Promises are meant to be kept
«A-Anna…? » I stared at her, not quite certain of how it was possible for her to be here, now of all times.
«In the flesh. » She smiled (which, by her standard, is a vaguely satisfied expression) and took a step toward me. «It's been a while, Captain Ocean. »
Martin's eyes widened as I winced in annoyance. Leave it to Anna to remind me of old shames right in front of the wrong person.
«What's wrong? You chose that nickname for yourself, remember? » She pointed out, eying Martin with a deep lack of emotional investment.
Great… exactly what I needed to be sure to never hear the end of it.
«Yes, but we were six when we decided to name ourselves like the heroes in that show! » I protested vehemently. If I was lucky, he'd latch out on something else and it would not follow me through my whole training career.
«Fair enough. » She shrugged it off, as if she hadn't just nearly destroyed my reputation. «So… who's that? » She frowned and pointed to Martin, the latter of which was actually coughing very loudly to hide his fit of laugher.
How touching…
«That's just Martin… » I groaned in exasperation and she had the slightest interrogation in her eyes.
«Yup, that's me, Martin Slyder! Delivery man and traveling companion of this cute future champion. » He lifted me and rubbed my head with his knuckles again!
«Have I met you before…? » She got closer to him (and me at the same time), tilting her head a little.
«Maybe. I travel a lot and this teddy over here told me you did your share of travel as well. We could have walked pass one another at some point during your journey. » For some reason, this sounded a little less like him. The smile was there and all, but there was just something about his tone that grated my nerves in an unusual way.
Anna did not look convinced either. Though she did not call him out on it. She never did unless she knew exactly what was at stake. Instead, she would investigate and find out what the problem was on her own. Then… I'd rather not think about it.
«Hum… why are you here? Don't you already have five badges? Why would you come back here? » I asked, getting back Martin's attention so he could let me go.
«Six. » Anna replied.
«What? » I looked up, rubbing the top of my head carefully.
«I have six badges. » She explained and took out a small metallic case. Immediately afterward, it was opened and I got to see her collection of badges.
My stomach sank lower than my knees and my heart was quick to follow. I had no badges of my own and she had six!
«I finally got my revenge against Bugsy. » Her expression darkened, as if she was remembering a very unpleasant event.
«Ah, you have all my compassion, young Anna. » Martin sighed in a melodramatic way and grabbed her hand to try to convey that compassion.
«So I'm not the only one then? » She raised an eyebrow at his antics, but accepted the warm handshake he offered.
«Oh no, you aren't. » I maliciously added, then coughed up a little.
I'm fairly sure Martin caught the «seven times in a row» I threw in there.
«Alright, champ, you had something important to talk about together, didn't you? » Martin shot back as fast as lightning and my mockery turned into uneasiness and anger. Did he need to have a reply every time I succeeded in mocking him?
«That sounds suspiciously like some romantic declaration. » Anna commented and shot me a look I dared not interpret.
«Well, it could be… » Martin snickered, acting like every other adult (even though he was about as mature as a five year old!) around a boy and a girl that had to talk alone. «And I'll leave you two alone so you can discuss everything that you might need to discuss. » Just to condemn me to more awkwardness, he winked at Anna.
I hated, no, loathed Martin as he happily left the center under the pretense of needing a nap under the pure beautiful afternoon sun.
Anna frowned as she watched him leave while humming some summer camp songs. I wanted to agree with her on that, but they could turn out to be surprisingly addictive (of course, the alternative was talking with Martin…) when wild pokémon weren't around to train Levys.
After that, she turned the full force of her gaze to me and I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable.
DARN IT, MARTIN!
«…So… » My mouth felt dry and I was shaking, nervous, even if I wasn't going to confess! What would I do if it turned out she wanted me to confess to her?
It was at that point that I realized what I had been thinking and started laughing.
Arceus! Anna? In love with ME? That was just so absurd I could… well, laugh.
«I really missed something important just now, didn't I? » She sighed, letting me recover my serious.
Well, now that this was done, I really was much more at ease.
«Come on; let's go grab some ice cream, my treat. » I declared, smiling widely.
«Thank you. » She accepted her ice cream cone with a dignified smile.
«You're welcome. » I replied, handing out a few bills to the vendor.
