Hey guys, Captain here with another update for Rise to the Challenge, for those who still read and review it anyway. Well, summer has officially come to a close and what better way to do so with one final update for Rise to the Challenge for a Labor Day treat? This chapter is just shy of 8000 words alone, excluding the authors notes that will be in it, so I hope you enjoy the long chapter. Fun fact, in my Microsoft Word Document for the story, I'm 10 pages away from reaching 200 pages. That's pretty impressive, get on that! Gloating aside, I hope you enjoy the little bits I've thrown in the chapter here and please read the author's note at the end since it's important. Now without further delay, let's get to the chapter.
Bold- Message Bulletin/PA System/Plaques
Italics- Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks
Bold Italics- TV/Radio/Pokedex (AKA Dexter) Descriptions/Xtransreceiver Messages/Xtransreceiver Conversations
The morning blue sky was once again overcast with thick grey and black clouds. It had been raining constantly for the past couple days and it was starting to make things a little difficult for Tom. With the grass bogged down from the heavy downpours and the wood wet, he couldn't start a fire. He was also running low on his food supply, so unless he found his friends soon, he would have to pray to come across a convenience store or a farm near the road. His ankle was still in rough shape as well. The sprain he had wasn't bad, but it was becoming an annoying hindrance to him.
Tom sighed and glanced at Sparks. He was munching down on his last container of Pokémon food. Tom pulled out his Xtransreceiver and tried to see if he could get a signal again. If he was unsuccessful, then he would have to go and try to find an area where he could get reception. Standing up gingerly with his injured ankle, he looked down at Sparks who finished gulping down the last of his food.
"Come on buddy, we gotta get going," Tom said, slinging his bag on his shoulder.
"Chu!" Sparks nodded.
Tom squatted down and draped a small raincoat that was specially made for a small Pokémon around Sparks. He pulled up the hood up over Sparks' head and received a thank you for doing so. Tom pulled the hood of his own rain poncho over his head to shield it from the heavy rain. He grabbed the tree branch that he managed to make into a walking stick to help take the stress off of his ankle and began to walk forward. Grabbing the Xtransreceiver, he kept it at the ready on his hip to check for signals.
He continued his limp through the wood and cursed each time he stepped wrong and sent a sharp pain through his ankle. Hopefully there was a Pokémon center nearby that he could stop at to get his ankle inspected. Sparks would send a worried glance at him every now and then before returning his focus to the terrain. Tom stopped and checked the Xtransreceiver again to see if it managed to pick up a signal. When nothing showed on the screen, he trucked it away once again. He took another step and felt his stomach drop as his foot slipped out from under him. Not being able to regain his balance, he fell to the ground and tumbled down the wet hill and into a muddy ditch. He bared his teeth in pain and slammed his fist into the muck. Sparks landed with a small splat after sliding down the hill and put his paws on Tom's shoulder.
Tom looked up at his partner's concerned face and gave a grimace. He grunted as he pushed himself out of the deep mud pit and groaned. He rubbed Sparks' head and stood up, swiping any extra mud off of his clothes. Clutching the stick as tight as he could, he continued his march through the swamp. His feet would make a squish with each step he took in the foul smelling substance. Sparks was struggling as he waded through the mud. The mud was almost up to his neck and Tom knew he would have to carry Sparks on his shoulders to keep him from either getting swallowed by the marsh or getting stuck. Tom stabbed his stick into the muck and pulled Sparks out of the steep mire and had him rest on top of his bag. Sparks hugged Tom's neck and placed his paws on his shoulders to maintain his balance.
"There you go, Sparks. No need for you to burn up your energy trying to cross through the grime here." Tom grinned.
"Chu," Sparks nodded, resting his paws on top of Tom's head.
Tom grinned again and continued his trudge through the mud. As he continued to glance at the Xtransreceiver after a couple hundred paces, his mind drifted to old memories he had. The most prominent memory that came to his head was when he first received Sparks before he started on his first journey as a Pokémon Trainer. He could remember it just like it was yesterday when he met his bottomless pit of a partner. If one were to look at them now, they would see a pair of inserperable friends. However, when Tom and Sparks first met, the relationship was one-sided. Tom chuckled as he relived the memory in his head.
/Flashback Seven Years Previously/
Tom was standing in the living room of his house and bouncing on the balls of his heels as he waited for his dad to give him his Pokémon. He was hoping it would be a strong Pokémon since his dad was a strong trainer. Having a strong Pokémon that was descended from one of his dad's Pokémon would definitely help him on his journey to be a Pokémon Master. He caught sight of his mother, Alice, as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Right, all boys grow up and leave someday," Alice began, smiling as she leaned on the frame. "First Marcus left and now it's your turn to do the same."
"It feels weird, but I know I'll be fine." Tom added.
"I felt the same way, Tom. Don't forget, you can always come home whenever you want."
"I'll definitely stay in contact with you and Dad, Mom."
Alice smiled and walked over to her youngest son. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a bone crushing hug. Tom felt his breath get cut off and he began flailing his arms. Alice remained oblivious to Tom's struggle for air as she continued hugging him.
