Chapter 52 - Fried Pumpkin
"He's gotten so much stronger," Seshiru said while drinking from her hot tea.
"Who? Kenta?" Professor Oak asked.
Seshiru nodded. "Yeah. It's surprised me. He was one of the worst students that I've ever had, so seeing him this strong was genuinely confusing for me. I'm proud though. Even when he was a bad trainer, he still gave it his all, so I knew there was something deep down in him."
"It's hard to believe that someone can go from such a low-level trainer to almost Elite Four level like that," Seshiru said.
Yurie shrugged. "I was a pretty terrible trainer when I started! I didn't even know how to battle or catch Pokémon. I'm sure that Professor Birch would say that I was his worst student. Probably because I was." She pet Torchic on his head. "But we're doing pretty good now, right?"
"Torchic!"
"Funny story," Seshiru started, "But Kenta and I met the same way that Yurie and I did."
"Huh?"
Seshiru nodded. "Kenta enjoys fishing, as all sane people do. One day, when I was fishing, I reeled in a small Squirtle. I tried to catch it, but failed to immediately. Then, this little boy from Pallet Town showed up, and he somehow outsmarted me. He managed to catch Squirtle while distracting me. It was crafty, but I had never been so angry with someone else in my life. Since then, I considered him a rival. However, I didn't know how much of a loser he was at the time. That only made losing Squirtle sting worse."
Yurie thought of when she met Seshiru for the first time. Seshiru seemed okay with Yurie catching Squirtle, but she now imagined that it was rough for her. However, the two eventually became friends, and Yurie wasn't sure if that would have been possible if Seshiru would have been the one to get Squirtle that day.
"Yurie, you're on your way to the Grand Festival, right?" Akane asked.
Yurie smiled and nodded violently. "Yep! I should start training sooner than later, but I'm sure my Pokémon are all prepared for it."
Akane folded her arms. "Confidence is key. I have to remain impartial as a judge, but I'll definitely be rooting for you to do well. The festival won't be too different from Hoenn's, so don't worry too much about surprises."
Yurie made a fist and waved it around over her head. "Even if there were surprises, we'll be ready for them!"
Akane laughed. "Well, then. I keep up to date with all of the coordinators that'll be entering. It's good to have as much information on them as possible. Your friends, Eguchi Reina and Kitahara Omori, have both gotten their fifth ribbons. It looks like they'll be joining you."
Yurie stopped waving her fist around. "What about Imamura Michika?"
Akane folded her arms. "I'm not sure. She unfortunately lost her last contest. She might only have one more chance left to enter, and if I remember correctly, she's kind of been on a losing streak this year."
A losing streak? She didn't mention a losing streak. I hope she's okay, Yurie thought. "She'll make it. We promised that we'd battle each other again."
Michika was the reason that Yurie continued doing contests to begin with. Had it not been for how nice she was, Yurie wouldn't have seen a reason to keep going. But all it takes is one friendly rival to change everything.
"And Seshiru," Professor Oak said. "One more symbol?"
She nodded and then drank more tea. "One more symbol. I'm prepared though."
Logan laid down in the bed that Professor Oak had provided him. He hadn't gotten up for hours, simply opting to stare at the ceiling and think about the past year or so. Battling with Kenta at the Ever Grande Conference was one of the main factors that made him interested in going to Kanto. It wasn't the only factor, but it was what originally piqued his interest.
The other factor was Yurie. He knew that she intended to travel through Kanto and take on the contests. He wanted to see her succeed, and the thought of continuing his journey without her brought an unexplainable sadness to him. He didn't know how to express it at the time, but he knew that if he was going to travel in Kanto, he had to do it with her.
It had been an interesting journey for him so far. Kanto was unlike the other places that he had been too. It wasn't too dissimilar to Unova and its massive cities. It lacked the food that he associated with the Unova, but a lot of the busy streets and tall buildings were nostalgic to him.
Kanto's climate and weather wasn't even close to either Alola or Hoenn's heat. Although he hated sweating, and he despised the heat, he missed the tropical sense that those two regions gave him. He thought about where he'd end up when all of his journeying had finished, and he considered Alola for its relaxing environment.
But once again, his thoughts came back to Yurie. Where would she go when her journey was over? Would she return to Hoenn and become a flower lady like her mother? If so, then she'd be all the way across the world, and they wouldn't be able to see each other easily.
Why couldn't he get her out of his head right now?
Being in quiet Pallet Town reminded him of his time in Nuvema. He missed his Pokémon, his aunt, and the rest of his family. He hadn't talked with his mother or father in years, and he wondered how they were holding up without him. He wished that they would find the time to watch his matches, but he also understood that they were busy. His mother was a nurse at a hospital and his father was an ex gym leader who traveled the world.
He hoped that his younger brother was studying hard. He was unsure if his brother was also aiming to become a Pokémon trainer. Maybe he didn't have those kinds of aspirations. Logan wanted to leave home since he was younger, so he couldn't relate. He couldn't even remember what his younger brother looked like; it had been so long.
He turned his head and looked across the room where Kenta was laying in his own bed. The two of them were exhausted after their battle. After they drank black tea and ate fried pumpkin, the two of them came to the room to rest. It looked like Kenta had fallen asleep immediately.
