DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.

Chapter Thirteen

Not So Fluffy

The nurse behind the Centre reception desk opened her mouth slightly as she saw Carla approach, but then quickly shut it again. Carla didn't blame her. She was absolutely soaked. Her hair was plastered to her head and her jeans were sticking uncomfortably to her legs.

"Would you like to use our cleaning service?"

"Yes, please. And can I get my team healed as well?"

"Of course you may."

Once Carla had changed into her tracksuit, she knelt on the floor of the laundry room while her clothes span around in one of the washing machines. Sisi submitted to being groomed with a small brush Carla had bought in Slateport City. Carla kept an eye on Layla and Kess, who were running around the room and darting between the chair legs.

Layla may be sweet, but she's going to be a pretty tough battler. She's got speed and a powerful move our opponents won't see coming.

The door opened and a girl walked in. She wore tight black trousers, a dark purple T-shirt and a black jacket. She had blonde hair with a dyed purple streak, and looked as thought she was about eighteen years old.

"Hey," she said, dumping her duffel bag down on the floor. "Cute team you got there."

"Thanks." Carla ran the brush in a slow, soothing way down Sisi's back. "What do you have?"

The girl removed her washing from the bag and put it into the nearest washing machine. "Liepard, Umbreon, Sableye and Absol."

"You're a specialist?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna be a Gym Leader." She said the words with complete surety, as if there was no reason to doubt them.

Carla couldn't help but admire her confidence. "Good thing your Eevee evolved into Umbreon."

The girl grinned. "I know. Talk about lucky." Once she had turned the washing machine on, she sat down on a chair close to Carla. "I'm Rylene. Where you headed?"

"My name's Carla, and I'm going to Verdanturf."

"I just came from Verdanturf. Would have been a lot quicker if those goons hadn't checked my ID at both ends of Rusturf Tunnel."

Carla straightened her back quickly. "Goons? What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't worry. They're hired goons - hired to make sure nothing happens." Rylene's fingers made quotation marks in the air.

"Like what? And what are they doing there in the first place? There weren't hired goons the first time I passed through Rusturf." Carla patted Sisi's head, indicating the Electrike could get up now.

Rylene shifted about on her chair. "You ever heard of the Forels? Rich family, lives in Lilycove?"

"I've met a girl called Beatrice Forel."

"No way," Rylene scoffed. "You have not met Beatrice Forel."

"Yes, I have."

"Prove it."

Carla calmly responded to the challenge. "She's got curly blonde hair, light green eyes and a female Ralts named Elodine."

"Wow, OK. Well, recently little miss Forel got into trouble in Rusturf Tunnel. Some thieves tried to steal her precious Ralts, but this other kid got in the way. So after Beatrice went to the police, she called her daddy and told him about the bad guys."

Carla didn't blame Beatrice one bit - then realised that she hadn't told her father about the cabin incident, Clive and Gregory or about Ferry's theft.

She reminded herself that she was trying to become independent. Most trainers probably didn't contact their families about everything that happened to them. That meant getting through certain things alone.

Rylene continued speaking. "Thing is, daddy Forel isn't just rich. He's really well connected. Beatrice's mum is apparently Joseph Stone's niece."

"Hold on - Joseph Stone? Do you mean..."

"Steven Stone's dad, yeah. So Mr Forel arranged for those guys I told you about to guard both entrances of Rusturf Tunnel."

Carla picked Kess up and settled her on her lap. She began to brush the soft orange feathers. "Is that legal?"

Rylene shrugged. "Seems so. If the people who tried to steal the Ralts have anything resembling a brain in their heads, they'll lie low in Sinnoh for a few months." Carla was about to ask her what she meant by that when she said: "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You said you didn't see any goons the first time you went through Rusturf Tunnel. Have you already been to Verdanturf?"

Carla realised Rylene was bored and was trying to make conversation while her clothes went through the machines. "No. I was trying to get there, but things didn't work out."

"Life sucks. Hope it works out this time."

"Thanks."

xxx

The walk up to Rusturf Tunnel was surprisingly quiet. There weren't any humans on the road and the Pokémon in the area hadn't yet emerged after the heavy rain.

Carla loved the peaceful atmosphere. The muggy feeling in the air had disappeared, to be replaced by a gentle coolness. She inhaled the scent of wet grass as she walked, looking all around her at the damp leaves that still had tiny droplets hanging off them. The sun hadn't reappared yet; it probably wouldn't for a while.

She didn't want to disturb the scene, but she had to. She couldn't battle properly with only two functioning team members. Layla's training needed to start; that way, she'd be able to battle faster.

Carla hadn't bothered to change out of her tracksuit. She had transferred her team's Pokéballs to her jacket pocket before leaving the Centre, so she unzipped it and took out Layla's capsule. She called her Buneary out; Layla landed on the grass, looking around her before turning her hazel eyes to her trainer.

"OK, Layla, we're going to do a little gentle training." Carla intended to begin with objects before moving to living targets - Kess and Sisi, for instance.

She pointed towards a nearby tree. "Could you use Sky Uppercut on that branch there? The lowest one?"

Layla hopped over and looked up at the branch. She paused, did a small wiggling motion and jumped up, hitting the branch with one of her ears. The branch juddered violently, as did most of the tree. Drops of water showered onto the grass and Layla. The Buneary squeaked and shook herself before quickly grooming the drops out of her fur.

"You won't be able to do that when you're up against an opponent," Carla warned her. "They won't wait until you're nice and clean before attacking. OK, can you try that again?"

Layla leaped into the air again. This time, the branch shattered off the tree and landed on the grass.

"Wow," Carla breathed. "You're strong, aren't you?"

Then she realised what had just happened. Using rocks for practice was one thing, but she was certain that breaking trees - accidentally or otherwise - was different.

"Think it's time we got out of here." She placed the broken branch against the tree, picked up Layla and hurried off. After a few minutes, she came across two berry trees. She picked two berries off each one and slipped them into her bag. Good thing they keep for so long.

"All right, using trees is a bad idea. Let's see what other moves you know."

Carla scanned Layla with her Pokédex. Looking around them, she saw there were a number of stockier trees.

Let's stick with rocks and trunks from now on. "Use Pound on that tree there."

Layla hopped over and hit the tree repeatedly with her ears. A Taillow flew out of the leaves, chattering angrily.

She's really strong for such a young Pokémon. I think she's been bred to be a battler.

Carla grinned to herself. She couldn't wait to see just how powerful her team was going to be.

xxx

Carla could see the rocky outline of Rusturf Tunnel ahead of her. To her surprise, she had approached it from a different angle than last time. She could see one of the 'hired goons' Rylene had spoken about. He was standing a little way away from the tunnel entrance, his hands in his pockets, looking completely relaxed.

He had his back to Carla.

Slowly, carefully, Carla began to creep forwards, all the while keeping her eyes on the figure. The dark excitement was back, darting through her veins. She kept her breathing slow and quiet, her hands pressed against the cold, damp rock.

Before long, her fingers met the craggy edge of the tunnel's entrance. She slipped inside, expecting to hear a shout of outrage or to bump into the other 'goon'. Instead, she felt cool mist on her face. A Whismur toddled across the path in front of her.

Carla walked on, her feet making very little sound on the rocky ground. She had no idea why she had avoided the guard instead of just approaching him and showing him her ID. There was no way she would be able to get past the other one.

Is this an adrenaline rush? she thought. If it is, no wonder people say they enjoy it so much.

To be continued…