finally, it was time for the battle round, and Jojo eagerly put the pink device away.
"Now we might get around to something interesting," Jojo said, stretching her arms back over her head.
"And here are your contestants for the battle round!" Gillian said, moving her arm towards the large video screen.
Silvia, Sory, and Jen were all there, along with the boy wearing that brown hat she had seen in the waiting room and another young boy wearing a simple gray t-shirt. The others on the screen included a cute girl with black hair pulled into an updo, a two other boys.
"Our first battle will be between Soryana Vinora and Shiron Kerlin!"
"Night, let's go!" Sory smiled as she released a Poochyena in a puff of white smoke.
"C'mon, Pearl!" Shiron said, and a Vulpix leaped gracefully from her ball.
Jojo watched the battle with a little more interest than the appeals, but she still looked rather bored. While Adam's eyes were glowing with excitement, much like the rest of the crowd's, she continually made comments such as, "Why use Will-O-Wisp? Just go straight for Ember," or "That Sand-Attack was so pointless. There was a wide opening for a direct attack!"
"Jojo, you're ruining the battle!" Adam said, frowning at her. "The purpose of a contest battle is way different than a gym battle."
"No, it's not," Jojo said arrogantly, crossing her arms. "The purpose is always to win."
Adam's retort was lost as Night's Bite reached Pearl, causing her to faint. "And the winner is Sory and her Poochyena!"
The two didn't speak for a while as they watched the other boy, Lawrence, get eliminated by Jennifer and the boy in gray (Jojo eventually learned his name was Glen) beat the black-haired girl, Ade, despite the type disadvantage of his Totodile against her Pachirisu. Eventually, the only first-round battle was Silvia and the boy with the brown hat, Garfield.
Silvia released her battling Pokémon, a Mareep named Surge, while Garfield called out a Skitty named Sandy.
Jojo's eyes lit up as she leaned forward in her seat. "A Skitty and a Mareep?" she squealed, looking delighted. "Those are like my two favorite Pokémon ever!
"Really? You like Mareep? I always thought you'd be more into, I dunno, Plusle and Minun, or Jolteon, or something."
"You're forgetting I grew up in Olivine," Jojo said lightly. "Our city's mascot is an Ampharos."
"Sand-Attack followed with Fake-Out!" Garfield commanded, and, as Jojo and Adam looked back to the battle, his Skitty kicked sand into Surge's face. Before it cleared, he ran directly towards the Mareep, before feinting left and then jumping high over his head, slapping him in his right side with his tail.
Silvia's points dropped significantly on the board, and her face fell as she looked worried. "Cotton Spore, Surge, and then ThunderShock!"
The Mareep jumped into the air and shook his body like a wet dog; multiple small patches of wool flew off and gravitated to the Kitten Pokémon, smothering him. As he attempted to shake them off, Surge unleashed a small thunderbolt at him, causing the white fluff to explode into small, shimmering pieces of dust. Garfield's points fell below Silvia's just as the timer expired.
Silvia cheered happily and ran onto the field to hug her Pokémon, while Garfield sigh, recalled his Skitty, and gave a good-natured smile to the crowd before walking off.
Silvia's joy was short-lived, however, as her Sentret was thoroughly crushed by Sory's own Mareep, qualifying the dark-haired girl for the final round.
"Please welcome Glen and Jennifer!" Gillian was drowned out by the excited crowd's applause and cheering.
As the two ten-year-olds faced each other and pulled out their Poké Balls, Jojo frowned yet again. "Why isn't he wearing a contest outfit? I mean, I guess his appeal was good enough to get him through, but still…this is a rookie contest. He's gonna need a suit or something."
"Come on out, Snuffles!" Glen shouted, and a Houndour appeared on the field.
"Let's go, Natu!"Jen countered, and the small Psychic-type materialized, looking horribly under-powered in comparison to his opponent.
