Chapter 37 – Battles and Games
The first indication that Alphonse was back was the sudden cry which startled Lilly into slapping the photo book closed.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, horrified. He dashed forward and snatched the book from her grasp, quickly flipping through it before placing it on the top of the bookshelf and pushing it just out of her reach.
She groaned at the loss, trying in vain to just reach it.
"You're really being mean, Alphonse," Dustin said.
"I want to know why you still have those old pictures," Alphonse demanded.
Lilly sighed. She really didn't want to get caught in another of their 'chats' where they ignored her.
"Excuse me," she said, "but, where are we going to be staying? And what's for dinner? How are we meant to pay for anything? Where are we heading next?" And then she remembered, "and what about my brother? He's going to hate me for this, I know it! I'm no longer able to fly with him and I'm not his twin sister anymore!"
"So?" Alphonse said.
Tears stung her eyes.
"You'll be staying here. At least until you have an understanding about how being human works," Dustin quickly intervened, "also, we're having pizza for dinner and I'm paying for it."
"But, what's there to learn about being a human?" she asked.
"Breeding," Alphonse responded almost instantly, earning a light hit over the head from Dustin.
"Don't say it like that."
A strange fluttering appeared in the bottom of Lilly's stomach. Breeding? Why did she have to learn that? She already knew how it happened. She would die and create an orb from which a new Latias would emerge.
"Human breeding is weird," Alphonse commented.
"Funny," Dustin said blandly, "but at least I can explain how it works. Other than knowing that Pokémon come from eggs, no one knows anything about breeding."
Alphonse mumbled something under his breath.
Lilly laughed.
"What?" Dustin said, "what did he say?"
"None of your business," Alphonse replied.
"It's a secret," Lilly said at the same time.
Dustin pouted, trembling his bottom lip.
Seeing it, Alphonse said, "and you call yourself a man," prompting Lilly to laugh again.
Zeannah walked, map in hand, gazing across the countryside.
Larry stalked behind her, hands in his pockets, glaring a dark hole into her backside.
A lone Miltank mooed.
"Are we there yet?" Larry asked, for the hundredth time.
"No," she automatically replied. She didn't voice the numerous complains she had about her travelling companion. After all, she had been very insistent that they walk, not fly, to their destination.
Larry had no such qualms about voicing his annoyance with her.
"I swear that this path looked shorter on the map," he complained.
"That's because it's mostly farmland," she explained, "and they don't put the farms on the map. Not even the Moomoo milk farm is on here."
"The what?"
She sighed and told him about Moomoo milk; a restorative drink for both humans and Pokémon alike, and about the farm where it was produced.
"-there were a few problems back when production slowed because some of the Miltank were sick. I heard that the farmer and farmer's daughters pulled in travelling trainers to help cure the sick Pokémon. They say that the trainer who put an end to Team Rocket was one of those trainers."
Larry faked a yawn.
Zeannah rolled her eyes.
"And since there's so few people out here, you could probably go around as Latios." She had been reluctant to say it, just because she had been drawing some amusement from his difficulties. But, he had been slowly grating on her nerves. She wondered how Tom had put up with him.
"Finally!" Larry commented, stretching. A moment later, his body shifted back into the blue dragon/flying Pokémon Zeannah was getting used to seeing. He shot off into the sky, flying around like a plane.
She let out a sigh of relief as well, continuing down the path. She knew that Latios would keep an eye on her and follow up in the sky. It wasn't likely he would forget their task anytime soon.
She enjoyed the green expanse, the thrill of the trainer battles and the mystery of the unknown. Travelling was what she truly loved. Travelling with Pokémon was even better. As she walked along Route 39, she stopped every time she came across a trainer. She collected the phone numbers of a few of them and was looking forward to battling them again.
And each battle annoyed Latios to no end. As soon as they were out of sight of the trainer, he would swoop down and complain about how long it was taking and question why she had to battle each and every trainer along the way.
She waited until he flew back into the sky to smile. Annoying him was fun, and much easier to handle when he was in the sky most of the time.
She could smell Olivine city before she could see it. The breeze started to take on a chill, carrying the salty sent and cool feeling of the ocean to her. The ground started to take on a sandy feel; patches a grassing giving way to the yellow, grainy ground underneath. The spire of the lighthouse was visible on the horizon.
There were more people on the road as well. Residents of Olivine city appeared to work and buy from the nearby farms, some preferring to travel for the most part of the day than buy from the shops.
