"Skye Storne is… Skye Storne is…" Sam stared unbelievingly at Topaz. "Skye Storne is…"
The girls and the boys had separated that morning, seeing as if everything went as planned (meaning Sam and Gary both won their badges), they'd be separating the next morning. The girls were walking around, and the boys were just sitting near the beach, talking.
Topaz rolled her eyes. "Yes, Skye Storne is."
"REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID TO ME!" Sam screeched.
Sighing, Topaz complied. "Skylar Storne is Amber's boyfriend. There."
"But… but… but… but why didn't anyone TELL me?!" Sam replied, waving her hands in the air in exasperation, eyes wide.
"You didn't ask," Amber said shyly. "I swear, though, I would've told you if you asked. Why, is he a friend of yours?"
Sam blinked, trying to think of what to say. "Well… we've met." She said vaguely.
Amber twirled a strand of her brown locks (A/N: thebeats corrected me; Amber and Topaz both have brown hair. I wrote 'blonde' in the chapter where they were introduced. Sorry for that mistake.) around her index finger. "I wouldn't call him my boyfriend though… we were together. It's just… I wanted to break up with him. But he left before I could."
"Left?" Sam asked. "He left you?"
Amber nodded. "About a month ago… he just stopped writing to me; stopped calling me; and stopped visiting me. So I gave up on him, and we met and he… well yeah," she averted her eyes uncomfortably.
Sam looked at Topaz, who was looking back at her. Silent, Topaz mouthed the words, 'I'll explain later.'.
**
"Mason, James, this is Skye Storne. Skye, Mason Rider and James," Gary said stiffly, introducing them to each other. The three nodded their heads in greeting. Because boys are like that. Why do I have to introduce Skye to these guys? He's not even worth their time! Gary ranted furiously in his head.
"So…" James put his hands behind his head. "Wanna check out places?"
"You sound like a chick," Mason retorted nastily, grinning.
"Maybe because I am one," James snorted. "Yeah, right."
"That would be good…" Skye mused. They looked at him to check if he was crazy. Skye rolled his eyes, "Then, he could tell us what girls are really thinking. Sometimes, I don't get them. At all."
"Ditto."
"Ditto-ditto," James added to Gary's reply. The latter smirked.
"You just have to look at the deeper, and try to see them behind the make-up and sometimes very thick mascara to see the innocent, loving girl behind-" Mason stopped speaking when he saw the other three giving him odd looks.
"Nerd…" they muttered underneath their breaths.
"What?!" Mason said, defensive. "You wanted to know what girls are thinking! Okay, so I didn't exactly answer the question well, but it's still something to do with the topic!"
James turned his attention to Skye. "You got a girlfriend?"
Skye nodded, making Gary surprised. If he has a girlfriend… then why was he flirting with Sam? Maybe it's Inferno. That girl who set a Mightyena on Sam; man, I'm never gonna forget that. "Oh?" James said, interested. "How long?"
"A year and ten months," he replied quickly.
That got Gary's attention, too. Man. "I think you know her…" Skye continued thoughtfully. "Amber?"
Mason spit out the Dr. Pepper he was downing. "YOU AND AMBER?!"
Everyone gave Mason a very curious look. "Why are you acting like that?" Gary asked, smirking. Mason blushed, you know, in a guy-way…
"Nothing," he said quietly.
"YOU LIKE HER!!!!" James howled triumphantly; Skye looked amused; Gary was laughing. "Man, there is nothing more obvious than that! That was practically a CONFESSION!"
"So what if I like her?" Mason retorted, now very crimson.
"What d'you mean by that?" James asked incredulously. "I didn't even think you'd like Amber!"
Mason laughed darkly. "Look who's talking, you fell for her sister!" Skye laughed openly, and glanced sideways at James.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not!" James yelled. "Shut up, Mason Rider!"
Skye stole a glance at Gary, who was quietly watching James and Mason verbally abuse each other. "I know what you're thinking," he said quietly, so that James and Mason wouldn't hear. "I never wanted to two time Amber, and I never wanted to use Sam. It was my job, Gary…"
Gary gave him a cold look. "If you really love someone, you do anything to keep the feeling mutual," he said, glaring daggers at him.
"I tried."
"I doubt it," Gary sneered. Skye glared at Gary for a full minute before retorting.
"At least I made an effort, unlike you…" he hissed.
