CHAPTER 11 – TEMPERS RUN HIGH, MEMORIES RUN DRY

Ari and Leoric were walking along the western coastline of the island, Leoric's Salamence flying overhead as another of Ari's Pokémon, a Honchkrow, tried to keep pace with it. The two Trainers made their way towards a small formation of rocks, and sent out their other Pokémon to enjoy the morning sun before their battles. As Ari's Pokémon frolicked around with Leoric's, the latter looked at his friend with a serious eye. Ari tried to ignore the stare for a while, but it soon got on his nerves.

"What?!" he asked, exasperated.

"How come you didn't come back to the hotel room last night?" Leoric inquired.

"Oh, I accidentally fell asleep over at Ash's place," said Ari, a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that."

Leoric grunted. "Yeah, with someone too, no doubt."

"Well, Dawn and I fell asleep on the lounge together, if that's what you mean," Ari retorted. Leoric fell silent, but kept staring at Ari like he did before.

"WHAT?!" asked Ari wildly.

"You know 'what'," said Leoric coolly. "You've got some part of you in everywhere, don't you?" he taunted.

Ari rose to his feet. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, bad choice of words," apologised Leoric, shrugging his hands. "But you get my point."

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Ari said. He did, of course, but he wanted to hear Leoric say it himself.

Leoric sighed. He knew he was going to have to speak up. Even so, it took him a moment to phrase his statement to try and make it sound less insulting. "This relationship of yours," he said slowly, "with Dawn."

"Great, first Ash interrogates me about it, and now you're going to follow up?" Ari said, kicking at the rough earth and small rocks.

"I'm not interrogating anybody," Leoric fired back, his temper rising. "I'm talking to you as an old friend. As your best friend."

Ari sat down, but still remained cautious. "What do you want to know?" he asked coolly.

"Well for one, are you and her—" Leoric began, but before he finished his question, Ari realised what he was implying, and cut him off with a roar.

"Come on, Leo! I'm fifteen, fifteen! And Dawn's twelve! TWELVE!" he screamed at his friend. "And to answer your question, you sick-headed dolt, no we're not! In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind for a second until you had to drag it in there, lights flashing and sirens sounding!"

"Alright then, ALRIGHT!" Leoric was also yelling, and their Pokémon turned around to listen at what was causing their Trainers to shout. "Geez, I was just asking, it's not like I wanted details…" he said, slumping.

"Ah, forget about it," said Ari, catching his breath and sitting down on a flat rock after his attack. After a long silence, he looked over at Leoric, who was fidgeting with a large leaf, shredding it piece by piece. "Look, man, sorry for having a go at you, but come on, you ask me a question like that, after I've been in a relationship for what, not even one day, and you've got to expect me to be a bit ticked off," he said. Leoric knew that this was the best he could hope for in the way of an apology.

"Apology accepted," he said, smirking. Ari grinned and threw a rock at him. He looked over and saw his and Leoric's Pokémon hastily return to their activities. He laughed and turned back around. "I swear, sometimes those Pokémon are worse than nosy neighbours," he muttered quietly. Leoric looked at the Pokémon and chuckled.

"Speaking of Pokémon, where's Horazon?" he asked Ari, noticing that the Dusknoir was absent among Ari's other Pokémon.

"I decided not to put him in the first couple of rounds," Ari answered, grabbing a leaf of his own.

This news surprised Leoric; he was sure that Ari would use his signature Pokémon in his opening battles. "Why not?" he asked Ari earnestly, who responded with silence. Leoric, however, discovered an answer on his own. "Not because of Paul, I hope?" he said, hoping to provoke a response.

Indeed, Leoric got a response out of Ari. But it wasn't what he expected; instead of Ari getting angry or upset at the mention of his name, Ari just smiled and shook his head. "No, that's not the reason. I need to give my other Pokémon some good match practice before the tournament hits the sharp end. I have no intentions of losing before the final match, or of losing at all," he added with a wry smile.

"Good, because I want to beat you at your best," said Leoric arrogantly. "Just like I did at Mt. Silver," he added.

"That was a complete fluke," Ari challenged. "And you know it. You won that tournament because you got lucky," he remarked.

Leoric laughed. "Whatever, you got taken down, Ari. By me, Leoric, the better Trainer," he said provokingly. Then he stopped and scratched his head. "Speaking of better Trainers," he started. "What's stopped your big tirade against Paul?" he asked.

Ari glanced at him in surprise. Then he thought for a moment. "I'm not sure," he said truthfully. "Maybe I finally realised that he really isn't worth hating. He's just a miserable you-know-what that can, well, do to himself what you thought Dawn and I were doing," he added. Leoric thought about what he said, then realised what he meant. While he shouted at Ari for being sick in the head, Ari just sat back and laughed as Leoric smacked himself in the head to erase the mental image he'd put in his mind.

"Oh, quit being such a baby," he said, controlling his laughter. "It's not like your little display in front of Ash and the others last night was any more tasteful. Or less humiliating," he added with a grimace. "So now we're even."

Leoric scowled. "Fine, we're even. For now," he added, with a grin. "But seriously, man, I think all that puppy love for Dawn has gotten to your head."

Ari went red. "I wouldn't call it that," he said, shifting uncomfortably on his rock. "But now that you mention it…" he said cunningly. Leoric couldn't resist asking.

