Steven gripped Garnet's hand as he saw buildings come into sight. He still had not seen Pumpkaboo. Garnet had not stopped since they had left the officer behind. Not long had passed, but Little Bud's tiny legs could hardly move fast enough to keep up.
"Garnet," Connie finally said. "I can walk."
She stopped and set his friend down. Running a hand through her hair, she said "When we get to Firnapier, don't run off. We find Lapis and we get out."
"What about Pumpkaboo?" Steven murmured.
"We had a deal," Connie piped. "I need five badges so I can get her an ultra ball, but she's not even here."
Garnet looked down at them and crossed her arms. "We can't look around long."
"Okay guys, hurry!" Steven called out. His pokemon split up and trod through the grass. He and Connie followed suit. As he combed through the grass he kept Garnet in sight. Still, it seemed like so much space, he didn't know where to start.
Relief flooded through Steven when he heard Connie announce that she was found. "Here she is, but um..."
"What's wrong?"
Garnet had reached her first, but she said nothing except for a quiet "hm..."
"What is it?" Steven demanded, tromping toward them through the grass. He stopped when he saw resting between Pumpkaboo's ears, and held firm by her curl, a dull green egg. The edges of his lips started to hurt before he realized he was grinning. "Pumpkaboo's going to be a mom!"
"I... I guess," Connie responded.
"Pokemon come from eggs, right? So that's what it is?" He looked up at Garnet.
After a moment, she nodded. She reached out for the egg only for Pumpkaboo to flutter her winglike appendages and make a deep, threatening rumble that resonated from her round body instead of her mouth. Garnet drew her arm back. "Let's go." She quickly turned back toward the city. Steven, Connie, and their teams followed after her.
…
Firnapier, while at most half the size of Seesea, seemed just as populous. Garnet took their hands and Steven was careful to keep all of his pokemon in sight. A large, wooden building welcomed them into the city. It had a wide lounge full of people, and the walls were lined with storefronts. As the walked through it, Steven found himself thinking that this must be a giant log cabin. I bet every building in Firnapier Town is a log cabin, he thought, astounded. The buildings he had seen as they approached were not even wooden though. Seeing them through the windows reminded him of this fact, and he was a little disappointed. What is this building for, then? He wondered. Garnet seemed confident as she strode through it; her eyes were fixed on a single destination: the red awning of a pokemon center. They stepped into a short line. Why do they need an awning if we're inside? Steven wondered, but just as he was about to voice the question Garnet reached the front desk.
She dropped his hand and took Tiny's pokeball off her belt. "Here," she said, placing it on the table. "We were in a battle."
"Oh, alright," a nurse said, a bit caught off guard by her directness. "I'll heal it right up. Just a moment please..." He brought it back to a large machine that looked almost like an oven to Steven, placed it on a tray, and set it inside.
As they waited, Garnet stepped aside for the next person and leaned against the counter. She picked up one of the pamphlets resting on it and examined it. "This is the main entrance to the city. If they came from Seesea, they probably passed through here."
"So we'll ask around in here." He spun to head off into the crowd, but found that he was not moving at all. He glanced down and saw his legs swinging.
"We need to stay together." She set him back down. "There are plenty of people to ask in the pokemon center."
Connie peeked over the counter at the nurse. For now, the line of people seemed to have stopped. Everyone was waiting for their pokemon to be returned. "Excuse me," she peeped.
"Yes?" He glanced down at her and smiled.
"We're-" she glanced back at Steven and he gave her a reassuring thumbs up. "We're looking for our friend."
"Oh? What do they look like?" He asked, his expression shifting to one of concern.
"Well, she has short hair like this," Steven motioned with his hands to indicate how her hair swooped forward. "And she was wearing a light blue dress- even lighter than this one," he patted Connie's shoulder. "Her name is Lapis and Team Crystal took her."
His eyes widened and he leaned forward. "The woman Team Crystal kidnapped in Seesea City?"
"Y... yeah," Steven answered. Of all the ways he had imagined Lapis being recognized, he never thought that would be one of them; it was, true, though. Acknowledging it made him feel a burning worry in his chest.
"I didn't realize she had friends. The way they talk about it on the news-" He seemed to realize that what he was saying had upset Steven. He drew back a little. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen her personally. The last time Team Crystal were... making a big presence of themselves here was... gosh, probably over a year ago. You kids shouldn't be going after people like that."
He and Connie exchanged a look. "What are they like?" she managed to formulate a question first.