Gary was about to say something, but James interrupted. "Hey! Why're you guys so angry all of the sudden?"
"It's nothing, Evens…" Gary replied airily. "Nothing you would understand, anyway."
Skye nodded.
**
Near tears, Sam called Gary's PokeNav for the umpteenth time. "Gary, please pick up! Brawley's been waiting! I can't go in there alone!" she begged.
'The number you dialed is currently unavailable. Please try your call-' (A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I hate, hate, HATE that message on the phone. xD)
Sam narrowed her eyes. Fine. If he doesn't want to be with me, I don't care! I'll beat Brawley myself! AND WIN!
Bracing herself, she entered the gym, where Brawley was waiting for her. "Well, you've been a while, little dudette…" he greeted her. "Where's your friend?"
Sam scowled. "I don't know, and believe me, it's better that way. I can't kill him if I don't know where he is," she stated.
Brawley laughed. "Wanna start? Remember, it's a two-on-two battle." Sam nodded.
"I'll show Gary I don't exactly need him all the time!" she grinned.
**
I know I have to do something. It was something important… Gary mused in his head. What is it? Oh, I have to check on Sam… He reached into his pocket for his PokeNav, but found it wasn't there.
Looks like I left it in the center…
**
"Alright! Let's go, Treecko!" she called out Treecko from his ball.
"Tree, Treecko Tree!"
"Treecko, hm? Alright, should be easy enough for you, Machop!"
"Treecko, let's start with a Bullet Seed!"
"Brace yourself… and when he's done, charge in for Focus Punch!"
"MACH!"
**
Gary spotted Topaz and Amber deep in conversation on the beach, and so did the rest of the boys. James immediately started flattening his unruly hair, while Mason checked if he had bad breath, Skye walked over confidently towards Amber, and Gary was… confused.
Weren't they supposed to be with Sam? He thought, confused, and approached them too. He heard Amber's voice shake a little as she whispered, "Hi, Skye…"
Skye smiled back at her tentatively, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"
"I'm fine…" she replied, leaning into Skye's side, sighing.
"Hey, uh, where's Sam?" Gary asked. Topaz looked at him, eyebrows shooting up.
"We should be asking you that!" Amber replied. "She said she was gonna meet you at the gym!"
Gym… gym… gym. The word echoed in his mind. Crap, now I remember where I was supposed to be! THE GYM! "I FORGOT!" he yelled. "Man, I have to run!"
Topaz shook her head. "Sometimes, I will never understand boys."
**
"Machop and Treecko are both unable to battle! This ends in a draw! Both of you, choose your Pokemon now, please!"
Sam winced. "Thanks, Treecko… that's one down…" she smiled. Gary, even though you're a really awesome guy, I still am gonna kill you when you get the guts to show your face. I mean it. "Alright, Taillow!"
Brawley laughed. "If you think that flying type Pokemon still do serious damage on my Pokemon, you must be wrong. My Pokemon are special in that way."
Sam tossed her head. "My Pokemon are special, too!"
**
Sam, please, please, PLEASE don't kill me… I know you can, but I mean, getting killed by someone you love isn't exactly on the top of my list. Gary ran for his life as he started towards the Gym.
**
Amber twiddled her thumbs and smiled hesitantly at Skye. "Skye?"
"Yeah?" he replied quietly.
"If… if you really, really, really like me like you say you do, tell me why you left me," she asked, pleading him with her eyes.
Skye turned away. "I… I can't tell you anything."
Amber's eyes burned with hot tears as she turned her back on him. "Why won't you tell me anything anymore?! You used to… you used to act like you really cared! And now… it's just…"
"Have patience with me, Amber Daffodil," he whispered, though not looking at her. "I honestly would tell you if I could, but I can't."
"And I, honestly, if I had the guts to, would break up with you right now! It's been on rocks for the past year, Skye, I have to move on now!"
Skye looked at Amber, a serious look on his face. "I don't want to hurt you anymore."
Amber glared back at him. "Then leave me alone."
**
"Taillow, Agility! Confuse Hariyama!" Sam commanded Taillow. Taillow flew in circles around Hariyama at an incredible speed.
"TAILLOW!" Catch me if you can, fatty! Taillow cawed.
Brawley grit his teeth. Her Taillow is even more impressive than Ash Ketchum's. It's fast, and it knows what it's doing. "Hariyama, try to strike it with Vital Throw!"
