'Sup guys? Rather quick update, especially compared to some of my others. I'm reworking the beginning of the sequel, as promised, and I'm pretty pleased with it, though I may change the plot majorly. I'm still deciding. Um, little factlet about Stone Town, it's featured in an early episode of Pokémon (I only remember it because of my fascination with eevees). It's between the gang's trip to Fuchsia from Lavender. I don't even know if there is a dock maze in the show, but there is in Leaf Green/Fire Red. If you haven't guessed, I'm using the map in the beginning of the guide book to plan the story. In the episode, it does feature the battling eevee brothers, and that's the name of the episode. I think that's all.
In other news, I'm rather happy with this chapter. Jack and Ari do some real FRIENDLY bonding, which is nice. They just act like teenagers again. As to you pervs who keep asking for them to hook up, keep in mind that they've only known each other for about two weeks! Be patient, my friends, but I'll remind you that nothing happens until close to the end. Sorry guys, I just like messing you around ;D This chapter is beta'd by Madwoman, so thank her for the absence of… Overall suckiness. Reviews are still loved.
Chapter Fourteen: Rocks and Stones
"Hurry up, Ari, I'm ready for some real food!" Jack yelled to me. He'd found a small motel and had somehow pulled up the cash to pay for a room for the two days we would be staying in Stone Town.
Stone Town? Every trainer who's ever wanted an eevee or one of its evolutions has heard of Stone Town. A tiny mountain lay in the forest just behind the town. Evolutionary stones were pulled from it by the bucket load, and the town's trainers and occupants were known for having Pokémon that evolved by stones. In fact, the owner of the company that mined the mountain had four sons, the oldest of which were triplets known as the Battling Eevee Brothers. They traveled Kanto with their vaporeon, flareon and jolteon and won competitions and battles wherever they went.
"I take that as an insult to my cooking!" I shouted back from the small bathroom we shared. I was drying off Saffron after a quick bath, Stella licking herself after her own bath in the corner. I heard a groan from the room and grinned, bundling Saffron up in the towel and leaving the room, Spark (who I hadn't trusted around water) on my heels. Jack raised a brow at the eevee, whose volume was about double her normal. I grinned and dropped Saffron on my bed (close to the heater) and she promptly curled up and went to sleep. I beckoned to Spark, who scrambled up my leg and onto my shoulder. Jack was shifting from foot to foot in front of the door. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to leave and followed him like an exasperated mother with her three year old. By the time I'd reached the second floor (we were on the third), Jack had already gotten us a table in the tiny restaurant downstairs. By the time I sat down across from him, the waiter had taken our drink and appetizer orders from the impatient fifteen year old. I stared at him.
"You need a leash," I told him, awed. He stared at me, foot bouncing with nervous energy under the table.
"Look, I don't know about you," he began, pointing a finger at me, "But I have to keep my strength up." He looked me over. "You barely eat anyway," he scoffed. I simply continued to stare and smile blandly. "It's like… It's like all you need is an apple to keep up your tiny body," he murmured. I raised my brows.
"Shall I take that as a compliment?" I inquired as a Mountain Dew was left in front of me. I managed to pick a crust from the basket of bread for Spark and I before Jack tore into it. He shrugged, mouth full. "Jack," I said, aggravated, popping a piece of bread into Spark's mouth. "The reason I eat so little is because I eat slowly," I informed him, chewing on my piece of bread. He appeared to chew less vigorously, though you can never be sure with Jack. "It's a digestive thing," I explained. "Your body doesn't tell you you're full until ten minutes later. That way, if you eat slowly, you'll actually have the right amount to eat," I told him, grabbing the last slice of bread before he could. He gave me an affronted look. "Jack, you must have eaten an entire loaf in one minute flat," I told him. He crossed his arms and glared at me, though he was still chewing. I shook my head. "Yes, I know you're a growing boy, but if you're fat, no girls will hit on you," I said simply. He flushed and I grinned. I loved making cool, collected Jack embarrassed. His Adam's apple bobbed significantly as he swallowed. "Christ," I muttered under my breath. That was a shit load of bread.
"Just being around you is enough effort to make me lose weight," he muttered under his breath. I smirked and flapped a hand demurely.