"I'm going to miss you, Tom. Please come home sometimes. It's already hard enough that Marcus doesn't do it anymore." Alice said.
"Alice, you're going to kill the boy before he can even start his journey," Roy said as he marched into the room.
"Well forgive me I want to have one last moment with my son before he leaves, Roy!"
Roy rolled his eyes and pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket. Alice released her death grip on Tom who gasped for air as he found himself freed from his mother's clutches. He shook his head and adjusted his hat before turning to his dad. Roy set the red and white Pokeball on the table between them and folded his arms behind his back. Tom had a grin that threatened to split his face in two as he stared at the Pokeball. Roy smirked as he looked at his youngest son with pride as he was getting ready to start his adventure.
"You excited, Tom?" Roy asked.
"Heck yeah, Sir!" Tom nodded.
"Good, now I'm about to give you a Pokémon that I believe will be the best starter for you."
"What kind of Pokémon is it, Dad?"
"Why don't you open the Pokeball and find out for yourself?"
Tom nodded and stepped over to the table to pick up the small capsule. As he held it in his hand, he inspected it. On the front of the ball were the initials 'TL' inscribed in a lightning bolt design. He held the Pokeball out and pushed the small white button to release the Pokémon inside. The Pokeball opened with a crack and a white light appeared and took the shape of a small Pokémon on the table before him. When the white glow vanished, it revealed a Raichu. It opened its eyes and looked up at Tom with a blank expression.
"Aw, sweet, a Raichu!" Tom grinned.
"I figured that you'd like him. So why don't you two get acquainted?" Roy suggested.
"Don't need to tell me twice."
Tom walked up to Raichu and picked him up in his hands. For a small Pokémon he was quite heavy. Raichu's eyes narrowed a little bit as he was picked up and he began to channel some electricity. Tom was completely oblivious of his new partner's intentions as he hugged him.
"We're going to make a great team, Raichu!" Tom declared.
"Chu…" Raichu muttered, as he began to growl.
Roy walked over to Alice and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He wasn't paying attention to Tom and Raichu's interaction and completely forgot to warn him about the precaution he needed to take with Raichu. Alice, however, was looking a little nervous as she eyed Raichu. He now had a mischievous look plastered on his face as he looked at Tom.
"Those two will make a hell of a team." Roy beamed.
"Um, honey, not that I'm not happy about this, but did you remember to tell Tom about the powerful shocks a Raichu could deal to something?" Alice interjected.
"He'll be fine. Besides, those shocks aren't too bad. It'll help build his pain tolerance for sure."
"Roy, Raichu can shock something with over 100,000 volts. Are you sure that he'll be okay if he gets electrocuted?"
"Wait, 100,000? I thought it was 75,000?"
"No, Roy, that's a Pikachu!"
Roy bit his lip and turned to look at Tom who was completely ignorant of the fact that Raichu was preparing to shock him. Just before Roy could warn Tom, Raichu unleashed a large shock that enveloped him. Tom went rigid as he clutched Raichu in a tight grip after being shocked.
"Arrrrggh!" Tom yelled out.
"Tom, I forgot to warn you about the 100,000 volts Raichu can shock something with. That's why it's best to use rubber gloves when handling a new electric Pokémon!" Roy hollered.
Raichu stopped his attack and Tom would give a twitch from the powerful shock. He turned back to his dad looking livid and Roy knew that he deserved that look.
"Thanks for the warning, jackass!" Tom hissed.
"Okay, I had that one coming so I'll let that slide." Roy admitted. "I have to say it was funny to see you light up like a Christmas tree though."
"Shut-up, Dad."
"Alright, I'll stop. Now, you can start your journey. Be careful and remember what your mother and I taught you."
Tom shook off the pain and set Raichu back on the table and recalled him back into the Pokeball. Raichu didn't look too pleased when Tom ordered him back in and glared at him until the ball forced him back inside. Tom sighed and attached the ball to his side so he could start walking but was surprised when the ball opened once again and Raichu appeared. He crossed his arms and glared up at Tom. Tom glared right back as they both tried to overpower the other in a stare down. Roy and Alice both gave a laugh as they looked at the pair of them. It would be interesting to see how they would try to resolve their resentment towards each other. As Tom and Raichu glared at each other, they both had similar thoughts.
"This fat little turd is my partner from here on out?" Tom thought, eying Raichu. "This is going to be a long trip."
"This scrawny punk ass kid is my master? Arceus must hate me," Raichu thought, glaring at Tom.
From that point on, Tom and Raichu would have to try and get along to the best of their ability.
/Flashback End/
Tom let a laugh escape him and glanced at Sparks out of the corner of his eye. His best friend was draped over him and sleeping once again. He must have been tired from jumping through the mud. Tom pulled out the Xtransreceiver and held it up in the air once again. No bars appeared on his screen. He tried turning in different directions, desperate to get a connection. Nothing came up and Tom sighed, putting away the device. If he couldn't get a signal, then he would just have to find the nearest road and go from there. Looking at the ground, he could see some footprints in the mud. He finally had something to go on and that made his spirits rise. Pulling out his compass, he began to determine his heading. He was going southwest at 140 degrees.
