A Pallet Pair #12:
Home
He ran.
For the first time since he was little… he ran.
"Impossible," he muttered angrily. "It could not have had the strength for that sort of shield. It's simply not possible."
"They still beat you."
He whirled, glaring toward the sneering voice. "Who's there?" "Billy" Givani demanded.
The woman in black purred a chuckle. She looked a couple years older than he: her hair was long and deep purple, her eyes the color of tarnished gold. Her deathly pale skin contrasted sharply with her black uniform. "They still beat you," she sneered again. "With four baby Eevee, they beat you."
"Two trainers, and seventeen Pokémon," he sneered in return. "You have to admit, that's unusual odds for one person with four Pokémon to take on."
"You're a cocky fool," she snapped. He glared at her coldly. "You should have known the odds before taking them."
"We can't always win by playing it safe, can we? Risks must be taken."
"Yes, they must." She smiled cruelly. "How would you like to be a risk?"
"Might I ask what you mean by that?" he asked with a mockery of politeness.
"You may, but it doesn't mean I'll answer," she replied. She held a black gloved hand out to him. "Besides, there are better people to explain what I have in mind for you."
He looked at the blood-red R on her uniform, then at her once more. "As long as it doesn't involve any corny mottos," he said, "perhaps I'll be willing to listen."
*
"Four trainers left from Pallet," Professor Oak said. "The other two… sadly, were not cut out for
it."
[ -- from some episode just before the Pokémon League Games ]
Ivonar lay on her back, staring at nothing.
She hurt.
Her left arm, from the shoulder to her fingers, was aching unbearably.
Sweetie chirped, crawling onto her stomach and peering at her nose to nose. Her ears were held out to the sides: she looked concerned. Gently she licked her nose, chirping again.
With her good arm, she rubbed the Eevee's head, then pushed her hair out of her eyes. She'd had to get it cut to get rid of the melted ends from the nearness of the Fire Cross, and the ripped strands from being Take Downed repeatedly. It'd grown out since, though: it almost reached her shoulders, now.
It had been months, since Billy, and the cast was still on her left arm. There had been a lot of damage.
She was home.
She'd never gotten to thank Remmy for making it to Vermillion City in four days: she had known he was fast, but she was still certain that was some kind of record. But she never had the chance to: she was deep in shock from her injuries and had gone immediately to surgery once they'd gotten her out of it. Her mother told her he was hospitalized for a day because he hadn't stopped to eat and had barely rested the entire trip. He'd been in bad shape, but he got better after a day in the hospital and a couple days rest.
She still hadn't seen him yet. She'd heard nothing.
He was probably coming home soon, though. The Pokémon League had started a couple days earlier. He had to easily have earned eight badges. Hopefully, she'd see his matches. So far he hadn't battled, though… she was waiting to see him. He'd do great, she knew. He had a gift.
She'd seen the others, though, before the League games began. Both, in their fashion, had come to see her.
Gary had been first.
"Hey, Old Lady," he'd greeted her, leaning in the doorway with that ridiculous smirk on his face. She had been lying on her back on the bed, cast resting across her chest, as she'd done for most of the time she wasn't lugging herself through school.
Kids who weren't Pokémon Trainers had to go to school, even with a severely busted arm.
"Hey," she'd replied weakly, scratching Sweetie between the ears. Fluffball and Cole had been wrestling noisily under her bed; Static was asleep on her desk chair. Nuisance had sat up from his place at the foot of the bed, regarding Gary curiously; Manx'd raised his head to give the boy a dull glare. Since she'd come home from the hospital, Manx had taken to sleeping next to her bed. She pretended it was normal, knowing any acknowledgement of it would annoy him.
"Gramps told me what happened," he'd said, looking around the room at the various Pokémon. "That's too bad."
"Yeah, it is," she'd replied dully.
"Nice Eevees," he'd said.
"Thanks."
"You got three?"
"There's two under the bed."
"Five?"
So he'd seen Ten on his way in. "Yeah, found four in an abandoned den and the other one was given to me. They're all pets, still, though. The youngers are still kinda young."
He'd rubbed Static's head; with a trill, the stiff-furred Eevee had looked up at him curiously. "They look old enough to me," he'd pointed out. "Almost full grown."
"I've trained them a little bit, after school," she'd said. "Against each other. They're doing okay."
"Must be hard, with your arm busted."
"It's a little annoying."
"Tough break, Old Lady."
"Yeah, very tough," she'd replied bitterly. That was the worst choice of words she'd ever heard from him.
"It just goes to show… there's people who are made for Pokémon training, and there's those that just can't cut it." She'd turned her head to look at him. Static had growled at him; he'd crossed his arms, pretending not to notice. Manx had lowered his ears. "I think you should have known better, Old Lady."
"What do you mean?" she'd asked, frowning.
"Oh, please, Ivonar," he'd sneered, shaking his head. "Look at you! You started two years late. One year I can see, but two? No, no, no. It was obvious you were never going to make it."
She'd returned to staring at the ceiling. "Yeah," she had said dully. "Obvious."
"Listen, I've wasted enough time here, I gotta get some more training in for the Pokémon League. I got ten badges – that's more than enough, I think. How many did you get before getting knocked out?"
What business was it of his? "Two."
He'd laughed. "Well, I gotta go. If you're up to it, I wouldn't mind seeing you at Indigo Plateau; you know who to root for!"
"Thanks for coming, Gary," she'd muttered.
"Catch ya later, Old Lady."
Ash's had gone a little better. It was over a week after Gary had come back, however; by that time, she nearly asked her mother to tell him to go away.
"Hi, Ivonar," he'd said slowly.
"Hey."
"Professor Oak said you had problems… what happened?"
"Accepted a fight I shouldn't have," she'd replied.
He'd made the mistake of trying to pick up Fluffball and pet her. She'd given him her tail in his face, making him sneeze and drop her, and marched to the bed, hopping up beside Nuisance. Static had trilled at him; gingerly, he'd tried to pat his head, and was rewarded with a purr.
"Bless you."