We sat down at the terrace she had chosen. After all, as she claimed, it was not her first time walking down the city. She had liked this place the first time, so there was no reason to dislike it the second.
I would not argue with her logic… or with her at all.
«Alright, I will pretend that you just did that out of happiness of seeing me for the first time in a year and not press you down for questions yet, deal? » I looked away, desperately trying to find some way to prove her wrong. Sadly, no answer came to my mind.
She licked her ice cream cones a few times before initiating the conversation again.
«Very well. How about you tell me about your journey a little? You heard about ours, but we don't know about yours. »
«Fair enough…» I admitted, trying to think of where to start.
«I mean, other than what the news told us about you. Even with scarves, I would recognize you anywhere. » She smiled a bit more widely (meaning that the normal individual could actually tell she was happy instead of bored now).
I was honestly taken aback. I had forgotten about that short time outside of the police station where I had worn a scarf and a pair of sunglasses to escape the media. To be fair, that was about two weeks ago.
«Hum… yeah… there's that. I guess… » I scratched my head sheepishly. It was not like I had meant to be misunderstood by my mom and alerted the police in some sort of obscure and ridiculously hard to pull of scheme to pass on the evening news for five seconds.
It did sound like some awesome plan in retrospect though.
«Oh dear, this will take hours if you keep stopping to think like that after every sentence. » She shot me a look of annoyance and I blushed. Crap, I had to stop making monologues in my head!
Easier said than done…
Arceus I was stupid!
«Yeah, sorry about that. Hum… you know those governmental regulations that keep being applied to training? »
What happened next stunned me. Anna grimaced.
«Don't remind me… » She even sounded angry.
Angry! Anna did not get angry at anything other than people who broke their promises! Or at least, she had enough self-control not to let it appear in anything but very hard to detect underlying tones.
I stayed utterly silent. How else could I react to that?
«Go on. » She encouraged me, her tone neutral again.
«Huh… what was I saying again? »
Did I hallucinate or a passerby had just tried to hide his desire to laugh?
This was beyond bad…
«Get to the point. » She made a cycling gesture with her hands, not caring much about the ice cream dripping on the table.
«Alright… When I got to New Bark Town two weeks ago… they had passed some sort of crappy rules and Elm could not give me a totodile. »
Had she had a drink, she would have put it on the table softly, without a word, and stared at me very intensively. I could picture that very easily in my mind and it would be exactly how she would react.
Anna slowly lowered her ice cream cone, all trace of annoyance and mischief gone from her face. It was purely neutral.
«The news stated that a new trainer had just been kidnapped… » Her voice was just as neutral, just as emotionless.
«I… I captured another pokémon instead. » I added, trying to clear any misunderstanding there could have been.
Obviously, it was not working.
«How? You started your training journey in New Bark Town, you were alone and you had no pokéballs. » This time, I recognized some form of accusation hidden behind her calm exterior.
«M-Martin helped me. H-He had a fishing rod, so we got to a small lake and we fished out my starter. »
«That stupid-looking delivery man? » She asked, seemingly surprised.
«HEY! » A voice came from around a corner and we both identified its owner immediately. «I'm eavesdropping, you know? »
Oh sweet love of Mew… Martin had followed us, spied on us and was now complaining about her insulting him behind his back? …There were no words… no words for that.
«Eh, he's pretty funny. » Anna smugly smiled, beaming with satisfaction.
SWEET LOVE OF MEW!
The Universe had officially gone mad and, as always, it was Martin's fault.
«Tell me I'm dreaming. » That was my saving throw. I knew Martin could screw up my dreams already; he had been the one to kill me in that Dream Eater induced nightmare after all.
«Are you sure you have any right to complain? » Anna swiftly brought me back to my senses. Almost.
«Alright then, will you travel with him for the rest of your pokémon training journey? »
She was effectively silenced.
One second, she opened her mouth to talk; the next, she closed it, shivering.
«I will give you that. » She conceded the point, ignoring Martin's whining in the background.
It sounded like: «Skull, champ's girlfriend is so mean to me! Give me a hug, my boy. »
Had it not been for the «girlfriend» part, I would have been really smug. Instead, I was just blushing and deliberately trying to prevent eye contact with her.
