Chapter 19
"Where's Amy?" Jane asks the boy after he returns from training. Jane normally trains with Dillon and Amy, but the Johto native wanted to check out the contest hall before tomorrow's contest. Fortunately, she hasn't seen Romeo yet. She doesn't like him and she hopes to never see the mean arrogant boy again after tomorrow's contest.
Dillon nonchalantly replies, "Daycare Center." Amy really wants to return Larvitar to his home, so she flew on Noctowl after training her other Pokémon. When he notices the girl's nervous fidget, he adds, "She'll be back in time to cheer for you tomorrow."
Jane gives her friend a grateful smile. "Thanks, Dillon. I'll do awesome with both of you there!" The boy just nods because he isn't sure what to say. While he's grown comfortable with Jane, he isn't confident in his social skills. After a few minutes of the two sitting at their respective desks, Jane says, "I heard Whitney is hard to beat."
The boy shrugs. "She is a gym leader."
"Yeah, but I heard she's a very tough gym leader." Jane knowingly tells him.
"That's good for experience then." Dillon doesn't care if a gym leader is difficult to beat since he knows he can beat them. With enough time and training, he will succeed. Therefore, the boy isn't concerned about how long it'll take him, even if Jane and Amy end up leaving him in Goldenrod City. Else, he'll just come back to challenge Whitney, like he did his mother last year.
"I wish I had your resilience, Dillon." Jane sighs. She saw many faces at the contest hall today, which is making her more nervous. Goldenrod City is very different from small Azalea Town.
"Pi?" Pika worriedly looks at the girl, so he hops onto her bed to curl up beside her.
Jane gives him a small smile before scratching him behind the ears. "Thanks, Pika."
Dillon closes his eyes as he mantally groans. He hates these conversations about feelings. They're very annoying. All he wants to do is beat all the gym leaders. Sighing, he swivels his desk chair around to watch Jane and Pika on her bed. "You're not weak, Jane. You can be scared-"
"But I can't stay scared." Jane grins at him now that she's lifted her head to meet his eyes. He's told her this before, and she loves advice from her crush.
Nodding slowly, Dillon adds, "You'll do great tomorrow."
Suicune! Dillon's nice words are making Jane's face heat up. Pika curiously watches the two, though he has seen Jane behave like this around Dillon. "Thanks, Dillon." Jane whispers while she finds herself lost in his caring cerulean blue eyes.
Fortunately for the boy, his pokenav ringing gets his attention. He notices it's Amy, so he mutters, "I gotta take this. You should probably call your parents or something." He knows how important Jane's parents are to her as well as their support. Also, he isn't one to talk, so he'd rather she shares her worries with them rather than him. At times, he is grateful Amy is his sister, even if she doesn't know how she just saved him from an uncomfortable situation.
Once Dillon is out of the room with Pika closely behind him, Jane sighs. She knows he's right. She should call her parents. Rather than just calling with her pokenav, she opts for one of the pokemon center's videophones. She doesn't run into Dillon at all along the way, which makes her curious where he could have run off to. He just came back from training. Who called him?
Before she can reach the videophones, she spots an annoyingly familiar head of brown hair. He's getting his Pokemon back from Nurse Joy, so when he turns to leave, his emerald eyes meet her violet ones. Both coordinators instantly scowl at one another until a bluenette girl links arms with him.
Jane can't help but smirk as she sees how uncomfortable Romeo is getting with this clingy girl. It's not Jane's problem though. If anything, Romeo deserves to be annoyed. All he ever does is irritate her. He's so arrogant and rude. Jane still doesn't understand why Amy likes him so much, even if they are cousins.
When Romeo is dragged out of the Pokemon Center, Jane decides she'll call her parents later. She should probably train since she didn't train yet today. The tournament is tomorrow; thus, she shouldn't be slacking. How can she continue traveling with Dillon if she's holding him back? She won't do that to him.
After getting her Pokemon back from Nurse Joy, Jane heads outside with Aipom on her head. She glances up at her loyal silly friend. "We're gonna win tomorrow!" She tries to confidently say as she attempts to convince herself of her words.
Aipom, though, is more confident than her, so he cheers from his perch. "Aipom!"
