After Joseph won, Jessica and I battled the gym leaders and each earned our first badge. Jessica and I had a bit of an easier time with Cilan and Chili, respectively, since I picked up a Pansear and she got a Panpour, both from a guy who was handing them out, out of the goodness of his heart. We acquired them during a 15 minute intermission, and the guy just happened to be outside of the Pokémon Center, where we exited after Joseph got his Pokémon taken care of. Joseph himself decided to take a Pansage, somewhat wishing he met the guy earlier.
As it was, we reached our first true milestone. So, we celebrated by grabbing some burgers and taking it to the fountain in the middle of the city's gardens.
"One down, seven to go," I said triumphantly before I bit into a burger.
"One step closer to our goals," Jessica added as she took a sip from her Vanilla Coke. She looked over at Joseph, who remained a bit quiet. He stared off into the distance. "Hey, Joseph, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I'm just letting it sink in."
"What? That you're an actual trainer now?" Jessica was being sarcastic, and she had a mischievous smile on her face. But after two slow nods, Joseph looked at her with a solemn expression.
"Actually, yeah. I mean, I already know I am a trainer. I have Pokémon, a license, and won a few battles. But… after that gym battle… I finally feel like one." He tilted his head. "Is that weird?"
"I don't think so," I said with a shrug. "Sometimes, it takes a while for people to get used to a new role. This is still new for you, Joseph. You didn't grow up on this like Jessica did. So, if anything, you might be a little ahead of the curve."
"You're doing great, Joseph," Jessica said. She patted his right knee with her left hand. That prompted Joseph to look at her."
"You really think so?"
"I do." Her expression became a bit solemn. "Now, it's not going to get any easier from here. Everything is going to get tougher as we journey on – the Gyms, the trainers, the Pokémon in the wild, all of that. But if we focus, we'll get stronger. And, honestly, I think you're better built for this than you give yourself credit for."
I watched them as they shared a small smile. They were snarky with each other a lot of time. Of course, it wasn't out of malice. That was just their dynamic. But I enjoyed moments like this – moments where they showed their mutual affection for each other.
Unfortunately, it was also kind of sad. That secret that Joseph was carrying around was not just a heavy weight in his chest. It was also a roadblock. I knew that they had feelings for each other. But with Joseph's past weighing in on him, any development between them would come slow, if not at all. And as much as I urged Joseph to finally tell her, I knew it wasn't easy for him.
I sighed.
"Is everything okay, bro?" Joseph asked.
I looked at the both of them, seeing that they were looking at me with a look of slight concern.
"I'm good," I said. "Just a little more tired than I thought."
"We'll call it a night after we eat," Jessica declared.
We continued to eat, talking about random subjects. By the time we reached the hotel it, was a quarter until 11. We all hit the hay, wanting to be ready to take on what the next day had in store for us.
And the next day had quite a bit in store for us.
After stopping by Fennel and Amanita's place to pick up our payment for helping them acquire some Dream Mist – as well as a care package of snacks from other parts of the world – we left Striaton behind. With my camera recording, I trained it on Joseph as the three of us stepped out onto Route 3. Joseph was looking back towards the town with a slight smile on his face.
"So how'd you like Striaton?" Jessica asked.
"…I think my younger self would have loved it here," he said. He looked at Jessica. "Maybe it was a good thing I didn't go straight to the gym when we first got here."
"So does that mean you'll actually take time to enjoy this journey?" I said.
"I'll try."
"That's all we can ask for," Jessica said. "Now, the next town is – "
"OUT OF THE WAY!"
All three of us turned to look at the direction that voice was coming from. Just as we did, two Team Plasma members ran past us in a hurry, bumping into me. I almost dropped my camera because of it.
"They look like Team Plasma," I said.
"What gave it away?" Joseph deadpanned as he looked at them. "Surely it couldn't have been their inconspicuous outfits."
"But why are they in a rush?" Jessica questioned.
That question came when a little girl running in the same direction. We looked at her as she slowed to a stop. She took a moment to gather herself and catch her breath. She then opened her mouth to speak.
"Let me guess – you were running after those Team Plasma members?" Joseph asked.