Sam gaped as Taillow got hit, but flew up again, looking slightly bruised. I have to end it, I have to end it now, before anything gets really serious. "Taillow, Double Team!"
"What?" Brawley looked around at the Taillows' circling his Hariyama, who was looking around, looking confused. "Hariyama, just try to hit all of them!"
"Taillow, maximum power, Wing Attack!"
BOOM…
**
The ground shuddered a bit under Gary as he reached the door to the Gym. What was that? Oh, man, please don't let it be a bad sign for Sam… He opened the door to see Sam panting, but smiling, as Taillow gracefully floated out of the dust cloud that had formed when all of Taillow's shadows moved in at once, confusing Hariyama, and hitting it with all its power.
"Hariyama is unable to battle! Samantha Garrett is the winner!" Brawley was shocked; so was Sam; and so was Gary.
"That Wing Attack… is something worth battling against, Sam…" Brawley crossed the field to shake her hand and hand over the badge. "That was an awesome battle, dude…"
Gary reached Sam. "You… beat him? Without me?" he pouted. Sam gave him a death glare. "Don't look at me like that when you know that you did something wrong." She whisper-snarled.
"You wanna battle me next, Oak?" Brawley asked. "I still have two more Pokemon here with me," he said gesturing to two other Pokeballs on his belt.
"Sure," Gary replied, a confident grin on his face.
**
Everyone lounged in the Pokemon Center café, (meaning Gary, Sam, James, Topaz, Mason, Amber and Skye, even though the last two weren't sitting next to each other) Sam drinking Coke (and giving Skye ugly memories), Gary shining his badge (which he had won, hands down), James staring at Topaz (who was chatting with Amber), Mason staring at Amber (who was chatting with Topaz) and Skye uncomfortably twitching as his PokeNav kept ringing, and he knew it was Uncle Maxie, so he didn't answer.
"Last day together…" Topaz said sadly, looking at Sam in particular.
"Oh, but I've really gotten used to you guys!" Sam exclaimed. Topaz and Amber drew near and hugged her. "You guys are like my sisters!"
"Aw, Sam, you're like a sister to us, too," Amber cooed.
The boys nodded to each other, since they don't get emotional (at least, when everyone's looking at each other) and waved.
"We'll see each other, right?" Amber was telling Sam. "You have to accidentally bump into us sometime!"
"Where are you guys going, anyways?" Sam asked.
"Well," Topaz answered. "James and Mason were on the way to Sinnoh, so we're just gonna go with them. I'm dying to catch a whole bunch of rare Pokemon. Then, when we're done, we'll fly around, and look for you."
The canteen door slammed open, and Phoebe, Steven, and Lina stepped through, Phoebe's hand wrapped firmly around Steven's elbow, and Lina waving enthusiastically. "Uncle Steven got out of the hospital!" she said happily.
The look on their faces made Steven curious. "Okay, whose funeral?"
Everyone rolled their eyes. "It's our last day together, Steven… go figure." Topaz curled a strand of brown hair around her index finger.
Amber sighed sadly. "And just when I was getting to know everyone better!" she turned to Mason, and smiled radiantly at him. He smiled back, a bit hesitant. Skye rolled his eyes.
These actions were unnoticed by Sam, but she just smiled and kept quiet. "By the way, Uncle Steven…" she said, with a sweet, sinister tone to her voice. "How are you and Phoebe?"
Both turned crimson, and Lina giggled. "Getting along juuuuust fine…" Lina replied, winking.
"I smell juicy details! Spill, Lina!" Amber begged.
"Lina, as your unofficial-uncle-yet-uncle-in-a-way, I command you not to-"
"Uncle was half-conscious and drugged by all the medicine and he confessed how much he felt for sister Phoebz and then he started being all gushy-gooey, and holding her hand and stuff and then Phoebe was like weirded out so she hit him, and then when he was conscious again, Phoebe asked him if it was true, and he said yes, and she was all smiley and stuff, and then he kissed her, and then I threw up in the toilet, but I mean, it's still a happy ending," Lina giggle-gushed out the news.
It took the girls half a second to piece together what Lina said, while the boys were still mumbling things that didn't make sense (except for Skye, who was still guiltily staring at the ground, since Steven was the one he faced when he got Sam, and you know, it's kind of awkward and stuff.), and then Sam squealed. "REAAAALLY? Wow, that's AWESOME!"
Topaz laughed dryly. "And here we were, thinking that Steven was in the hospital because Phoebe knocked him out into next week."
