A/N: To anyone who may be reading this fic, sorry for taking so long to update. I have been lazy about writing.
Thanks again to Cheetah Inferno for looking this over for massive typos before I post it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon; it belongs to Nintendo, Gamefreak, etc. All the OCs and the Doren region, however, are mine.
"Let's see…" Zane said, opening his PokeAPT and activating its pokedex function. "We've seen Ekans, Spearow, Zigzagoon…"
Zane sighed, closed his PokeAPT and pocketed it.
"How is it that we've been out here for three days and I still haven't caught anything?" he wondered aloud.
"That's simple," responded Helen, who was walking briskly just ahead of him. "It's because you're disorganized."
"What does that have to do with it?" Zane asked.
"Once again, it's simple," Helen said. There was an edge of impatience in her voice, the sort one might expect from someone who has had to explain things that should be common knowledge for three days straight. "In the time it takes you to dig one pokeball out of your backpack, the Pokemon always run. That wouldn't happen if you would just get organized!"
"Let's just focus on the road," Zane said, trying to avoid a potential argument. Helen's answers had been getting less playful and more like scolding, and he assumed the problem was that he had been asking a few too many simple questions. The weather hadn't helped; it had been dark and rainy ever since they had left New Pallet Town. His mood wasn't wonderful either, and the last thing he needed was an argument.
"So," Zane continued as the two stepped into a large clearing, "are you sure this is the right way?"
Helen wheeled around, glaring. Zane gulped. That had been the wrong thing to say.
"No," Helen said, her voice steadily building up volume, "I don't know the way any better than you do. But at least I'm looking for the road instead of just trailing along, whining about everything!"
"Oh dear," came a cool, smooth, almost mocking voice from the edge of the clearing. "You're lost, are you?"
Zane looked up. Helen turned around. Standing in the corner of the clearing was a man, apparently in his mid twenties. He wore a denim jacket, jeans, and a white shirt. His caramel-colored hair was soaked and hanging in front of his face, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Yeah, we're lost," Zane said, still a little shaken from Helen's outburst. "Could you point us toward Jade City?"
The man put his hand on his forehead and started to laugh. "Surely you're joking."
"No, I'm not," Zane snarled. "Now tell us which way to go!"
"For a couple with no internal compass," the man said (grinning when Zane and Helen grimaced at the word "couple"), "you've done very well. You're just outside Jade City. Just walk across this grove and you're there."
"I suppose that makes me your welcoming committee," he added, extending his hand. "The name's Curtis."
"I'm Zane, and that's Helen," Zane said, returning the formality.
"Charmed, I'm sure," Curtis said politely. "Now then, I suppose you'd like to see the city?"
"Sure," Helen said, having recovered from her outburst.
"Especially if it means somewhere dry to rest," Zane added.
"Then what are you doing standing there?" Curtis asked. "Let's go."
Curtis turned around and began walking off, while Zane and Helen followed quickly behind. They walked across the clearing, through a thin trail on the other side and emerged in a larger field of grass with houses made of logs, small ship pieces, and other salvage arranged in a ripple-like pattern. In the center of the arrangement was the largest of the buildings, about the size of a large convenience store. The streets were quiet, and if it hadn't been for the lights in the windows and the noise coming from several houses, it would have appeared that no one lived there.
"You call this a city?" Zane blurted, unimpressed.
Helen whacked him in the back of the head. "Zane," she whispered, "shut up!"
Curtis laughed. "For this part of Doren, it's as close as you'll get. Anyway, let's get you two out of the rain."
Zane threw off his wool sweater with relief. Until Curtis had taken him and Helen inside his house, he hadn't really thought of it too much. Once inside, however, he had quickly realized just how cold and wet it had become. That, along with the fact that it was still itchy, was enough to get him to hang it by the fire. His black shirt was drenched as well, but that was easier to deal with. At least it didn't itch.
"So," Curtis asked, "just what did you two come here for?"
"I heard there was a gym here," Zane said, "so I came to train."
"Interesting," Curtis mused. "And what about you, Helen?"
"No real reason," Helen shrugged playfully. She had already dried off, and it had helped her mood immensely. "I'm just along for the ride."
"Always an interesting experience," Curtis replied. He then turned his attention back to Zane. "So, you plan on challenging the Gym Leader?"
"Wait, what do you mean 'challenging'?" Zane asked.
"Well," Curtis began, "The only real reason for trainers to visit a Pokemon gym is to challenge the gym's leader and claim a badge for their accomplishments. So, since you mentioned training at the gym, I figured that would be what you were planning on doing."
"I guess it is, then," Zane replied.
