Hey, it's been a little bit!
Here's Chapter 4! I know this is a bit longer update than I usually do, but please expect this and even slower update times going forward. I'm currently very busy, and I have priorities outside of this project.
I'm sorry I can't be speedy about updates like I have been. I'm determined to finish this, no matter how long it takes. I've got a clear general plot in my head, and I'm not letting it go to waste.
With that being said, enjoy and review!
Thanks!
- Splak R.
Sydney, the Zoroark Officer, always had consistent times on the morning runs. Whether it be rain or shine, she would still persevere.
She had her squad to thank for that. Today wasn't going to be an exception for consistency, especially with all of her soldiers looking alive.
"Did you all get a good sleep? It feels like you're full of energy this morning." Sydney asked.
"Yeah!" She got a response from all of her squad.
"Andrew's group is still ahead of us, but if we get five minutes per mile today, I think we'll be in good shape. If we don't, well prepare to hear about it from Grayson I guess." Sydney said.
She had to find a new way to hype them up since they weren't the fastest anymore. It had been like this for a few days now.
"You've always been kind of lenient with the times, Sydney. Why is that?" One soldier asked.
"If you guys make progress every day, I'm not gonna complain. That's all I can ask for, really."
"So you're not gonna yell at us if we get eighteen minutes?" Another soldier asked.
"Nope. I will tell you to improve next time, but that's literally it. At the bare minimum, you guys are staying in shape, and that's all good with me."
"You're like, the opposite of Captain Grayson!"
"Heh. Good. I would hate to be him."
"Thankfully he's with a group that's behind us!" Another soldier commented.
She soon saw the finish line of the run. Of course, Andrew's group was already there. She didn't know how, but they had been getting really good times the past few days. Maybe Andrew switched his tactic up a bit? They were running together more often, did he bring the soldiers closer somehow? She didn't know.
What she did notice, though, unrelated to the time, was Andrew rubbing his forehead. Is he having a headache? She's going to ask later; for now, she snapped back into reality to let Seb tell her her group's time.
"14:56. Nice improvement from yesterday! Awesome job." Seb announced. Her squad hollered some cheers.
Sydney placed herself on the ground next to Andrew.
"Hey, champ, you feelin' okay?" She asked him as she very lightly jabbed his arm.
"Yeah... I woke up way too early... at three in the morning, no less. I couldn't go back to sleep. But the worst part was that I tried going back to sleep, and kept waking back up, so I just took a long shower this morning." Andrew explained.
"Yet you still got the fastest time." Sydney smirked
"I was awake enough at that point. But yeah, it's just a lack of sleep headache."
"Thought you were getting burnt out or something."
Seb chimed in, "He hasn't been burned out for three years, ever since he joined. I'm surprised you haven't taken your vacation yet! I think you're due for one as of your nineteenth birthday a couple weeks ago."
"Eh... I need to be there for the guys, y'know? Plus, I don't really feel burned out." Andrew said.
"Alright. Suit yourself. If you look like you're burning out, I'll let you know." Sydney said.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll hold you to that."
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! WE'RE GONNA BE DOING THE SURPRISE OBSTACLE COURSE TODAY!" Grayson barked.
The course consisted of a wall climb, some hurdles, a pullup bar leading into monkey bars, a log roll section, and a... wrecking ball?
Everyone was kind of confused on the wrecking ball part. Everyone was asking questions not just on how to do it, but on the safety concerns as well. Dante explained it for them.
"Avoid the wrecking ball 3 times and you'll finish the course. Anyone who gets a time over 20 minutes does 200 pushups."
The Alakazam didn't address the safety concerns at all.
"Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. Stuff you'd find on your regular course. Alright, Seb has the timer. 3, 2, 1, go!"
Grayson came and whispered to Dante, "I think you should've made it 15 minutes. That would've made them go crazy." He snickered.
"Oh yeah! They would've completed that in no time flat! Haha! Oh well. 20 minutes is still kind of fast."
"Alright. Let's go whip them into shape." Grayson said, going towards the officers and the soldiers.
"C'mon, Andrew! Let's see the wrecking ball dodge!" One soldier exclaimed.
Andrew's headache was sort of getting to him. He just wanted to lie down and sleep. The wrecking ball came towards him from the front, and he managed to barely dodge it. However, he forgot how physics worked for a second, and the wrecking ball hit him from behind, sending him rolling across the ground.