"Thanks." He'd looked around, like Gary had. "Lots of Eevees…" He'd laughed weakly. "Kind of appropriate, huh?"
She hadn't known he knew that nickname. Maybe her mother had used it when she let him in. "I like to think so."
"So… are you going to start training again when your cast comes off?"
"Maybe," she'd replied, shrugging a little. She'd sat up with her shoulders slumped, letting her cast rest on her lap. Because of the three breaks – there was a long hairline fracture in her lower arm, too – they'd just put her entire arm in a cast, leaving only her fingers free. It itched horribly. By now, this was the fourth cast: they had to replace it every few weeks. They'd assured her that this would be the last one, though. "I have to go through some physical therapy first, though. Get to finish out the school year. Again."
"Oh…" He'd taken off his hat, fidgeting with it. They'd never known each other very well. Static had sniffed at his hat curiously. "I'm real sorry about what happened."
"It's okay. Not your fault. You in the Pokémon League?"
"Yup, got eight badges!" he'd replied proudly.
"Good luck." She'd smiled weakly. "You're gonna need it against Remmy. He's good."
An odd look had crossed Ash's face. There was a long silence. "Um… I have to go," he'd said finally.
"Yeah, better get some extra training in before the League."
"Yeah."
"Good luck. Smear Gary for me, okay?"
"Thanks." He'd smiled a bit. "I will."
"Thanks."
"Well… see ya."
Maybe Remmy would be battling today.
If the other two could make it into the Pokémon League, he'd make it with no problem at all.
She lugged herself out of bed.
The Pokémon League matches of the day would be starting soon. Both Ash and Gary were supposed to have a match today. She still hadn't heard anything about Remmy, though. Maybe he'd have a match today, too. There was supposed to be a League Party for them at the Bailey's house… but she didn't feel like going. She'd already told everyone she didn't want to go. That's where her mother and Toby would be, though.
She spent the matches munching microwave popcorn (until Static and Fluffball accidentally knocked it off the table, then the Eevees, Q, and Nuisance were the only ones to get popcorn) and letting Ten sleep in her lap. Gary and Ash both won their matches.
Remmy didn't have one again.
It didn't bother her. She made sure there wasn't any popcorn still on the floor, left Ten in the armchair, and went into the kitchen to rinse the bowl.
Maybe tomorrow, then.
That's what she said right until the end of the Pokémon League games, and never once saw Remmy.
She didn't feel like going to the party for Ash. He'd placed in the top sixteen: not bad. Better than Gary'd done. It made her feel a little guilty to feel good about that… but not that guilty.
Too bad she couldn't trade Gary something for Con. They deserved each other.
But she was pretty sure it didn't work that way for psychic Pokémon.
Oh, well.
There was a knock on her door. "Yeah?" she called, expecting it to be her mother. Her dad was still at work; her brother never knocked unless he wanted a favor, and he'd been good about not asking those because of her cast. She assumed it reminded him that he was responsible for her last one.
"Hello, Ivy – may I come in?"
Startled, she looked toward the door. "Sure… sure, Professor."
He smiled kindly, gently picking Cole off the desk chair and sitting down on it. He let Cole sit on the desk instead. "It's been awhile… I came over to thank you for lending me your Cunone… I think I've learned all I can without it being trained further. Fascinating creature. I also thought I would see how you were doing."
"I'm all right." She sat up, letting her cast rest in her lap. "I feel bad about not training my Pokémon… I've done a little training for the Eevees, not much though… I was thinking about trying to find good homes for the others. Though I think instead of doing that, I'd give them to Remmy… I know he'll take good care of them, and they all know him and will listen to him."
"So… you have decided not to return to training?" Oak asked, his tone neither accepting nor disapproving. He was simply asking a question.
Ivonar shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at her cast tiredly. "You told the others what happened." She didn't mean to sound accusing, but she did, didn't she?
"Not entirely," the professor assured her gently. "I did tell Gary that you were attacked by a misguided trainer. Ash… I didn't tell him very much at all. Gary must have told him what I had told Gary."
"Oh." She looked up at him. "What happened to Remmy?" she asked. "I thought he was going to run away with the Pokémon League, but he wasn't there."
"Actually, Remmy has been in Cerulean with his cousins, helping at their Gym," he replied. "Since he told his parents he didn't want to train Pokémon, they decided it would be better for him to go to a private school there."
"He what?" She stared at him. "Why would he say that? He's great at it! Heck, he beat them, they know he's good! He got the Cascade Badge!" Professor Oak looked a little surprised at her outburst. "Professor, Remmy has a real talent," she said earnestly. "His cousins at Cerulean know he's good. Pokémon really like him, too – he's got a Dratini, and a Clefairy, he has to be good! When did he stop?"
"He went to Cerulean right after you came out of the hospital," he replied, still seeming a little startled. "He wanted to know you were okay before he went."
"You mean… he didn't train at all?"
"Well, he has done some training with the Pokémon he caught while he was with you… raising their levels, making a couple evolve… but otherwise, no, not that I know of."
"He didn't get any more badges? He just… stopped?"
"Well, Misty – a friend of Ash's, and Remmy is a cousin of hers, it seems! – did call home from my laboratory a couple days ago… she did speak with him briefly. Apparently he does a little work around her sister's gym to earn a little money after school, but otherwise… that's really it, I think."
"That's… that's… no, that's… that's stupid." The professor raised an eyebrow at her. "It is!" she insisted. "You don't understand, Professor… Remmy has a real gift with Pokémon. It's wasted, if he's just… just cleaning pools, or something! He should be a Pokémon master, or a gym leader, or a breeder, or… or something!"
"Ivonar…" Professor Oak looked at her kindly, but sadly. "Everyone has many talents, and it's up to them to decide which they hone… which they want and don't want. Remmy's done quite well on his school's track team, did you know that? I hear he beat someone's Rattata's Quick Attack."
"No," she said. "I haven't heard anything from Remmy. And I never got to thank him, either."
"That… does seem rather odd."