"You 'guess'?" Curtis asked. "It doesn't sound like you've thought this out."
"Yeah, Zane's like that," Helen affirmed. "He's just barely more organized than a shipwreck."
"In any case, you'd best be prepared before you challenge the gym, Zane," Curtis warned. "The gym leader will rip you apart if you aren't."
"Don't worry about it," Zane said confidently. "I'm completely ready to take this guy."
"Prove it," Curtis said. There was a challenging gleam in his brown eyes. "Name the Pokemon in your party, along with their elements, strengths and weaknesses."
"Huh?" Zane asked, confused.
"I thought this would be a simple test," Curtis sighed. "Any trainer worthy of the title should know their Pokemon inside and out."
"Well," Zane said, pressured, "I've only got one Pokemon on my team-"
"You'd have more if you were organized," Helen teased cheerfully.
"Shut up," Zane growled. "Anyway, I've only got Wraith. He's a Cyndaquil, a fire-type, and… ummm…"
Zane paused for a long time. What exactly were Wraith's strengths and weaknesses? The little Cyndaquil seemed to be pretty hard-hit by Helen's Spheal, but he'd done alright against everything else he'd fought. He also had what Helen had told him in New Pallet Town, so…
Zane smiled. He had the answer. He'd have to quote from the PokeAPT, but that would be alright.
"Wraith's strong against normal, flying, grass, and poison types, and he's weak to water and ice." Zane finished, smiling proudly. Behind him, Helen giggled to herself.
"I see," Curtis said, evidently thinking hard. "Let's see, how to put this… Zane, I'm afraid you're not ready yet."
"What?" Zane replied, crestfallen. "But I answered your question…"
"I don't know where you got your information," Curtis said bluntly, "but most of it is wrong. You need some education, badly. Lucky for you, I know just where you can get it."
"Well, where do I go, then?" Zane sighed.
"Just go to the library. It's the big building in the middle of town. There are a few books there that detail the finer aspects of training Pokemon. They'll tell you everything you need to know."
"Okay, fine," Zane said. "I'll give it a shot."
"Good," Curtis said approvingly. "While you're doing that, I'll go inform the Gym leader that he has a new challenger." With that, Curtis left his small house. Zane and Helen gathered their backpacks (Zane trying to hold on to his backpack and grab his sweater with one arm) and ran out into the rain, headed for the library.
Zane and Helen entered the library, shook themselves off, and looked around. The entryway in which they were standing had a tall bookshelf on either side, stuffed to the brim with weather-beaten books, most of which, Zane guessed, had somehow survived being in a shipwreck. The area ahead, like all the town's other buildings, was lit by torches. It would have come across as a very calm place, if not for the sudden shout from off to the right.
"Ivan! NO!" came a voice from past the right bookcase, the voice of someone who knows their efforts are futile, yet feels forced to try. The yell was quickly followed by the sound of colliding rocks, and a flurry of paper scraps blew out from beyond the bookcase. There was a loud sigh, and a boy with light brown hair, a dark brown t-shirt, a pair of olive-green pants, and a black book bag walked out from behind the bookcase. He took one look at Zane and Helen, and then groaned.
"Please tell me you two aren't here to borrow Myths of Sinnoh," he said, his voice an exasperated mutter.
Zane, still stunned from the previous sight, was slow to respond.
"Uh…" he began, "Does that happen often?"
The brown-haired boy sighed again. "More often than you want to know. So, are you two just getting out of the rain, or did you come to borrow a book?"
"A little of both," Helen responded casually. "My clueless friend here," she continued, gesturing at Zane and grinning teasingly when he glared at her, "needs to read up on how the basics of training Pokemon, and I'm just here to stay dry."
The brown haired boy shrugged. "Fine by me. The books on Pokemon training are about four bookshelves down the left hall there. There's a table there where you can sit while you read. My name's Miles, by the way," he added. "If you need any help, just shout and I'll come work things out for you." He sighed ruefully. "I am the librarian, after all."
Miles turned around and began running for the right hallway. Just as he was about to turn the corner, he stopped and delivered one final message.
"Oh, by the way," he said hurriedly, "if you see an Unown, let me know."
With that, Miles ran off down the right hallway. Zane stood for a second, confused, and then went off to find the books he needed.
"I can't believe it!" Zane said, looking over one of the books he'd picked out to read.
"Can't believe what?" Helen said absentmindedly.
"According to this book, fire-types are weak to rock and ground-types, not just water-types," Zane said incredulously. "How was I supposed to know that?"
"Gee, I wonder... After all, it's not like it's common knowledge," Helen said sarcastically, staring at the ceiling.
