-10-
Pikachu and Growlithe squared off against each other, the fog steaming off the field as the afternoon sun burned through the clouds. Amelia stood opposite Colette, focused entirely on the battle in front of her.
Pikachu is faster than Growlithe. I need to take away the speed advantage.
"Growlithe, build up a smoke screen by searing the grass!" Amelia said.
"Quick Pikachu, before you can't see him, close in and use thundershock!" Colette said.
Pikachu dashed forward as Growlithe swept a thin line of faint flame across the ground before him, creating smoke that added to the remaining fog, Sparks issued from the fog as Pikachu attempted in vain to hit his mark.
"Growlithe, sniff out Pikachu and put on the heat!" Amelia shouted.
Growlithe barked back from within the smoke cloud. There were more sparks and flashes from within the smoke before Pikachu emerged, thrown clear by Growlithe. A moment later, Growlithe leaped clear from the cloud as well. Pikachu rolled to dodge the incoming attack and swept his tail to try and trip up Growlithe.
"Pikachu, enough messing around, use thunderbolt before it's too late!" Colette said.
Pikachu nodded, his cheeks sparking faintly at first, before his whole body was covered in arcing electricity. Pikachu unleashed a torrent of electrical energy at Growlithe. Growlithe barreled towards Pikachu, and tackled into him even as the thunderbolt struck him head on. Pikachu rebounded, knocked to the ground, while Growlithe dropped where he collided with Pikachu. For a moment, neither moved, but then Growlithe rose slowly to his feet.
"Damn! You did your best Pikachu, return" Colette recalled her Pikachu to his pokeball.
Growlithe barked twice, before settling back onto his haunches in the grass, as the embers from the seared grass stopped smoking so much.
"Well it's good to see you've still got fight in you! We're running out of time before the tournament starts, and we've been preparing for so long. I didn't want to think you would back out after everything," Colette said.
Amelia sighed, "Of course not. I didn't decide to go on our trip on a whim, and I certainly wouldn't suddenly back out, definitely not without telling you first."
"Speaking of telling... have you broken the news to your mom yet?" Colette asked.
"Ah... not yet. I was planning on doing it over this past weekend but obviously circumstances prevented that. I guess I can't put it off forever though," Amelia said
"No you should really tell her sooner rather than later. Especially with the incident at the lab, it might take her a little while to get comfortable with the idea," Colette said.
"I guess I should do it when I get home then. I mean, the tournament is less than a full week away now, so I really shouldn't put it off anymore," Amelia said.
"Our bracket starts on Sunday, and the qualifiers for the badge bracket matches start on Friday, so yeah we don't have a lot of time. By the way what are you going to do about your third pokemon?" Colette said.
"Ugh... I don't know. Pidgey is only just now going to be out of the pokemon center's care, I don't know that he would be ready in time for the tournament. More than that, he's missed out on a lot of training time, and I'm not even sure if I would want to put him in the line of fire again right after he recovered," Amelia said.
"Well that just leaves you with Weedle as your third. I don't know that he would really be up to the challenge, no matter how enthusiastic he is, no offense little guy," Colette said. Weedle scooted up higher onto Amelia's shoulder, to make himself look bigger.
"That might be what I have to do in the end though. Are you up for serious training buddy?" Amelia said to Weedle. Weedle waggled to indicate his willingness.
"Well at least I know he has confidence. I should take one crisis at a time though. First I go home and tell my mom about our plans. Then I'll start figuring out my battle strategy again," Amelia said.
"Sounds like a good idea. Let's head back then, we're a pretty good ways out," Colette said.
Amelia nodded, and together they started walking back towards town. She considered how she could best break the news to her mother. She had thought of a lot of ways to broach the subject, but in the end it would probably be best to be straight forward. It wasn't as if she would be traveling alone, and her mother must have suspected that she would leave at some point. She had mentioned it in an off-hand, distant sort of way in the past, but no serious discussion had taken place.
Amelia parted with Colette near her house, and then she and Growlithe walked the rest of the way home, the wind blowing through the trees in the late afternoon sun. Growlithe ran ahead of her, and turned back, barking encouragement. Amelia smiled.
"Okay I'm coming! What's your rush, are you that excited for dinner?" Amelia said. Growlithe barked in agreement. Weedle scooted from one shoulder to the other to express his interest as well.
"Geez you too? Fine, let's go!" Amelia said, jogging up the street the rest of the way.
When Amelia entered her house, her mother was in the kitchen making dinner.