"Aww, you're such a sweetheart," I teased, fluttering my eyelashes. He raised an eyebrow at me and I rolled my eyes. "All right Jack, you're soup's on its way," I told him, seeing the waiter heading our way from behind Jack. He quickly turned around and watched its progress, fascinated. I rolled my eyes again.
"Jack!" I barked quietly. He jumped and turned back to me. "Ten minutes. You can only finish that after the ten minutes are up. All right?" I said, eyes watchful. He looked torn, and I praised whatever deity existed for Jack's permanent need to please the people around him. He sighed as the soup was placed in front of us, and the waiter eyed our empty breadbasket with distaste.
"Take it. Please," I drawled. He glanced between Jack and me, seeing the contemplative and slightly longing look on Jack's face. I could have sworn his hand was trembling on the spoon. The waiter left with a tiny shake of his head.
"Come on Jack, you can do it," I coaxed. Spark chirped encouragingly and Jack gave me a disparaging look.
"You know, I left home for a reason," he told me pointedly, thumping his spoon against the table impatiently. I smiled.
"And you started traveling with me for a reason." I replied, rubbing one of Spark's cheek pads with a finger. He groaned and took a huge spoonful of soup. I think he was just trying to spite me. A smile grew on my face as I watched him. He glared at me over his spoon.
"Conversation will make it go faster," I implored. He sighed again.
"God, it's like being married," he muttered mutinously. I laugh softly and eyed him in amusement.
"Like you would know," I retorted. He glared at me.
"When your parents are divorced, you do know," he grumbled. He didn't seem phased by the divorce at all though.
"Drama queen," I accused. He sneered at me. "So tell me about this festival, and why it's such a coincidence that it fell on my birthday," I drawled, chin in hand. I still didn't believe him. He glared at me again.
"I've no clue," he told me. "And it is a coincidence," he insisted. I propped my hands on my hips in the most imposing way I could while sitting down.
"Psht. Sure it is," I replied, unconvinced. "This journey has just been one coincidence after another," I reminded him, surreptitiously glancing at the clock behind Jack's head. He had six minutes left. "Hell, you're a coincidence," I added. He looked at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he inquired, actually dropping his spoon into the bowl.
"Well, you had an eevee egg, and I was looking for all the evolutions of eevee. You had an umbreon that could breed with my vaporeon, and I was still looking for all the evolutions of eevee," I reminded him.
"Maybe it's not a coincidence," he suggested vaguely. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Tell me you believe in all that cosmic karmic crap," I challenged. "Not crap as in crap, crap as in stuff," I corrected quickly, hoping I wouldn't offend him. He shrugged.
"No, not really. I'm just not adverse to the idea of people meeting for a reason," he said simple, picking up his utensil again. My heart pounded in my chest and I tried to quash the hope that was surely and dangerously growing. He was talking about us, about our seemingly accidental meeting, and about how maybe we met for a reason.
"Pansy," I grumbled half-heartedly. He noticed and smiled at me, that dazzling, sparkling smile of his. Damn, that bike ride had been more tiring than I'd realized. I took a deep breath then let it out slowly and drew patterns on the tablecloth with my finger, bouncing Spark absently in my other hand as we fell into silence. Finally, the spoon clinked into an empty bowl. I glanced at the clock again and smiled happily.
"Mazel tov, Jack, it's been eleven minutes," I congratulated. He smirked. "So you know nothing about this festival?" I asked him again. He shook his head.
"Never heard of it," he assured me. I pursed my lips and sighed.
"Oh well. Maybe I'll get a free stone out of it or something," I murmured. Jack nodded.
"There'll probably be beauty competitions, battles, contests," he suggested. I nodded, and then looked at Jack with newfound realization.
"Hey, what about you?" I asked him suddenly.
"What about me?" he replied uncertainly.
"Storm. Azure. Are you going to evolve them any time soon?" I asked curiously. He shrugged.
"I've had the opportunity," he said simply. I raised my eyebrows. He sighed and leaned forward to look at me. "Your very own Lt. Surge has incredibly powerful Pokémon. They're famous in the army, in Kanto, and even in other regions," he explained carefully. I nodded. I knew my own gym leader, whose raichu was the pride of our town.