Zane shot her an annoyed glance, which she ignored, and continued studying. Judging by everything he had read, there was a lot more to being a Pokemon trainer than just sending out a Pokemon and barking commands at it. The books he had read so far explained how to teach Pokemon strategic moves, diets for Pokemon, and even how a Pokemon's training regimen should be suited for its nature (a lengthy lecture which Zane had barely glanced at). The book he was reading right now described a complicated type match-up list. Though this was his third time going over it, Zane was still surprised at some of the matches.
Zane closed the book and stared at the pile he had left to read. Curtis was right, he thought despairingly, I do have a long way to go. Pokemon habitats, necessary equipment, Pokemon breeding… how am I ever going to learn all this, let alone keep it all strai-
"Nown!"
Zane looked away from the pile of books to see an I-shaped Unown looking over his shoulder. Its eye was glaring, not at him, but at the books, as if they were some sort of prison. The Unown closed its eye as small rocks began to form around it.
"Nownnn…"
"No you don't!"
Zane stared, wide-eyed, as Miles ran up from out of the corner of his eye, jumped, and tackled the Unown as though it were an angry Croconaw. He grappled with it for a few seconds, then held it up, one hand on each of the Pokemon's sticklike ends, looked it in the eye, and started to scold it.
"How many times do I have to remind you, Ivan?" Miles asked the still struggling Pokemon. "Books don't hold trapped Unown!"
He turned his head to Zane, his face red with embarrassment. "Sorry about Ivan; it's an idiot."
"What was it doing, anyway?" Zane asked.
Miles sighed. "Ivan thinks that the letters in books are actually trapped Unown, and that if it destroys the books, it'll free the Unown that are 'trapped' inside," he explained.
"So your Unown habitually destroys books?" Helen asked, taking her attention away from the ceiling. "Why do you work in a library, then?"
"In case you can't tell from the book bag, I'm a bookworm," Miles said plainly. "I thought this would be the perfect job, since I've got nothing else to do. But all I have to do is put stickers on books and sort them. It's mind-numbingly boring."
"Then just quit," Zane suggested. "Tell whoever hired you that they've got to find someone else to work for them, and just leave."
"I'd love to," Miles replied, "but I need this job."
"How come?"
"Thanks to Ivan here," Miles said, glaring at the Unown as he returned it to a pokeball, "I'm up to my eyebrows in debt to the library. The guy who owns this place offered me a deal: work here for three months, or pay about…" Miles thought for a second, "…500 dollars." He snorted. "I can't pay, so I'm stuck here."
"So," Helen asked jokingly, "have you gone crazy yet?"
"Just about," Miles said. "If you guys hadn't visited, I might have."
"Wow, is this place that deserted?" Zane asked.
"Yup," Miles affirmed. "It kinda makes me wonder why you guys bothered to come here."
"Well," Zane said, "we met this guy who gave me a quiz about my Pokemon team. He said most of my information was wrong, and he suggested I brush up on it here."
Miles nodded, then stopped abruptly. "Wait, who was this guy?"
"Well, he had blue jeans, a denim jacket-"
"What was his name?" Miles interrupted.
"Curtis," Zane said offhandedly. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Man," Miles said, putting his hand to his head, "talk about dramatic irony."
"Dramatic irony?" Zane questioned.
"You know," Miles said, "a literary term describing a situation in which a spectator, typically the reader, has essential information that the protagon-"
"What did you mean by that?" Zane interrupted, annoyed.
"You've been played for a fool," Miles said bluntly. "Curtis is the Gym Leader. He quizzes every trainer that comes into town to challenge him. Once they've told him what's on their team, he sends them here so that he can prepare a team to beat theirs."
Zane gaped, then snarled. Helen snorted, unsuccessfully holding back a laugh.
Zane wheeled on her. "You knew?"
"No," Helen admitted, "but this is pretty funny."
"Great," Zane said, slamming his hand into his head. "What do I do now?"
"Well," Helen replied, "if you still want to train at the gym, you'll just have to go anyway."
"Just be ready for a tough fight," Miles warned. "Curtis's Pokemon will have an element advantage over yours, for sure."
"How do you know that?" Zane asked.
"Curtis may be restricted to using grass types," Miles said, "but that still gives him a lot of versatility."
"Guess we'd better go, then," Zane said. He and Helen picked up their backpacks and headed for the door.
"Can I come?" Miles asked.
"Sure," Zane said, "but why?"
"Just a little relief from the boredom," Miles said. "My boss won't mind."
"Come on, then," Zane said, and the three walked out of the library towards Curtis's house.