"Amelia is that you? Where did you get to? I thought I heard you come home and leave again," Her mom said.
"Yeah I did, I went for a run and got some practice battling in with Colette. Um, while we were walking back Colette and I were talking, and there's something I need to talk to you about," Amelia said.
"Okay, I'm all ears, what do we have to talk about?" her mother said.
"After the tournament, Colette and I were planning on going on a trip together. We were going to start by going to Cerulean City, but our goal is to challenge gyms all over the region, and become serious pokemon trainers," Amelia said.
Amelia's mother stopped chopping vegetables and put the knife down on the counter. She said nothing for a moment.
"Well I can't say I'm altogether surprised, but I sort of hoped it wouldn't be so soon. How long have you been planning to do this?" her mother asked.
"A while. Since graduation at least. I didn't really know how to bring it up, and I guess if I didn't tell you about it then... it was like I could still back out you know?" Amelia said.
"I think I understand honey. Well of course I won't try to stop you, but I want to make sure you know what you're doing. You'll need money, and you'll need to be careful," her mother said pointedly.
"I know. I've been saving up money for a while, and if I do well in this tournament I'll have extra. As far as being careful well... I've had a plenty of opportunity to learn about that in the past couple days, that's for sure," Amelia said.
"I suppose you're right. Well I'm glad you told me at least. If you need help preparing, let me know, and I'll help however I can. I want you to succeed in whatever you're trying to do, and I know how serious you are about being a pokemon trainer," Amelia's mother said.
"Thanks mom, I was kind of worried that this wouldn't go so well, but I guess I got worked up about nothing. I'm going to go get cleaned up before dinner!" Amelia said, running upstairs.
After showering, Amelia got dinner, and took it to her bedroom, putting her plate near her computer so that she could work on a lineup plan. With Weedle as her third, Amelia's chances were a lot worse, as loathe as she was to admit it. Weedle was very enthusiastic, but also small and vulnerable. While she was considering a possible course of training to evolve him, Amelia's pokegear rang.
"Hey Colette, what's up?" Amelia answered.
"I forgot to ask before I left! Did you want to go to the qualifiers on Friday? Darren said that his bracket was going to be qualifying the first day, I thought it would be nice if we went to cheer him on!" Colette said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea, we should! It could be good to observe some more skilled trainers in battle too. What time does it start?" Amelia asked.
"Not sure, I didn't ask him, I'm sure we can figure it out though. Oh, did you tell your mom about our plans?" Colette said.
"Yeah a little while ago. She took it pretty well actually, so I guess that's that. I still need to let the academy know the last day I'll be available to tutor though. I should probably get around to that tomorrow. How soon after the tournament do you want to set out?" Amelia asked.
"A week or so maybe, it's not important. First things first though, we have a tournament to win right?" Colette said.
"Well I certainly do," Amelia said. Colette laughed.
"We'll see. I'll talk to you later!" Colette hung up.
Amelia put her phone back on the desk, and leaned back in her chair. Darren would be competing in the bracket above her, but would have to pass a qualifier round first. The badge-less competition didn't have a qualifier, because it was single elimination. That meant that pretty much no matter how many entrants there were, the number would be quickly culled.
"It's going to be a busy week, are you guys ready to really get to work? We're going to have to practice hard if we're going to be ready on Sunday," Amelia said.
Growlithe barked and wagged his tail. Weedle inched around in a circle on Amelia's bed. Bulbasaur grumbled begrudgingly. Amelia smiled. At the very least, she would face the challenges of the week head on. She returned to her work on her laptop, researching battle strategies that were currently popular, in an effort to anticipate what she might face at the tournament.
Amelia got an early start the next day, quickly getting dressed and heading to the pokemon center with Growlithe in tow. She was eager to see Pidgey again, and to bring him home. Amelia exchanged a quick greeting with the man at the front desk, and then requested the discharge of her pokemon. She received his pokeball moments later, after signing a release form, and then headed back out onto the street. It was cool and breezy, with fluffy clouds periodically covering the sun as they drifted dreamily across the sky. Amelia decided that her next stop had to be the Academy, to make sure they knew she would be leaving soon. This had been the last announcement of her departure she had put off, and she would feel that things were really settled once she had taken care of it.
Amelia waited for the bus at a stop by the mall, watching people going in and out, and thinking about how strange it was to be leaving soon. Amelia had led an insular life, having only ventured further than Pewter City on several occasions. Most everything she knew was in or around Viridian City, and she would be leaving that sense of familiarity behind. It was exciting and terrifying all at once, but she knew now more than ever that it would be worth it.