Taking a deep breath, Jane enters a park with an empty field. Maybe training will help quell some of her nervousness? Well, she hopes it does. However, everything she tries just ends up worse. Her Pokemon aren't in sync, and Jane knows it's because of her. She isn't coordinating them correctly. She's the one making them out of sync.
"Let's take a break!" Jane groans to them.
Bayleef worriedly lays beside her. "Bay!"
"I'm fine, Bayleef." She tries to reassure her starter Pokemon.
"That was far from fine." comes an annoying arrogant voice from nearby.
Jane and her Pokemon scowl because they know who that voice belongs to. When Jane's irritated eyes meet his amused ones, she says, "Focus on your own training."
He flicks his hair. Romeo was actually just fleeing from some fangirls when he came across Jane. Seeing how poorly the girl coordinates reassures him that she is no match for him tomorrow. This small town girl really thinks she can beat him, the son of Drew and May Hayden? While Romeo would rather avoid Jane, she irks him enough to tease her. It could keep her away from him too because he doesn't need to interact with someone who idolizes Dillon.
"Where's your boyfriend?" smirks Romeo, especially when Jane's face flushes.
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Sure. Whatever." Romeo shrugs and turns to walk away. He remembers why he hates interacting with her. She only irritates him.
Glaring at him, Jane stands up to exclaim, "I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" They couldn't battle when they traveled together because his Pokemon were hurt. However, they should be fine now.
Romeo scoffs from her tone. She is no match for him. "I'm not gonna waste my time."
"Scared?" Jane's challenging eyes further irks him.
Romeo backs up and pulls out a pokeball. "Fine. Go cry to your boyfriend when you lose."
With a chuckle, Jane narrows her eyes at him. "I won't lose to you. Go, Bayleef!"
"Let's make this quick, Houndoom!"
Daycare Center
"I'm sorry, laddy. She ran off before we could stop her." the daycare man apologizes.
Dillon shakes his head. Sighing, he catches Pika's worried eyes. "Where'd she run off to?" After he got a call from Amy saying she needs him to meet her at the Daycare Center, he reluctantly made his way over. Fortunately, he was able to catch a cab to quickly reach it rather than partake in a long walk. He really needs to get a flying Pokemon soon, or he could always have Coal come over. No. He wants to do this without Coal. If Ash traveled a new region with only Pikachu, then Dillon can do the same with Pika. He won't be in his father's shadow any longer.
"Towards Ilex Forest. She left her Eevee and Cyndaquil here as insurance, but we trust she will return." the daycare woman explains.
This further annoys Dillon because Burn is one of Amy's strongest Pokemon. What is she thinking leaving him here while she runs off into a large forest? Well, she isn't thinking. Amy never thinks when it comes to Pokemon. She's just like Ash. Groaning, Dillon thanks the couple before rushing out.
With only Noctowl and Lanturn, Amy isn't going to get through the forest too well, especially since this will be her first time traveling through it because she had flown over it previously. Mew! Just when Dillon gets through this large forest, now he has to go back into it. The things he does for the people he cares about.
"He's scary. I like Romeo better. Maybe we should ask him for help instead?" Vee, the granddaughter offers.
"Hush, Vee! That young man there is the one who leant us the strong Persian and Hitmonlee." The daycare lady scolds her.
Pouting, Vee says, "He's not cute. I still think we should ask Romeo-"
"Leave Romeo out of this. He's helped us enough. We can not trouble him anymore." The daycare man warns her. "He needs to focus on the contest tomorrow."
Hearing this, Vee's eyes light up. She forgot the contest is tomorrow. "I'll go support him!" Vee eagerly claps her hands together.
"Not until all of your chores are done." her grandmother tells her, making Vee groan. All she wants to do is be by Romeo, but her grandparents are making it difficult.
Goldenrod City
"Dodge!" Romeo commands his Butterfree who avoids a sand attack from Aipom.
While Houndoom defeated Bayleef and Venomoth, he finally fell to Aipom. Fortunately for Romeo, Butterfree has more energy than Aipom, so this match will soon end. Jane really sin't a threat to him; however, Romeo still isn't sure why she irritates him this much. Well, he assumes it must be because she loves Dillon, and Romeo despises Dillon.
"Slam, Aipom!" Jane orders her agile Pokemon. Before Aipom can leap in the air to land the attack, a net falls down on the Pokemon. Everyone looks around in confusion, and Jane notices the blimp flying above them with a giant red R on it.