Kenta was the last person that he felt he needed to beat. Of course, he still needed to defeat Midori for his eighth gym badge, and if everything went right, he'd have a score to settle with Haruto. But in terms of his biggest battles and rivals, Kenta was the last. In Unova, he had been defeated by his childhood friend, Mao. In Alola, Luna eliminated him from the Manalo Conference. And in Hoenn, it was Kenta. He had avenged all of his biggest losses, and now it was only forward for him.
Midori.
And then the Indigo Conference.
Then what?
No matter what, he decided that he was done. He wanted to spend more time with all of his Pokémon. If he won, then he'd be allowed to challenge Kanto's Elite Four. He'd take the time to do so.
If he lost, then he'd go back to Nuvema Town and become an assistant for his aunt. He wanted to help the next generation of trainers, and that would be the best way to do so. He'd also get unlimited time with his Pokémon.
He wondered about what his friends would do, though. Yurie was bound to continue her journey. She was on a great streak, and Logan didn't see her slowing down. Seshiru was mysterious and quiet about what she wanted to do. She seemed too focused on the present to see either the past or future. She was always so quiet about it.
They would all split apart, and it would only be a matter of months.
Logan sighed and then sat up on his bed. He wondered where he would go next. He knew that quitting his journey was best for all of his Pokémon, and it was something he had considered doing a long time ago. But he couldn't help but think about all of the strong trainers out in the world that he was yet to battle with.
Meanwhile…
Vermillion City
"間もなくクチバシティに到着します。関東地方のピーチフェリーをご利用いただきありがとうございます。"
A boy, a couple of months from the age of fourteen, took his first steps into Vermillion City. He had taken the ferry all the way from the Orange Islands for roughly ten hours, and his body was numb. He popped his neck and then stretched his tanned arms before taking a look around the streets of Vermillion.
The late winter air was slightly cooler than what the boy was used to. He knelt down and pulled a pink t-shirt from his bag. As quickly as he could, he slipped out of his usual sleeveless shirt, which had been sweated on vigorously over the past ten hours, and into the fresh one. Making sure that no one was around, he changed from his white cargo shorts and into a pair of loosely fitting pale grey jeans. He readjusted his hat with the silver BayStaryu design and then looked down to his Pokémon.
"Vulpix, it might get rough from here on out. You ready?"
"Vulpix!" the Pokémon responded cheerfully.
"Okay! Daidai Rocket best be careful! Cyan Kokura is back in Kanto! He came to chew bubblegum and kick butt, and he's all out of bubblegum!"
The white Vulpix appeared confused by what her trainer was saying, not understanding if it was some sort of command or not.
"You're such a nerd. Even when we're supposed to be taking this seriously, you have a dumb smile on your face," Cyan's friend said. She came out from behind him. The ten hour ride on the ocean had made her sick, and her usually pale skin was somehow even more so. She had long brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail which she threaded through the hole of her Nimbasa Cubchoo's hat. She wore an olive t-shirt and simple blue jeans.
Cyan scratched the back of his head nervously. "I saw someone say it in a movie, and I thought it was cool. Sorry, Skylar. I'll take things seriously. I'm just excited to be back home."
Skylar grinned and put her hands on her hips. "I feel ya! Let's go!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So, Cyan and Skylar are in Kanto! For those of you who don't know, they're the main characters in my other stories: Awakening Alola and Overcoming the Orange Islands. They're gonna be in Kanto for awhile. I'm gonna try to write their characters in Kickin' It In Kanto in a way that, if you've never read any of their prior stories, you'll still be able to understand what they're about. That said, I do recommend reading/getting caught up on their other stories if you want to know every little detail about their characters/backstories. It's all going to come to a head in about ten chapters (November-ish), so you have some time, but they're not absolutely necessary to read if you don't want to.
Next chapter, Logan gets his hands on Midori once more. Predictions for how the battle will go? And Cyan and Skylar will start investigating Daidai/Neo Rocket. Where will their adventure take them?
REVIEWS:
wisdom-jewel - "Logan won and I love how Snorlax won the battle. She might not be Logan's strongest Pokemon but she would become I can't wait to see his rematched to Midori." - I'm glad people are excited for the rematch! But, now I'm nervous! I have to make it good!
pokemonking0924 - "This battle was epic especially when Gengar mega evolved and Snorlax used its exclusive z move. Poor professor Oak hopefully those earthquake attacks and the overall shaking the battle caused didn't break anything important." - I don't think it broke anything important, or we would have heard about it in this chapter.
CrescentApple - "It was also sweet of Fraxure to evolve for his trainer. I had no idea he despite his evolved form. Is there a reason why?" - I haven't really worked out the reasons why, but I think it'd have to be something to do with the Dragon-type gym leader in Unova. Maybe Fraxure took a bad beating.
SceptileBlade - "Good battle. Nice that you ended with his Kanto mon giving him the win. Snorlax in particular doing it feels, complete, somehow. I'm fine with one chapter taking up the whole battle, but it's ultimately up to you, no sweat off my back." - I think it would have felt cheap to have a Pokemon from a different team win. Snorlax, Charmeleon, or Electivire pulling off the win was necessary, I think. Also, thanks for your input!
UKEagleClaw - (Ch. 49) - "Nice engaging read! Even though it was a long chapter, the shorter scenes in particular helped mix up the pace and flow of the chapter efficiently. And liked that the pay-off was Logan and Yurie becoming equals as trainers." - That was one of the main intentions of that chapter!