"No…" Ivonar's shoulders slumped. "No, it makes sense." She stood up, slipping the heavy cast into the sling she only took off to sleep. She could take another dose of painkiller now, and she was going to: was this what Nuisance put up in his head day after day? His migraine probably didn't itch, though…
"Ivy…?"
"He doesn't want to train Pokémon. He told me that in the very beginning: he doesn't like it. He doesn't like making them battle. It's no more than fighting." She scratched half-heartedly at her cast, knowing it wouldn't do any good. "But Pokémon is all he and I had in common. Without it, there's nothing to talk about." She headed for the bathroom, where her pills were in the medicine cabinet. "It's better this way."
*
"The rules are simple. Three Pokémon each. No time limit. Agreed?"
"Agreed!" the boy replied, grinning challengingly. He threw out a pokéball. "Go, Raticate!" With a flare of red light and a chatter of sharp incisors, the heavy Pokémon appeared on one of the floats.
He fingered the pokéballs in his pockets thoughtfully. He pulled out all four, not really knowing which was which. "I choose Marril." One of the balls in his right hand popped open, releasing her.
"Rampage, Hyper Fang!" the competitor ordered immediately.
"Mollie, in the water," he snapped. The Raticate bit empty air. "Surface and Water Gun!" he shouted, to be heard beneath the surface.
"Quick Attack!" The Raticate's second attack was met with a forceful stream of water, holding it back. "Come on, Rampage!" the other shouted. "You can do it!"
"Mollie, down!" he ordered. The Marril disappeared under the surface again.
"Focus Energy, Rampage! Be ready when it comes back!"
He'd been waiting for just that order. "Mollie, Bubble Beam and Body Slam!" While the Raticate was attempting to focus its energy, the Marril attacked, setting it off-balance with the first attack, then sending it splashing into the water with the second.
"No! Rampage!" The other trainer stared down into the water. "Rampage, where are you! Come back up!"
A couple moments later, the knocked-out Raticate surfaced with a little help. "Thank you, Dewgong," he said with a faint smile. "Choose your next Pokémon," he said, addressing the other trainer.
The other scowled, returning the Raticate to its ball, then plucking another from his belt. "I choose Horsea!"
"Mollie, return. Good job." He stuck her pokéball back in his pocket. "I choose Dratini."
"What?" The other trainer stared in awe: he was used to it, by now. Fairly, he waited for him to get over his astonishment. "You have a Dratini?"
"Drake, into the water," he said simply. The other had probably been intent on using his Horsea's Dragon characteristics to his advantage.
An advantage he didn't have.
Now it was all about speed, power, level, and training.
There was no type advantage.
"Horsea, Smokescreen!" the other trainer ordered.
"Drake, Whirlpool."
"Agility!" A move wasted: the Horsea was already caught.
"Slam."
"Growl! Keep your Agility up!"
Time for Drake's newest attack. "Drake, Dragon Rage!" he ordered.
"No!" the other yelped, but it was too late: Drake's aim was true, and the Horsea was belly-up. "Good job, Rockette… you tried your best." The Horsea was returned. The other trainer scowled, then lowered his eyes. "Don't make me regret this," he murmured, pulling a sixth pokéball from his pocket. There were only five on his belt. "I choose Magnemite!" he cried, tossing the ball in the air.
Electric type.
"Drake, out of the water," he told the Dratini. With a chirp and a trill, it obeyed. "Time to show off your Agility, Drake." It rubbed its glistening snout against his leg, then shook off, trying to get as much water off its body as possible.
"Magnum, go! Thunder!"
Drake made a sound almost like a squawk, leaping off the float as soon as the other trainer had spoken the order. Its trainer, too, jumped to another float, in case the powerful attack landed, but the Magnemite hesitated enough for the pair to put distance between each other. It hummed faintly as it collected the energy, then released it precisely.
"Drake, Agility! Keep out of the water! Dragon Rage at the first opportunity!" He flinched as his orders were wasted, and the attack landed. Drake fell limply back into the water. "Drake!" Nothing. "Drake!" He sighed softly. "Drake, return."
Nothing.
"Drake?"
"Magnum, Thundershock the wa-"
"Don't!" he snapped. The other trainer looked at him, startled. "You shock that water you shock us, too. Believe me, we get tons of electric Pokémon here: you get shocked. It isn't fun. Use a different attack."
"But Magnum only knows electric attacks," the other told him.
"Not even something simple, like Tackle?"
"Nope."
"Well, your choice then. Thundershock us if you think it'll help. Drake!" He crouched on the edge of his float. "Drake, I know you're still conscious, come back here! You're recalled!"
Nothing.
"I think it's sulking," he said dryly. "Mollie." The Marril popped out of her ball again.
"Magnum, Thunderwave!"
"Mollie, dive, then Mega Punch!"
The Marril dove under the surface, avoiding the attack.
"Magnum, float high, keep out of the Marril's reach!" The Magnemite drifted higher above its trainer's head.
"Mollie!" For no apparent reason, he grinned. "Mega Punch, when you're ready."
"Be ready, Magnum!"
The trainer and the Magnemite waited.
And waited.
Frowning, the other trainer regarded him: he just shrugged. "She's not ready. Might be trying to help Drake a little."
"Use another Pokémon," the other suggested. "You still have one more."
He shook his head. "I'd rather not."
"She's not fighting!"
He grinned. "No time limit," he reminded the other boy. "She's fighting. She's just waiting for her opening."
The competitor frowned, crouching down to look into the water. "Where is she?"
As if in reply, there was a sudden explosion of water, as the Marril leaped out, landing precisely on the trainer's head. With a yelp, the trainer stumbled to his feet; the Marril twisted, leaping again, and Mega Punched the Magnemite with all her strength, sending it skipping twice over the water before it sank like a rock.
"Marril!" she cheered, landing back in the water in front of the other trainer's float.
"You see?" he asked, smiling faintly.
"Wow…" The other trainer sighed heavily. "Magnum, return." A red beam of light was the only sign that the Magnemite complied. "No wonder you're a gym leader."