"Team Rocket!" Romeo glares at the blimp as he recalls the last time he saw the criminal organization.
"Bite the net!" Jane worriedly tells Aipom. Her other Pokemon have fainted, so he is the only one who can battle. She can't lose Aipom.
Hearing the girl's desperate shout causes Romeo to direct his gaze at her. She's right. He can think about his hatred for Team Rocket later. Right now, he needs to help Butterfree and Aipom escape. The net is being lifted up, and they hear a loud megaphone from above.
"Hahahahaha! We couldn't find Dillon, but we found you!" cackles the voice. "Bring him to us and you can see your pokemon again."
"Not a chance." Romeo shakes his head while tossing out a pokeball. "Let's get 'em, Salamence!"
"I'm coming too!" comes the serious shout as Romeo feels someone climb onto Salamence behind him. Groaning because he knows exactly who it is, he opens his mouth to retort. However, she beats him to it, "We can argue later! We need to save our Pokemon!"
He knows she's right, so he chooses to refocus on the task. Salamence takes off into the sky where she quickly reaches the net. "We're gonna get you out!" Romeo tells the Pokemon. "Slash!"
"Romeo, watch out!" Jane warns, which makes the boy look up as a Golbat swoops down at him.
This causes Romeo to lose his balance when Salamence moves to avoid the attack coming towards her trainer, so Romeo almost slips off Salamence. To his surprise, he feels two hands grab him from behind to keep him from falling off. With a deep blush on his face due to her body pressed against his back, Romeo mutters a "thanks."
Fortunately for the blushing boy, Salamence's roar brings his attention back to the battle as she is fighting off two Golbats. Furrowing his brows, commands Salamence, "Dragon breath at the net!"
"But the Golbats!" Jane tells him.
Romeo doesn't like how she keeps speaking to him while he's trying to focus. It's not like she's doing anything but being added weight on Salamence. Salamence's attack doesn't do much damage to the net. "Dodge!" Salamence barely manages to avoid the two Golbats headed her way.
"Fly us higher!" Jane speaks to the focused boy. "I have an idea."
"We're following that net no matter what." Romeo informs her through grit teeth. Patting Salamence on the back, he says, "Get closer to the net."
With a loud roar, Salamence quickly gets as close to the net as she can. The Golbats are nearing her, so Jane stands up. Romeo looks at her in confusion. "Trust me!" She yells before jumping off the dragon type to hang onto the net.
"What are you doing?" Romeo exclaims. Just who is this girl putting herself in such a dangerous situation.
"Catch me if I fall!" Jane then shoots him a small smile. "I won't though."
He blinks in confusion at her as the blush returns to his face. Just what is she doing? Shaking his head because he hears the Golbats arriving, he orders Salamence to fly away. "Better not!" He calls over to Jane while he and Salamence fight the Golbats elsewhere.
Jane can't help but smile at her unlikely alliance with Romeo. However, like she told him earlier, they can hate each other later. Right now, they need to rescue their Pokemon. Jane looks at Aipom and Butterfree who return worried glances of their own. "We're gonna get you guys out of here!" She reassures them.
"Aipom!" Aipom nods determinedly at his trainer.
Jane notices the net is closing in on the blimp soon, but she has a plan. Taking out her pokeball while she uses her other hand to hold onto the net, she returns Aipom through the net, which makes her smirk when she sees the shocked faces of the Rocket grunts above. She looks at the curious Butterfree. "You can trust me, Butterfree. I'll take you back to Romeo."
With a reluctant nod, Butterfree allows herself to enter one of Jane's free pokeballs, leaving the net empty. These grunts really aren't the brightest tools in the shed. Jane pockets the pokeball and looks up where she spots that the net will be entering the blimp in a few seconds. Angry grunts are already grabbing at the top of the net trying to pull it up with her on it.
Giving them a smirk, Jane yells out, "Catch me!" She then lets go of the net and closes her eyes as she falls quickly down. Suicune, she doesn't know where she's getting this courage from, but she really should've made sure she'd be okay before letting go of the net.
When Jane feels a thud and two arms wrap around her, she keeps her eyes closed in disbelief. That was a quick fall. Too quick for her to reach the ground below. Unless she's dead? No. She can't be dead. She can't do that to her parents. And she never got to confess to Dillon. She didn't get to be a coordinator for too long too.
