=Chapter 29, Relaxation Cut Short=
*Jacob to Arky*
*Dear Arky, after we won our forth badge I had my team treated at the Pokemon Center, and from there we decided to take a break from our travel to actually enjoy Lavaridge Town.*
*The most prominent feature of Lavaridge Town is of course, the numerous spas that it is famous for, literally there are spas for any number of people and now Pokemon. They allow a trainer's Pokemon to relax and bathe with them in the spa, provided they are the same gender or have to be supervised for whatever reason.*
*Kenna's not a fan of the water, but she certainly wanted to see what the spas were about considering she's a fire type and they were very warm. As for the rest of my team, particularly Harold, Ivan, Roran, and Coral, I figured they deserved a day to relax and enjoy themselves after all the hard work they did for our forth badge.*
*So that's what our plans are for today. Karen and I pooled our money together, what little we have anyway, and reserved two small rooms for both of our teams as well as ourselves. Our teams will be divided into genders, guys with me and girls with Karen. At least that's what we want to do. Most likely because of how attached some of my Pokemon are, they will still follow me into the boy's side of the spa. I wouldn't mind but, well…*
(Jacob's PoV)
"I'm sorry Sara but you have to go to the girl's side with Karen." Jacob said as they started dividing their teams according to gender to enter the spa rooms.
(I don't like having to be separated from you.) Sara complained.
Jacob chuckled lightly as he scratched her head reassuringly, knowing the real reason she wanted to be with him was because her species was known to become attached to their trainers. She naturally would want to stay as close to Jacob as she could, not only because she likes being near him, but also because her powers increase in strength in his presence.
"I know Sara, but I think you can go an hour or two without me towering over you or sitting on my shoulder." He said. "Alright we all set?"
"Come on Jacob, we've reserved the two rooms for an hour and half!" Karen said impatiently, already holding her bathrobe for the spa. "Can we get a move on, please?"
"Alright alright, boys with me, and girls with Karen!" Jacob said as he started leading the way towards the room on the right while Karen took Sara and Lance in her arms and shoulder to the left.
The room was divided into a large open space with a bamboo liner to separate the spaces between the two sides and allow privacy for both boys and girls. The water was perfectly warm and there were candles surrounding the side and providing a calm sense for the place. "Alright guys, go make yourselves comfortable while I change into my robe!" Jacob said, though no sooner had he did then Roran, Ivan, Harold, Shrew, and Ziggles made their way into the water and sighed in content. Meanwhile he went into the changing room and started to undress.
(Harold's PoV)
"This feels soooo good…" Harold sighed as the warm, soothing water washed over his skin.
"Tell me about it!" Roran said as he started preening his feathers, not liking the water as much as the others did. "Now we're living the high life, we should have found a trainer sooner if this is the kind of treatment we get!"
"As if any other alpha would compare!" Ivan barked as he lazily scratched his ear with his rear leg. "Our alpha is obviously the best there is!"
"You guys are such idiots!" Shrew said while he splashed some water on his mushroom-like head. "We're getting this treatment because we all did well!"
"Agreed, our trainers spent what little money they had for us, we should be grateful and try even harder from here on out because of this!" Ziggles said as he swam around lazily.
Harold nodded in understanding, sure this bath and the chance to relax was so good, but now their trainers were practically out of money. Money they needed for food, medicine, traveling equipment and other things. Sure the Pokemon did most of the hard work, what with battling and winning gym badges, but their trainers did the more complicated work of having to deal with the realm of the human world.
To a Pokemon, money meant nothing to them, they didn't need money to buy human food, or medicine because they could survive easily without them. Sure the humans could heal their injuries within seconds and minutes depending on the severity, but they easily could heal at their own rates. Yet the humans didn't have such luxuries, what with their lack of claws, rough hides, wings or even tails to protect themselves. Humans were essentially at the mercy of any single Pokemon because they were at the bottom of the food chain. Yet humans were amazing, utterly amazing at their resourcefulness and ability to adapt their environment to suit them.
