Author's Notes
I actually don't like this chapter very much, but it's sort of a necessary one from a storytelling perspective. I wish I could have just glanced it over, but certain events needed to happen, so I got them out of the way here.
Oh, by the way, I've decided my official theme song for this story is "Fighting" by Yellowcard: .com/watch?v=2sHKK1_WhV8. It doesn't really fit right now, but then we haven't even gotten to the vast majority of the Plot.
Keep reading!
Chapter Eleven: Decisions
Crystal woke up with a blanket draped over her, and one of her arms over Kitsu's still-sleeping form. Her nose registered sensation next - someone was cooking up a storm, and after a week of trekking across the wilderness, it smelled delicious.
But then, Mom's cooking always did.
Crystal's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around. Home. She was in her home, with all the windows open and the sun lighting the place up. She'd almost been expecting not to recognize the place at first, like in books and radio programs when the hero's spent so long away from home that they were confused when they finally when they finally wake up after their first night back.
But that didn't happen. She was home, and she could never, ever forget it.
Her mother was in the kitchenette, moving back and forth across the area with dishes, pots, and pans. It looked like she was cooking enough to feed a large part of the Victory Army. She didn't notice that Crystal was awake yet.
Hi Mom? Crystal asked herself. Good morning? Nice to see you again? What do I say?
The girl settled for just getting off of the couch, shifting gently to avoid waking Kitsu and leaving the blanket over the Eevee. She made her way over to the kitchenette, rubbing her eyes.
"'Morning," she said simply, going with whatever came out of her mouth first.
Her mother jumped a little, turning quickly and nearly dropping the large basting spoon she had in her hand. "You're awake!" Mrs. Tsubaki exclaimed, dashing around the counter and throwing her arms around Crystal. The girl hugged tightly back, and something in her went snap. It finally occurred to her, fully, that she'd left with no warning to go into the dangerous wilderness and risked life and limb, that she potentially could have ended up never coming home.
Crystal felt tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said softly, holding her mother tighter. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Mom, but I had to go, had to…"
"Shh," her mother said, not releasing her. "You're home. That's what matters. Your home and you're safe." She pulled back, not letting go of Crystal, looking into her eyes. Crystal noticed that her mother's eyes were red, and she wiped her own tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"H…how have you been?" Crystal asked, but regretted it almost immediately.
Her mother's face fell. "How do you think?" She demanded, stepping back and going back into the kitchenette. Crystal all but smacked her own face.
"I'm sorry," Crystal said, moving into the kitchenette and looking around. "I'm sorry, Mom. I…I don't know what it was like, but I had to go. If Professor Oak-"
"Never mind," her mother said in a determined way, and looked Crystal up and down. "Go and clean yourself up, then come back downstairs. Breakfast will be ready soon."
The young girl paused a moment, then let out a long sigh and headed up to her room to grab fresh clothes.
The quietness at the table was deafening.
Crystal carefully picked through her breakfast, eating everything her mother had made for her - her plate had a veritable mountain of food on it, as though she thought Crystal had been starving for the week she had been gone. She had to switch between numerous utensils depending upon what she was eating. Oddly enough, Kitsu, too, was given mountains of food, and the Eevee ate hungrily.
"S…so," Crystal said, breaking the quiet before it drove her mad. "How was the store?"
"Fine," her mother responded, not looking at her.
Crystal bit her lip, eating a few more bites. "Uh," she said, "Cherrygrove has hot springs. Me and Kitsu, after getting there, we went to one at the Pokémon Center. It was nice."
Her mother just nodded this time, not even bothering to voice her opinion on the matter.
Crystal thought. "Oh," she said, remembering something, "did I get any mail?"
Her mother glared down the table at her. Crystal flinched. "Yes," she responded after a minute. "From…from Goldenrod City."
Crystal bit her lip again. That was her mother's way of telling her that, yes, the pokémon trainer gear that Professor Oak had said was coming had arrived. "Mom," Crystal said, taking in a deep breath. "I'm…I'm going to be heading out again."