"Surge's raichu is the strongest electric type in Kanto, to any trainers, gym leaders or even the elite four," he told me carefully. I nodded again. "Unfortunately for Surge, that raichu has one weakness, and the reason for that is because Surge evolved him immediately after catching him as a pikachu." I furrowed my brow at him. "Pokémon who evolve by stones are different from level up evolutionaries," he continued. "Pokémon that evolve by stones can be evolved any time, even from right when hatched out of the egg," he said, fiddling with the straw in his Coke. "However, the power gained by evolution comes at a price." He told me. I raised my eyebrows. "There's usually some skill, some powerful attack, that their evolutionary form doesn't learn, or doesn't gain as well as the pre-evolution," he explained. Before I could ask my question, Jack hailed our waiter with a call of 'Jon!" The man came over and we ordered (Jack, with his infallible burger and fries, me with chicken parmesan)
"So what does pikachu have that raichu doesn't?" I asked.
"Speed," he said simply. "Lt. Surge and his raichu have one downfall, and that's speed." I watched him closely.
"How do you know?" I asked him. If everyone knew that, Pokémon wouldn't be carted out of the Vermillion gym by the load, and the Nurse Joy I knew best wouldn't be one of the busiest in Kanto. Jack shrugged.
"TV, battler's accounts, magazine articles. I was in Vermillion when I was really young, and I remember a little of the battle I saw then," he explained. I nodded slowly.
"So what about Azure will change if he were to evolve?" I inquired, intrigued by the subject. Jack nodded and took a sip of his Coke.
"I assume that very soon he's going to learn body slam," he said slowly. He glanced up at me. "And you know that poliwrath is not only a water type, but fighting as well, right?" he asked. I shook my head and he nodded. "That's why poliwhirl will learn hydro pump, but poliwrath won't," he said. My eyes widened.
"Whoa, I never knew that," I muttered. Jack nodded.
"Also, right before hydro pump, poliwhirl learns a move called belly drum. It cuts half of its hit points, but its attack is raised to its full potential. Poliwrath can learn attacks like brick break and return from TMs, and moves like seismic toss, double edge, mega kick and mega punch from move tutors," he continued. "Those are very powerful moves, but with belly drum, it's even more so." He finished. I was in awe, and not just because of the information.
"How do you know all this?" I asked, amazed. He grinned sheepishly.
"Whenever I catch a new Pokémon, I research everything I can about it," he explained. "I've got a little notebook for random crap like that, and I write down when a Pokémon will learn a move or some such," he explained.
"Sounds useful," I commented. "I'd probably use it if I was trying to catch more than one Pokémon," I mused. Jack laughed. "So Azure's got a way to go then," I offered. Jack nodded. "Storm?" I inquired. Jack sighed.
"Storm is an interesting case," he murmured. I raised my eyebrows and sipped my Mountain Dew. "Growlithes and arcanines learn all the same level moves, tutor moves and TM moves, save exetremespeed." Jack told me. "However, exetremespeed is the last move an arcanine will learn, and growlithe doesn't learn it at all." Jack told me.
"So as long as you evolve it, it will learn exetremespeed?" I inquired. Jack pursed his lips.
"I'm sorry, I said that wrong." I furrowed my brows. "If you were to take a growlithe, newly hatched from an egg, and evolve it immediately, it wouldn't learn a single move until exetremespeed, at level forty-nine," he corrected himself. I winced and he nodded. "Unfortunately, the growlithe also learns flamethrower at level forty nine," he added. I thought for a moment.
"Interesting dilemma," I mused. Jack nodded.
"Apparently though, if I find the right guy and give him the right items, he can teach a Pokémon any move on its list," he replied. I raised my brows.
"Intriguing," I murmured. He smiled and the waiter left our food in front of us. Jack grabbed at his burger, but his eyes slowly rose to meet mine. I was staring at him, expressionless. He sighed and took a smaller bite than usual. I smiled brightly at him. He glowered at me, but quickly stopped, falling into his own smile.
"I can't be angry at you when you smile like that," he teased after chewing and swallowing. My face was hot and my heart sped up. I looked down and cut into my chicken.
"Pansy," I muttered, for lack of a better insult. He smiled again.