Of course just as in their world, Humans were at a disadvantage, Pokemon were at a disadvantage in the Human's world. Harold could no more tell the difference between a potion and an antidote, he could not read, nor could he write. To him whatever humans made looked the same, and all he could do was trust that whatever Jacob used on him or the others would work as he said it did.
Still he couldn't help but feel so relaxed and so wonderful while sitting in the shallow end of the hot springs water.
"Hey guys, enjoying the water?" Jacob asked as he walked in wearing nothing but his bathrobe.
(Jacob's PoV)
Jacob waded into the shallow water and felt the warm water just melt all over him. He so needed this after nearly months without a chance to properly bathe. Sure he did what he could to stay clean, but being a trainer isn't easy when it comes to cleanliness. At most he bathed once a week, if that.
So the hot spring water of this spa was really worth the money he and Karen spent to reserve this, just so he could relax for an hour and not care about anything.
"I wonder how the girls are doing you guys." He asked his team as they enjoyed the water.
No more than five seconds after he said that, he heard Karen yell. "YEOOW!"
"That sounds like Karen getting her hand burned." Jacob said to Harold. "Probably Kenna who did it as well."
"Grovyle…" He said in agreement.
"JACOB, your Ponyta's headed for your side!" Karen shouted angrily.
"Yep, it was Kenna who burned Karen's hand." Jacob said with a chuckle, matched by Harold.
Moments later Kenna, his blue flamed Ponyta nervously walked into their side of the room, and looked around for Jacob.
"Hey girl, what's wrong?" He asked Kenna.
Almost instantly he felt Sara's thoughts in his mind, translating what Kenna said. (She said, I just didn't feel safe with Karen.)
"It's alright Kenna, Karen won't hurt you!" Jacob chuckled as Kenna walked over and laid down next to the side of the water as close as she could.
"And tell her to stop burning my hand!" Kenna shouted, causing Kenna to push her ears back and look nervous.
Jacob sighed and scratched his nervous Ponyta's muzzle, making her sigh in contentment. He knew Karen meant well, but she didn't understand that Kenna was simply a very shy Pokemon that didn't trust as easily as other Pokemon did. He was surprised she liked him as much as she did, though it was probably because of, as Karen said, his food tipping her opinion in his favor. He noticed she didn't exactly change her stance toward anyone until after he started feeding her.
Still he was happy to have Kenna on his team, even if she didn't battle, she was still a valued member of his team. Just like Coral had been when she was just a Feebas.
"So where's our next badge location Karen?" He shouted over the bamboo wall.
"Back in Petalburg City!" She shouted back, still sounding grumpy. "Last I checked, we needed four badges to qualify to challenge that gym leader!"
Jacob sighed, forgetting that little detail from when he first started out as a trainer. Then something hit him, he never figured out who the Gym Leader of the Petalburg was, though in all honesty he never really asked until he was just about to battle them. "Well since we've got plenty of time to strategize and decide how we're going to battle them, do you have any idea who the Gym Leader of Petalburg City is?" He asked.
"Some guy from Littleroot called Ordin Garnet!" Karen shouted, causing Jacob to choke slightly. "Wait a minute… wasn't that girl we saw before below Cycling Road called Jessy Garnet?"
Jacob was quiet for a moment before he spoke up. "Yea… that was her name." He replied. "That's her father, a veteran trainer who took up the Gym Leader position for Petalburg City. Why didn't I remember that…?"
Harold, Ivan, Roran and Kenna, as well as Sara through her psychic connection and Coral through Sara, noticed the change in his mood.
The last time he fought against Jessy, he had lost, sure he was at a type disadvantage and didn't have the experience she did, but that was a long time ago. Now he, Karen, and both of their teams would have to challenge her father for the fifth bade.
Jacob had learned everything from Arky, and Jessy from Ordin her father. It would be the true test if what Arky had showed him and taught him for four years, would stand up to what Ordin had learned throughout his life.