Latios had landed and transformed when the amount of time between running into people started to shorten. He was back in his human form; with his silver hair trailing in a plait behind him and his dark eyes fixed on the road ahead. He was wearing a green camouflage pattern tank-top and brown shorts.
Zeannah thought he looked like a cross between a bug catcher trainer and a psychic trainer.
"When are we going to get there?" he whined.
"We're almost there," she responded, trying not to think about how much she sounded like her mother, "see that pointed thing off in the distance? That's the lighthouse."
At that moment, they reached the top of the small hill they had been climbing and were finally able to see the entrance to the town. Coloured flags hung over the path, welcoming them.
"Finally!" was the cry Zeannah heard on the wind as Larry dashed down the path.
"Typhlosion!" she summoned, tossing the Pokéball into the air. As soon as the Pokémon's form appeared before her, she jumped onto its back and kicked it into gear.
Her Typhlosion was fast. He raced down the path after Larry, kicking up gravel and dirt as he went.
Zeannah laughed as the wind tossed her red hair into the air. Her stomach moved up and down with the movement of her Pokémon, making her feel giddy.
And then Larry froze. A man was standing next to him, talking about something.
Zeannah only caught the words, 'Pokémon' and 'adorable', as she skidded past them.
"Zeannah!" Larry called, waving her back. He was panicked, she could tell by the expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her Typhlosion walking back over to them.
"A battle, miss," the man said. He pointed to his chest. "I love to show off my adorable Pokémon."
"And I told you, I'm not a trainer!" Larry cried out.
"I'll battle you!" Zeannah announced, dismounting.
Before heading out from Ecruteak City, she had replaced her party Pokémon with the Pokémon she had started out with. Every year or so, she liked to journey around the region. Typhlosion was her first Pokémon and strongest. He was the only Pokémon which she didn't box when she started her journey again.
However, since she wanted to take down the Leader, she knew the Pokémon she had been training on her journey with Lilly weren't strong enough. So, she pulled out some of her more powerful boxed Pokémon. Most were the Pokémon she trained when she just started out, those which had been with her the longest.
She was looking forward to using her old friends again.
"Go, Sunny!" she said, sending out her second Pokémon; Togetic. A white Pokémon with an egg-shaped, spiky head, round spotted body, small arms and legs, large feet and small wings appeared in the space before her.
Larry rolled his eyes.
"Go Pikachu!" the man cried, releasing the iconic yellow mouse Pokémon.
Despite the type disadvantage, Zeannah knew she could win.
"Watch closely and see how a real trainer battles," she said to Larry.
Dustin passed some money to Alphonse, who placed it in the box.
"And I get Amity Square!" he announced.
"I don't get it," Lilly announced, moving closer to the board.
"Amity Square is the best property of the game," Alphonse explained, "it's got the highest payout should someone land on it. Not to mention the chance cards which lead to it."
"And the chance cards are these, right?" Lilly said, pointing to the small pile of cards near the centre or the board.
Alphonse nodded and rolled the dice. He moved his character (a small cap) around the coloured squares positioned around the edge of the board.
"A gym," he said to himself, "and I already have two of them."
"Nooooo," Dustin let out a slow whine.
Alphonse placed the paper money back into the box and pulled out the card with the gym name printed on it.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Dustin asked.
Alphonse glanced down at his neatly ordered and stacked paper money.
"If I'm going to play this ridiculous game, then I'm going to win," he announced. He placed his new card with his other ones.
Lilly sighed and glanced down at her possessions. She only owned two properties in the game; which Dustin called 'Monopoly', and her money was running out. Her piece (a tiny, fake potion) had landed on the 'Go to Jail' square too many times for her liking.
"I don't think this is helping me to be a human," she commented, rolling the dice for her third attempt at getting out. It wasn't the double she needed, so she passed more of the money to Alphonse and finally moved her piece out.
"Of course it is," Dustin announced, "you're learning how money works, the names of places in the world and how to play together with others!"
"I don't get it," she admitted, "I know how to play with others."
She wondered if she wasn't just being naive, thinking that playing with others would be the same as playing with her brother.
"I noticed," he praised, "but Alphonse doesn't."
"Why do you think that is?" Alphonse asked, glaring.
Lilly laughed and they continued to play the game until the pizza arrived.
Disclaimer: Pokémon towns and characters property of Pokémon company + Game Freak (I think). At the very least they don't belong to me. Any resemblance to existing people (living or dead) and events is a coincidence.