Grayson came up to Andrew, "C'mon Andrew. You got the fastest time on the run and you let that slip? Geez, get yourself together. Do it again, dodge it 3 times." He said in a surprisingly calm voice.
Andrew tried again. What Grayson didn't tell him was that he would add random noises to distract Andrew. So, the exact same thing happened.
Seb witnessed the whole thing.
"Geez. The asshole is really bringing his A-Game today. Wonder who soiled his morning coffee."
Grayson kept adding distractions, and Andrew kept getting hit.
Finally, he managed to dodge the wrecking ball all 3 times. Grayson didn't even give him a nod. He just went to mess with more soldiers. Seb came jogging towards Andrew, and tossed him an Oran Berry.
He whispered, "You didn't deserve that, man. He's being more of an asshole than usual."
"I'm just glad it's over."
Andrew watched the others try the wrecking ball. One of the soldiers managed to dodge it all 3 times in one go. Sydney did the same. Flamingo, the other officer, didn't do so hot. He got spotted by Grayson, and went through the exact same treatment as Andrew did. Seb kept his cool, though it was a little bit funny.
Seb was deep in thought. "Pfft. Flamingo has always been a flamboyantly clumsy one. While it is very entertaining for him to fail like this, Grayson isn't helping at all. Grayson's always been like this, the root of the problems with this platoon. I've seen and heard it many times before, he doesn't know how to motivate others. I don't even think motivate is in his lexicon. I hope he gets a rude awakening someday, and maybe then he'll consider our feelings."
"Lastly for this morning, we're gonna do 1v1 battles. You're gonna be fighting a lot of these, so we gotta make sure we know how to deal with them." Grayson lectured the platoon.
"To demonstrate, Andrew and Seb are gonna duke it out in a battle. Go ahead you two." He motioned them forward.
Both of them got into battle stances.
"Good luck, Andrew. You'll need it!" Seb stuck out his tongue.
"Yeah, yeah, keep it to yourself, birdbrain." Andrew joked back.
"Begin!"
Seb started with a Flame Charge. Andrew sidestepped and countered with a Force Palm. Seb had been too far forward at this point, so he missed. Seb retaliated with 2 kicks to the face, both landing. Andrew quickly recovered and smashed a Bone Rush to Seb's side. Everyone watching was closed in on the intense bout.
Seb threw an ember as he was falling. A direct hit. Both Pokémon were on the ground. Seb got up and did a Blaze Kick right on the chest. Andrew countered with an Aura Sphere, but Seb dodged it. The sphere went flying past him. The Blaziken threw Andrew across the field.
Everyone watching cheered for Seb as they saw Andrew fly across their vision.
"Hey. You wanna know something, Seb?" Andrew said with a smirk as he got up.
"Yeah?"
"Aura Sphere never misses."
Andrew then smacked his paws together. He looked like he was powering up.
Lo and behold, the Aura Sphere from earlier found its way back. It hit Seb directly, forcing him on the ground.
Seb rubbed his eyes, and Andrew's aura sensors behind his ears were glowing. Seb hobbled up, this fight wasn't over. He started the conversation again with a Fire Blast, which Andrew sidestepped easily. Seb then went into Close Combat, which Andrew did the same.
Seb made a flurry of attacks, and Andrew was blocking them all. Some of the soldiers couldn't keep up, and actually got dizzy from watching. Seb was thinking, what had gotten into him with his aura sensors? He thought he recognized the move, and he knew it made him more powerful, but he wasn't expecting to this extent. He had never been on the receiving end of this.
Andrew took Seb's mind wander as an opportunity, getting in several hits. Mainly in his abdomen, but a couple on his face for good measure. He finished with a Force Palm and another Aura Sphere.
"Battle's over! Andrew wins!" Dante announced. Everyone was in applause.
Andrew did a little fist pump as his aura sensors went back to its normal state.
"Damn... what was that stunt you pulled? It had me cornered." Seb asked.
"Oh! Didn't I tell you? It's my Aura Boost technique. One of the physicians did an analysis on it, and turns out it doubles my level! It's an awesome tool to have at my disposal!" Andrew explained.
Seb whispered, "It's also a cheap trick..."
"I heard that.
Andrew then rubbed his head. "Ouch. Headache's gotten worse since this morning..."
"Alright. I'll allow you to sit and watch, but I have no idea what Grayson's gonna think."
Of course, Seb asked, and he got met with a resounding "no".
So, the platoon continued with their 1v1 battles. Andrew faced off against numerous soldiers, Sydney, and Grayson all the while having his headache. Seb did the same, except he faced Dante and Flamingo instead.
