Next chapter! This one's a short break away from the action. To be specific, shortly after arriving and stuff, this chapter starts to get a little serious, but lightens up as it goes on. This chapters more about the Trainers than Pokemon this time. I don't have to much to say besides that so, Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Long Awaited Arrival

"Sky, Pearl.." Melena began joyfully, she was brimming with excitement shortly after they passed a welcome sign a few steps back. It was pretty easy to tell from the expression on her face. "Here we are! Meritina Town at last!" She announced joyfully as Sky and Pearl got a good look at the city.

Meritina Town seemed a lot more peaceful then both Silver, and Verteon City. Though smaller, this town also seemed a lot more intact with nature. Most of the streets were lined with trees and the occasional flowerbeds planted by nearby houses. Little to no trash littered the streets and there were only a few buildings, the Gym, PokeCenter, and Pokemarts. There was also one building bigger than all of them. Sky guessed it was where the Mayor lived, since there was one similar to it in Silver City that he happen to notice during on of his walks. One of the town's most notable features, was that because of it's mountain location, the air was far cleaner than that of the other towns. Finally, there was path not to far from where they where that lead to the geysers that made the town famous.

"Ah...it's great to be back... I was starting to feel homesick." She said, still smiling.

"It's easy to see why..." Said Pearl as she examined the area in amazment. "This towns beautiful! Right, Sky?" She said a and turned around, only to see Sky was gone. "Sky?"

Scruf nudged Pearl's leg and made a gesture with his head in front of him. Sure enough, Sky had already started up a mad dash for the Gym.

"Figures!" Pearl snapped, sounding both annoyed and angry. Sky has a way of getting her like this.

"Yeah... about the Gym... " Melena started ominously. "There's something Sky should know..."

"Like what?"

"Well, you'll see when we get there." Melena finished in a calm tone and headed off towards said Gym, Larvitar right behind her.

Spike and the others were right behind them. Although, Gloom decided to stay in his Pokeball.

"Whoa... Awesome!" Flora said excitedly and kept constantly looking around her. She was use to big city's with plenty of buildings, so a quaint small town like this was a nice change of pace.

"Yeah, seems like a pretty nice place.." Scruf agreed, sounding just as impressed.

"It's not so great," Commented Tank. "I'm going to miss my forest..." There were obvious hints of depression in his voice.

"His forest?" Scruf asked while throwing Tank a questionable stare. Knowing the monkey Pokemon was obviously exaggerating.

It was easy to tell that Tank was upset about leaving his home, so Flora tried to be as comforting as possible. "No problem, you'll get use to us!" She said happily.

Tank simply sighed.

"Eventually..."

Spike was walking behind the others and didn't seem to be to excited about finally arriving at Meritina. Something else was on his mind.

Flashback

Spike growled for a while before he shot a Water Gun at the Duck pokemon holding onto the other end of a stalk and blasted him back. The impact shot Chi backwards and forced him to let go of his stalk, leaving Spike with it. Spike stared at the stalk for a second before breaking it in two without any effort or emotion at all.

Chi stared in horror as his most prized possession was destroyed right in front of him. "Y-You killed my stick!" The duck Pokemon shouted in horror.

"Yeah, and your next." Spike said and threw Chi a cold, frightening glare.

"W-what!?" Chi stammered since he realized Spike was throwing death threats. Only this time, he actually meant it. Chi tried to ignore it and decided to get angry instead.

"How dare you break my stick!" The duck snapped, he didn't notice the fact that he was shivering out of fear. "That was my - " Chi stopped and shouted in pain as Spike dashed by while slashing at Chi's stomach, leaving a few gashes with just a mere Scratch attack. Chi collapsed on the ground without a word.

End Flashback

Spike slowed down. "I don't get it... that couldn't of been me..." Spike thought to himself as depression took hold on him again. Some parts of the past event were starting to come back to him, piece by piece. Not to mention it was all starting to really get to the little alligator.

He stopped walking completely as another image came into his head. This time it was something he had never seen before. A purple blob came into sight with two menacing, glaring eyes. That was all he could see before the image faded away from sight. Spike had no clue what the blob was, or what it meant, but knew it couldn't be good. The image sent shivers down his spine.

Sora stopped walking as well after she noticed Spike was falling behind, that and he was staring down at his claws again. She thought she might know what this meant so she went over to talk to him.

"Are you okay, Spike?" She asked in a concerned tone.

Spike snapped out of his thoughts just as he heard Sora's voice. Though, he hesitated to say anything; not wanting to bring up anything that might make her worry, but the words finally managed to put themselves together.

"...Yeah, it's nothing. Let's keep going." He said quickly and started to walk past her, but was forced to stop as a wing grabbed his paw.

"No it's not. The Spike I know doesn't go from bragging, to moping in just a few minutes. What's up?" Sora asked again. She was determined to try and help Spike in any way she could. Just as she would help any of her friends.

Spike saw just by looking at Sora that she wasn't going to give up, so he decided to.