"Hyperbeam!" the close shout makes her shoot her eyes open where she notices she's tucked under a strong arm with her back pressed against someone. The wind is blowing in her face while Salamence flies through the sky. Jane doesn't see the Golbats anymore, but Salamence's hyperbeam is targeted at the blimp which soon blasts off away.
"What happened?" whispers the girl who slowly turns her head to face the serious boy behind her.
Letting out a relieved breath now that Team Rocket is gone, Romeo knowingly says, "I thought you said you wouldn't fall."
This comment just irks the girl who now pushes away from him, though this causes her to lose her balance. Thus, he pulls her back into his arms to keep her from falling to her death. "Groudon, next time, warn me of these plans of yours before you do something stupid." She's lucky he managed to get rid of the Golbats right when she started falling from the blimp. Else, the outcome may have been different.
Still in his arms, Jane opts to face the front again as Salamence lowers to the ground below. "Thanks." She mutters with a blush on her face. While Romeo annoys her, and she doesn't understand why he hates Dillon, she is grateful that he caught her and helped her rescue Aipom.
Nodding, Romeo replies, "Thanks for getting Butterfree."
Soon, the dragon type lands, and both teens hop off. Romeo returns Salamence after he and Jane thank her. Jane then extends a pokeball to Romeo, "Butterfree is in here."
He grabs the pokeball, and to her surprise, he gives her a grateful smile. "Thanks again."
Jane feels her face heat up. This Romeo is very different from the one she traveled with last week. "You're welcome."
However, Romeo's smirk soon returns. "I would've won that battle if we weren't interrupted."
Rolling her eyes at him, though Jane is pretty sure he could've if he used Salamence instead of Butterfree, she replies, "Oh please. That sounds like an excuse."
Romeo's playful chuckle makes Jane curiously look at the handsome boy who flicks his hair. "Guess we'll determine who the real winner is tomorrow." He then turns to walk away, but unlike in the past, this time, Romeo waves his hand back at her.
Jane can't help but blink at his retreating figure in confusion. Is this really the same annoying arrogant Romeo from Ilex Forest? Shaking her head, she notices it's getting dark now, and she really needs to go heal her Pokemon before the contest tomorrow. She will beat Romeo in the Goldenrod City contest and make him apologize to her and Dillon! With a huge grin on her face, Jane waves enthusiastically at the boy getting smaller. "See you tomorrow, Romeo!"
Romeo fights the urge to appear startled, but he's glad his back is to her. His smirk grows along with the redness in his face. Maybe this Jane girl isn't so bad after all? Why she likes Dillon, he has no idea, though she is proving to be someone very interesting. Tomorrow's contest will allow him to gauge how good of a coordinator she is. He's looking forward to it.
Ilex Forest
After getting a ride to the entrance of the forest, Dillon and Pika ran inside to look for Amy. They've been searching for hours, which just worries the boy more. How can he face his parents if anything happens to Amy? How can he let anything happen to his younger sister?
"Pikapi?" Pika's concerned voice makes Dillon let out a worried breath.
"I'm fine."
"Pikachu pika ka pi."
"We'll find her, Pika. Just keep looking. She couldn't have gone far." He hasn't been able to reach Amy's pokenav when he called her either, adding to his concern. She promised not to run off again, but here she is doing it! Mew!
"Pika!" Pika's surprised shout causes Dillon to stop in his tracks. It is very late, so the forest is dark. However, a bright green light soon enters the secluded part of the forest where Dillon and Pika are.
Noticing it is a flying Pokemon, Dillon and Pika get into defensive stances. They've never seen this pokemon before, but they're ready for if this is the reason Amy is gone. "Leave us alone!" Dillon warns the green Pokemon flying closer.
"Pi!" Pika's cheeks spark, though the wild pokemon is unfazed.
When the same green light envelopes the two, Dillon, in a panic, commands Pika, "Thunderbolt!" Dillon and Pika are floating off the ground. The electric mouse sends a powerful electric attack at the green Pokemon, which causes a bright white flash of light to erupt.
"Celi!" The mysterious pokemon cries out as the white light becomes more blinding. Dillon shields his eyes, and before he knows it, a huge wave of unconsciousness hits him.