Apologies if you got a second email saying that Chapter 22 was up. I accidentally deleted it.Thankfully, I put it back up.
The empty dormitories were in near silence compared to the field. No cheers were heard here, and for the first time today, a sense of calm swept over the boy. He passed multiple doors before he reached the entryway to his own room.
He stepped through the portal and closed the door behind him. Pulling up a chair, the boy placed himself in front of the videophone, picked up the receiver and dialled his home number.
'I hope they're not too busy,' thought Louis.
Back in Flash Town, the Serrano household was relatively quiet without the young boy present. Janet was busy preparing a meal for her husband and guest, Miguel had finished his cataloguing for the day and decided to help his wife. Taki and Crocanaw watched the sun begin to slowly dip in the sky.
Suddenly, the home phone rang.
"Oh!" shrieked Janet.
"Who would be calling at this time?" wondered Miguel.
"I think it'll be Louis," said Taki, peering her head through the window
Janet halted her current preparations and trotted over to the home phone. She picked up the receiver as the screen turned on.
"Hello?" she began.
"Mom!" exclaimed Louis, and just that word was enough.
"Louis! Are you...ok?" she questioned.
The boy took in a deep breath before answering.
"Yeah," he answered. "I've just had my first ever Pokémon battle."
Janet's eyes widened.
"Did you really? How did it go?"
Louis mustered a smile.
"I won!" he cheered.
"Well, not just me. My Pokémon too," he added.
Janet smiled.
"How's our boy?" called Miguel.
"He won his first Pokémon battle," replied Janet.
"Oh wow!"
Miguel walked over to the home phone.
"Nice work, kiddo," he congratulated.
"Thanks, Dad," replied Louis.
Then, a question popped up in the boy's mind.
"Hey, have you guys seen Taki lately?" he asked.
"Actually, she's here with us," answered Janet.
The girl approached the vid-phone.
"Louis!" she greeted.
He wanted to say a million things. He wanted to tell her how much he'd missed her, how much he needed her now.
But all that emerged was a nervous "...Hi Taki."
Taki giggled. Then, Crocanaw popped up in front of Taki.
"Hey Louis," it said.
"Oh hi, Crocanaw," replied Louis.
Taki gently pushed past Crocanaw to look at Louis through the phone.
"Have you been staying out of trouble?" she inquired, jokingly.
"Of course," the boy answered.
While looking at his family and friends, a repeating image of Simon continuously appeared in Louis' subconscious. The boy closed his eyes and his eyebrows lowered into a frown.
"Uh...are you alright?" asked Crocanaw.
Louis snapped out of it, realising that he had done that in front of the phone.
"Oh, uh..." he paused.
Louis had to get this off of his chest.
"Hey, Taki? Crocanaw?" he said. "Can I speak to you two...privately?"
Not expecting the boy's change in mood, Taki reluctantly agreed. Both of Louis' parents moved away from the phone so the three could speak to one another.
"Is something wrong?" asked Taki.
Louis briefly hesitated to answer.
"Hey, Crocanaw?" he began. "About what you said to me before I left. How you asked me if I would be gone forever?"
Crocanaw blinked twice in uncertainty.
"Uh...yeah? What about it?" she asked.
Louis took a deep breath before answering.
"Was it because of your old trainer?"
The blue, scaly Pokémon backed away from the phone in silence, shocked at the question.
"Uh...Crocanaw?" worried Taki.
The Pokémon returned to the videophone.
"H-...how did you know that?" it asked.
The boy leaned in closer to the screen.
"Was your trainer...Simon Varnett?" he asked.
The beast's heart nearly stopped, as a tear formed in its eye.
"Bingo, huh?" said Louis.
Crocanaw closed her eyes and clenched her fist.
"Yeah...it was him," she answered.
Taki's eyes widened.
"What?" she said.
The girl looked at her Pokémon with compassionate eyes.
'That was why she asked Louis that question?' she thought.
Louis felt bad that he had to bring a bad memory for Crocanaw, but he needed answers.
"Um...should we change the subject?" asked Louis.
"No..." replied Crocanaw. "I wanna know what he's like."
"Oh, he's a huge jerk!" grumbled Louis.
Crocanaw chuckled.
"I thought so," she said.
"He just pushes people around like he owns the place," the boy continued. "What is he, an Onix?"
"No, he acts like one," Crocanaw began. "But he's more like a Snubbull"
This got both Louis and Crocanaw laughing.
Taki chuckled, joining in.
"How are you doing, Taki?" the boy began. "Chief got you saving the world again?"
More laughs from the listeners.
He needed this, each outburst of joy stripped away a hurtful layer of longing, and soon, the boy's homesickness began to ease.
Minutes flew by, and before he knew it, the sun started to wane on its descent below the horizon.
And then the boy realized. He had missed Violet's battle.
As the boy finished saying his goodbyes to his family in Johto, familiar voices found his ears, accompanied by footsteps approaching his room. As the voices got closer, Louis opened the door and peered outside to see Suzuki, Roy, Violet and Louis' Pokémon team approaching.