Jojo, growing bored of the lack of action-packed battles, pulled her trusty Pokédex back out from her bag, deciding to research good training techniques for Growlithe, though it was slightly difficult with one hand wrapped tightly around her egg. Eventually, Adam shook her and said, "Contest battles aren't even that long, Jojo, just pay attention!"
With a sigh, she returned Dexterity to her bag and focused back on the battle. The timer showed fifteen seconds left, with Glen falling not far behind his opponent.
"Smog and Smokescreen, Snuffles, and then follow with Ember!" he yelled anxiously, glancing up at the clock. The Dark Pokémon released a mixture of purple and dark gray smoke, which surrounded Natu, who had been putting up a good fight so far. It choked and spluttered, causing Jen's points to drop, although she was still ahead of Glen. Immediately, Snuffles launched the well-aimed Ember at his opponent, ensuring his win.
"And that's the timer!" Gillian announced as the buzzer went on. Not even a second later, the Fire-type attack landed squarely, knocking the Psychic-type out. "The winner is…Jennifer!" The girl's face was blown up on the screen, showing her numerous light freckles, the same color as her warm brown hair. Jojo's expression darkened, and Adam recognized the oncoming explosion quickly.
"C'mon, Jojo, let's get something to drink or something," he said hastily, wanting her out of the crowded hall before she came close to punching a stranger.
"That was completely unfair!" she screeched, nearly dropping her egg as she stormed around the lobby. "He – Glen – should have won! He beat that Natu!"
"Not within the time limit," Adam said lightly, trying to keep her anger directed at anything that wasn't him. "And coordinators have to win within the time limit."
"That's why I hate contests! They're stupid! The purpose of a Pokémon battle is to make the Pokémon battle, not look pretty! Battles shouldn't have time limits! They should keep going until the Pokémon faint!" Jojo ranted in a loud voice, looking furious. "Glen should have won!"
"That's just not how contests work, Jojo," Adam said, struggling for something to say to her. Maybe bringing her here was a bad idea. Note to self: If I ever meet Rachel again, consider punching her.
"Whatever," she said scathingly, her nose scrunched up yet again. As Adam tried to convince her to go back inside to watch the final match, she steadfastly refused and sat down on a bench, folding her legs and clutching the egg close to her chest.
Adam shrugged and left to see the rest of the battle, leaving Jojo sitting alone and feeling rather self-conscious. She watched a few of the coordinators who had already been eliminated walk out of their waiting room, and, as Glen appeared, she stared intently at him, thinking hard. He sat on another bench, looking slightly upset – though nowhere near the level Jojo would have been – with his Totodile sitting next to him. Her eyes narrowed, Jojo stood up and walked confidently over to him.
"You're Glen, right?" she asked, attempting to ease her expression so she wouldn't look too angry.
"That's me," Glen replied, his eyes lighting up a little as he shook the loss off. "Nice to meet you."
"I just wanted to say that it was totally unfair that you lost," she said matter-of-factly. "You knocked the Natu out, didn't you? Who cares about a stupid time limit?"
Glen smiled at the bold stranger. "Thanks," he said earnestly, "but that's how contests go. You have to be the best within a time limit."
"That's whyI do gyms," Jojo muttered defiantly, still looking upset.
"So, what's your name?" Glen asked.
"Call me Jojo," she replied, before staring at him with her lips pursed. "How come you weren't wearing a contest outfit?" she demanded suddenly.
He looked slightly sheepish. "…I don't have one," he admitted.
"Well," Jojo said airily, "you're lucky you made it through to the battle round. The coordinator's appearance counts towards the score, too. If you want to win the Grand Festival, or even make it there –" She circled him with a critical eye "– you're going to need some new clothes."
"But I don't –" Glen struggled to find something to say.
"Wait for my friend to come out," Jojo instructed, hoisting the egg back up in her arms. "Then we're going to go shopping."
Glen spluttered for a second, unsure of what to think, but did not get a chance to question her; the final round was apparently over, and the crowd began exiting. Jojo stood on her tiptoes, attempting to find her companion, while grabbing onto Glen's wrist so as not to lose him. Eventually, she saw his wild brown hair poking out from underneath his hat, and shouted his name, which he – unsurprisingly, considering it was Jojo – heard over the crowd.