«Anyway, back to business. » She snapped a finger to regain my attention. «What did you get instead? »
«A magikarp. »
A look of pure shock, that's was what her barely wider eyes and her open mouth meant. No matter what, she never expressed too much.
«A-Are you serious? »
Wow, she really must not have expected that one.
«I am. » I nodded and started building Levys' aquarium in front of her.
A proof could not hurt, now could it?
She stared in silence, not quite recovering from the surprise.
«Levys, come meet my friend Anna. » I called, opening his pokéball into the aquarium.
«Karp! » Levys enthusiastically responded, splashing us both.
«It really is a magikarp… » She whispered.
I was getting use to this sort of treatment, but I expected a little more from one my best friends. To be quite honest, it was really getting on my nerves. If Anna reacted like that, what would Allan do? Laugh himself into a coma? How would I explain that to the police?
«Yes, yes he is. Levys is a magikarp, a strong one too. Is there a problem with that? » I asked, ticked off.
This got her to look up to me again.
«No offense, but you are a power freak. »
Yeah… no offense… at all… It's all flowers and rainbows with a side order of lollipops and sparkles…
«You're the kind of person that wants to be the most powerful. You feel good crushing your opponents in battle. »
«I do not! » I protested, albeit a little too quickly. Stupid reflexes…
«Be honest here, Captain Ocean. You started to like water types after Allan said he wanted a fire type. »
«Err… That was not… » Crap, I had forgotten about that one.
«I also suspected it was because you thought that even if I had the advantage in term of types, you still believed you could take me on in a straight fight. » She continued, although she was speaking more quietly now.
A knot tied up my throat.
Yeah, I had thought that. Anna… well, she had never been that interested in pokémon training in the first place so I thought that… if I had to choose one person to have an advantage over… it would be Allan.
«But that all became meaningless anyway when you failed to get your trainer's license on time and we had to leave without you. » She smiled at me, but there was no joy in it.
«Anna, I'm sorry. » And I was. It was a promise I had broken.
«Karp? » Levys called for me in concern.
«Don't worry about it. » I passed on hand on his back, trying to look a bit less uneasy.
«Oh, that's it. Magikarps evolve into gyarados, don't they? » A light of comprehension lightened up her eyes and she leaned closer.
I refused to answer, even if Levys' confusion cracked my armor.
«Well, now I get it. Don't you think that choosing a magikarp as your only pokémon for that reason might be too much though? If you can't level it up, it will never evolve. »
«…About that… » I bit my lips, nervous about the possible death I would soon face. «Levys isn't… »
Her stare intensified and it was as if the temperature was suddenly rising.
«He's not my only pokémon. » I admitted with a tiny voice.
Slowly, she blinked. Slowly, her mouth formed an unsightly frown. Slowly, her anger increased.
«Zoë. »
One word, just one. That's all she said and I saw the typical flash of light of a pokémon being released.
Oh crap…
«Meeeeeganium. »
Her chikorita had evolved twice, thought I only remembered it being a bayleef the last time we talked. It was kind of big now.
Not to mention that I had never imagined I could get intimidated by a pokémon with a pink flower as a collar.
As it turned out, I was not wrong to be afraid.
A Vine Whip immobilized my left hand and I really started to panic.
«Anna! I… »
It was around my torso this time. The worst part about this was that I could feel myself lighter than usual. It had not quite lifted me yet, but that meganium was showing me it could.
«How could you? Not once, not even twice, but three times? You broke our promise together three times! » Her voice was but a shriek at this point.
What should I do? What should I say? That I had not meant it to happen? What did that change? That I was sorry? I was not. Levys and Dora were great (even if I had still lot of things to work on with her).
The local sellers were eying us with caution, wondering if they should call the police at this point.
«Okaaaaaaaay, I think someone ought to calm down a little now. »
I blinked and so did Anna. It was not hard to forget that Martin had been eavesdropping on us.
He walked toward us, moodily. There was something incredibly enervating with the image of Martin getting into the picture so calmly. Anna did not seem to appreciate either.
«You would not want to scare your boyfriend away, now, would you? » He then did the unspeakable: he ruffled her hair.
«HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND! HE'S JUST A FILTHY LIAR! » She lashed out at him.
Ouch. That certainly hurt my fragile ego.
