Chapter 54
The next morning, I woke up as Kokoa's Ninetales slapped me awake with its tails. I groaned, not wanting to get up, but doing so anyway. I laughed a little as I saw Kokoa frantically packing, looking excited. She always got pretty happy before a gym battle.
I rolled literally off the bed, then got up, immediately heading into the bathroom to get through my morning activities. Once I'd been clothed, bathed, and brushed, I came out to pack my stuff.
Again, I felt sad as we began to leave yet another hotel. These hotels were more like homes to me than my actual house. They were filled with a million memories, bith good and bad. I enjoyed it all though.
As I finally finished packing, Kokoa grabbed my arm and hoisted me forward. I laughed at her eagerness. I myself didn't understand the wonders of gym battles, but I definitely had the same excited feeling when I competed in contests.
Takuya and Akako waited for us in the hallway as usual, not taking as long to prepare as us girls. I immediately ran over to meet Akako, taking him by the hand. We exchanged smiles at each other then started heading for the gym, the impatient Kokoa and Takuya looking at us as to tell us, "Get moving!"
I sighed a bit as we entered the gym. It was no fun watching som,ething you couldn't compete in yourself. It was kind of fun to see Akako fight though. He always had this confident and powerful look on his face. It was similar to the look he'd give me when he'd get serious or romantic.
This one was a ghost gym. The gym leader was a girl with purplish, dark blue hair. Her eyes looked black and she wore black lipstick. Her nails were also painted black. And her tattered looking dress was black as well. She seemed mysterious, yet powerful. Her name was Aria.
The first one to battle her was Takuya, who managed to argue with Kokoa and defeat the gym leader at the same time. Kokoa immediately ran up to the field next. Kokoa struggled a bit with this girl, who'd managed to capture a Spiritomb, but prevailed in the end. Last, but never least, came Akako. He was a bit irritated by Drifblim's hypnosis, but found a way to win in the end.
I watched as the three of them received their spirit badges. I clapped as the three of them came to meet me, each admiring their new-found badge. Kokoa looked supoer happy, while Takuya almost immediately put his in the case and Akako just admired it for a while before putting it away.
"Two more gyms to go!" I announced.
"Yup," agreed Kokoa. "I'm going to beat both of them and then dominate in the Petilla League!"
"Correct," said Takuya, clearing his throat. "I'll be the won to win the league."
"I think not," argued Akako.
laughed, rolling my eyes as they argued. "Enough guys! You won't be able to even compete in the League if you don't hurry and collect the rest of the badges."
"Good point," sighed Akako.
Kokoa pulled out a map, studying it carefully. "So guys, where should we head next?"
"Are there any towns with gyms and contests?" I asked.
She nodded, pointing at one. "Yeah! It's near here too! Down this route is Tiroo city. There should be a contest there and a steel type gym."
"Awesome!" cheered Akako.
Kokoa nodded, excited as well. "Ginger's going to dominate at that gym!"
Takuya looked thoughtful. "Hey, Kokoa? Shouldn't we catch some new Pokémon. I mean, you need six Pokémon in total to even compete in the league."
Kokoa's face went pale. "You're right! We do need more Pokémon!"
"Then let's catch some!" Akako suggested. "There should be plenty of places to catch Pokémon here in Pico. There's a safari zone or if we just go down the route. We can catch them however we want."
"Then let's split up!" said Kokoa. "Takuya and will raid the safari zone and you guys can head down the route. We'll meet back here at 1:00."
"Sounds like a plan," I agreed.
We all nodded and began splitting up, heading off in our search for new Pokémon. I smiled a bit as I looked at the egg in my bad. Speaking of new Pokémon, this little girl should be hatching soon enough.
Akako smiled as we arrived at the route. "Here we are. Ready to find some Pokémon?"
"Yup!" I called back.
"Let's split up," said Akako. "You search for Pokémon over to the right and I'll take the left. Okay?"
"Got it!" I agreed.
Once Akako was out of sight, I began my search, but as I stepped forward, a light started flashing. I turned around and saw it was my bag that was glowing. My eyes widened as I took off my bag, opening it up. The egg was growing brightly. Then, as I took it in my arms, it hatched.
The egg cracked into pieces as something came out of it. I awed at a cute little Shinx that had just made its way out.
"Shinx!" it called, smiling up at me, nudging my arm.