When they reached each other, beckoned him to follow and forced her way through the mob, finally managing to get outside. Skipping any form of introduction or explanation, she continued dragging them on until they reached Goldenrod Department Store, ignoring their protests.
"Jojo, what are you doing?" Adam finally said as he rubbed his wrist.
"This is Glen." She smiled, motioning to the young coordinator. "And this," she said, turning to face Glen, "is Adam. We're going shopping."
"Jojo, you're so…" Adam struggled for something to say.
"Kind? Generous? Giving?" She gave a cheeky grin; he responded with a dangerous look. "That's what I thought. Now c'mon, guys!" Without giving them a chance to protest, she walked serenely into the Department Store.
She held the door open button in the elevator just long enough to allow the two boys in before pressing the one for the eighth floor. She had come here many times with her mother and older sister back when they lived Olivine and Goldenrod was only a short drive away; she knew it almost as well as the back of her hand. While the elevator was going up, she slipped her egg gently into her bag.
"Uhh, Jojo," Glen began, looking slightly embarrassed, "I don't really have enough money for clothing from this store."
"Don't worry about it," Jojo said simply, still searching through her bag.
"But I can't just let you pay for it, either!" he protested.
"Oh, I'm not." She grinned broadly as she pulled out a black headband. She glanced up at the mirrored ceiling of the elevator as she switched it for the one already on her head.
"But…" Glen looked uncomfortable at her tone.
Just moments afterwards, the elevator opened up again while Adam inhaled sharply. "Jojo, don't you dar-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Jojo was far from the elevator and already lost in the women's section, near a sign that read Kimono Couture. Her hands found the same black dress that Sory had been wearing earlier. She quickly slipped into a dressing room tucked the tags into the side of the dress. She exchanged it for the one she was wearing, shoved the blue-and-white one into her bag, and peered underneath the door to see if anyone was there. When the coast was clear, she exited and went back into the main area. Walking over to the boy's section of Kimono Couture, she thought of what Glen would look best in. With a shrug, considering she had only known him for around half an hour, she grabbed something that seemed acceptable and walked up to the register.
"Excuse me," she said, adopting a regal tone in her voice as she looked the cashier in the eye.
"Welcome to Goldenrod Department Store, how can I he- oh, Ms. Jones!" the wiry boy gasped, looked shocked to see the young girl in front of him. "How may I be of assistance?" he asked quickly, looking nervous.
"We've…been getting complaints about this outfit," she said, looking a little nervous herself. With a cough, she straightened up and looked at him squarely. "We need to look it over again, but our factory is over in Kanto and having it shipped would take too long, so I offered to run down here and pick one up. Do you mind?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the last sentence.
"Not at all, Ms. Jones," he replied, shaking his head quickly. "Go right ahead!" He gave a nervous little chuckle and nodded vigorously.
Jojo offered him a cold smile. "Thank you," she said in the same haughty tone, and she turned to make her leave. As she walked out towards the elevator, where Adam and Glen were still standing, the alarm went off. She turned back to the cashier with an eyebrow raised, and he waved a hand nonchalantly to tell her not to worry about it.
Wordlessly, Adam and Glen followed her into the elevator, which was thankfully empty. As soon as the doors closed, Jojo thrust the suit into Glen's hands and said, "You look like a small. I hope you're a small, because that's what I got you and it'd look too suspicious if I went back and got a different size. Plus, it looked like some of those shoppers wanted autographs, and I haven't gotten those down yet."
The two boys still made no sound as she the light for floor seven popped on. "Turn around and keep your eyes shut," she snapped, walking towards the back of the elevator. "I need to change." Jojo turned to stare at them until she was certain they weren't looking. Once satisfied, she quickly slipped out of the black dress, the tags scratching her sides as she pulled it over her head. She then placed her old blue and white one back on, switched the headbands again, and pulled the yellow and black egg out of her bag. "'Kay, you can turn around now!" she announced happily as the second floor light lit up.