He frowned and looked up and past the kids, perhaps looking for an excuse to break off the conversation. "I... I don't know. It depends who you ask. They say they're going around to help pokemon and the world. When they came here, they destroyed the zoo and all the pokemon that were there are gone now... The stuff they said about it didn't make much sense to me." Steven thought he would continue, but a short tune came from the machine and he looked relieved to answer it. He came back moments later with his arms full of pokeballs. He set Tiny's in Garnet's hand and gave the others to their waiting trainers.
"But," Steven spoke up, "We have to find them. They have my friend."
"I'm sorry, kids. I don't know. Maybe talk to the gym leader, Tourmaline."
He reached for a pamphlet for them, but Garnet held up the one in her hand. "Thanks."
"No problem," he answered.
A small convenience store was just beside the center. As she led the way to it, she placed the pamphlet in Connie's hands.
Steven leaned over her shoulder as she read. "Tourmaline's a grass type gym leader?"
"That means Archimicarus will have an advantage. Isn't that good to hear?" At the sound of his name, Archimicarus leaned on Connie's shoulder. She patted his head.
"Do you think I'll do any better this time?" he asked tentatively.
She nodded energetically. "Yeah! You've been with your pokemon a lot longer now."
"Here, Steven." Garnet placed a charger in his hand. "For the phone." He was even more excited when she handed him a plastic-wrapped sandwich.
"Thanks," he glanced around and located a bench. He plugged in the phone at its nearby charging station and waited patiently for it to turn on. Though Connie sat down beside him to share their meal, he noticed that Garnet remained standing and alert. "...Do you think those people are going to come after us?"
"... Probably."
He swallowed nervously. "So we have to hurry and get the gym badge, don't we? And find out where they took Lapis, too."
She nodded. There was a buzz from her jacket. She pulled out her phone, checked the name, and put it back in her pocket.
"Who was that?" Connie asked.
"My mom."
"You're not going to answer her?"
Garnet crossed her arms and looked away. "Nope."
The bit of silence that followed made Steven uneasy, so he checked the phone again. "Hey, it's starting up... It looks like we got a lot of calls."
Connie's face paled. "Here, let me see." She took the phone from him and it beeped in objection as she tugged it off the charger. He frowned as she tapped repeatedly on the screen. Delete, delete, delete...
"Who were those from?" Steven peeped.
Her tone was dejected. "My parents. They might be a little mad that I left home." She glanced up at Garnet. "I'll just... let them calm down before I call back." She handed the phone back to Steven.
He held it in his hand as if it were fragile. All the calls were gone, and something about that felt wrong. He glanced from Garnet to Connie. Finally, he turned his attention to the dialing Sadie. Connie had to help him understand exactly how to use the phone, but he finally got a hold of her.
"Connie? Steven? Hey!"
"Yeah it's us!" he answered, voice thick with relief.
"You're not in trouble, are you?"
"No! I mean... I don't think so. There was a police officer after us, but we got away. We just got to Firnapier Town. We made a new friend and she's really strong. Her name's Garnet, here!" He held the phone up to Garnet, who put up her hands as if in defense, but it was too late. He pushed it into her hand.
Holding it up to her ear, she kept her straight face as she said "Howdy." Steven couldn't hear Sadie talking, but Garnet nodded a few times before actually responding "Yes." She stood a little straighter and Steven got the impression that whatever was being said was very important. "Mm," she acknowledged, nodding again. "Thanks." She handed the phone back to Steven.
"Uh, what was that all about? It looked really serious," he questioned.
"Don't worry, Steven. I looked up a little about Team Crystal. That's all. I was just thinking... This might be a really big deal. If the police are trying to get to you, maybe you should just trust them to find Lapis?"
"I don't know if that's what they really want to do. It's... it's my fault she got taken." He swallowed to keep his voice from cracking. "So I have to find her."
"Well... Listen. Be careful, Steven. I don't want you guys to get hurt."
"We'll be super careful." The phone beeped and he reached for the chord to plug it in. "Connie and me are getting a lot stronger, and making new friends, and I'm sure we can do it."
"Alright... Can I talk to Connie?"
He handed the phone over to her. From what he could gather, they talked about their pokemon for the most part. Finally, "Alright... Bye Sadie."
"Bye Sadie," Steven leaned over to speak into the phone.
Her voice came through quiet. "Bye Connie, Bye Steven. Stay safe." There was a click as she hung up. He set the phone down and they waited for it to charge.