"Alright, here we go." Tom muttered.
Tom snapped his compass shut and started to move again. His eyes kept looking at the ground to keep himself knowing of the track. As he followed the trail, he noticed that the muddy marsh was beginning to lessen and the path led through a thicket of trees. Tom gave one last tug and freed himself from the quagmire and gave a triumphant whoop as he stood on the forest floor. His outburst jarred Sparks from his sleep and he gave a stretch. Looking around, Sparks found that they were finally out of the marsh and jumped off of Tom's shoulder. He landed on the ground with a small thump and began kissing it.
"Glad to be back on solid ground, Sparks?" Tom asked.
"Chu!" Sparks replied, nodding his head.
Sparks stood up and continued to follow the trail that Tom managed to trace. He decided to keep his guard up against any wild Pokémon that may inhabit the area. With Tom being injured, there would be no way he could run or defend himself should he get attacked. Tom heard a twig snap in the distance and Sparks quickly turned his attention to the source of the noise. Not seeing anything, Tom figured it was another Pokémon but was caught off guard when a girl burst through the bushes.
The girl had pale skin, long brown hair that was tied into a high pony tail and electrifying blue eyes. She was wearing black and pink boots, blue short shorts, a white tank top, a sleeveless black vest over the tank top and a pink billed baseball hat with a pink Pokeball on the front. The girl gave a startled cry as she crashed into Tom, knocking the pair of them to the ground. The girl gave a groan as she pushed herself up to regain her senses, forgetting that she was sitting on the boy she accidently tackled.
"Ouch," The girl muttered. "What did I just hit?"
"That solid thing you just crashed into was me," Tom replied.
The girl looked down and found she was now straddling the boy she collided with. Her face heated up with embarrassment and she quickly got off of him, bumping Tom's ankle in the process. Tom gave a sharp hiss at the pain that shot through his injured ankle. The girl bowed her head and began uttering apologies.
"I am so sorry!" The girl apologized. "I was being chased by some Pokémon and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"Hey, it's alright," Tom answered, dismissing the apology with a wave of his hand. "It was an accident and it's not every day that you get tackled by a cute girl."
The girl's face turned red at the comment and she gave a giggle.
"I guess not," The girl nodded. "So what's your name?"
"Thomas Sandbourne, but you can call me Tom or Tommy, whatever floats your boat." Tom replied, giving a grin. "What about you? What's your name?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even introduce myself! My name is White."
"Well, White, it's nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Tommy."
White stood up and dusted off some of the mud from her clothes. Tom felt a little guilty for getting her dirty after she slammed into him. White held out her hand and Tom grabbed it. She gave a tug and pulled Tom to his feet. Tom had to give White credit for her strength since he was a pretty heavy guy. Not all girls can pull a guy up that weighs around 170 pounds.
Once Tom was back on his feet, Sparks pushed up the makeshift walking stick. White took notice of Sparks and she cocked her head in curiosity. She squatted down and looked Sparks right in the eyes, receiving a quizzical look in return. White must have been raised here in Unova since she was studying Sparks with great interest.
"Who's this little guy?" White asked.
"That is my first Pokémon and my partner, Sparks. He's a Raichu in case you were wondering." Tom replied.
"Ah, I thought he was a Raichu! I remember seeing one on the Pokémon Battle Network."
"You watch the Pokémon Battle Network? Nice! How long have you been watching it?"
"Ever since I could remember, Tommy. You've looking at the girl that's going to be Champion of Unova."
"Well, you'll have to defeat me first. I'm aiming to do the same thing."
White stood up after scratching Sparks under his chin. Tom was fairly surprised when Sparks didn't release an electrical discharge. He must either really like White or trust her after he saw her interact with Tom. White crossed her arms and smirked at Tom. She walked over to him and looked him in the eyes.
"Well aren't you the confident cocky one?" White inquired.
"I could say the same to you," Tom smirked back, keeping the stare.
"Fair enough."
"So what exactly are you doing out here?"
"I was out here helping a friend of mine with her research and we ended up forgetting something. So I came out here looking for it and that's when I gathered the attention of a bunch of Whirlipede and they ended up chasing me. What about you?"
"I've been stuck here for the past two days after separating from my friends. I chased a Snivy through the woods here and caught it but got held up with the stormy weather we've been having."
"Oh, well you look rough I'll give you that."
"Heh, thanks. I've been trying to get back to the main road. I'm trying to get a signal for my Xtransreceiver to contact my friends but I've had no luck so far."
"Well, you're in luck. The road is really close by and there's also a Pokémon Center too."
"Good, I needed to catch a break and it seems I finally have."
Tom tried to move his ankle again but another sharp pain went through it. He clutched his stick hard and rested his forehead against his hands. White bit her lip as she saw Tom's discomfort and knew that he would have difficulty reaching his destination.