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One of the features of the evolution festival was entrance into Evolution Mountain, for only five bucks, and not just for the festival, the entire week. If you found any stones, you had to pay one dollar for every one you kept. Pretty cheap, considering. That next morning, after a quick breakfast from our own stores, we left the hotel and trekked through the town for about half an hour before we found the complimentary festival trolley service that would take us to the mountain. Interestingly enough, it wasn't a trolley, more of a fleet of beat up pick-up trucks. Jack and I climbed into an old white one, bumping uncomfortably up the ragged road with the few other tourists who'd decided to get up early. Jack and I found ourselves in conversation with a young married couple, from Stone Town, who had commented on my pichu. Spark had escaped my careful hold to scramble around the bed of the truck, spooking a few inhabitants. Thankfully, the husband had caught him by the tail and tossed him back to me.
"I'm sorry," I said with a smile. "He does that all the time." He grinned at me.
"Don't worry, so do mine," his wife replied. "He's used to it," she added.
"You have more than one?" Jack asked with interest. The woman nodded.
"I'm a coordinator, and I have lots of Pokémon that are the same breed, to utilize different skills, aspects and attacks," she explained.
"I'm a breeder," the husband said, easily. "I make sure they don't destroy the house," he joked. Jack and I grinned.
"I know the feeling," Jack told him seriously. I hit him gently as the husband and wife laughed.
"So where are you two from?" asked the woman curiously.
"Pewter City," Jack said.
"Vermillion," I piped up. The woman smiled.
"I was born in Vermillion. Isn't it beautiful?" she asked me. I nodded enthusiastically.
"It's lovely," I replied.
"So what are you two doing?" the husband. "Here for the festival, or just traveling?" he inquired.
"I'm a trainer," Jack told them. "Ari's a coordinator."
"I'm trying to catch all of eevee's evolutions, so Jack thought it was only right to bring me here," I explained. They smiled.
"How sweet," the woman said calmly, bringing the slightest blush to Jack's face. "How far along are you?" she asked. I held up my egg, which had been hidden by my drawn up legs. The husband's eyes widened and I held it out to him. As a breeder, he'd be interested in them.
"I've got the egg, one eevee, an espeon and a vaporeon," I told them as the husband looked in wonder at the egg. The woman nodded and smiled.
"Sounds like it's going well," she remarked. I grinned.
"I never thought I'd get this far this fast," I admitted. The truck bumped to a halt, making us all jump. The husband handed the egg back to me as the driver got out and opened the flatbed for us. Jack jumped out first, the husband with him. Jack held out a hand and I took it, egg cradled against my chest, letting him help me down. The husband did the same for his wife and I watched as she gave him a quick kiss. The descended down the path into the mountain, hand in hand, after waving to us. I pursed my lips as I followed Jack's long strides. Jack noted my silence after we stepped into the cave.
"All right?" he asked me, looking around in the gloom. Ahead, a guide was handing out maps and small, portable lamps.
"Sure," I replied, making sure Spark was still on my head. He'd be easy to lose in the cave. I took the light, Jack took the map and we passed into one of the three tunnels off of the entrance chamber. I noticed a particular lack of Pokémon and voiced my thought to Jack, forgetting about the couple.
"You think they like sticking around, what with the miners trooping in and out with their lanterns and such?" he inquired, looking around the tunnel. "I'll assume there are some of the hardier ones down deep in the mountain, digletts and such." I nodded and moved the lantern, looking at the blue-grey walls. Peering closely at one walls, I noted a peculiarly well-shaped hole.
"Think a stone was there?" I asked Jack, who was looking over me shoulder. He traced a finger down the indent and nodded.
"Probably."
"What do you know about mining stones?" I queried curiously as we continued down the hall. Jack was a seemingly endless stream of knowledge. I'd have certainly been lost without him.
"For a kid from Pewter City, not much," he admitted with a crooked smile. I smiled up at him. "There's nothing to trace the stones with, no magic or shit like that," he told me distractedly as we passed into another small antechamber, which lead into three more tunnels. Jack took the pen the guide had also given him and marked where we were as we chose the tunnel on the right. "Pokémon can't sense them, at least not that they know of, but clefairys have been known to show up in places where moon stones are common," he finished.