Garnet plucked it off the charger when it had reached about fifty percent, entered its number into her own phone, and handed it to them. "Let's go find that gym. We have to keep moving."
…
Steven quickly found that though Firnapier had towering structures of steel like Seesea, the neatest buildings were the old wooden ones; Firnapier Town Gym looked almost as if it had been grown out of the ground. Twisting pillars of tree trunks supported its glass ceiling. Over the glass grew a leafy canopy. Shadows dappled their skin as they stepped through the front doors. It looked like an indoor forest.
He stared up at the leaves. Eyes up, he hardly even noticed when he bumped into another trainer.
The other trainer flinched. "H-hey!"
"Oh, sorry!" Steven pipped, looking down from the ceiling. "Are you going to get your gym badge?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I hope." He ran a hand through his short blond hair nervously. "I should. I just..."
"Are you nervous?" Connie asked.
He gulped. "Yeah."
"Maybe we can practice together!" Steven suggested, stretching out his arms.
"You- you think that would be okay?" He looked down at the pokeball gripped tightly in his hand.
Steven glanced up at Garnet and saw her watching through the front window. "We could use one pokemon each. It'd just be for practice."
Looking at their gathered pokemon, he slowly nodded. "I'm Peedee, by the way. This is the first gym I've ever really challenged."
"I'm Steven and it's my second," Steven said excitedly. "I didn't get a badge last time, but I know I can do it this time."
Peedee shot a nervous smile his way. "Well... yeah, if you trained hard enough. I should be able to do this no problem..."
"For our practice battle, I'll use... Pumpkaboo?"
"Puu," she objected, flicking a leaf at him.
He blew the leaf away as it drifted toward him. "Well, maybe not her right now. She does have that egg, I guess. Little Bud?"
The budew hopped off Munchy's back and gave a small, affirmative chirp. As Steven and Peedee looked for a good place to battle, Connie settled down to watch. Garnet leaned against a tree, still keeping an eye on the door. They found a small clearing nearby, where the sun shined through the canopy.
Little Bud untwirled his arms in the sun, showing off his pale pink and baby blue buds. Almost immediately, Steven's eyes began to itch, but he did his best to ignore them. A flash of red light revealed Peedee's pokemon. Steven smiled widely. "It looks like ice cream!"
"That's a vanillite," Connie informed him. "It's an ice type."
"Yeah, my dad gave it to me." His voice came out uncertain, like he was embarrassed.
"That's so cool!" Steven grinned. "Why don't you go first?"
"Really?" That seemed to cheer him up. "Okay, Slushpuppy. Use harden." A gleaming coat of thicker ice grew over the ice cream pokemon.
"Little Bud, let's try stun spore!" He rushed forward, a dusty trail following after him, and shot a pale yellow cloud at Slushpuppy. The spores caught the sunlight and twinkled briefly as they billowed forward.
"Icy wind!" Peedee yelled out. The vanillite opened its mouth a blew a gust of freezing air.
Steven covered his face as the spores were flung back in his direction. Through a handful of sneezes and stinging eyes, he managed to make out Little Bud avoiding the chilly attack. "G-good job. Use absorb, now."
"Don't let it attack!" Peedee squeaked. "Use icicle spear!"
Slushpuppy was too slow. It let out a noise of discomfort and retreated slightly as several orbs of light were pulled from its body. They floated over to Little Bud. In retaliation, it froze several icicles in the air. Flinging them one after another saw most of them missing. The budew weaved between them with surprising grace, but one hit him straight on, and it hit hard. Steven cringed as Little Bud was thrown back at his feet. "Are you okay?" Steven murmured, kneeling.
Little Bud climbed back to his feet. "Dew!" The noise managed to sound bitter.
"O... Okay," Steven whimpered. "Do you want to keep fighting?"
Little Bud stepped forward onto the field. He looked determined as he faced Peedee's vanillite.
"Right! Try absorb again."
Little Bud bounced forward, but before he could attack Peedee called out "Use astonish, Slushpuppy!"
Steven watched his budew start as Slushpuppy flew forward to meet him, letting out a scream.
"Great job! Now icy wind!" The attack hit Little Bud point blank. He stood there, looking completely frigid for a moment. Slushpuppy gave him a small, experimental tap and he flopped backward shivering.
Steven sniffled as he stepped forward and picked up Little Bud. "Good try, buddy." Cradling his budew, he looked back at Peedee with a polite smile. "You're really good."
He looked surprised that he had won, but slowly smiled back. "Thanks. My dad taught me. He's the gym leader in Lucrene."