"…Yes," she said after blinking a couple of times.
"And I'm going to go a bit further out on a limb and guess that they took a Pokémon of yours. Am I correct?"
"Yes!" She looked down at the ground in shame. "I was just playing with my Drilbur and they yelled at me, calling me a slaver. I recalled my Drillbur, and that's when they grabbed him and took him away!" I saw her eyes water, and I heard Joseph sighed. "I'm sorry to borrow you three and all, but I really need help and…"
"Listen," I gently interrupted. "…I'm sorry, what is your name?"
"Anna," she said, her voice cracking as she wiped her eyes. I looked at Joseph for a moment with a look of pleading. He didn't say anything at first. But after a moment, he slowly nodded.
"…We'll take care of it," he said. He looked towards Jessica. "Can you stay with her until we get back? I promise we'll be as quick as possible."
"Okay," Jessica said with a nod. "But you owe me lunch."
"Fair enough."
"Thank you guys!" Anna exclaimed, smiling as she clapped her hands together.
"Don't thank us yet," I said with a smile. I then looked at Joseph. "Let's go." Joseph and I walked towards the direction they were rushing off to. As we did so, I heard Jessica try and comfort the girl. As soon as we were out of earshot, I looked at him. "I'm surprised you didn't argue about it."
"I understand I'm not exactly the nicest guy, but I couldn't turn that girl down even if I wanted to," he replied. "Besides, you have to be one trash person to take a Pokémon from a child like that."
I raised an eyebrow. "…Um…"
"Yes, I know, that's rich, given who I used to work for, even if I wasn't a part of operations on that front." He looked at me. "Not to say what I was doing was any better. It was probably worse."
"You're not that guy anymore."
He shrugged. "Yeah, but that guy's past is still hanging over me." As he said this, he pulled out a Pokéball from his holster and tossed it towards the ground. After it hit the ground, and opened up, releasing Tepig. Joseph then kneeled down. "Hey Tepig. I need that nose of yours. A couple of Team Plasma goons ran away with a poor girl's Pokémon. Can you help me sniff them out?"
Tepig nodded before it put its nostrils to the dirt. As it did so, I tilted my head.
"Why didn't you call out Lillipup?" I asked.
"I figured she could use an extra day to rest after the day she had yesterday," he replied.
It didn't take too long before Tepig caught a scent. With his nose to the ground, he started to sniff around until he reached a foot print. After sniffing the footprint a few times, it started to run forward, prompting the two of us to follow it. After several minutes, we ended up at the entrance of a cave. I walked up to the sign and read it.
"Wellspring Cave," I said out loud. I looked over at Tepig. "Are you sure this is where they went?" Tepig nodded with a confident squeal. Joseph walked up to it and kneeled before he stroked the top of his head with his thumb.
"Good work, Tepig," he said with a smile, prompting the Fire Pokémon to squeal in delight. After Joseph recalled Tepig, he stood up. "So they ran into this cave. Think they're stuck?"
"I don't know, to be honest," I said. "Caves can be rather tricky." I looked at him. "Shall we?" He nodded.
It turned out that caves being rather tricky worked to your advantage. Once we were inside, we saw the two Plasma guys standing next to the body of water what was inside. That must be where the name comes from, I thought to myself.
"So, this is what we're doing now?!" Joseph called out as he readied a Pokéball. The two Team Plasma members quickly turned around. "We're stealing Pokémon little kids?!"
"We're not stealing the Pokémon, we're liberating it!" he retorted. "Once we get it to a proper habitat, we will release it into the wild – where it belongs."
"We're only doing the right thing!" the other one added.
"You're taking a Pokémon that's been in captivity for who knows how long and releasing it out in the wild to fend for itself," I pointed out. "Don't you think it might be a death sentence?"
"Better in the wild then in a battle for a trainer's sick amusement!"
"Okay, this is going nowhere," Joseph interjected as he rolled his eyes. "I have a feeling you guys have Pokémon of your own on you – though how you guys can reconcile that with your supposed goals – "
"Team Plasma's goals are the real!"