"So they just dig blindly?" I asked, intrigued. Jack shrugged.
"I guess. They're rock, so metal detectors can't find them," he added.
"What are they exactly?" We found ourselves in a giant room, sculpted at least thirty feet high. The ground was treacherous now, the curiously shaped holes indicating that the hall had been littered with the prized stones.
"No clue," Jack replied. "When I first caught Storm, I tried to do some research, but didn't find much," he said. I drifted over to the wall on the left, running my hand over the smooth wall. Cracks races jagged hair-thin lines over the bluish surface, and the missing stones were surprisingly less common than on the floor. "People who have them are reluctant to have them researched and dissected, so scientists have to spend even more money going out and mining for them," Jack murmured from behind me. I hadn't noticed his approach and his breath on my ear sent shivers down my spine.
"Can I borrow your pichu?" he inquired mildly. I glanced up at him, our faces perilously close for a moment. I slid back slightly, happy I could actually control my body that close to him. I looked up at him shrewdly.
"For what?" I asked him suspiciously. Jack smiled.
"Watch," he ordered. He held out his hand and the eager-to-please Spark jumped onto his palm. "Flash," he whispered. Spark blinked and then squeezed his eyes shut, giving the appearance of complete concentration. Then, light sprang from his cheeks to fill the room. Spark blinked and wobbled dizzily on Jack's hand. Jack cradled him in his palm as I stared at him in awe.
"I thought that was an HM move!" I protested. Jack smiled.
"It's my experience that they know moves like that just to get through life," he explained. I glanced at Spark, who was trying to sit up. I glared at Jack.
"He wasn't ready for that," I told him reproachfully. Jack shrugged and draped the tired Pokémon over his shoulder. I watched as he took the small creature to examine the far wall. I hmphed quietly, then sighed. Well, at least now Spark would be useful. I sighed and ran my hands over the wall absently. First I thought about Jack as we explored the great cavern. He was a genius at sending mixed messages (though they were probably accidental, the reasonable part of my mind pointed out), but I assumed that's what all teenaged boys did. My ponderings turned to home. I would be back soon, by tomorrow evening at the latest. I would see my friends again, and Sam. I still couldn't believe it had been less than two weeks. I felt world weary and traveled. No doubt being home again would humble me quickly. I smiled at the thought and followed a curious crack in the wall, noting one of the peculiar indents that meant a stone had been harvested. The crack must have been caused when a miner picked the stone out with a pickaxe.
I continued onwards until I found a little pit in the wall. Various holes in the wall told me that a lot of stones had been found in this area, so I held my lamp up curiously. The pit went about two yards deep. The fire flicked across something near the back on the sidewall, making a brief glitter. Interest piqued, I took another step, letting the full light shine over it. It was the edge of a fire stone, which I only knew from pictures. I smiled gleefully and trotted into the pit. I set my lamp down and pried at it with my fingers. I frowned- the edge was out, but it still deeply embedded, perpendicular to the rock wall. I braced my feet against the curve where the wall met the floor and gripped it hard, surprised that I could hold it so well. I set my back and pulled as hard as I could. After several seconds it burst free, sending me tumbling back. I screamed and my back slammed the other wall. Jack whipped around as loose pieces of gravel fell from the ceiling.
"Ari!" he yelled. Gravel turned into stones, larger and larger. The very pit was trembling. I struggled to get to my feet but my back was one large ache and I'd scraped my knee on falling to the floor. Jack ran towards me.
"Jack!" I yelled hopelessly. A rock fell, just missing my head. I screamed again as the front of the pit collapsed. Complete darkness- my lamp had fallen and shattered. I cried out again and began to sob. I could barely hear Jack's voice as he yelled my name. Then, I realized there was a tiny bit of light to be seen, a small hole right up against the wall. Suddenly, the light was blocked as Jack thrust a hand through. I reached up and grabbed his fingers as I cried heavily.
"I'm getting you out. Be patient. I'll be back!" he shouted, squeezing my fingers. He disappeared and I whimpered quietly against the wall. He was gone.
Hahaha, major cliffie. Sucks for you guys. But I love you. I started high school yesterday, so it's going to be a bit of time before I get the next chapter up. Terrible I know. So sorry.
Love,
The Sherberty Lemon