"Hey, Tom, how about I give you a hand? I'm sure you can handle yourself, but if I help you I can save you some time." White offered.
"Guess I'd have to thank you for being a guardian angel then," Tom chuckled. "I'd appreciate the help. I know I've already increased the tension in my ankle from walking and falling a couple times."
White smiled at the compliment and walked over to Tom. She slung her pink bag to her side and wrapped Tom's free arm around her shoulders and held it in place while she placed her other arm around his lower back. Tom began to divert all his weight to his other ankle to take pressure off of his sprained ankle. He turned to White and gave her one of his trademark grins and a thumbs up.
"Alright, White, let's go." Tom said.
"Yeah, the faster we get you off that ankle the better you'll be." White agreed.
The pair of them hobbled through the woods and the occasional muddy pits and slopes. After a quarter of an hour, they came across a large dirt road and Tom felt a grin spread across his face. He was back on the main road and that made things a lot easier for him. He had White stop moving so he could check the strength of his Xtransreceiver. Glancing at the screen, he saw that he had three bars worth of reception and started to do his inner victory dance. Tom activated the Xtransreceiver and dialed up the Vanessa's number since she was the person who called him last.
"Hey you've reached Vanessa. I am not available right now, but if you leave your name and a brief message I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks much and have a good day." Vanessa's voicemail announced.
"Hey Vanessa, it's Tom. Listen, I would have replied sooner but I had no reception. I am currently on the main road to Nacrene City and I have been informed that there is a Pokémon Center around here somewhere. I'm going to be resting there to clean up and get my ankle checked out. So hopefully you get this message soon so you're not out in the woods looking for me for another day. Talk to you later," Tom said, finishing his message and closing his Xtransreceiver.
"So was that your girlfriend you were talking to?"
"Don't have a girlfriend at this time. I'm flying solo. Why, are you jealous?"
White rolled her eyes and her cheeks turned a little pink again with the flirting. Tom smirked as they continued their trek down the dampened path. Sparks hopped up on top of Tom's shoulders and rested his paws on his hat. As they continued down the road, a light rain began to come down and soak them. White stopped them and pulled off her hat and looked up at the sky. She held her arms out and embraced the rain as it continued to soak her. Tom watched as White welcomed the rain and it added to her beauty. He felt his face heat up a little bit but he shook the flush off and waited for her to put her hat back on so they could resume their walk.
"Do you enjoy rain showers, White?" Tom asked.
"I do, actually," White nodded, looking Tom in the eyes. "I would always go outside when I was a kid and splash around in the puddles with my friends."
"So you are an outdoors girl?"
"You know it! What about you?"
Tom winced as White started to help him down the path again. With him being a farm boy all of his life, that answer was a given yes.
"I'm a farm boy, so I was outside every day, even if I was sick," Tom laughed. "My mom always hated it when I did that."
"Ah, okay, so you would spend your days in the fields and woods and the mud."
"Yeah, that's the only way you can truly grow up in the countryside anyway."
White was about to speak again but stopped when she heard a jingle coming from her bag. She apologized to Tom for the stop and the wait so she could answer her Xtransreceiver. Looking at the ID, her eyes lit up a little bit when she saw who it was. The person who was trying to reach her was her friend that she was traveling with earlier, Chris Walker.
"Hey Chris, what's up?" White asked.
"Well I'm wondering what's taking you so long. You've been gone for a long time and I've been waiting for you to come back with the gear." Chris replied.
"Oh shoot! Chris, I'm sorry, I completely spaced on you. I got the gear but I ended up being chased by a bunch of Whirlipede and I ran away. I ended up bumping into another guy here and he's actually hurt. I'm taking him to the Pokémon Center on route three. So if you want to meet me there then that'd be great."
"Fine, I guess I'll see you there."
White disconnected the call and put the device back in her bag. She felt bad for forgetting about Chris, but she knew that Chris would let it slide eventually. The way she looked at it, she had a valid reason as to why she forgot to contact Chris in the first place. She shrugged the thought off and she stepped off with Tom once again. By this time, White was beginning to grow weary after supporting Tom through the woods and the mud for a little over a mile. She knew they were nearly to the Pokémon Center and that gave her another boost of energy to get out of the rain and into the hospitality provided by the resting area.
White and Tom reached the top of the hill the road led to and their eyes fell upon the iconic red roof of the Pokémon Center. Tom and White looked at each other and grinned. They were almost there and for the first time in a long time, Tom couldn't wait to go inside and rest for a bit. Aside his wounded ankle, he was positive he was coming down with a cold.
"Look at that, we're almost there." White stated.
"Yeah, let's get moving. We could both use some rest." Tom added.
Their speed increased from the momentum they gained as they careened down the hill. Tom was now doing a scampering hop to the front door of the center with White by his side. He ended up having her stop helping him so he could give her a chance to relax without helping him down the slippery hill. The front doors of the Pokémon Center slid open and Tom and White trudged inside, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind them. They gave a shiver as the air condition met their already drenched clothes. A nurse that was walking to the front desk spotted them and wasted no time in hurrying over to them to see if they needed help.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center," the nurse greeted. "How may we start helping you today?"