Steven snuck a glance at Phoebe. "Well, she did, in a way…" he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Phoebe blushed.
"You… you have no right to talk!"
**(UP HERE IS MY GIFT TO… thebeats. )
Topaz wanted some time to herself, so she escaped from the laughter and slipped outside, to enjoy the fresh sea air. Some girls get all the luck. She thought bitterly, thinking about Sam and Gary, Phoebe and Steven… Mason and Amber. They're gonna end up together. Skye's not even worth her time. She assured herself.
"Hey," Topaz looked behind her, and saw James approaching, a confident smile on his face. "What's got you so tied up?"
Topaz ignored the furious beating of her heart, and replied in her normally cool, stoic manner. "Everything," she stated, looking again at the horizon.
James sighed, and he stopped walking closer to her. "I'm not… traveling with Mason, like we planned."
"Huh?" Topaz asked, shocked. "Why?"
"I told him that… I might need some other things to watch over," he replied, shrugging. A blush creeped on his face, and Topaz let it pass.
"Oh."
"Do you… wanna travel with me?"
The question caught her off guard. "What?"
"Do you want to travel with me? We can go... wherever. I just... want to..."
"Want to...?"
"I…" he looked sheepishly at the ground. "Don't know how to express it, you know… but… I just want to…" he blushed. "Darn it, I'm never good at these things."
Topaz looked at him, cocking her head. "Good at what, exactly?"
"Saying how much I care about someone…" he mumbled. Now it was Topaz's turn to blush.
"You can't honestly…"
"But I do."
"James…" Topaz bit her lip nervously. "I just… don't know what to say."
"Maybe that you care for me too, just a little bit?" he asked hopefully, crossing over so that he was in front of her, hair framing his face. Topaz smiled a little, and let it fade.
"You don't know me… as well as I'd want you to." Topaz settled on that, and waited for his reply.
"That's why I want to travel with you. You're not like any other girl I've ever flirted with –" Topaz rolled her eyes, "Okay, you're not like any other girl, period. But… I want to get to know the girl behind your mask."
Topaz intook a deep breath. Those were the magic words. No one, no one who had told her he liked her, or love, and in James' case, 'cared for', had ever said those words to her. She started seeing James in a better light.
"You're sensitive…" she mused. "But rash, when it comes to decisions, anyway." She smirked. "You're very, very, loud and flirty… but it does add to your charm. Boys like that turn me off a bit, just for your information…" she added bluntly.
He laughed, running a hand through his hair. "What are you trying to say, hm?"
A real, genuine smile, for the first time ever in the series, spread widely across Topaz's face.
"I think… I'll have to talk with Amber about me traveling with you, James…"
Then, smiling, he hugged her tight.
**
Gary stuffed the clothes he had thrown all over the place during his short stay, and smiled to himself. Sam. She's… really improved. He took out the crumpled clothes again, and folded them.
Meanwhile, Skye and Sam were in the canteen, Sam with a Coke, Skye with a ham sandwich. "So… what's the deal with you and Amber, anyway?" the room was empty, since everyone had left.
Skye gave her a look. "There is no deal between me and Amber now, so drop it," he said nastily. Sam just smirked.
"Serves you right, Spy-lar…" she said, sipping her Coke. Skye sighed.
"I didn't mean to hurt you like that, Sam, ever." He refused to look in her eyes, which made her angrier.
"You become spy for Team Magma? You betray me, Gary, and especially, AMBER, and all you can say is… you didn't mean it?" Sam's voice was low, hurt.
"Family matters, Sam… I can't…" he looked at her. "Sure, it's a pathetic excuse, but… Uncle needed me."
"There are other people who care about you! Gary became your friend! Amber CARED… a whole lot more than anyone, I guess… and I… I cared, too! But you couldn't see that!" Sam whispered fiercely, eyes almost filling with tears. "You left the people who cared about you to become… a SPY! A villain, a tool!"
"He's not using me, if that's what you're implying!"
The creak of the door made both of them flinch.
"Did I just hear that? Skye… is that what you've been doing?" Amber's face poked out from behind the door, eyes wide.
**
CHAPTER DONE! Worst cliffie ever…
Thebeats. WOOOOOOOOH. I Just had to put that in. :D
Note: check my author's note later, okay?
Not much to say now… :P
Ja~
Thanks for reviewing! :D and Reading! :D