He decided not to say anything about that. "You're good," he replied. "Get your levels up a little more, you'll have no problem next time."
The other nodded. "Okay. Thanks. Until next time, then!" He grinned in reply as the other hopped off their float and left the gym.
With a sad trill, Drake pulled itself onto the float. "It's okay, Drake." He rubbed its head affectionately; it chirped sadly. "You did great. It got you because you were still wet. At least you're okay, right?" Drake trilled happily, coiling itself up his legs to anchor itself about his waist. He grinned at it, then hopped off the float into the water, letting Drake act like a water ring, keeping him afloat. Mollie snickered at the two of them, bobbing over on the water's surface. She squeaked as Dewgong came up suddenly underneath her, tossing her in the air like a beach ball. "Dewgong!" he laughed. "You know Mollie doesn't like when you do that!" Dewgong replied by barking at him, and catching Mollie on his nose and balancing her there while she kicked futilely. "Keeping her humble?" he joked. Dewgong barked again, nosing Mollie into the air a couple more times before finally letting her down on the float. She smacked Dewgong's nose, making it whimper, but pouted, not giving in.
"Joey! We're back!"
He looked toward the voice, rubbing Drake's head distractedly.
"That show was like, so cool," Violet was saying.
"Yeah, but, you know, he's so much more… I don't know, dreamier in photos than in person, you know?" Daisy replied. "I guess they use special lights and stuff."
"I hope things were quiet, Joey," Lily continued, apparently ignoring her sisters. "I mean, it's not fair leaving you in charge and stuff."
"I don't mind," he told her, giving Drake's head a pat. Understanding, the Dratini let him go, allowing him to swim over to the side. "Only two battles today. The first was easy, but I think Drake's spending the night at the Pokécenter." Drake gave him a dirty look. "It took a pretty big shock while it was still wet."
"Did you need Dewgong?"
"No, or the Grouches, either. Just Drake and Mollie."
"Wow!" Daisy laughed. "If you were in charge of the gym, Joey, we'd, like, never give away any badges!" Violet laughed.
"Lots of trainers who come here are just starting out," he replied. "My Pokémon are too strong for them, that's all."
"You are way too modest, Joey," Violet scolded him. "Seriously, you are so good at this."
He shrugged a little.
"How's your little friend doing?" Daisy asked.
"Who?" According to his cousins, all his friends were little. They called him little, too, so it stood to their somewhat skewered reasoning.
"Y'know, the girl you came here with, when you were, like, training." Lily looked at Daisy as she said it; they both giggled.
"Eevee? She was okay, last I heard."
"You haven't been keeping in touch?" Violet asked, frowning a little. He shrugged a little. "Wow. You two seemed like such good friends and all… what happened?"
"Nothing." He never went into what happened with them. They'd fuss over it. His parents had understood: they wouldn't. He didn't tell any of his friends at his new school, either: they wouldn't believe him.
Nobody seemed to believe him when he said he didn't want to train anymore.
The trio shared knowing, worried looks. "You two didn't, like, have a fight? Or something?" Lily asked.
"No." Not with each other, anyway.
"You never did say why you stopped training," Daisy pointed out.
"I didn't want to start to begin with," he replied, giving Drake's head a pat. "Eevee had to go home, so I convinced Mom and Dad not to make me go out again."
"Joey, I just don't get you!" Violet cried, leaning down to be more on his eyelevel. Why did she look so worried? Was it really that bad that he didn't want to make Pokémon his whole life? "You have a real talent!"
"I have other talents." He let his hand rest on Drake's head. He rarely put Drake back in its pokéball anymore, now that it had the whole gym at its disposal.
Had some close calls with it trying to follow him to school… but it had learned not to do that anymore.
"We know… we know." Violet ruffled his hair. "We're gonna be closing the pool tomorrow afternoon, and you are not to watch it for us, you hear?"
"I can't. There's a track meet."
She grinned, pinching his cheek. "And y'know who we're rooting for, doncha?"
As always, the day seemed to drag. Like the rest of the team, he wore his track shirt with jeans; people he didn't know came to him at lunch and slapped him on the shoulder, or wished him luck.
He was pretty well known for a new kid. He wouldn't have considered that a good thing, but as usual, he seemed to be the exception.
He was getting used to being the exception.
As time for final bell started to approach, he stopped focusing on his work and focused more on the meet. When he first started, he was one of the better sprinters, but a slight change in mindset had instantly made him one of the best.
He stopped doing it at practices, though. He saved it for meets.
"Winning is all about incentive," his coach had preached. "You have to want to win. At that finish line is what you most want, what you most dream of. The most important part of your life is waiting there at that finish line. When you know that, when you cross that finish line, you have what it is that is most important to you, then you will win. Maybe it is winning: maybe it's a chance at a good high school. Maybe it's whatever great game system is out, or a date with that pretty girl or cute guy in math class. Whatever it is… it's there." The coach had pointed at the finish line. "It's right there waiting for you. You get there first, it's yours."
So Remmy had played along. He tried to think of what he wanted at the finish line.
Instead, all he could remember was a far different finish line… all that came to mind was the mindless dash to Vermillion City. Four days of focusing only on one thing: the finish line.
In his mind's eye, he remembered Ivonar lying broken in the woods. At the finish line, he pictured Vermillion.
He won the first sprint by over three seconds.
And had yet to lose since.
As he headed out, more people wished him luck. Kesia, one of his better friends (he hadn't found a best friend yet), waved at him just as he was headed into the gym to get his gear; she was already prepared. Kesia was one of the tallest girls in his class, with golden brown hair and somewhat startling green eyes; most of her height was in her legs, and her hair was nearly as long as they were. She did the hurdles and the long jump, though she also tried javelins at practice. (She had a good arm, but terrible aim.) "See ya outside, Remmy!" she yelled.
He waved to show he'd heard, then hurried into the locker room. Once changed, he jogged outside, where most of the team was already warming up. He was just in time to see the competition's buses pull into the traffic circle; kids started pouring out.