On better inspection, the boy felt as though all three of the trainers were very exhausted at the day's conclusion, but as he looked at their faces, Suzuki was smiling, Violet had a triumphant expression, while Roy had a face that looked like he had been on a rollercoaster.
"Ah, there he is," said Violet.
The entire squadron of Louis' Pokémon ran up to the boy.
"You forgot to bring your Pokémon with you," explained Suzuki.
Louis blushed in embarrassment. He never realised how preoccupied he was.
"Uh...sorry for missing your match, Violet," he apologised.
"That's alright," reassured Violet.
"Dude, you missed out," said Roy. "Violet's battle was incredible!"
Louis chuckled. However, Suzuki sensed that the boy was feeling uneasy.
"Louis, are you feeling ok?" he asked.
"Yeah, why?" inquired Louis.
Suzuki knew something had happened, but he decided not to press on in front of the others.
"Just checking," said Suzuki.
Roy yawned loudly.
"So, uh...how did your match go, Violet?" asked Louis.
"Well..." the girl began. "It's hard to explain."
Violet had a tough time demonstrating how her battle went, so she brought the others to the field so that Coach could explain it for her.
"So, Violet's Yanmega used Air Slash against her opponent's Tangela," explained Coach.
"The attack was perfectly aimed, so it was a direct hit."
"Super effective, as well," added Violet.
"Right. So, the Tangela ended up fainting, and Violet and her Pokémon won the battle."
Louis shifted his attention to Violet.
"I knew you were powerful..." he paused. "But that's awesome!"
"So what happens now?" he asked.
"Now, we have a week to train for the tournament itself," explained Suzuki.
Louis' eyes widened.
"A week?" he blurted.
Louis gulped. The pressure had been building in the boy since his battle ended.
That night, Louis and his Pokémon discussed the tournament in the boy's dorm room.
"Alright, what do you think we should do?" asked Louis.
"Maybe we could try strategizing," suggested Staravia.
"Focus on our well-being?" pondered Fennekin.
"Yeah, and we could try some team-attacks as well," added Riolu.
"Become stronger," proclaimed Torracat.
"Work on coordination?" said Cubone.
"Or...I could just do it myself," blurted Azul.
The group turned their heads to the frog Pokémon.
"Uh...what?" said Louis.
"You heard me," replied Azul, with a smirk.
Riolu sighed, sensing the eagerness in Azul's aura.
"Look Azul, we know you're passionate about Pokémon battles, but this isn't the time for overconfidence," it said.
"What are you talking about?" inquired Azul. "You all saw how I took down Munchlax."
"Yes, but Cubone took it on before you did," replied Torracat.
"But rock type moves aren't that effective against Pokémon like that."
"That doesn't matter," said Cubone.
"It does matter!" proclaimed Azul.
"Hey, guys...cool it," said Louis.
Unfortunately, the boy's words fell on deaf ears.
"You can't just take all of the battles for yourself!" growled Staravia. "You're part of a team. Remember?"
"Hey, you took on two Pokémon and got knocked out by that Crobat!" exclaimed Azul. "How is that teamwork?"
"Guys...please..." groaned Louis.
The escalating argument didn't show any signs of stopping. The combining pressure of feeling powerless, Simon being Crocanaw's old trainer, and the tournament being a week away, started to build up within the boy.
Riolu suddenly sensed the tension in his aura.
"Whoa whoa. Guys, stop!" it called.
No response to the Pokémon's cry.
Every amount of pressure took its toll on the boy.
Something in Louis snapped.
"STOP IT!" he bellowed.
The boy clutched his face, while the room fell silent. Each of the Pokémon became startled by the boy's sudden outburst.
"I can't deal with all these problems at once!" growled Louis.
'I tried to warn them,' thought Riolu.
"First it's my homesickness, then the tournament, Simon being Crocanaw's old trainer...and now THIS!"
Outside the room, Suzuki, Roy and Violet overheard a raised voice.
"I don't like the sound of that," Suzuki muttered.
Violet was about to walk toward Louis' room, but Suzuki placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"No," he said. "Give him some space."
Back in the room, Louis covered his face while breathing heavily. He then stood up and walked toward the door.
"I can't even be in the same room with you all right now," he muttered, before slamming the door behind him.
Louis stomped out of the dorms, placing his back on a nearby tree before covering his face again.
Multiple thoughts clouded his mind. And each led to an irrefutable outcome. After a while, Louis stood up and walked back into the dorms. Unbeknownst to him, Suzuki was approaching.
"Hey," he called.
Louis stopped, but he didn't look at the other boy.
"Are you...ok?"
Louis strained himself, hesitating to answer. But, a moment of impulse triggered in the boy's mind.
"Being a Pokémon Trainer was a mistake," he blurted, quietly.
He brushed past Suzuki, who was taken aback. As he entered his dorm, Louis muttered one more thing;
...
"I want to go home."
Oh, dear...the pressure got to Louis. I just hope he stays.
Um...so, thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)
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Thanks again. See you next time
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check on Louis.