Her mother put down the fork she'd been holding roughly, looking down. "So let me guess," Mrs. Tsubaki began. "This is the part where I tell you no, and you go on about how you're an adult and it's your choice."
Crystal paused. "Well…"
"And then I tell you how dangerous it is, but that's okay, you'll say, because you have your own pokémon to protect you."
This was a little unnerving. Crystal looked away. "Well, Kitsu did help me-"
"And then," her mother said, "I tell you how worried I was when you were gone for a week. That I was in tears constantly. That I kept having nightmares about all the things that could have happened to you…all the things that you seem to want to chase down."
Crystal looked to her mother. There were tears in her eyes, and a begging, pleading look on her face. Crystal never wanted to see her mother look like that, and a huge part of her wanted to jump up, run down the table, and grasp her mother firmly and assure her that she would never go anywhere.
But then Crystal remembered Tyrogue. The girl stood up, taking in a deep breath as she did.
"Mom," she said, determination in her voice. "I'm heading out again. I'm going to get Tyrogue back from the kid that stole him. I know what he looks like and I think I know what he's going to be doing. As soon as I have him back, I'll come home."
Her mother looked back down at her plate, biting her lip - a mannerism not unlike Crystal's. She looked like she was about to say something, but then something small and brown-furred started rubbing against her leg.
Crystal jumped, wondering if Kitsu was about to get kicked away in frightened panic. Her mother looked at the Eevee, who cooed contentedly in thanks for the food that her mother had given her. Crystal's mother scooted her chair back somewhat, reaching down and picking up Kitsu, setting the pokémon on her lap. Kitsu looked at Mrs. Tsubaki, her tail swishing back and forth.
Crystal wondered if a Ditto had somehow learned how to copy humans and replaced her mother.
"You protect her," her mother said sternly to the Eevee, then leaned forward and actually hugged Kitsu. "Keep my daughter safe."
Kitsu responded by licking her mother's ear. The woman jumped slightly, moving away from Kitsu, who eev-eev'd before hopping off of her lap and moving over to Crystal.
"Finish your breakfast," Mrs. Tsubaki said to Crystal. "Then I'll…I'll make you something for the road."
Crystal watched her mother keeping busy in the kitchenette, chewing on her lip. She couldn't even imagine what her mother had to be going through right now, and she once again had to remind herself that this was a good thing that she was doing, that her mother worrying about her was the price that she had to pay to get Tyrogue back.
So instead of focusing on her mother, the girl turned to the small box that currently sat on the living room floor, emblazoned with the symbol of the League of Johto. She used her house keys to tear open the tape.
Pieces of straw had been used to protect the three items contained within. One was a black, leather-bound identification passbook. The first page contained information on Crystal - her name, age, date of birth, and settlement of origin. It also contained the date the ID book had been issued on, and the date it would expire, ten years from now, at which point she'd need a new one. Lastly, it had her title - Advanced Pokémon Trainer - and her trainer ID number - 61232.
The second page contained a statement - The Secretary of State of the League of Johto hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen of the League of Johto named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection. The statement was written three times, once in the normal alphabet of Johto, a second time in a more archaic, circular version of the Johto script used for formal documents like this, and a third time in the angular and functional Kanto script. Though Kanto and Johto shared the same basic language, several centuries of isolation from each other had made their alphabets take different routes. Crystal could still read Kanto, but it was like reading something written by someone with bad handwriting.
The next few pages contained a few ground rules for traveling between cities, mostly to the effect of reminding the bearer that though Johto had a central law and government, individual cities still may have local laws or customs that the traveler should try not to violate or offend. The final pages where mostly blank, and meant for stamps authorizing pass into a given city or leave a city. For the most part, this ID book was identical to the one she'd gotten when she'd turned eleven, the only difference being that it was new and blank, while her old handler one was older and mostly blank.
Crystal set the book aside, and pulled out the next item within the box. It was small, made of some kind of lightweight red metal, with a series of small buttons on it and a hinge that opened up to reveal a screen.