"Where are the changing rooms and is there a doctor that can take a look at my ankle?" Tom asked.
"Of course. The changing rooms are down the hall there to the left and I can go get the doctor that's upstairs. I just need your names and I can give you two your rooms."
"I'm Thomas Sandbourne."
"My name is White," White answered, taking off her hat and shaking her head free of any extra water.
"Alright, Mr. Sandbourne and Ms. White, you can use changing rooms two and three. Mr. Sandbourne, I'll tell the doctor to drop by your room within the hour."
"Alright, sounds good."
The nurse turned on his heel and made his way over to the reception area to record their information. Tom and White traversed the hallway that the nurse told them to and came across a series of doors with numbers on the. Tom's room was on the left and White's room was on the right.
"I guess I'll see you in a bit, Tommy," White said, dismissing herself with a wave.
"Yeah, definitely." Tom nodded.
White entered her room and Tom followed suit as he and Sparks entered their room. Tom closed the door and limped over to the bathroom with his bag. He set his bag on the ground and rummaged through it to pull out his hygiene products and a fresh set of clothes. Sparks shed the mini raincoat that he had and placed it by Tom's bag. He gave a stretch and leaned against the bag to close his eyes. He would have to wait for Tom to finish cleaning himself up before he could get a bath.
"Why don't you get some sleep buddy? I'll be in and out before you even know it and then we can get you cleaned up." Tom suggested.
"Chu," Sparks nodded, closing his eyes.
Sparks was out as soon as he closed his eyes and Tom rubbed is head gently before entering the bathroom to clean himself up.
Meanwhile, three miles away in the woods, Corey, Eri, Elliott, Kenta and Vanessa were finishing cleaning up the campsite. They were all cold and soaked from the surprise rain shower and that made them eager to find some form of shelter again to change into dry clothes and prevent themselves from getting sick. Corey slung his bag over his shoulders and put on his sunglasses to shield his eyes from the rain. He looked around at his companions to see how they were doing with their tasks to get themselves ready to go.
Kenta zipped up his bag after pulling out his poncho and pulling the hood over his head. Eri was shivering a little bit under the yellow raincoat she was wearing and Pino was dancing around Eri in the rain in a jolly manner. Vanessa stood in a bored fashion and rocked on the balls of her heels as she waited for Corey to make the call to move. Elliott was grumbling about the rain as she put on her raincoat in a hurry.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Corey asked.
"Ready when you are, Corey." Kenta replied.
"I'm ready to go." Eri answered.
"Same here." Vanessa nodded.
"Did you even need to ask? Let's get out of this rain!" Elliott said.
Corey nodded after hearing all of his friends give their confirmation and started to move. When they were woken up by the rain, Corey came up with a new plan. The plan was to now make their way back to route three's main road and continue southwest to Nacrene City. Once on the road, they would continue until they got to the Pokémon Center. Corey remembered seeing a location for one on the road where it was ten miles away from Nacrene City itself. Once they got to the center, they would hold up there and see if they could get a signal for their Xtransreceivers to contact Tom.
They would leave him a message and inform him where they were at and hopefully he would find them. If that didn't work, they would have to try a different approach. Corey pulled out his old trusty compass that his father gave him before his very first journey and tried to find the heading. Southwest was at 45 degrees and he snapped his compass shut, but kept it ready to keep referring to it to be sure they were on the same direction.
"So how do you think Tom's holding up right now?" Vanessa asked.
"I'm sure he's fine," Corey shrugged. "Either way, he's been gone for two and a half days now and the weather hasn't been on our side. So right now I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he may be stuck in the swamps around here or held up with a fever or something. However, Tom's a tough son of a bitch, so I'm pretty sure he may be on his way to the same Pokémon Center we're going to now."
"I hope you're right," Eri said, biting her lip and crossing her arms.
"He's probably fine. Corey's right." Kenta agreed. It would be best to maintain an optimistic view on the situation.
"I'm sure he's fine, Eri. You shouldn't worry about him too much. He's an experienced trainer, so he's probably been in a couple of encounters like this one." Elliott assured.
Eri let Elliott's words process through her head and she did have a point. The whole group was right, but she still was concerned for her friend. Corey opened his compass again to check the direction and closed it after confirming they were still on course. If he remembered the map right, they were close to the Pokémon Center and near the road. After walking for another ten minutes, Corey's eyes notice a large dirt path and he identified it as the main route. He felt a grin spread across his face and started to make his way through the bushes.
Corey turned around and beckoned for the others to follow his lead. Once they broke through the trees and marched on to the main road, they felt relief take them. It was all downhill from here and there was no need to use compass anymore. Corey pocketed his compass and was about to continue down the road, but he stopped when he heard a jingle come from Vanessa's bag.