When they still said nothing, she scoffed angrily and clutched the egg closer to her chest. "What? I got you an outfit, didn't I?"
"Jojo, you stole it!" Adam said angrily, finally speaking up. "Why do you think it's okay for you to just go around stealing things that aren't yours?"
"I didn't steal it!" Jojo replied, turning her nose up indignantly. "I…put it on my sister's tab!"
Adam opened his mouth to retort, but couldn't as the elevator opened to the last floor. They all walked out of the department store, Jojo leading coolly at the front. As soon as they were outside, Adam grabbed her upper arm and pulled her into a side alley, angrier than she had ever seen him. Glen followed awkwardly behind, looking rather out of place. "Let go," she said viciously, twisting herself out of his grasp, holding tighter onto the egg. "What's your problem?"
"That wasn't your suit."
"So?"
"That's stealing!"
"No kidding!" Jojo huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm aware of that!"
"Do you think Glen wants to wear a stolen suit? That'd be like cheating! All the other competitors paid for their contest outfits the right way!"
"Oh, really? You know that for certain? You were there when every other coordinator bought their outfit?" Jojo cocked her hip, pursed her lips firmly together, and gave him the coldest look she could muster, thinking she had won.
"Does it matter? Is cheating okay when everyone else does it?" Adam snapped back.
Jojo's gaze fell, and she appeared forlorn. "Look, my sister owes me anyway, okay? She's the only one losing money from this in the first place, right? I'll just tell her she paid me back," she replied, though she was still staring at her feet and looked guiltier than Adam had expected her to. As her head snapped back up and she glared fiercely at him, however, he realized it would probably be a long while before he saw that look cross her face again.
Jojo turned to make her way out of the alley, but stopped when she saw Glen standing embarrassedly to the side. "Sorry," she murmured truthfully, unable to look him in the eye. Before he could reply, she bolted out of the street, trying to put as much distance in between her and the boys.
When Jojo wanted to be left alone, she had a strange talent of getting that wish. Having realized that she could run very fast if need be, she immediately starting sprinting away, taking any turn she could to throw them off in case they were following her. She knew in the end that she would return to the Pokémon Center that she and Adam were staying at – it wasn't like she was about to sleep out on the streets – but right now she felt embarrassed and immature and simply wanted to walk it off.
She slowed down to simply meandering, fully convinced now that they were either not following her or had lost track of where she was. As she wandered down a new street, she realized with a sudden start that the sun was almost completely hidden by the horizon, and she could already pick out a few stars in the golden-pink sky. She kept her head upwards as she walked, not even bothering to look where she was going.
"Oh!" she gasped suddenly, before stepping back to look at the man she had bumped into. "Sorry," she muttered for the second time that day, and she scrunched her nose like she always did when displeased; she did not like to admit to being wrong, and twice in one afternoon was a little unbearable for her.
"What's a little lady like you doing back here?" the man asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jojo frowned at him, instinctively pulling her bag closer to her. The next stranger who called her that was going to be punched, she decided. "I was just…taking a walk. Why?" she said defensively, glaring directly at him, when she realized that she recognized the hat he was wearing. She gasped yet again when she took in his entire appearance; he was wearing the exact same uniform Robin and Hood had been wearing. "You're from Team Rocket!" she accused, her normally big brown eyes narrowing to slits.
The grunt raised an eyebrow before bursting into laughter. "So what if I am, blondie? What're ya gonna do? Turn me into the police?" He snickered, bending down to her level. "Oooh, are ya gonna take me out yourself?"
"Rocket!" she yelled, throwing his ball into the air. The Growlithe came out and barked in what he obviously thought to be an intimidating way. He gave a low, rumbling growl at the man, getting into a battling stance.
"Tough one, aren't ya, little lady?" The man laughed and tossed his own ball into the air. A Raticate appeared and hissed threateningly; even Jojo was surprised that Rocket didn't flinch in the slightest.