"Yes, what, what?!" asked Leoric, desperately.

"I heard a rumour yesterday," said Ari, snickering. "According to one of my 'sources', there's someone high up who has a bit of puppy love for Ash."

Leoric laughed, thinking that Ari was joking. "You're kidding, right? Ash has a secret admirer?" He looked at Ari, who was looking quite complacently at some Taillow flying overhead. The laugh disappeared off Leoric's face as quickly as if a Koffing had just breathed on him. He was flabbergasted. "You're serious, aren't you?" he asked Ari disbelievingly.

Ari nodded. "Yep," he said simply, following the Taillow until they disappeared behind the line of buildings.

"Well, who is it?" Leoric demanded.

Ari laughed slyly. "I'm not telling you!" he said. "The whole world will end up knowing before Ash does! And knowing who she is, that won't be hard!"

"Alright then," said Leoric, angry and disappointed. "Well, do I at least know her?"

Ari thought for a minute. "Yeah, you've met her once… or twice," he said, with another cunning grin.

Leoric's temper was reaching its limit. "Come on man, tell me who she is!" he said furiously. Ari just chuckled, clearly amused by his friend's tantrum. Just as Leoric was about to lose it, he noticed someone walking along the coastline towards them. He shaded his eyes in the glare of the rising sun to get a better look.

"Hey, Ari," he muttered. "Is that Dawn?" he asked. Ari stood up and squinted over.

"No, Dawn's hair is blue, like her eyes," said Ari, somewhat dreamily. Leoric snorted and shook his head.

Hopeless romantic, he thought. "What's the hair colour then, Eyes-Of-Wooper?" he asked Ari mockingly.

Ari peered over at the incoming figure. "Purple… maybe a mauve?" said Ari, not helping Leoric.

Suddenly, Ari let out a bark of a laugh. Leoric jumped. "What?" he asked.

Ari's eyes glinted. "I know who our mystery guest is," he said, and Leoric once again squinted to get a look at the incomer. He saw a young-looking Trainer, male, and slight of build. He really seemed to like the colour purple, Leoric thought, because most, if not all, of his clothing was shaded purple to some degree. The only part of the outfit that wasn't purple was the lower half of the shirt, which was white with gold trim. Something stirred in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember what it was.

The unknown Trainer came closer, looked at the other two Trainers properly, and said, "Ah, it's good to see the two of you again."

"And you too," said Ari, walking forwards. He grabbed the Trainer's hand, lifted it up towards him, and kissed it lightly on the back of the palm.

"Hopeless romantic, you are," the Trainer said, cheeks tinged pink.

Leoric was agape. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining it, but he quickly regained his composure. "Um, Ari, I know you're friendly and all," said Leoric hurriedly. "But, uh, why on earth did you just kiss that guy's hand?!"

Ari and the Trainer looked at him, surprised. Ari let go of the Trainer's hand while the latter stepped towards Leoric. "Don't you remember me, Leoric?" said the Trainer.

"Yes, but I can't remember your name," said Leoric, struggling with his memory.

Ari looked at him sympathetically. "Well, to avoid further confusion, let me clear this out for you. This is Anabel, a female Trainer, one of the Frontier Brains. And a fine good one at that," he added charmingly, making Anabel blush and shake her head as Leoric smacked himself in the head stupidly.

"I swear, Ari, you need a girlfriend," said a giggling Anabel. Leoric took this as a chance to redeem himself from his embarrassing blunder. Besides, he was feeling gossipy after not knowing the identity of Ash's admirer.

"Well, you'd be surprised, Anabel," said Leoric. "He's got one."

Anabel was surprised. "And here I thought you'd always remain a bachelor," she said, in a mock-disapproving tone. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

Ari smiled and tapped a finger on the side of his nose. "I don't think you know her, so sorry, Anabel, but you'll have to wait until a bit later. We've all got to get ready for the first round of matches. You included, I hope?"

"Of course!" said Anabel defiantly. "I'm in the tournament, and I hope you are, too, Leo?"

"Ditto," Leoric fired back cheerfully.

"Oh, poor little Ditto, thinks he's people," crooned Anabel in a honey-sweet tone, pinching Leoric on the cheek. Leoric swatted her hand away.

"Argh! Get away from me!" he said, ruffling his clothes. "Crazy woman…" he muttered to himself.

Anabel suppressed another giggle as the other two Trainers recalled their Pokémon to their respective PokéBalls. "Well, come on, boys," she suggested, waving with her arm as they caught up to her. They walked off to the east, heading for the conglomerate of stadiums on the island's eastern side.

"Which stadium are we going to?" asked Anabel innocently.

"Stadium 28," answered Leoric.

"We're going to see a new friend of ours, and an old friend of yours, Anabel," said Ari mysteriously, smirking.

"Sounds fun," said Anabel, half-sarcastically as they walked.

"So Leoric, do you have a girlfriend?"


Trivia:

*Leoric – despite having supposedly met Anabel before – makes the same mistake that Ash upon meeting Anabel for the first time, mistaking her for a male.

*Ditto are purple, which may have contributed to Anabel's tone when talking to Leoric as though he were one.

Quiz:

*In "Talking A Good Game", what Pokémon did Anabel help at a lake, by removing a stick from its side?