The whole group turned to Vanessa and she was already digging for her Xtransreceiver. Vanessa gave a hard tug and managed to pull out the small device. She looked at the screen and her eyes lit up when she saw that there was a voicemail from Tom.
"Guys, come here for a second I got a voicemail from Tom!" Vanessa said with a grin.
"Really?" Kenta asked.
"How long ago was it left?" Corey queried.
"Hold on a second, I'll put the voicemail on speaker. To answer your question Corey, it says it was left about half an hour ago, so I guess we'll find out."
Vanessa pressed the speaker button and went into the voicemail. After selecting the message, she pressed play. The whole group felt smiles make their way across their faces when they heard Tom's voice.
"Hey Vanessa, it's Tom. Listen, I would have replied sooner but I had no reception. I am currently on the main road to Nacrene City and I have been informed that there is a Pokémon Center around here somewhere. I'm going to be resting there to clean up and get my ankle checked out. So hopefully you get this message soon so you're not out in the woods looking for me for another day. Talk to you later." Tom said.
When the message ended, Vanessa pocketed the Xtransreceiver. They all let out a sigh of relief to hear that their friend was still in one piece. The only thing that concerned them was his ankle injury but they would find out the extent of the damage when they talked to him later. To make things easier, he was resting at the Pokémon Center that Corey was taking them to. Corey looked at his group and smirked.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to run to the Pokémon Center. I want to get the heck out of this rain and relax. Walking in the rain will take too long and it's a complete drag." Corey said.
With that, Corey rested his hands on his backpack's straps and started jogging down the road. Kenta, not wanting to be left behind, started running to keep up with Corey. The sooner he got out of the rain the better he would be. Elliott followed close behind the two boys and bringing up the rear was Vanessa and Eri. With the new found motivation to meet up with their friend, they got a good burst of energy to run to the Pokémon Center.
Corey and Kenta proved to be faster than the girls of the group and were way ahead of them. The girls would reach them later, but they were now within a couple hundred yards of the Pokémon Center. The two of them spotted the red roof and began sprinting as fast as they could downhill. They were now upon the entrance doors and they opened, allowing the two of them to burst through like a hurricane. This turned out to be bad because the pair of them collided into another solid form. The three teens hit the ground hard and groaned at the pain. Kenta opened his eyes and could see his vision was blurred from the hard hit. He rubbed his forehead as he sat up to spot what he and Corey crashed in to. His eyes fell on a teenage girl.
The girl was pretty tall, possibly stood at five foot eleven. She had green hair with bangs that covered her left eye. Puberty was definitely kind to her since she had a pretty curvy figure. Her long athletic legs were probably the most outstanding feature she had.
Corey was the first to recover from his stupor and shook his head. His face scrunched up as he felt a headache coming on. Thankfully nothing too extensive like some of the concussions he managed to obtain by playing hockey back in Snowpoint City. He swayed as he stood up and looked down at the green haired girl. He held out his hands to help both Kenta and the girl up. He gave a hard tug and managed to pull Kenta up with ease. Corey gave a gentle pull as he helped the girl up. He knew how to act like a gentleman when he needed to.
"Sorry about bumping into you there," Corey began, caressing his head. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, it's okay, no harm no foul." The girl smiled. Her smile could definitely light up the room.
"Yeah, sorry about that. We were trying to get out of the rain and we were looking for our missing friend. We ended up getting a voicemail saying he was here so we wanted to check up on him." Kenta apologized.
"Again, it's no trouble. I'm Chris Walker."
Chris held out her hand and Corey shook it. Kenta shook her hand next and gave a flirty smile. He decided to take a leaf out of Tom's book and play it cool.
"I'm Corey Spina," Corey said, taking off his sunglasses.
"And I'm the ever handsome Kenta Hammer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Chris." Kenta greeted.
"Oh, well it's nice to meet you two." Chris smiled again.
"So what are you doing here?"
"I'm here looking for my friend, White. She came here because she was helping someone she bumped into when she was in the woods."
"Oh, I see. I think she may have bumped into our friend."
The doors opened behind them again and revealed three irritated looking girls that were waterlogged. Vanessa pocketed her Pokeball and was the first to regain a calm look. Elliott glared at Corey and Kenta and began to crack her knuckles and desperately wanted to bash their skulls in for ditching them in the rain. Eri had her eyes closed but upon closer inspection, she looked pretty angry as well.
"Hey Corey, Kenta, thanks for waiting for us!" Elliott sneered.
"I told you I didn't want to stay in the rain so I started to run," Corey replied, crossing his arms.
"You still left us behind you dick!"
"Well how'd you guys get here so fast? If you were running it should have taken you guys at least another eight minutes or so." Kenta said.
"I had Sora fly us here. Seemed like a better idea than running to keep up with you two jerks." Vanessa replied.
Kenta felt a little guilty for leaving the girls behind. He knew that if Tom was leading them they would have stayed together, regardless of the situation.
"Sorry about that," Kenta apologized, bowing his head.
"I forgive you, but don't do that again!" Vanessa warned.
"Who's she?" Elliott asked, nodding at Chris.