"You're so cute!" I squealed, stroking my new baby Pokémon. "It'll be a bit hard to train you though. You're only at level one."
Then, I remembered an item I'd brought along for the journey. I pulled it out, giving it to Shinx to hold. It was an experience share. This way, Shinx could split the experience with my other Pokémon in battle. And considering the strength of my Pokémon, I'm sure Shinx would level up quickly.
Then, I heard a different sound. It was the complete opposite of Shinx's happy cry. This was a sad cry. A Pokémon of some sort was crying near by. I picked up Shinx, running over to see what was making the noise.
I gasped as I found the source. Lying on the ground with cuts all over its legs was an Eevee, hissing in pain. As soon as the Pokémon took notice of me, it leaped to its feet, backing away from me, growling.
At first I was confused, but then I noticed a piece of cloth sitting where Eevee had been. I picked it up, looking to see what it was. On the cloth was an infinity sign. This piece of cloth had come from a Millennium outfit.
Looking at Eevee's cuts and staring at the cloth, I deduced what had happened. a Grunt must have come upon this Eevee and tried to...kill it. The little one must've tried to fight back and ripped off this piece of cloth. Now it had cuts on its legs and the little one didn't look too friendly.
As I inched closer to it the Eevee growled more menacingly, stepping away from me. As it stepped back, I noticed a familiar rock I'd remembered reading about. As the Eevee backed into the moss-covered rock, it began to glow, an unexpected evolution occuring. As the light faded, Eevee had now become Leafeon. The cuts still remained though.
It stared at itself in fear at first, then smirked, realizing that evolution meant it would be stronger. Leafeon growled at me, its tail growing green as it prepared an attack, now getting closer to me.
"Leafeon, stop! I want to help you!" I told it.
Leafeon made a noise that sounded like "tch" meaning it probably didn't believe me. It growled in warning one more time, but as it was about to strike, I don't know why, but I started to sing.
"Hush, little Pokémon, close your eyes. Feel the calm of my lullaby. If you trust me, I'll keep you safe and warm. There is no need for you to be alarmed. Please, little Pokémon, be my friend. Will you stay with me until the end?"
Suddenly, the Pokémon got a dreamy look in its eyes, looking more calm. It stopped growling and instead whimpered in apology, padding over to me and laying its head down on my lap. Shinx smiled and pounced on Leafeon's back. Leafeon made a sound that seemed almost like a giggle and beginning pawing Shinx back.
As the two played, I just stared at Leafeon in shock. It had been so hostile at first, but with some song I'd randomly made up and started singing, it had calmed right down. It was then that I'd remembered something my grandma had told me.
"Ichigo?" she's asked me.
"Hm?"
"You know you have a gift."
I gave her a perplexed look. "What gift?"
She smiled down at me from her rocking chair. "You have a gift. You have a special connection with Pokémon. You can reach their hearts. If you use this gift right, I'm sure any Pokémon can become your friend."
I didn't quite understand. "Okay?"
Now, it seemed to make sense as I stared out at my new friend, Leafeon. I grabbed a pokeball from my bag and walked over to Leafeon. My pokedex beeped, recognizing the Pokémon and telling me information on it and verifying that this Pokémon was girl. It also told me about Shinx and that it was a boy.
I got a second pokeball out, turning to Shinx first. "Hey, little guy. Want to travel with me?"
"Shinx!" it cheered, looking happily at me.
I smiled back. "I assume that's a yes. Great! I'll call you Static!"
The little Shinx smiled, approving of the nickname. I then tapped its forehead with my pokeball, a red beam sucking it in. With three rolls, Static had become a part of the team. I then faced Leafeon.
"Hey, girl. Do you want to travel with me too? I can take you to a Nurse Joy to heal those wounds."
Leafeon looked up at me, its eyes seeming misty. I assumed that it was apologizing for growling at me earlier.
"It's okay! Really. Please, I'd love to have you join us.
Leafeon then nodded, making a sound similar to a purr as she rubbed against my arm.
"I'll call you Evergreen! How's that?"
The Pokémon agreed. Then, Evergreen hit her forehead into the pokeball, sucking herself in. The ball rolled three times then let out a satisfying click. Leafeon was now mine.
I smiled, picking up the two pokeballs and putting them in my bag. I then ran off to find Akako, needing to hurry and get Leafeon to the Pokémon center. Looks like I'd completed my team. I wondered what other adventures would wait ahead.