Seems training is going well for Platoon 1 at the moment.
Andrew had just finished lunch with his squad mates, and is now heading to his room (Which is also Tammy's room).
His squad seemed to like him in every way, shape and form. They obviously idolized him because of his way of motivation and overall friendliness, as evidenced by the way they speak to him. They're comfortable, casually spoken, and share some jokes. He had never expected the role of Officer to be as positive as it was, but it definitely had its benefits.
That being said, what about Pokemon he idolized? The first big one that came to mind was Tammy. She had been there for him every step of the way since he got here. He was so glad to have her in his life, without her, he could've become a Jett clone. While that isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, being raised under Tammy had done him a lot of good. He knew to always be nice and understanding, and could be a leader much better that way.
Andrew considered Tammy his mother officially when he was ten, when he got badly hurt after a rough training session with Jett. Tammy saved the day by tending to his wounds and giving him words of love and comfort. He almost never cried tears of joy so quickly after having tears of sorrow, but it was something about the way Tammy handled the whole situation that made him trust her a lot more.
And she still hasn't let him down yet, even after all of these years later.
Seb was on the list, acting sort of as his unofficial older brother. Even though he's several years older, he still considers it a brotherly relationship. Seb had showed him all kinds of rocks when he was a Combusken, and even now he hasn't changed a bit in that regard. He's always rambling on about it, but at least he's making a career out of it by pursuing geology.
Those were the main two he idolized, and the Pokemon he spent the most time around. The trio was basically inseparable, Andrew thought the family dynamic they had was something special.
Of course, there was Sydney, who was around Seb's age. She was always laid back, even when she seemed frustrated. She had to have an outlet of some kind to be that calm. Andrew speculated a little bit... Maybe she sat on the roof to smoke? She never smelled like she did... maybe she has some sort of meditation she does. It was wild to see Sydney chilled out, but he would have to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out on his own.
Then there was Tracey.
He hadn't seen Tracey around for a while. Ever since that stunt she pulled on Grayson, none of the other Officers had seen her. Andrew could only assume she was exiled for making such a bold statement to his authority. It would only make sense, and Jett's not one to skimp out on punishments. He knew that first hand when he was ten, when Tammy healed him. Andrew didn't talk to her much, but he did know Tracey was a little sensitive. He hoped that she was okay, at the very least.
When he finished that thought, he arrived at the door to his and Tammy's room.
He promptly opened it and saw Tammy and Seb conversing on the bed, but as soon as he walked in, they stopped to greet Andrew.
"Hey there!" Tammy greeted. "Didn't expect you to be done early with lunch."
"Oh yeah, everyone else had stuff they needed to attend to." Andrew answered.
Seb chimed in, "Oh, alright. Hey, you wanna take a walk around the park later?
"Sure!" Tammy and Andrew replied at the same time.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower since I feel very gross from being outside all day. Later!" Andrew waved bye to the Flygon and Blaziken.
As he saw Andrew go into the shower, Seb whispered to Tammy, "I don't think we should talk about it anymore. He could hear us."
Tammy nodded. "Ok. Are you gonna head back to your room?"
"Yeah. I'll see you at the park, Tammy!"
Tammy gave a wave. "Ok. I'll see you later!"
Tammy and Andrew had gotten back from the walk, and decided to make some night conversation.
"So you got a headache since this morning, and it's gotten worse over the day?" Tammy asked.
"Yeah. I think I just need to go to bed earlier." Andrew tiredly chuckled.
"Well I sleep right next to you, with you being on that sofa sleeper. I feel you slept just fine."
"I woke up at 3 in the morning today."
"Oh really? I didn't hear a thing!" Tammy burst out in laughter.
"You've been the deepest sleeper I've met, Tammy. When you sleep it's impossible to wake you up!"
"Heh, I guess I do sleep pretty hard." Tammy rubbed her arm.
"Anyway, about your headache, Andrew, I think it's something more than lack of sleep if you had it all day today. Are you sure you aren't getting burnt out at all?"
"Uh... maybe a little bit. I got hammered in the obstacle course today."
"Ouch. You need me to do anything about that? Seems like Grayson has been pushing all of you to your limit."
"I don't think it's to a point where you need to intervene, but I'll let you know if it ever does get to that point."
"Alright, let's go to bed. I'm sure we're both tired after today."
"Agreed. Night, love you."
It always made her day when Andrew said that.
"Love you too. Night."