"I'm Chris Walker. It's nice to meet you." Chris greeted.
"I'm Eri Summer." Eri waved.
"Vanessa Blake," Vanessa nodded, running her hand through her hair.
"Elliott's the name, fighting is my game." Elliott grinned.
When Elliott finished her introduction, a girl with long brown hair tied into a high ponytail appeared from a hall to the left. The girl's eyes fell on Chris and her eyes lit up. She waltzed behind Chris and covered her eyes with her hands.
"Chris, you're here!" The girl cheered.
"Hey White, how's it going?" Chris laughed.
"It's going good!"
"Who's this lovely lady?" Kenta asked, walking over to White.
"My name is White. It's nice to meet you, mister…"
"Hammer, Kenta Hammer."
White shook Kenta's hand and was a little surprised when Kenta kissed it. Vanessa, Elliott and Chris looked at Kenta incredulously. That boy couldn't sit still for one second when another girl entered the premises. Corey shook his head at Kenta's actions. If he kept this up, he would never get a girlfriend. He would hurt his chances each time a cute girl came into sight.
"You're pushing it, Kenta. If you keep doing that, no girl is going to stay with you." Corey thought.
"Well, this is my friend White," Chris introduced. "She's the one that helped your friend here."
"Have you seen Tom? Where is he?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, he should be coming out in a second. The doctor was taking a look at his ankle." White replied.
No sooner had the words left her mouth when another figure appeared from the hall. Tom's unkempt brown hair was recognizable from the distance. He spotted them and gave a wave as a grin spread across his face. Tom carried himself over to them with his crutches, Sparks following close behind. He stopped in front of his friends and let his grin stay plastered on his face.
"Hey guys, did you miss me?" Tom laughed.
"What happened to you?" Kenta asked, indicating the crutches.
"Tripped down a hill that first day I got separated from you when I was trying to find shelter from the storm. Doc says I twisted my ankle pretty good but it should be ready to go tomorrow if I ice it all night."
"Well good, because I want to get to Nacrene City for my next badge and if you're crippled you're not of much use since it'll take forever to get there with you." Elliott smirked.
"Nice to see you too, babe."
Elliott would've stepped forward to slug Tom but stopped when she remembered the bet she made with Vanessa. She took a deep breath and lowered her fist, grumbling about stupid deals. Tom raised an eyebrow at Elliott's change of behavior and made a mental note to ask what caused it later. He could see Chris staring at him intently and it was beginning to make him feel a little uncomfortable.
"What can I do for you?" Tom asked Chris.
"Forgive me for staring, but you remind me of someone. Do you happen to live in the Kanto Region?" Chris replied.
"I do. Who do I remind you of?"
"Well, I guess you don't remind me of someone but you seem really familiar. Have we met?"
"Not that I recall."
"I thought I remembered seeing a trainer that looked just like you run into the Pokémon Center with a Pikachu years back in Viridian City."
"Well, no, you've got the wrong guy. Sparks here has been a Raichu since I got him on day one."
"Oh, I see."
Silence filled the group once again and Chris looked at her watch. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the time. She needed to get to Nacrene City to report to one of Professor Oak's aides. Turning to look at White, she gave her a look saying that they needed to depart soon. White got the message and tucked her hair under her hat and swung her bag on her shoulder again.
"Well, it was nice meeting all of you! I wish I could stay and talk but I have to take some reports to an aide by the end of the day today in Nacrene City," Chris said, bowing her head in dismissal.
"I'm going to head out as well. I want to try and battle Lenora for my next badge." White said.
"Oh, well I guess we may see you later," Eri said with a smile.
"We will meet up again for sure."
Chris finished saying her goodbyes and exited the building. White was about to follow her out but she stopped. She turned around after pulling out a piece of paper. White scribbled down something on the small note and walked over to Tom. She held out her hand and Tom shook it, receiving the paper from her. White smirked as she clapped her hands together.
"I'm looking forward to our next encounter, Tom. We'll have to have a battle to see who stands a chance at being Champion," White said, turning on her heel.
"You're on, White. Maybe we can battle tomorrow if we bump into each other in Nacrene City." Tom replied.
"I'll hold you to that, Tommy."
White gave him a wink and left the building as well. When the doors closed, Tom glanced at the paper that White slipped him before leaving. Kenta and Corey went over to see what was written on it. Kenta and Corey's eyebrows raised in surprise when they saw an Xtransreceiver number written on it with a winking face. Corey smirked and patted Tom on the back. Kenta felt a slight twinge of jealousy at Tom's success but shrugged it off.
"Nice man, she's a cute one." Corey whispered.
"Yeah, well, we'll see." Tom replied.
Tom tucked the paper in his shorts and looked around at his friends again. All of them were dirty and soaked from the downpour that came earlier. Since they wouldn't be able to move with Tom's ankle being sprained, they would have to stay the night at the Pokémon Center. This worked out fine since they had to dry and clean their clothes anyway.
"Well, I'll go and get our rooms rented. You guys coming?" Corey asked.