"If it isn't the wingless Pidgeot!" Vince kidded him. Vince's own nickname was "Pidge" because his mother ran a Carrier Pidgey business. He was another kid from Remmy's circle; they both ran the sprints, Vince usually right on Remmy's heels. Remmy was pretty sure he and Vince wouldn't have gotten along too well, though, if he'd started out by beating him, instead of working up to it: he had a strong competitive streak. "You'd think you'd be out first more often."
"I don't want to clue anybody in," he replied. Vince laughed. "How's Pi doing?"
"Just as much better today than yesterday than he was yesterday than the day before. He's a fast little guy. Still hasn't evolved, though he's powerful enough to. I think he's holding off. He's gonna make one heck of a Pidgeot, though, if he's this fast and still a Pidgey. How's Drake?"
"Pretty good. Had to cover for my cousins yesterday, between it and Mollie I didn't give away two badges." He always tried to keep any mention of his occasional extra work to a minimum: when he said he didn't want to train, he meant it.
Really.
"And Squirt?"
Squirt was Vince's older brother's Wartortle. They'd traded temporarily because Vince was better at raising birds, and Remmy had a whole water Pokémon gym in which to help train Squirt while Vince's brother was home for a few weeks. "She's doing really good. Won't listen to me half the time, though. And I don't think she likes Saurus."
"Eh, she's like that to any Pokémon who's got an advantage over her… grass, electricity." Vince shrugged helplessly. "She's just gotta get used to you, I think."
"It's not that. I think she just doesn't like me any more than she does Saurus."
Vince's reply was cut short by the coach's whistle. The team lined up for stretches, doing their best to drown out the other school's counting with their own. When both sides were stretched, the meet began.
It started with the short distance sprint: Remmy rooted for Vince, who came in third to two of the kids on the other team. He wasn't in the shortest distance, because the coach didn't want him tired for the mid-distance and the long-distance.
Four events later, it was his turn on the starting line: the mid-distance sprint.
"Runners, take your mark!"
Three hundred yards… three hundred yards to Vermillion. Just three hundred yards to a hospital and doctors and medicine and ….
The starting gun fired the blank. A few seconds later, he came in four strides ahead of the kid who'd gotten first in Vince's race.
"All right, Pidgeot!" Vince crowed, slapping his shoulder with one hand and forcing a bottle of water into Remmy's hand with the other. "What's the record now, how many in a row?"
"Haven't counted." Remmy sat heavily on the bench, taking a mouthful of water. "How long 'til Kesia's race?"
"They're still setting up the hurdles, we still got time." Remmy nodded. "Gotta like the other team's rooting section." Remmy rolled his eyes: there was no one who thought Vince was handsome more than Vince did, no matter what Vince thought girls were thinking. "Why do all the other schools get the good girls? I mean, come on, why'd we get stuck with the dreg- OW! Hey!"
Remmy grinned. "Good luck, Kes."
Vince rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, break a leg, beanpole," he muttered good-naturedly. Kesia raised her hand again; Vince pretended to cower. She gave him a noogie instead. "Hey, ow! Ow! Not the hair, I need that!"
"My dad could use it a lot more than you could," Kesia kidded him. "Maybe he can borrow a little."
"Yeah, if I ever grow it long, he'll have first dibs when I get it chopped. 'Til then, leave it alone, okay?"
"Whatever, Romeo." Kesia ruffled his hair, doing the same to Remmy's as she walked past him toward an open space where she could stretch some more. "Nice race, Remmy."
"Thanks."
"Good luck on the next race."
"You too."
"Lessee… brunette, blonde, blonde, blue-hair, green-hair, plum-hair, plum-hair, blonde… brunette with a Pokémon, there's my type!" Vince laughed; Remmy rolled his eyes. "Never saw that one before. What's it got on its head, a pot?" Vince laughed again. "Must be a doll."
Remmy looked at Vince.
Then he looked at the stands where Vince was looking.
It took a moment or two, but he found the row where Vince had been counting off the girls. Three seats from the middle aisle of the fourth row from the top of the bleachers sat a brown-haired girl with a cast on her left arm and a clay-colored Pokémon sitting in her lap.
"Eevee?"
"Your eyes going, Rem? That doesn't look anything like-"
"No, the girl, her nickname's Eevee." What was Ivonar doing there? If it weren't for the unmistakable Q, he could have overlooked her completely… she looked older than she used to, and her hair was different: instead of going just past her shoulders, it didn't quite reach them, and had gotten a wave from somewhere when it used to be almost stick straight.
"You know her, and if so, how well?"
"We're friends… she's twe- uh, thirteen now, I think."
"Cute." Remmy shrugged a bit. "So, can I meet her after the meet's done?"
"Sure, I guess, if she's still around." What was she doing there? And with Q, of all the Pokémon?
When Ivonar had gone to the hospital, Q had been put in a pokéball and taken immediately to the Vermillion Pokécenter. It came out a few days later, as good as new but utterly refusing to stay in the pokéball: Remmy didn't force it to. When he explained to his parents that he didn't want to train anymore, and it was agreed that he would go to school in Cerulean City and stay with his cousins, he'd brought Q to Professor Oak, who'd asked to study it for awhile, and asked him to return it to Ivonar when he was done with it. He was pretty sure that Q didn't want to spend its time at a water gym if it was so afraid of water.
"Vince! Joey! Get stretching!" the coach told them. Vince clapped him on the shoulder; Remmy got up to stretch.
When it was their turn at the starting line, Remmy glanced at the stands. Ivonar was shouting, but her voice was lost in the cheers and catcalls of the other spectators and the team members. Q waved its bar at him as it jumped up and down on the seat beside her: he grinned at his unique little cheerleader. Then he looked forward, and concentrated.
Vermillion…
"Runners, take your mark!" Bang!
The noise, the other runners, the entirety of the field… none of it mattered as he ran. All that mattered was running, staying on course, getting to the end.
