Dillon decides to spend time helping his mom with the gym before leaving for the Pokemon Center. He tells her that he will see her tomorrow since he will be spending time training for her gym badge. Misty, proud of her son, wishes him luck.
Dillon stops by the PokeMart on his way to the Pokemon Center. He buys a pokenav and puts it in his pocket before leaving. As he takes his stroll back to the Pokemon Center, he gets pulled into an alley and pinned against a wall. He looks at his assailant to see a large, bald, muscular man with tattoos down both arms. The man is wearing a ripped black vest and no shirt. His black jeans hide his gut. "Clark." Dillon chokes out. The thug, Clark, smiles sinisterly.
"Hey, rich boy." he snickers. "Are you bailing on us?"
Dillon internally groans as he wraps his hands over Clark's meaty arm. "I'm busy." He tells the man. Behind Clark, Dillon notices his old gang: Mason, Amber, and Tyson.
"Uh-uh, Ketchum. You know what happens if you want out." Clark pulls out a pocket knife.
Dillon knew. To leave the stupid little street gang, one had to die or beat Clark in a knife fight. Both options were usually death. "I'm busy." Dillon repeats.
Clark hits Dillon in the side with the knife handle. "That's not an option, Rich Kid."
Dillon continues glaring at the thug.
"Hey! What's going on over there!" A man yells into the alley.
"Mind your own business!" Clark yells back.
"This is Officer Mark. If you know what's good for you, you will leave." the man, Officer Mark, responds.
Clark clicks his tongue and glares at Dillon. "9PM. You know where." He then punches Dillon in the gut and walks out the other end of the alley with the other three thugs. Officer Mark runs into the alley.
"Hey! Are you okay?" He asks the cowering Dillon.
Dillon pulls his hat down to hide his face. While he is trying to be good now, Officer Mark doesn't know that, and Dillon doesn't want to be falsely arrested for gang affiliation. "Yes. Thank you." Dillon stands up and sprints out of the alley towards the Pokemon Center.
Aurora's POV
Granite and I slept in today since we arrived in Cerulean City late last night. After a quick breakfast, I spent a few hours training my pokemon. Granite chose to explore the buildings nearby. It is almost noon, so Granite and I are chatting about our morning in the lobby when Dillon sprints inside holding his side.
"You okay, Dillon?" I ask him. I'm pretty worried. He's hunched over a little. He sees us and lets go of his side.
"Yeah. Let's get lunch." he tells us. I don't fully believe him, but whatever. Maybe he fell outside or something. Or it's running cramps. We grab our pokemon and go to a cafe Dillon recommends. The food is very good! Dillon exchanges pokenav contacts with Granite. He then hands the pokenav to me.
"Uh, I don't have a pokenav, so I can't share any contact info with you." I tell him.
"I know. This is yours since you don't want your bike money. I got mine back from my mom yesterday." Dillon pulls out another pokenav. "I already put my contact in that one." he motions to the one on the table near me.
Wow. I never knew Dillon Kay was this nice. I smile, "Thanks, Dilly Boy." He cringes and I can't help but giggle. Dillon makes it way too easy to tease him.
"Okay. So now that we've got everyone's contact info, there are no excuses about losing track of time!" Granite announces. Yeah. Dillon and I may have missed a few meetings in the past.
After dinner, Granite leaves for more sight-seeing. Dillon and I train our pokemon in a nearby field. I help him teach Pika how to use irontail, even though they won't be needing it against Leader Misty. We decide to take a break and lay on the grass. It's the beginning of winter, but the snow hasn't fallen yet.
"How was home?" I ask to break the silence.
Dillon smiles. "Good." He replies. Well, I'm glad it all worked out. I was a little worried last night when he left.
"Are you nervous for the gym battle tomorrow?" I'm kind of nervous. I heard Leader Misty is married to the champion, and they used to travel together. She must be very strong.
Dillon shrugs. "If we don't get it, and we need more time to train, we can come back here later."
"So you're saying, you can come see your family and challenge Leader Misty anytime?" I rephrase for him. I see his reasoning. We could've done the same thing with Lt. Surge if I couldn't get the badge.
"Sure." Dillon mumbles.
We lay in silence, enjoying the cool winter air when a shadow blocks the sunlight. I look up and see a very big, bad street thug. Dillon hasn't paid any attention to the shadow yet. I'm about to ask the man if he needs anything when he speaks up, "I didn't know you had a pretty little girlfriend, rich kid." He winks at me.
Dillon jolts into a sitting position only to be kicked down hard by the thug as the man keeps his foot on Dillon. I gasp. Our pokemon glare at the man. "Let him go!" I demand. I guess that's when the thug notices all of the pokemon ready to attack him. He laughs.
"So I see you've made some friends now." He continues laughing. "Don't forget, no pokemon tonight." He steps off of Dillon and walks away after winking at me again. Ugh. Disgusting!
Dillon lets out a loud breath as his pokemon run over to check on him. I give him a look of concern. "I'm fine, guys." He assures us. He looks at me. "We still have a few hours before meeting up with Granite for dinner. Let's train." he says.
Uh. Is he totally gonna ignore the fact that a street thug just threatened him? "Dillon, what was that?" I ask him.
He flinches from the question. "Nothing."
"That did NOT look like nothing." I emphasize.
"Look, Lightfield, I don't want to talk about it."
"He said something about tonight and no pokemon! What is that about?" I insist. What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into, Dillon?
"Drop it." he snaps at me. He seems really upset. I feel a little bad for prying. "If you're not gonna train, then I will." Dillon gets up, returns his pokemon, and walks away. I watch his retreating figure and call Granite.
"Sup, Aurora!" I hear him answer happily.
"Hey, Granite. I think we got a problem." I tell him.