"Alright, fine." Spike started unwillingly. He didn't like worrying his friends, but he thought maybe Sora could help. "Remember when I went crazy a few hours ago? Well I don't know why, but I'm starting to remember some of it for some reason..."

Sora nodded and waited for him to continue. They started walking again to catch up with the others.

"I only remember a little bit of it, but what I can is attacking that duck, and hurting him badly... only thing that was really disturbing, was that I was a lot stronger for some reason and I threatened to kill the duck..." His voice trailed off.

Sora was a little stunned but attempted to comfort him anyway. "I still don't think that was you. Flora also said that all was because of a move Sky told you to use. I don't think Sky meant for any of that to happen... so I still blame the move!" She insisted firmly. Convinced that what they all described couldn't be Spike.

"That's not all." Spike continued. "After that, I remember seeing this purple thing... it was glaring at me for some reason."

Sora started to look confused. "Purple thing?"

"It was a blob thingy... I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw!" Spike said, not knowing he shouted that last part from the thought that Sora might think he was probably insane.

"Don't worry, I believe you. You don't have a reason to lie." She assured. "But... I don't know what that purple blob you're talking about is..."

"Oh... " Spike replied, seeming a little disappointed. "Well, that's okay. It's not like your supposed to know what it was or anything." He responded and gave a weak, unconvincing smile.

"But whatever it is, if it does turn out bad, we'll be here to help." She assured again and gave a smile.

"Thanks..." Spike replied, feeling a bit better now since he knew he wasn't alone with all this. Though the figure in his mind still haunted him.

"Anytime!" Sora replied happily and continued to smile. After their chat was through, they both jumped as they heard a shout come from near the Gym. "That was Sky!" Sora said before they both ran to catch up.

"CLOSED?!" Sky shouted what he read on the gym's sign in shock and slammed both fist onto the buildings doors. "No way!! How can it be closed?..." He said and slumped to the floor.

Pearl sighed. "Sky, it's not that bad you know. Your overreacting again." She told him in a annoyed tone again.

"Yeah and besides," Melena started. "This means you have more time to prepare and think up a good strategy." She pointed out.

Sky sighed. "Well, when you put it that way... there are a few things I wanted to do here anyway." He agreed.

"Exactly! But first, we have to visit someone!" Melena said happily again.

"Who?" Pearl asked.

"My father. I said I would go back to check on him once I get back. But, he's normally never home... so do either of you mind if we stop there first?" She asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Pearl agreed.

"No Gym, so okay. We have some time before it gets late anyway." Sky agreed as well as he picked himself off the floor.

Melena nodded gratefully and lead the way. They walked past a very clean looking pond in a small park as a few Magikarp swam around in it. The park wasn't anything like the one in Silver City. This one had no playground equipment and it was basically a grassy field with a few plants here and there along with the pond.

The town seemed pretty lively as the residents were preparing for the upcoming festival. Their walk continued for a little while longer before Sky and Pearl noticed where Melena was leading them. Straight for the big, fancy Mayor's house.

"Uh, Melena? Why are we going there...?" Sky asked and pointed to the Mayor's House.

"Huh? Oh, that's my house." She answered, seeming totally unfazed.

Pearl gaped and stared at her wide-eyed in shock, and Sky fell over backwards.

A sweat drop showed up on Melena's forehead. "Oh yeah, did I forget to mention earlier that my Dad's the mayor?" She said and gave a slightly nervous laugh.

Melena pressed the doorbell as it made an elegant ring.

"So I'm guessing this means your rich?" Sky asked, hands folded behind his head again.

"Not really. Sure we have a lot of money, but I wouldn't say rich." She said before someone finally answered the door.

An old man in a black butlers tuxedo opened the door. His expression lightened up as soon as he saw Melena.

"Miss Turner! Welcome back!" He greeted and pulled the door oped further inviting them into the house.

"It's nice to see you too, Houston." Melena replied with a smile and threw her backpack down near a wall.

Sky and Pearls mouths both dropped as they saw the house. Paved with ruby red carpeting, at least three rare vases against each wall, an Ivory Piano, a humongous glass chandelier that glittered as the light touched it, and a matching decor of cream sofas and chairs. Pearl had already stopped staring but Sky was still in shock. Houston snapped him out of it by clearing his throat.

"And who might these two be?" He asked and threw both Sky and Pearl suspicious stares, making them feel a little uneasy.

"Right, this is Sky," Melena introduced and made a gesture with her hand towards him.

"Hey there Houston, how's it going?" Sky greeted happily and put out a hand.

Houston raised and eyebrow. "Indeed." He said and shook Sky's hand.

"And this is Pearl." Melena finished.

"Nice to meet you." Pearl greeted as well.

"Charmed." He replied and smiled. "Now, would you please mind telling me your last names? I would like to keep proper if you do not mind."

"Okay then, Sky Selveren's the name, catching Pokemon's my game!" Sky introduced himself fully with one wide grin.

"My full name is, Pearl Felaree." Pearl replied happily.

"Hmm... cool! Sounds French!" Sky commented. None of them had ever really told each other their last names. Like most people, it didn't really matter to them too much.