He finished the first lap by a quarter lap. That wasn't unusual: he started as fast as he could, while the others held some in reserve for the final lap. He'd had some close finishes: the first lap meant nothing. One kid was almost at his heels for the second lap, but fell back again; the third lap was his by a few yards.
One more lap to Vermillion… just one more… almost there… Though he'd been giving it everything he had, somewhere he found something more. Everything was a distant hum, a blur without detail. Almost there…
He won four strides ahead of the kid who'd almost caught up on the second lap, with Vince close behind. He took a quarter lap to slow down, then walked back to the bench, with the same drained, heavy feeling he always did when the race was over, when he got to "Vermillion", and it'd all just been a trick to get himself to go as hard as he could.
He looked up at the bleachers just in time to see Ivonar grab Q by the tail as the madly dancing Cunone nearly celebrated itself off its seat. It shook its bar at him, its cheers lost with those of everyone else, but he grinned just the same.
"Awesome, Rem!" Kesia cried, throwing an arm around his shoulders and giving him a squeeze, even though he was several inches shorter than she was and doing so was kind of awkward for her. "You have to have beat your old record! That was great!"
"I don't try to win anymore," Vince said, shaking his head as he grabbed a water bottle from the many set aside for the team. "I just try to keep up!" He slapped Remmy on the shoulder as he took a long swig of water. "Rotten jerk!" he laughed. Remmy chuckled as he fell onto the bench.
Cerulean City beat Pallet Town, but to Remmy that wasn't all that important. He got to see a lot of people from his old school, though not many of his friends; he hadn't been part of the sports crowd then. He felt a little homesick as he said hi to some of the faces he recognized who he thought might remember him.
"Haven't forgot, have you?" Where'd Vince come from? Remmy hadn't seen him for almost twenty minutes. The other team was getting ready to leave: quickly Remmy looked around. "Uh… I don't see her."
"She's behind you, oh bright one, she's still on the bleachers. Come on!"
Vince hurried up the first few steps two at a time, then saw that Remmy was lagging and waited impatiently for him to catch up. "Hey, Eevee."
"Hi, Remmy."
"Cu-no!" Q scrambled over Ivonar's lap, jumping into Remmy's arms and almost bashing his chin with the pot.
"Q missed you. It's been moping."
"What is that?" Vince asked.
"A Cunone," Ivonar replied.
"Yeah, some guy gave it to us, it's pretty cool," Remmy added.
"'Us'? As in, the two of you? Both of you?"
Ivonar and Remmy traded a look. "Uh… yeah," Ivonar admitted. "It's not really mine or Remmy's… neither of us caught it. It just sort of hung with us."
"Where'd you get it? I mean, who gave it to you?" Suddenly Vince seemed a lot more interested in Q than Ivonar. "Can I get one? How do you catch one?"
Ivonar laughed a little. "It's a resurrected Pokémon: I don't think you're going to find any in the wild. Q's kind of one of a kind."
"I like it… but why's it wear a pot on its head?"
"It's an ancestor of Cubone… instead of a skull it likes the pot," Remmy explained.
"Oh…kay…" Vince shook his head slightly, deciding not to go any further into that.
"Rem, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ivonar sat up straighter, so her cast didn't rest in her lap. She pushed some of her hair away from her face.
"Sure, I guess."
Vince looked at the two, then shrugged slightly. "Well, see ya." He trotted down the stairs to the field. "Hey, beanpole, wait up!"
Remmy sat down beside Ivonar; its initial enthusiasm waning, Q squirmed in between them and sat down, the bar resting across its knees. "Yeah?"
"I wanted to thank you."
"You don't have to." Remmy rubbed Q's head between its eye ridges. "You would've done the same for me."
"I expected to see you at the Pokémon League games. Ash and Gary made it, I figured you'd have no problem."
"I didn't want to."
Ivonar nodded slightly. "Professor Oak said you made a few of your Pokémon evolve?"
"Yeah… the Ouches are now the Grouches."
"Your Magikarp?"
"Yup… put them against each other, my cousins helped out with their Pokémon, got them a ton of experience all at once. Ouch-One's now Grouch and Ouch-Three's now Grouchy. Grouchy's a bit of a handful, but Grouch's more roar than bite."
"How've things been?"
"Not bad… working at the Gym's not so bad, I get some pocket money… my cousin's might be airheads sometimes but they're really nice, living with them isn't so bad."
Ivonar looked at him oddly. "So things generally aren't that bad, huh?"
"I guess."
"Just not bad? You don't make it sound too great, either."
Remmy took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Things are okay here," he began. "I miss being home, kind of, here there's so little to do it gets boring. The best times are when I'm with Drake and my cousins are out and they ask me to watch the Gym, but the trainers that come are usually ones just starting out and I feel bad beating them because I know it isn't fair, my Pokémon are stronger, even though I have to use just Drake, Mollie, the Grouches, and if I need to my cousin's Dewgong, since it's a water Pokémon gym. School is okay, but the classes are boring. I like track, and I'm pretty good…" Ivonar remained silent, waiting. "But… it's…" He frowned, then slowly shook his head. "Running in circles just seems so pointless sometimes. I already ran my race… these ones just aren't the same." He looked over the field dully: what had seemed like some of his best times in Cerulean now just seemed empty wastes of time.
He was good at running. He had a talent.
But… the fact was… he didn't like to do it.
"The Eevees are old enough to start training now," Ivonar said. "I was considering giving the other Pokémon… Char, Poe, Ro, The Kakuna… away, to people who'd train them. I don't know if I want to go back to Pokémon training when my cast comes off and I can use my arm again. After that fight… I don't know what I want to do. Everything just seems so pointless… I don't know what to do. I just don't anymore."
"Neither do I." The words were out of his mouth without him thinking about them, but they were the truth.
"I've always wanted to be a Pokémon master," Ivonar said quietly. "Always. I knew I would sometimes have to lose. I hate losing but it has to happen sometimes. When we were training, I was always losing to you, did you notice that? Always. You were better than me at catching them, at battling, at finding them. You were better. Nothing I could do would make me as good as you."
"Luck. It was just luck, that's all."