«Chhhhh, you're disturbing everyone now. » He shushed her, shushed! I already started praying for his soul.
Even if he did not really deserve my prayers.
Anna, equally from being treated like a petulant child than from realizing the commotion she was causing, blushed darkly.
«This has nothing to do with you! »
«But I can't take a nap if you scream so loudly. »
«You were eavesdropping! »
«Such an ugly word. I prefer «listening to others' conversation without permission or decency». »
I rolled my eyes at that. Yeah, much better.
«Will you calm down now? » He asked again, this time sounding a bit condescending.
«Zoë! » She pointed at him in fury and her meganium captured him too.
«That's not a really smart move, Anna. » He sounded perfectly calm, to the point of scaring me.
«Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarp! » Levys leaped out of his aquarium and decided that friend of mine or not, she really ought to be nicer.
He did it in the form of a good slap to the face.
There was a moment of silence during which no one exactly dare to speak.
Anna was the first to regain her mind.
«Let them go, Zoë. » She turned to her pokémon, having cooled down enough to report the murder to later.
I felt a wave of relief hit me when the vines' grip loosened and dropped me. I had not been aware that I had been this scared. A piece of me had been too fascinated with Martin's stupid attempt at peacekeeping.
However, that relief disappeared instantly when I felt a terrifying pressure from the corner Martin had left. I could not see anything, but I knew without a doubt that this was the kind of pressure felt by a prey sensing a predator nearby.
«Skull, my boy, come here! » Martin called, clapping his hands against his legs.
As suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. In its stead, there was that stupidly huge houndoom running toward his master while happily barking.
As always, Skull's size was enough to create a reaction out of people, even Anna, who paled when he reached Martin.
However, she looked very wary of the giant dog. It was almost as if she was expecting it to turn around and bite her in the face. Granted that was a very scary image, but knowing Skull, it was not likely.
«That's my boy. » Martin joyfully petted his houndoom, completely ignoring us both.
We stared at him, if only to escape the embarrassment of being the first to break the ice again. I could tell she was not especially proud of her outburst and I did not fancy apologizing again on behalf of Levys' behavior.
«I overreacted. Sorry. » Anna had decided to be brave and face me in spite of her small blush. However, it was rescinding by the seconds, slowly turning back into her very neutral peach skin.
«It's… nothing. » I looked away, trying not to dance around the question. «You're always like that anyway. »
Tact, how I miss you!
«Humph. » She pouted (again, hard to tell for the untrained eyes). «I just think that people who lie and break their promises are the worst. »
Awkwardness, I could have done fine without you for five minutes, you know?
«Listen… it's really complicated. W-Would you like to sit down while I talk? » I motioned to her toppled chair and she shrugged.
«I might as well. »
«I did not intend to catch Dora. It was an accident. » I nervously tapped on the table, eying Martin for support, while he, of course, was all to his houndoom.
«An accident? » Wow, that was a lot of skepticism condensed in two words.
«Yes, an accident. »
«It was an accident that you got your hands on a pokéball and that you weakened a pokémon enough to use it and that you threw a pokéball at that same weakened pokémon. Is that what you're saying? » She pointed out with an acidic tone.
«Yes, and it was hilarious to top it off. » Martin gleefully provided, making us both jump.
I could have sworn he was not listening! Then again, he had declared himself that he had been eavesdropping while he was doing it.
«It's my mom. She bought me this, thinking I could just exchange Levys' current pokéball for this one. » I showed her Dora's pokéball, completely serious.
«Oh. » She understood with just that, I think.
«Yeah, well, I decided to keep it as a memento, but... » I opened it, letting Dora out.
My wooper instantly recognized a stranger and, smart, she acted quite innocently.
«Woo? » She asked, absolutely adorable.
It was too bad Anna was not one to like cuteness. All she could see was a water type with a strangely stupid smile.
«First a magikarp, then a wooper… Are you seriously trying to become the champion? » She smirked.
«Yes. I am. Power freak, remember? » I glared, bitter.
«Sorry. » She grimaced.
It got worse when Dora, knowing she had been mocked, decided to jump in her face and spit mud. I wanted to cringe, but it was hard when I was feeling very proud of my pokémon. All for the wrong reasons, but still.