Steven wiped his nose on his sleeve. "No wonder, then."
"Yeah," he laughed nervously. "He's a lot to live up to."
Connie rose to her feet. "You guys did a lot better than you did in your last battle, too, Steven."
"Thanks, Connie."
"Do you mind if I battle the gym leader first?" Connie asked, approaching the two. "We... we're kind of in a hurry." She glanced back to Garnet.
Steven noticed the older girl's head turn just a little. She had watched his battle. He smiled a bit more. Her gaze seemed to return to the door, but she nodded in acknowledgment.
"Sure," Peedee agreed. "It couldn't hurt to watch a battle with a gym leader."
…
The gym grew darker the further they went. Sunlight only shined through the leaves in little slivers. Though Steven could not find the source, he could hear water dripping rhythmically. Little Bud stopped making spores in the shade, and the effects of Steven's allergies slowly lifted. Drowsiness was creeping up on him, though. He felt Garnet's hand on his shoulder, steadying him. His foot had nearly caught on a root.
The grass and ferns of the floor gave way to moss. The trees were more sparser, but their limbs were longer and still blocked the sun. Large mushrooms grew beneath the canopy. At the end of the clearing, a middle aged woman knelt watering the roots. She glanced up.
"Are... are you Tourmaline?" Connie asked quietly.
"Yes. You must be challengers." She stood and brushed off her pants. "We can battle here. I will use three pokemon."
Connie nodded. "I-I'm Connie and I only have one pokemon, but Archimicarus is really strong." Her confidence seemed to increase as she spoke.
"Scy!" Archimicarus agreed, buzzing its wings and stepping forward.
"Very well. Paris," she called her pokemon. Steven started as on of the larger mushroom wiggled. It crawled over to Tourmaline's side and stared at their group silently. Orange claws slid out of its mushroom cap, robotic and slow. "Let's begin."
"Archimicarus, vacuum wave!" The scyther leapt forward, a green blur. From beside the parasect, it shot out a blast, aiming for the lower body of the pokemon.
Initially, Steven was confused. Archimicarus always seemed much more comfortable using his scythes and striking the opponent. When a small cloud of spores shot out from the pokemon, he understood. The spores hung in the air, and Archimicarus bounced back to avoid them.
Tourmaline was not so willing to let it go. "Spore, Paris."
The pokemon's mushroom cap twitched and the spores went flying in ever direction. Steven covered his eyes and nose. They itched horribly, and he felt dizzy. When he looked around, he could not tell if he was swaying, or if everyone else was. Garnet's hand steadied him. His eyes slowly focused on the field. Archimicarus was lying in the moss.
"Archimicarus!" Connie peeped. The pokemon twitched at the sound of his name, but did not stir from his sleep.
"Cross poison, Paris." Paris crept over without an ounce of urgency. It raised its large claws and dropped them down on Archimicarus's sleeping form like a guillotine. Steven could see the film of poison on its claws.
"Wake up!" Connie cried, becoming more anxious when the parasect brought down a second strike. Archimicarus stirred. He opened his eyes too late to dodge a third hit. Clearly hurting, the scyther sprang away. Heaving in breath and already looking shaky, Archimicarus squared up to fight.
Tourmaline's neutral expression turned to a frown. "I understand that you want this badge, but you're not strong enough yet. Your Archimicarus is poisoned. Soon he will faint. Take him to a pokemon center."
Connie's face fell in the same way that Steven's spirits did.
"She's right," Garnet said. "Come on, Connie, Steven..." She turned toward the door. "We'll be back."
"G-geez." Peedee peeped. "I'm sorry, guys."
"We'll be back," Steven echoed in an attempt to sound encouraging. "Good luck!"
Peedee nodded. "Good luck for you, too, I guess..."
Steven looked between Garnet as the gym leader. Connie hung her head as she turned to follow the older girl. "We still need to ask her!" he realized.
"Ask me what?" Tourmaline questioned. She crossed the clearing in wide steps. "What do you need to know?"
He looked up at her as she approached. She was taller than she had looked on the other side of the clearing. "My friend," he said, his voice hushed. Clearing his throat, he tried to speak up. "Team Crystal took her and... and we don't know how to find her."
Tourmaline's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. The amount of time that she was silent made him nervous. He could feel Garnet, Connie, and Peedee watching. Quietly, she answered "Come to my home after the gym closes today. We can talk, and if you're ready we can battle." She took out a small book, scribbled the address down on a page, tore it out, and placed it gingerly in Steven's hands.