Crystal opened the device, and flipped the on switch on the side. After several moments of loading, it brought her to its main screen, which requested her trainer ID number for verification. After using the buttons to key in the number, the device identified itself as a pokédex.
"Huh," Crystal said, looking at Kitsu, who was looking into the box and seemed to be considering climbing in, and pointing it at her. There was a moment's pause, then the pokédex brought up an entry.
"Eevee," the girl read. "Average height: eight inches; average length: four feet with tail. Normal-type that is characterized by brown fur with white markings at tip of the tail and a white mane of fur. A rare pokémon, but sighted throughout the known world with no one area more or less likely to have them. Most notable quality is the existence of five potential known evolutions: Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, and Umbreon. Eevees are curious and energetic while awake, but sleep up to thirteen hours a day to help maintain their fast metabolisms."
Crystal glanced over the rest of the entry, dominated by information on typical personalities and socialization habits, most of which seemed to apply to Kitsu fairly well. Kitsu, meanwhile, had climbed into the box, and was even now apparently making a bed for herself within it from the straw, using her teeth to remove the last offending, not-comfortable thing from within it.
Crystal closed the pokédex and looked over the last item. Like the pokédex, it was hand-held, with a digital screen that displayed the time, and a sliding cover beneath that which revealed a keypad with ten numbers, zero through nine, as well as two additional keys, marked call and end. Above the screen was a small speaker of some kind, and the bottom was a receiver…
Crystal stared at it a moment, then her eyes widened when realization struck her. She pressed a series of numbers into the keypad, hit the call button, and tentatively raised the device to her ear.
"Elm Labs," she heard a voice over the device say. It was distorted, slightly, and unclear, sounding more like a recording than a live person talking. "Professor Elm speaking."
Crystal paused. "I have a telephone." She said simply.
"Excuse me?" Elm asked, annoyance in this voice. "Who is this?"
"It's Crystal," the girl responded, as she looked over to the kitchenette. Her mother was staring at her, a question in her eyes - why are you speaking to empty air? "I got a package from the Johto League. I have a telephone now."
There was a moment's silence. "A hand-held telephone?" Elm asked, as her mother did at the same time. Neither seemed to believe her.
Crystal nodded, then realized that the Professor couldn't see her. "Yeah. I have a hand-held telephone." She stood, walking over to her mother, moving the device so that her mother could hear through the speaker as well. As she did, she was able to see the back of the device, and the writing on it.
"It's called a Pokégear Mk-II," Crystal said into the speaker. "Made by SILPH Co."
"SILPH?" Mrs. Tsubaki asked, looking at the phone. "Isn't that some big corporation from Kanto?"
"You have a Kanto-imported hand-held telephone," Elm said, his voice monotone as he took in this information.
"We don't even have a home phone!" Mrs. Tsubaki exclaimed. "No one in New Bark Town does! Other than you, Professor, I mean."
"Crystal, why did the Kanto send you a telephone?" Elm asked.
Crystal bit her lip, looking at the receiver. "I'll be stopping by later today," She said. "I'll explain things then."
The professor was silent for a moment, and Crystal idly wondered if he had somehow read her mind or had some other sense of what was coming. "Alright," he said at length. "I'll see you later, then." There was a click, which Crystal supposed meant that he had hung up.
Her mother was smiling a little, and looking at the telephone. "You can call me," she said. "Or call Elm Labs. I'm sure the professor won't mind if you called to talk to me…"
Crystal smiled as well, looking at the phone herself. "I don't exactly have anyone else to call," Crystal said. "I'll work something out with Professor Elm when I go to see him. I'll call as often as I can."
Her mother nodded, then looked back at everything she had made. "I put together some sandwiches," She said resolutely. "Bellsprout-leaf and other things that will keep." She indicated several packages, bound in paper. "And there's a bag of rice, and some berries…"
Crystal nodded as her mother went over everything. She looked like she was packing more for a trip to Kanto than to the next city over - Crystal was certain that she wouldn't need to pack so heavily, having already made the trip once. Once her backpack was full of food, plus a spare set of clothing, the awning, flint and steel for lighting a fire, her bedroll, and a sheet to lay over herself, it had to weigh close to forty pounds.