Shortly after the introductions were finished, the Pokemon walked through the door as well since it wasn't blocked anymore.

Spike glanced around the room then spotted the very fragile vases placed on the tables.

"Something breakable this way comes!" The alligator Pokemon said with a mischievous toothy grin. Apparently, he had already gotten over his depression and was back to his normal, slightly psychotic ways.

"Spike..." sora started in a warning. "Don't even think about..." Her voice trailed off as Spike ran off, completely ignoring her. Sora shook her head.

"Well then, Miss Felaree, Mr. Selveren, Master Turner will be joining you shortly after I inform him of your arrival. Please, do make yourselves comfortable." He said and started to leave but stopped after he noticed the Totodile run past him.

"No no! Please, I must insist the Pokemon remain in there PokeBalls. House policy, you see." He informed but stayed completely calm.

"Oh yeah, totally forgot about that." Melena remembered and returned Larvitar.

Spike started climbing up a table trying to get a hold of a vase.

Houston started to become a little frantic. "Those are priceless family heirlooms! Please do stop him!"

"Spike! No running in houses!" Sky shouted and returned the alligator to his ball immediately.

Houston let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry you three, this means you too." He said and returned Sora, Scruf, and Tank to their PokeBalls as well. Pearl did the same with Flora.

"Thank you." He said and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. "Well now that that little incident is all cleared up, I shall go fetch Master Turner." He said and left.

"So.." Sky began and grinned. "a butler, fancy house, Mayor for a dad? You are rich!" He exclaimed and basically jumped on a sofa. "Oh, cushy!"

"Sky, knock it off! Show some manners!" Pearl scolded, but surprisingly to her, Melena did the same.

"It's alright, Pearl. I do this all the time." She said and relaxed on the sofa. "I don't like acting rich."

"Well, if you say so..." Pearl said unsurely and took a seat on the sofa. It didn't take her long to get used to it. "This is comfy..." She commented and started to relax as well.

"Told you." Said Sky from the sofa.

"It must be really nice to be rich then." Pearl said and sank into the extremely comfortable sofa.

"Well actually, being rich, "She emphasized on saying rich since they insisted on saying that she is, "isn't all that great. There's all sorts of lessons left and right, tutors, always dressing up fancy... that's why I decided to become a trainer. It was all starting to be too much." Her expression turned a bit gloomy as she finished up her story.

"Sounds rough... It makes since why you became a trainer, but I would still like being able to buy anything I want." Sky commented and then immediately began searching for a TV.

"That does sound tough, but it can't be all bad. Knowing you now makes it kinda like knowing royalty." Pearl said and gave a comforting smile. Trying to help Melena feel a little better.

"Now Pearl, that is no way to address Miss Melena." Sky cut in and tried to imitate how Houston sounds. "I am so sorry, your majesty, please do excuse our friend here. She can be rather forgetful." Sky joked around and did a courteous bow.

Melena lightened up laughed a little while Pearl just rolled her eyes.

"Sky, can you please try to be even a little bit more mature for once?" Pearl asked, sounding annoyed once again.

"Now now, Miss Pearl. There is no reason to get upset." Said Sky as he insisted on joking. "It os most rather impolite."

Sky would've continued the prank, but he was interrupted by the sound of Houston clearing his throat again, and he was tapping a foot impatiently.

"If your quite through with attempting to mimic me, it is with great displeasure that I announce that Master Turner, is out. Unfortunately." Houston said and sighed.

"Oh...well, that's okay..." Melena said, of course sounding rather disappointed.

"Please, do come again tomorrow. I have just recalled that Master Turner is currently on a business trip and will be returning by tomorrow." Houston explained.

"Will you be staying the night, Miss Turner?" He asked. "Your room remains just as you left it."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Sky and Pearl still had a few things to do here in town first." She declined the offer.

"Ah, well in that case, please take care and try not to stay out to late. It is already sunset."

Melena grabbed her backpack and headed towards the door. "You worry too much, Houston." She said and smiled before opening the door. "Let's go you two, later Houston!"

"Aw... I was getting used to the sofa..." Complained Pearl. She didn't want to leave at all now after getting used to the place.

"Too true." Sky agreed with a sigh but they both decided they had to get up and leave sooner or later.

The town basked in a orange glow as sunset hit. They decided to visit the geysers tomorrow and headed for the PokeMart for some supplies, followed by staying the night at the PokeCenter.

"Well, Houston seems like a pretty good butler. Even though he didn't offer us any food..." Sky commented as they walked.

"Yeah, good thing you used your undoubtable charms and good manners around him." Pearl remarked sarcastically, except...

"Yeah, what would you two do without me?" Sky replied gladly and rested his arms behind his head.

Okay, I know I said I'd have a gym match up by two chapters a bit ago, but I'd be rushing things if I did. There's two more chapter's I have planned before the Gym match. If you'll all excuse the wait. I think they'll be pretty good... one's a humor chapter jam-packed with insanity, and the other's gonna be a romance chapter.. (winks) Please Review as always.