"Ember, Rocket, let's go!" As though he had been anticipating it, he immediately unleashed a steady stream of flames at the Mouse Pokémon, who took the brunt of the attack and emerged looking unscathed.
"Hmm, not that tough after all." The grunt laughed, and had there not been two Pokémon in between them, Jojo probably would have simply kicked him in the shin and run away. Much as she wanted to, however, the Raticate was an unfortunate problem. "Hyper Fang!"
"Dodge it!" she called automatically; she did not know what Hyper Fang did, and had little desire to find out. Rocket obeyed with ease, his speed outranking his opponent's effortlessly.
The Rocket member looked shocked for just a moment before regaining his composure and glowering at Jojo. She smirked in reply and called, "Flame Wheel, Rocket!"
She bit her lip after yelling it; though Rocket had managed the more difficult attack a few times during their training sessions, he had yet to master it. Still, he ran full-force at the Raticate, a bright orange flame forming at his mouth. He jumped high into the air and somersaulted, rolling into his opponent perfectly.
The Raticate let out a small scream of pain and writhed under the Fire-type attack, and Jojo noticed with a grin that Rocket had managed to burn him.
"Great job, Rocket!" she cheered, pumping her fist into the air. It took her a moment to realize, however, that the grunt was laughing darkly at her cheering. "What?" she snapped at him, placing one hand on her hip. "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you!"
"Yes, you would," he called back tauntingly. "Ever heard of Guts, blondie?"
"Guts?" she said, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Her question was answered, however, when Raticate's eyes started to glow bright red. What looked like electricity surrounded him and crackled ominously while he gave another – much louder – scream, and it was obviously not of pain this time. "What just-?" she started, but was unable to finish.
"Hyper Fang!" the grunt yelled yet again, and Jojo struggled to find her voice.
"D-dodge it, dodge it!" she commanded, but even as she said it she knew she was too late, and despite his efforts to get away, the Growlithe's hind leg was pierced by the Mouse Pokémon's enormous glowing teeth. Thrashing in pain, he managed to kick Raticate off. She coughed to clear her throat, which seemed to have closed in her fear. "Use…umm…"
Her eyes widened as she realized she had no idea what to call out, while the Raticate was ordered to "finish it" with another Hyper Fang. She then clenched them shut and began to shake slightly; with the wound on his leg, Rocket couldn't dodge again, and she didn't want to see him be brutally ripped apart by their opponent.
"Reflect."
Jojo stopped shaking suddenly, though she didn't dare open her eyes. She had certainly not said that, and if the Team Rocket member did, his voice must have changed radically in the course of about five seconds. Instead of the singsong, mocking voice, it was a cool, static one instead.
She opened one eye carefully to look at the battlefield; Rocket was being shielded by a Chikorita, who had a bright orange ball glowing in front of her. Raticate was several feet away, having rebounded from the force of the barrier.
"Vine Whip," the same voice said again, and Jojo's head whipped around to look for its owner. Standing a few feet away from her was a boy that seemed around her age. He was taller than her, probably taller than Adam if he was here for her to compare, and his face had an indifferent, apathetic look about it. He had jewel-red hair, almost as long as Glen's, and he stood there coldly, not even looking at Jojo. His Chikorita sent two powerful vines at the Mouse Pokémon, who flew even farther away and lay motionless, obviously knocked out.
"Who are you!" the grunt demanded, looking incredibly angry at being shown up by a random kid.
"Return," he said, pulling a Poké Ball out and recalling his Grass-type. He turned to leave, but stopped when the Rocket yelled again.
"I asked you a question!"
"And I ignored it," he stated simply without even bothering to face him, and this time did not wait to be queried again; he proceeded to walk down a different street.
Looking as dumbstruck as her opponent, Jojo quickly returned Rocket to his ball and ran off after the red-haired boy. "Wait up!" she called as he came into sight; once again, he froze but didn't turn around. "Who are you?"
"Why would I answer you but not him?" he asked plainly, his voice level and unchanging.