"Urk," she said as she lifted the backpack onto her shoulders. She idly wondered whether or not Kitsu would really expect to be carried. Probably yes.
Her mother looked at the awning that Crystal had used. "Are you sure this is going to be enough?" She asked. "I mean, all it'll take is for the wind to blow the wrong way if it's raining…"
Crystal shrugged as best she could with the weight of the backpack. "We don't have a tent," she noted. "I'll buy one when I get to Cherrygrove. They can't be that expensive."
Mrs. Tsubaki nodded, adjusting one of the straps on Crystal's backpack for her. She wouldn't meet her daughter's eyes.
"Mom," Crystal intoned, grasping her mother's hand with both of her own. "I'm going to come back. I promise."
Her mother nodded, then leaned in and grasped her daughter in a tight hug. Crystal felt wetness in her hair. "Make sure you do." Her mother begged softly. "Be safe."
Then she let go - more than just freeing Crystal from her embrace, she let go of Crystal, released her and accepted that Crystal was old enough now to start making her own decisions, to act like and to be an adult. And to make her own mistakes.
"I'll call tomorrow," Crystal vowed. "And when I get to Cherrygrove City…and whenever I can after that. I promise."
Her mother nodded again. "Okay." She said, and looked away again. "Good luck."
Crystal nodded, putting on a determined, sure face as she turned around and walked out her front door, Kitsu falling in step beside her. But she didn't make it far before she had to wipe tears from her eyes.
"You're quitting," Professor Elm said, his voice deadpan.
Crystal bit her lip, but nodded, looking right into Elm's eyes as she sat opposite him. "I know what the person who took Tyrogue looks like," she said. "He said he wants to be the best trainer in the world, so he'll almost certainly be taking the Gym Challenge. So I know where he'll be. But inter-city law means that he can't really be arrested for taking Tyrogue. There's no way to prove that they're the same pokémon."
Elm tapped his fingers on his desk. "But you're going to steal Tyrogue back?" He asked. "Crystal…he has one heck of a head-start on you."
Crystal nodded. "I know."
"And you're just going to leave me high and dry in the meantime." Elm said.
That Crystal was one-upping Gold and Silver's sudden departure by not even giving a week's warning wasn't lost on her. She nodded. "I know where I'm going, I know what I'm after, and I know who has it. I'm already better off than I was last week."
Elm grunted. "Of course, I'm sure it hasn't been lost on you that if he wants to become a great trainer, he'll be training. Which means that Kitsu could find herself very outclassed, very quickly."
Crystal paused. In fact, that hadn't occurred to her. "I…I guess I'll just have to make sure to train Kitsu, too."
The Professor looked at her, crossing his arms. "And, he'll probably be building a team of pokémon. Trying to 'catch 'em all,' as the Kanto say, or at least get a balanced team together so he doesn't have to worry about the weakness of having just a Fighting-type."
Crystal nodded. She had been expecting that, at least. "I'll catch a team of my own." She said resolutely. "I'm going to get Tyrogue back, Professor."
Elm stared at her, then to the backpack she had set down next to her before sitting down in his office, and lastly to Kitsu, who sat on Crystal's lap, somehow mimicking the determined look of her human companion. Elm let out a long sigh. "You told your mother this time, at least?" He asked. "I mean, actually spoke to her?"
Crystal nodded. "Yeah. I was actually going to see if I could call here every now and then, to talk to her. And you," she added quickly. "To make sure you know I'm okay."
The Professor let out another drawn-out sigh. "Well, I can hardly keep you from leaving if you want," he admitted. "The lab's going to be a smaller place, though."
Crystal nodded, and stood up after helping Kitsu down from her lap. "I'm sorry, Professor." She said.
Elm shook his head, and sighed. "Alright," he said. "Do what you have to do. But be careful, Crystal. And keep in touch."
Crystal nodded again. "I will." She promised, picking up her backpack and putting it over her shoulders, then beckoning Kitsu to follow her out of the office. "I'll be back as soon as I can."