Joseph sighed. "Point is, let's just have a battle, and we'll take that Drillbur back after we run through you."
"…We could do that," I said as I readied my own Pokéball. "However, I think there's an alternative we can all agree on." Joseph looked at me with a look of confusion.
"And what would that alternative be?" one of the Plasma members said with a sneer.
"It's simple – release the Drillbur here and now." I raised my eyebrows briefly. "If you're for Pokémon liberation, then you should be for Pokémon rights. So, we let the Drillbur choose what it wants to do." I shrugged. "That way, we can avoid a Pokémon battle, since you hate those so much."
The two of them gave each other a look. Meanwhile, I adjusted my glasses as I worked hard to hold back a smirk.
"Fine, we'll do that," one of them said. They brought the Pokéball out – a pink and yellow one – and tossed it to the ground. "You're free now. No need to thank us."
It didn't thank them.
As soon as the Pokéball opened and the Drillbur was released, it quickly turned jump towards the Plasma member who released it and started clawing his face.
"OH!" Joseph exclaimed as his eyes went wide and ajar. I looked at him with a knowing smirk. I wasn't sure that I'd be able to convince them to release the Drillbur. And I wasn't sure how it would react. But my gamble paid off. I looked back at the two Team Plasma members, watching as the one not being attacked managed to pry the Drillbur off… only to get his face clawed as well. This went on for a few minutes until they had the wherewithal to jump into the lake and swim away.
"…Well, that turned out well," I chuckled.
"Was that your plan?" Joseph asked.
"MAAAAAAAAAYBE…"
"You're wild for that!"
We then looked at the Drillbur, watching it as it walked up to us.
"You're Anna's Drillbur, right?" I asked. It nodded as it let off a high-pitched sound. "I'm David, and this is Joseph. She sent us to get you back. Ready to go?"
And that's exactly what we did – but before Joseph took a moment to pick up a . After getting it into its ball, we made our way back. Once we reached Anna and Jessica, the two of them were sitting cross-legged as Jessica was apparently was telling her a story. Anna looked past Jessica and looked at me. I smiled as I held up the ball. Anna quickly stood up and ran up to me before she wrapped her arms around me. I was a bit caught off guard, but I managed to get a hold of myself to hug her back. She pulled away and smiled.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed. She then looked at Joseph and Jessica. "Thank you all!"
"It was all David," Joseph said with a slight smile. "He actually made them look like fools."
"Well, my Pokémon is safe because you guys decided to help. Um, hold on!" She removed the backpack she had on. She then opened it and reached inside of hit it and pulled out a small a small sack. "Take these!"
"What are these?" Joseph said as I took them.
"They're Heal Balls! You catch a Pokémon with these, and they'll be perfectly healed!" I reached inside and pulled one out. I clicked the button to enlarge the ball and looked it over, taking in the pink patterned with a pale yellow. After pressing the button again to shrink it and putting it back into the bag, I looked at Anna and smiled.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're all welcome. I'm going to go now. Good luck on your journey!" She then turned to look at Joseph. "I can't wait until you're champion!" With that said, she waved at us as she turned and walked to the direction of Striaton City. I looked at Joseph, who looked a bit dumbfounded.
"I wanted to distract her, so I told her about why we were travelling," Jessica explained. Joseph nodded as his expression returned to normal. "Anyway, where'd you find those guys?"
"Wellspring Cave," I said.
"Really now?" She smiled. "Let's go there."
"Are you sure?" Joseph said. I looked at him curiously. He didn't try to rush us to the next town. I smirked. That was a step in the right direction.
"Yeah. There are a couple of Pokémon we can use." She looked at him. "You'll thank me for it."
Joseph looked at her for a moment. He then nodded. "Aight, let's go."
And we were travelling again, heading back for the same cave that those two Team Plasma goons were in. A part of me did wonder about the group. Were they well-meaning activists who had some misguided zealots among them, or were they something more sinister? …What did they have to do with the company that my father used to work for?
I breathed in.
"Hey, David, you okay?" Joseph asked.
"…Yeah," I said.
I wasn't quite okay. I felt a bit alarmed, and I didn't know why.