"Yeah, I need a good bath, I reek." Kenta replied.
Vanessa followed Elliott, Corey and Kenta to the front desk to check for the available rooms. Eri decided to stay behind to check on Tom for a moment to see how his ankle was doing. Tom turned his attention to Eri and waited for her to speak.
"So how's your ankle feeling right now?" Eri asked.
"It hurts whenever I put pressure on it and it's pretty stiff too." Tom answered.
"You should have been more careful, Tom. You were lucky you didn't hurt anything else."
"Hey, don't worry about me, okay? I've been through worse. This is nothing, but this is something that happens to trainers."
"I guess, but still though, please be more careful next time you do that."
"Alright Eri, I'll be careful."
Eri nodded and bounced on her heels again. Then for reasons neither of them knew, Eri hugged Tom. Tom was a little thrown off by the act of intimacy but used his free arm to return Eri's hug. She smiled and broke the hug, looking him in the eyes.
"It's good to have you back, Tom." Eri smiled.
"Good to be back," Tom nodded, smiling as well.
A stream of water splashed up and hit Tom square in the face, soaking his shirt and hair. Tom opened his eyes and spat out whatever water got in his mouth. Looking down, Pino was glaring at him and he got the message. Eri noticed this as well and was about to scold Pino for attacking Tom.
"Well, at least I'm not thirsty anymore," Tom chuckled as he walked back toward the hall.
Eri squatted down and looked at Pino in the eyes.
"Now that was uncalled for, Pino. I don't want to see you do that again." Eri said with a stern tone.
Pino scoffed and turned away, only to come face to face with Sparks. Although he didn't show it, Pino was actually very intimidated by the bigger electric mouse. Sparks had his arms crossed and shook his head in warning, giving him a glare in return. He walked away, keeping his eyes on Pino the entire time until the corridor hid him from sight. Eri thought Sparks' attitude was more than just. Pino would have to learn that not everyone would tolerate his behavior as much.
"Let that be a lesson for you there, Pino. Pick your battles wisely." Eri said.
"Osha!" Pino replied with a scoff.
Eri scooped Pino up and gently rubbed his head, letting him know that she still cared for him regardless of what just happened.
Alright, that's the last chapter for the summer. Fall's here and that means school is back and running for me. Now, this is the important bit. I am currently taking 19 credits worth of classes, so that's seven classes a week, four of them are on Tuesday for me and I'm also in charge of 12 other people since I'm currently holding a squad leader position for this month. This will most likely be the last update for a while unless I can get time in. I don't want to get PMs telling me to continue writing like I did during the summer. Understand this, I'm not a kid anymore and I can't afford to fuck around these days.
I am not abandoning my stories. If I were to do that, there would be no point in being here. Think of this as a hiatus for now, so I'll be back. If I were to abandon a story, I'll always give a heads up, I owe you guys that much for being awesome with your support. Now, comes the wrap up here... Do you guys still want me to continue this story? I've suffered a severe drop in reviews lately and I honestly don't know the cause of it. To those of you reading this, tell me your answer via review or something. I would average at least 10 reviews a chapter, now I'm down to 6, so I don't know if it was something I did with the story or if people have just lost interest. Anyway, negative thoughts aside, thanks a bunch for your support for the summer with helping get the story's reviews back when it was taken down guys, you were truly awesome and I can't thank you enough.
Take a look at the story shoutouts below here and what not. Now, in the words of TOM from Toonami when they had their final message. "Until we meet again, stay gold. Bang."-CaptainPrice
Story Shoutouts:
"The Pokemon Takeover: The Unova Undertaking" by OwenG2107:
This story revolves around an OC named Alexander and his friends that start their Pokemon journey. At the start of the journey, they are assigned a great task by Professor Juniper. I'm not going to spoil it for you, so that's why I'm giving this story a shoutout so ya'll can read it. Give it a read and some constructive comments.
"From Darkness Comes Light" by PhantomStorm:
The story starts off with a girl running away with a Luxray named Leo. Although the intro chapter was a little short, the information released in the chapter leaves the reader on the edge of their seat to see what comes next. Definitely worth the read and be sure to drop a review for this intriguing story.
"Time of Courage" by FiammaJoule: This story is becomming one of the new stories that contain people with Pokemon powers/souls. It's extremely interesting and the first chapter alone was enough to get my attention and I'm sure it will be of interest to a lot of you readers as well. Just updated on 8/3/2012.
"Sydney's Pokemon Journey" by Hazelblossom: This story follows a girl named Sydney and her younger sister Lily as they travel on their journey. Drop in and give a read as well as some constructive comments.
"Countermeasures and Retaliation" by Typhoon Swell: Definitely check this story out.
Pokemon gangs are on the rise in Unova and more rookie trainers are joining them out of fear. The police and gym leaders can only do so much. However, one professor has been tracking each of the gangs movements and has decided enough is enough. He gathers a group of some of the strongest trainers of the generation around to fight back. Little do they know though that something more powerful is on the rise.