«Charming. » She frowned, pushing Dora away in annoyance.
Stoically (or I hope I was…), I handed her a napkin with which she wiped her face.
«Anyway, what happened is that… Dora attacked me and I tripped and I almost fell in the river, but Martin caught me before that and my mom's netball fell into the river and when Levys had got it, Dora had been captured by it. » I rapidly depicted the scene, my sole desire being to be done with that as soon as possible.
«What? » Anna predictably raised one eyebrow with skepticism.
«That's a bit too summarized, champ. » Martin critiqued, though his smile demented any seriousness whatsoever. «You forgot to mention the multiple times you were hit in the face and how your voice went up a few octaves and all that stuff. »
Urge to sick Dora and Levys on Martin: rising!
«…Why didn't you tell me earlier? » She asked, her voice was but a whisper at this point.
«I… I didn't know what to do… » I admitted, lowering my gaze to the ground.
«Hey, sir, I'd like to order twelve bowls of ice cream, one chocolate, three solar mixes, one vanilla, two oran berries flavored, two dirty earths mixes and three butterscotches flavored. »
Martin stood up and walked up to the counter while we blinked at him in astonishment. Who ate that much ice cream?
«Right away, sir. » The seller turned around and started taking care of the order, leaving Martin to glance at us with a little smile.
«I know you two just ate some ice cream, but I've just ordered some more for you too. I hope you won't get a sugar high. » He crossed his arms and leaned against the shop's outer wall, smug.
«Twelve bowls for three? Are you nuts? » I asked, taken aback.
«Oh, cub, you're so cute when you're like that, but, no, there's also some for Levys and Dora and Zoë and my team. »
«Oh, so you are a trainer? » Anna frowned ever so slightly.
«Was. I'm just a little gear in the system now. » Martin shrugged it off.
«Wait… so you have a full team of six pokémon… » I pointed out, after a little mental calculation.
«Of course I do. I was just a normal trainer with no aspirations other than have fun. I caught my team on the way, without restrictions like the one you put yourselves through. Not that there's anything wrong with that. »
Anna did not look particular pleased by the added comment. Considering it was her idea in the first place…
«What kind of team do you have then? » She did her best not to appear curious, but I could tell. Martin probably didn't though.
«A fun one. » He grinned and dug through his pockets to take out five pokéballs, many of them being colored in patterns. Apparently, he had only caught Linda and Skull with normal pokéballs. «Guys, time for some ice cream. » He smiled as he dropped them and five flashes of light followed.
I shielded my eyes on the spot. The simultaneous releases were enough to hurt.
When it cleared up, we were surrounded by rather large pokémon, half of them being Skull's size or bigger, the last three, half of my size.
«Okay, champ, champ's girlfriend, this is my team. Meet Mr. DoomMcSkull, also known as Skull, Linda, Big Ma, Ma for short – she's the one that saved you in the Union Cave champ –, Danny Leo, usually shortened to Danny, Tropical Three, best known as Three, and, of course, Orion. Team, that's my newly adopted little brother and his girlfriend, so be malicious. »
Oh boy, a houndoom, a ledian, a tangrowth, a jumpluff, an exeggutor and a starmie. It seemed… strange… that kind of team.
Anyway, they were obedient, or so it seems, because as soon as the presentations were over, Tropical Three, the exeggutor, glowed blue and Martin was launched in the air, into the nearest fountain. All the while screaming «Oh Arceus, I should have knooooooown!».
Favorites pokémon: magikarps and woopers. Second favorites: exeggutors.
The ice cream bowls then floated in the air and found their places in front of a human or a pokémon, without fail. Martin's team ate with a good appetite, considering their trainer was walking back over here, dripping wet but laughing.
«Three, you're just too much for me. Ma, can't you do something, pretty please with sitrus berries on top? » He pleaded, attempting to pull off growlithes eyes, with no success.
Amateur.
«Tan, tangrowth taaan tan. » The mass of vines smacked the exeggutor behind each of its three heads and it stopped at that.
«Thank you, Ma. You're just such a nice and firm mother. » Martin sat down at our table, looking genuinely pleased.
I tilted my head at that. Had he also been a breeder on top of a trainer?