"It doesn't matter what it was. What really mattered was… Remmy, I never cared. I mean, yeah, I was jealous sometimes… it'd be hard not to be… but it was never that important. And you know, I don't think I would have gotten as far as I did without you. I would've probably given up in Pewter City."
"Don't say that."
"It's true. If you hadn't been there, either Brock probably would've beaten me because Poe hadn't evolved yet or I wouldn't have won any better than I did. It took me two years to start training Pokémon… two of the longest years in my life. You know, maybe Gary was right… maybe I should've known better."
"Since when did you listen to Gary?"
"Everyone who really wants to starts training Pokémon when they're ten. I didn't. I started late. And look what happened when I did. What was I thinking? Gary was right, I was stupid. I should have realized a long time ago that it'd never work, that I was being an idiot. Manx never liked me and I never taught Nuisance any attacks. If I had I would have known he already knew some, that he was so strong, and wouldn't have gotten my Boulder Badge like that. Gary was right. I'm stupid."
"You're only stupid if you think Gary knows anything, Eevee. How can you possibly believe that? If you weren't cut out for Pokémon training, you never would have survived getting The Kakuna. Do you think The Kakuna would let anyone else train it? What about Ro? Your Pokémon listen to you because they respect you. You probably have one of the strongest Psyducks alive who would do absolutely anything for you. So you started late – accidents happen. But you stuck to it. You were doing great."
"Remmy, I don't know if I can do it anymore," Ivonar disagreed. She looked almost as if she were about to cry. "I knew losing would be part of training, it's part of anything when you first start something. When you do anything, you have to want to win, but be willing to lose. But I didn't realize how much I could lose, Rem… I didn't know… I don't want it to happen again, Remmy." She looked brokenly at her cast. "I almost died."
"You didn't."
"Thanks to you. If you hadn't been there…"
"If I hadn't been there it never would have come to that, Eevee. We barely beat that guy together: alone you wouldn't have stood a chance. Right now Manx or Nuisance or the Eevees would be with that guy. But we beat him."
"I'm scared, Remmy." Ivonar stared at the cast; the tears that had been threatening to fall began to. "I want to train them but I don't want to die."
"That guy was nuts, Ivonar. It's not like there's a whole world of guys like him out there. There isn't. People like him get what's coming to them."
"Was this what was coming to me?"
"Eevee, it's not your fault, not any of it."
"I should have known better. Gary was right: I should've known."
"It isn't your fault!"
"I shouldn't have been so stupid!" Ivonar banged her cast against the bleachers in frustration, wincing as she did so.
"Ivonar, don't do that!"
"Yeah, that was stupid," she muttered, resting it back in her lap. Knowing her luck, she'd broken something again and have to get another cast. Should have known better…
"That was your fault. What Billy did wasn't, Ivonar. It was his fault. He's got some screwed-up ideas about Pokémon."
"I knew that if I wanted to be a Pokémon master, I was going to have to lose sometimes," Ivonar said quietly. "I never realized how much I could lose, Remmy. I didn't know I could die. I don't want to lose that much."
They sat in silence for a while. The field was deserted: everyone had gone home. "You missed your bus," Remmy said.
"I'll call Mom and ask her to pick me up," Ivonar replied dully. "She knows where I am."
"Chia misses Cole… how's he doing?"
"All right. He sulks a lot though… I think he misses her, too." Ivonar went to scratch Q between the eye ridges, but Remmy already was. She scratched him under the chin instead. Q closed its eyes, smiling happily as it soaked up the attention.
"I kind of miss training."
"I thought you didn't want to train Pokémon."
"I didn't think I wanted to, either, but I gave it a chance. They really seemed to like it. Saurus has been kind of grouchy about not training that much anymore: I think he's bored."
"Except for Manx, Nuisance, and the Eevees, my Pokémon have been staying at Professor Oak's… they were sent there while I was in the hospital since nobody at home knew how to care for them. Toby insisted he could but Mom knew better than to let him."
"It's really not fair to them, is it?"
"No, not really. I should have brought Cole to see Chia… but he probably wouldn't have liked spending today in my locker."
Remmy snickered. "Q didn't mind it?"
"I told it that it had to pretend to be a pokédoll until we got here. I think it slept most of the day; there really wasn't that much to do in my locker."
"I think I do miss training, though."
"Going to start again?"
"I'll think about it… probably finish the school year, though."
"I'm still thinking about it… I still have a month or two to decide. If I'm going to I can't start over until my arm's working again."
"Makes sense."
"Remmy?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's make a deal, okay?" He looked at her, still scratching Q between the eye ridges; she looked back, still scratching Q under the chin. If either looked down they would see the Pokémon was listening raptly to the conversation. "We wait a couple more months. Until school gets out. Then we both start training again… or we both don't. We started together… if we're going to finish, let's finish together."
Remmy looked down at Q, who looked back up at him, awaiting his answer. He gave the Pokémon's head an affectionate rub, then held out his right hand. They shook on it. "It's a deal."
The phone rang at precisely 6:34 and twenty seconds: the clock Remmy went by was a little slower than her alarm clock. "MINE!" Ivonar yelled, snatching the phone off the hook with her left hand and tucking it between her shoulder and her ear. She put her still weak arm back in its sling. "Hey, Remmy!"
"Hey," he replied. "How was PT?" They'd both quickly gotten tired of saying "physical therapy".
"Pretty good! They let me use a ten pound weight today instead of the dinky fiver for the exercises, and sent one home with me. I think I'll be able to pick up Nuisance pretty soon."
"That's great."
"How goes the pool?"
"Okay. Grouchy almost swallowed an Oddish for poisoning it, though." Ivonar laughed. "Grouchy has the strangest logic. She fits right in with my cousins…"
Ivonar giggled. "I went to see the gang today. Char was acting really aloof, but I think she was happy to see me. Poe and Nuisance had a blast together: I'd almost forgotten how well they got along. The Kakuna was pretty glad to see me, too. It's been doing great with the other Beedrill with Professor Oak, though. It likes it there. How was practice?"