Amelia spent the familiar bus ride considering how to spend the rest of her day. She would definitely spend it training with her pokemon, but she wasn't sure exactly how yet. Growlithe sat obediently at her feet for the whole ride.
Amelia strode through the tall gates of the Academy, thinking back to last spring, when she had graduated. A lot of her classmates had left town for various destinations almost immediately after, and she'd felt sort of sad about it. The academic year ran from July through April, so when the new year had started, Amelia had applied as a tutor. She felt a little guilty quitting so soon after, but she felt that her former instructors would understand.
Amelia headed into the main building, and up to the second floor. As a tutor, she worked directly under a regular instructor and assumed that she should inform them first of her imminent departure. Amelia arrived at an office with "R. Grant" stenciled on the window, and knocked. Amelia was fairly certain that Professor Grant had no classes, and so hoped she would be in her office. After a moment a soft voice called for her to come in.
"Professor, I'm sorry to drop in unannounced, but there was something I felt I needed to tell you, and I didn't want to put it off any longer," Amelia began.
The willowy young woman seated behind the desk by the window had short, straight black hair that fell to just above her jawline, and pale blue eyes framed by wire-rimmed glasses. She looked slightly surprised at Amelia's breathless proclamation.
"Well by all means, come in, and have a seat. Oh and you brought Growlithe along too, how are you doing mister?" Professor Grant said. Growlithe yipped happily at the attention.
"I'm glad to see you're doing okay after what happened. I know you had requested this week off for training before the big tournament, but I hope you haven't been pushing yourself too hard. Now tell me, what is so important that you could not wait another moment, but that you also have apparently been putting off telling me?" Professor Grant said.
"Well, you see, I am planning on leaving town, probably early next month, so I thought I had better give you, and the Academy, notice about it," Amelia said, fidgeting in her seat.
"Leaving? Well this is a little bit of a surprise. Do you have a specific destination in mind, or are you just intent on being somewhere else I wonder," Professor Grant mused.
"I'm planning to stop in a lot of different places, and to challenge the gyms all across the region. Colette and I both plan on leaving together to do it. We were waiting until after the tournament the gym is hosting at the end of the month," Amelia said.
"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. Well I'll be sorry to lose the extra help with the new students, but I'm glad you've set a new goal for yourself. Of course if and when you come back, there will be a place for you here if you so choose. I think you have a knack for teaching others to be honest," Professor Grant said.
"Thank you for being so understanding. I know that this is sort of short notice, I just had been putting off telling you in case I changed my mind," Amelia said.
"So you had doubts... but now it seems you have resolved them. Very good, if you proceed with confidence I'm sure you'll succeed," Professor Grant said.
"Have you told Darren yet? You two seem to get along well, I bet he'll be sorry to see you go," Professor Grant said lightly.
"I have... well actually I guess I haven't really told him directly. I think he knows, I thought Colette might have told him, but I guess we haven't really talked about it," Amelia said.
"Well you might consider making time to do so. You two have spent a lot of time working together, so at the very least he should hear about your departure from you and not me," Professor Grant said.
"You're right. Maybe I'll go see him now actually. I was planning on getting some training in, maybe I'll go to the gym. I bet he'll be there training," Amelia said.
"Really? Maybe you're better friends than I thought if you're so sure about where he is all the time," Professor Grant said with a mischievous grin. Amelia blushed.
"I don't know all the time; he might not even be there! I'm just guessing because the tournament is so close," Amelia said quickly.
Professor Grant laughed, "Well don't let me keep you from your training. I have some grading I want to finish before my next lecture anyway, so perhaps we should end our discussion here."
"Right, I don't want to take up any more of your time, I just wanted to let you know about my plans," Amelia said.
"Well thank you for doing so. If I don't see you again before, best of luck at the tournament! You too Growlithe, do your best!" Professor Grant said. Growlithe barked fiercely.
Amelia let herself out and headed down the hall. She hadn't told Darren, and now that seemed strange to her, and wrong somehow. He'd been very supportive, and they spent a fair amount of time together at the Academy, so why hadn't she? Rather than muse about the past, Amelia reasoned, she could remedy her mistake by telling him now. She decided to head to the Viridian City Gym, in the hopes of doing so. If she happened to get in some training time in the process, well that would just be a bonus wouldn't it?