«She's just one big ball of maternal affection… and motherly authority. » He grinned. «She's the serious mother of the team while I'm the bumbling daddy. We're one big happy family. Oh and that includes you. » He pulled me into another headlock, under the amusement of Anna and Zoë.
My pokémon didn't have much reserve against free food, so I didn't quite have the heart to distract them from a good meal, even if Dora was sometimes teasing Levys (from afar, having learned her lesson the first time).
Anna's meganium, on the other hand, looked particularly affected by the appearance of Martin's team. Sensible to that distress, Anna gently held her closer to her body and spoke to Martin.
«You have three grass types… are you a specialized trainer? »
«I was not. » Martin rolled his eyes, putting some emphasis on the past tense in his answer. «My pokémon were not really caught with a particular purpose in mind. I caught them because I liked them and they liked me. The only strategy I have was made after I got my full team. »
«Which is…? » I tried to get free, while hiding some interest in the matter.
What? It's not like I could copy it with just Levys and Dora anyway! I only wanted to… steal Martin's knowledge. Besides, if I asked, he probably would jump around and declare that he would teach me everything. No problem, right?
«Not telling you that. » He laughed and my jaw dropped.
«What? Why? »
«Because it's not good enough for you to become Champion and you could not use it anyway. » He smirked and he let me get away.
«What? Why? » Was it irrational that I got angry for that? I was going to become the best trainer in Johto; I had to be able to use every tactics there were, no?
«Because I obviously built it with my team in mind. » He snickered, grabbing his jumpluff, and the little cotton ball joined in on the hilarity.
«That's… » I grimaced.
That was a good reason. Fine, be that way Martin, be tyrannical!
«… How long have you two traveled together? » Anna wondered out loud, less as a question than a simple astonished declaration.
«We met on the way to New Bark Town. » I grunted, deciding that ignoring everyone was my best way to make things go faster and be granted a way out of the awkwardness.
Levys and Dora had both finished their bowls and were arguing about something, the content of which was lost on me…
Hey, I was trying to understand my pokémon well, but that was a bit much…
What really pained me though were the silent dialogues Anna was holding with Zoë. It made me feel like a really crappy trainer. Then again, the alternative was Martin and his team. They looked… really fun.
The last time I had felt jealousy this strong was when that girl next door had gone on her pokémon journey when I was six.
«Karp? » Levys had also gone for the «ignore things that you despise» strategy, namely Dora, and had instead turned his attention to me.
«Oh, I'm fine… » I muttered, somewhat better.
«Kaaarp? » This time, he was clearly skeptical about my well-being and the gesture touched me enough to chase away all trace of a foul mood.
«Of course I'm sure. I have you! » I smiled and reached for him.
«Woo! » Dora jumped in the way and intercepted my movement before I could touch Levys.
«And you too, Dora. » I grinned, amused by her antics.
Now, it was hard for me to tell if Levys was displeased with that. After all, he was still as happy-looking, but I did know he could bluff a little.
«You've got yourself a nice team. » Anna remarked, having seen the little scene unfold. All traces of previous emotions were gone and she was resting her chin against her open palms.
It got me to think. What would I have done if Anna had demanded that I release Dora? Could I have followed that order on behalf of that promise I made a year ago?
The answer was of an unprecedented clarity.
«Anna. » I called, suddenly serious. «Levys and Dora… I really like them both. Even if you changed your mind now, I would not release either of them. They're part of my team now. Nothing will make me change my stance on that. »
Surprisingly, she did not appear angry at all. Instead, she was focused on Zoë, which was having a blast with Danny.
«In that case, I will not be able to forgive you. »
Wow, it was rare to see Martin's smile slip that easily, but it really did. Even when he had been thrown into a fountain, he had still some of his goofy air to himself.
I grinned and winked at him, not caring if Anna saw me.
«Unless, of course, you do something else for me. » She added, calculative.
That was always how she had worked. Make a promise with her and you have two choices: either you keep your words or you don't. If you break a promise with her, face her anger and be prepared to never be forgiven, unless you prove your honesty by offering her compensation.
«Alright, what will it be this time? » I was confident I could take on whatever challenge she would throw at me. I had passed her test of courage to swim into the Lake of Anger. Thank Arceus it had not been the season for gyarados.
«I want to see your next gym battle. »
Oh, I did not see that coming.