"Not bad, not great. Vince – the guy from the meet, the one who's helping train Pi? – his mom gave him permission to start training this summer. He's ecstatic. Says he's going to start with a Pidgeotto he's been working with for about a year. Kesia managed to convince her parents to let her train Pokémon too, I don't know how… her parents didn't want her missing school. Maybe she's only allowed to during the summer, I don't know."
"That's great, though!"
"Yeah… I'm coming back for the summer. Kesia's coming with me; Professor Oak has some starting Pokémon, and he's promised her one. You'd like her, she's pretty cool."
"Great! You know, your mom asked me to baby-sit your brother."
"For your sake I hope you said no."
"I couldn't, anyway… I'm helping out Professor Oak a few times a week. Keeps me busy. You wouldn't believe how much he does everyday. I only do some odds and ends and I get exhausted. Oh, thank you so much for sending Chia back last weekend… Cole hasn't been this happy all year."
"Chia was happy when she came back, too. She'd started getting really mopey."
"Did you hear? Opalian City isn't part of the Indigo League anymore."
"Really? I haven't heard anything."
"Maybe it's just because I've been hanging around Professor Oak's a lot lately… but yeah, it's part of the Sepia League now."
"Sepia League?"
"Yeah… Professor Mulberry is the researcher; Professor Oak used to work with her. Professor Oak says it's a really old league, and that Opalian used to be part of it until they made the Indigo League and needed some older gyms as part of it."
"A whole other league… does that mean Gary only has nine Indigo League badges now?"
"I think so. I'm pretty sure one of his badges was Opalian City's, not positive though." Ivonar looked down at her sling. She tapped her fingers on the phone, biting her lip a little. "You… wanna check it out?"
"Check what out?"
"The Sepia League. I'm sure Professor Oak wouldn't mind giving us a good word… I mean, it'll be a little far from home, but… well, we got off to a rocky start. Maybe we should try training over the summer, see if it works out? Give it one more chance."
There was a long silence on the other end; Ivonar was about to speak when she heard Remmy, his voice muffled, say, "I'll be off in a minute, Violet, okay? Then it's all yours." A vague hum of Violet's voice. "Eevee." A giggle. Ivonar rolled her eyes: how did he stand living with them? "Yeah, okay… Yeah, okay, sounds good." Ivonar jumped a little; though it sounded like he was repeating himself, the second "yeah, okay" was obviously directed at her. "I'll be home in a few weeks… that should give you enough time in PT, right?"
"Yup, just a few more weeks, then I just have to take it easy for awhile and make sure I pack my weight if I go anywhere."
"Where are you supposed to start out for the Sepia League?"
"I think Professor Oak said Zirconium City… something like that. I'll ask."
"Okay. Violet wants to use the phone, I gotta go."
"It's okay. Talk to you soon."
"Yup. Your turn to call tomorrow."
"Yup. Talk to you then, okay?"
"Kay. She says hi, by the way."
"Hi, Violet."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Ivonar hung up the phone and headed toward her room: her therapist had said not to do more than fifty repetitions of lifts a day, but it didn't hurt that much to do a little more. She could do some while doing her homework: she was right-handed.
Besides, she felt better than she had in ages.
For no reason at all, she grinned.
"Mo-om… not again! Don't cry!"
"I can't help it. Don't you start."
"Well, Kesia's here for another couple days… it'll just like me being around, just taller and with more hair."
"Don't start with me, either, Eevee!"
"Take good care of her, Manx."
"Mom…"
"Rrrow…"
"Take good care of Mom, Ten!"
"Very funny."
"You do have everything, right? You'd better be sure, you're going to be awfully far away…"
"Mom! I have just as much of everything as I did a week ago, and yesterday, and this morning, and an hour ago! Anything I've forgotten can't be so important that we'd both forget about it. Got food, my sleeping bag, my weight, extra pokéballs, some potions, my badges, my Pokédex…"
"It's a mother's job to worry, Eevee."
"I know, Mom."
"Just making sure."
"Tell Daddy I said goodbye, okay?"
"I will."
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Kesia, great meeting you!"
"Bye, Eevee! See ya, Rem!"
"Bye, Mrs. Marain… see ya, Kes."
"Bye, Toby."
"Bye."
"Rrrrr…"
"Oh, be quiet, Manx. No way you can Fly on a Pidgeot. The sooner you're in your ball the sooner we can get to Zirconium City and I can let you out."
"Purrrrrrrrsh?"
"Yes, I promise I'll let you out as soon as we get there… don't look at me like that. Just get in your ball, you pain in the butt."
"Thanks for the transport, Vince!"
"No problem! They'll get you there, then they'll head right home. Mom's only thing is if you let go and you don't die by falling off, you'll die when she comes and kills you."
"We'll keep that in mind…"
"You had better not let go!"
"I'm not going to, Mom."
"Me either, Mrs. Marain… don't worry, we'll be okay."
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
"Be careful!"
"We will!"
"See you out there!"
"Break a leg!"
"Good luck!"
Ivonar and Remmy held on for dear life as the pair of Pidgeot took off, leaving Ivonar's mom and brother, Vince, Kesia, and Ten behind. "Ready, Rem?" Ivonar shouted over the wind and flapping wings. Her pack weighed heavily on her back, but the Pidgeot didn't seem to really notice. Seven pokéballs were on her belt, one to each pouch and one clipped to the back: Char, Nuisance, Q, Manx, Sweetie, Static, Cole. Fluffball had become attached to Ten, following her everywhere: she wanted to stay behind. Sweetie was going along as a pet.
"When you are!" Drake, Chia, Fairie, Saurus, Grouch, and Pi were safely stored away in pokéballs in his pockets.
"Zirconium City, here we come!"
Here we are, on a new adventure
Danger lurks somewhere in the darkness
We are set for surprises, even
battle
We're a team, no one better mess
with us
If we stand as one, there's
nothing to fear
We'll beat the darkness, and
we'll stay right here
So time after time, that's how
it will be