"Because you helped me, didn't you?" she shot back.
The sun had set long ago during her battle with the Rocket grunt, and she was suddenly aware of how dangerous it had been to go off wandering by herself, how stupid she had been to try and take on an adult. The brisk night air breezed against her bare arms, and she pulled the stolen egg closer to her chest.
"Hn," was his reply.
"That's not even a word," she said coolly, rolling her eyes; she half expected him to simply walk away. Something was telling her to keep that from happening, that despite him being unfriendly and nearly emotionless, he had saved her and if he left, no one would be able to protect her.
"You're stupid and pathetic," he said finally, a hint of anger reaching his words. "Why would you go wandering around by yourself at night? You're weak and looking for trouble."
"You're wandering around by yourself at night," she replied, keeping her tone aloof.
"I'm not a weakling, like you."
"Except I'm not a weakling, either," she snapped. "And if I'm so useless and pathetic, why'd you bother saving me, huh?"
"Hn."
With that non-word, he left.
"Jojo, where have you been?" Adam demanded as soon as she walked into the room they were sharing at the Pokémon Center. She was not surprised to see Glen sitting on the bunk above Adam's, his feet dangling off of the edge.
She shrugged in reply and unsuccessfully attempted climbing up onto the top of the other bunk bed with the egg in her hand. When she looked back to see them staring at her, she sighed and said, "I went for a walk."
"To where?" Adam pressed, looking surprisingly like her dad when he had found out that she and her friends had snuck away to Moomoo Farms for a day instead of going to the Glitter Lighthouse like they'd said.
"To Sinnoh," she said, her sarcasm so vicious that Glen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Jojo, we were worried!" Adam said angrily; she rolled her eyes and sat down on the lower bed, throwing her bag onto it and placing the egg gently by her side.
Noticing the plural, she glanced at Glen, who nodded in confirmation. "Why would you worry? I was perfectly fine," she sneered, suddenly realizing how heavy the little egg was now that she put it down.
"Goldenrod is a dangerous place! There's thugs and criminals and-" Adam looked around, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "-there's been rumors that Team Rocket members guard the back streets."
Jojo sniffed derisively. "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to wander around the back streets? Besides, what would Team Rocket be guarding? The run-down apartment buildings?" When Adam didn't respond, she went on. "I just went for a walk. That's it."
"Long walk," Glen murmured, just loud enough to be heard. Jojo's head snapped to his, a frown etched on her face. "Sorry," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "I like to take walks too," he continued when her expression didn't soften. "Especially in the rain."
"I hate rain," Jojo said sourly, reaching into her bag and pulling out her pajamas. "And I'm battling Whitney tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep. Good night."
A/N; Why do I keep forgetting Jojo has an egg? It's like…an important part of the story, but every time I describe her actions I always write that she put her hands on her hips or something. Then I realize she can't do that without dropping the egg, which would really screw up a lot of plot points.
Anyway, I feel like I still haven't done the coordinators justice, but don't worry; everyone's still in Goldenrod, right? Expect more from them next chapter! ;) Speaking of which~
Silvia Arrowe belongs to Ziria Nightrose
Sory Vinora belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow
Jennifer belongs to iflip4dolphins
Glen Murdock belongs to Kyuuketsuki Fang
Garfield O'Callaghan belongs to Mistress Circe
Ade Konatsu belongs to Shadoe Mayari
Shiron Kerlin belongs to DarkFlarePheonix
Lawrence belongs to Czar Lawrence III
So we've met the last person in our trio – Glen~! I feel like I haven't even done him justice, either. His personality's a lot of fun, but difficult to write all the same, so I'm not entirely sure I got him down like I have Adam and Jojo. We also see a much more mature side of Adam, and…well, we get pretty much the same Jojo. We have new mystery!dude introduced as well, and I guess Jillian, if you want to count that.
Hmm, here's a question for you guys: what do you think Jojo's egg will hatch into?
…and if you do know, don't spoil it. :P
Thanks for reading, and until next time, au revoir~!