¤~A Thousand Miles~¤
by Scrat with a G
Chapter Seven
(a/n: *reads Ara-chan's review and feeds Xing to Aesta for her* There. ^_^ Okay, now… onward to chapter whatever-I'm-on-now! SING THE THEME SONG! SWAG S-W-A-G SWAG SWAGGITY SWAG SWAG S-W-A-G SCRAT WITH A G *ponders dance routine for theme song*)
Feeling rather confused, Brock shook his head and slowly walked back to his cabin. Ash, Jesse, and Chris were all sitting on their respective bunks. Pikachu was rolling his eyes at his master, who was trying to impress Jesse and Chris by telling them how he defeated Brock back in Pewter City – except he was altering the whole experience to include a completely dominating Pikachu and a crying-like-a-baby Brock. Jesse and Chris were totally buying it, until…
"Ash, I do recall a sprinkler system going off somewhere in there," Brock pointed out. Ash sweatdropped and his cheeks turned red. He hadn't heard his older friend come in. Chris and Jesse snickered quietly.
"Uh, yeah, um, about that…"
"Never mind," Brock interrupted. "You can stay up, but keep it down. I'm going to bed." He climbed into his bunk and fell asleep.
The next morning, the four boys were awakened to the same song blasting out of the speakers as the previous morning.
"Hey, Brock?" Ash said as he applied toothpaste to his pink toothbrush.
"Hmm?"
"I think I'm beginning to learn the words to this song…" Ash commented. He began brushing his teeth.
"That's great, Ash," Brock replied.
"Geez, what's with you today?" said Ash, forgetting that he had his toothbrush in his mouth. He accidentally sprayed his comrade with bits of foam. Brock irritatedly wiped the toothpaste off his face.
"Nothing. Riley's just kind of upset, and I'm worried about her. That's all."
"Ooh. Riley teaches the physical section of the camp, doesn't she?" Ash inquired. Brock nodded.
"Hai."
Ash nodded. "Come on, let's get to breakfast," he suggested, eager to see Misty.
An hour later, right after breakfast, Ash found himself sitting in a straight line in the grass, on the other side of the trees that he and Misty had been in yesterday. He blushed, remembering the kiss they had shared there, but he didn't have much time to reminisce. Riley appeared in front of him, dressed in the same military fatigues that Ash and Misty, as well as the rest of the class, were wearing. She looked very tired and stressed, but appeared to be trying to hide it.
"Good morning," Riley began. "Welcome to the physical portion of this camp." She began pacing back and forth. Ash had to admit; Riley looked pretty good in camouflage. Brock must have been in heaven. "Here, you will be tested in every aspect of your flexibility, agility and strength."
Riley continued to inform the campers about her class, while Ash watched Misty out of the corner of his eye. She was diligently watching Riley, hanging on to her every word.
"And now," Riley finished. "We will start off today's lesson with a few laps. Pick a Pokèmon to run with."
Ash silently pondered which Pokèmon to use. Pikachu was easily the fastest, so Ash decided he would use the electric Pokèmon.
Ash stood with Pikachu next to him. Misty had decided on Starmie. Riley had already brought her Flareon out and was stretching her calf muscles. Ash waited while the other trainers had selected their fastest Pokèmon. When everyone was finished, Riley announced, "Ready! Set! GO!"
She took off with her Flareon, who was easily keeping pace with her. Everyone stood, staring at Riley like she was crazy.
"Well, Pikachu, let's go!" He and Pikachu took off running, but about halfway around the camp, Ash began to slow down. "Pikachu… slow down… I-I'm tired… And the group is gonna trample me…"
"Pikaaaa," Pikachu encouraged him.
~*~
At the end of the lesson that day, Riley said to them, "Good work everyone. I'll see you at dinner. Oh, and I expect you've learned that, the faster your Pokèmon is, the faster you have to run. Dismissed."
Misty helped Ash up and they headed to dinner, both too bone-weary to change out of their fatigues. Every muscle in his body ached, every joint was creaking with each movement.
"I just want to take some aspirin and go to sleep," Misty moaned as she served herself some potatoes.
"Pika pi chu," Pikachu agreed.
Jesse and Chris joined them shortly, but Brock was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, Chris?"
"Yeah, Ash?" Chris said through a mouthful of broccoli.
"Do you know where Brock is?"
Chris gestured to the other side of the room with his spork, where Brock was pleading with Riley over something, and resumed eating.
He looks busy… I won't bother him. Besides, I'm too exhausted to get up, Ash thought, sweatdropping.
"Riley, please," Brock begged. "Please just talk to me. You're upset and I'm here to listen."
"You just think I'm pretty," Riley replied. She put a roll on her tray and walked off to her table. Brock followed.
"Yes, I do, but I'm willing to get to know you," he insisted. Riley didn't say anything as she took her seat. Brock sat in the chair next to her. "Why don't you trust me?"
Riley sighed and put down her fork. "Do you really want to know, Brock?"
He nodded. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then hesitated. She sighed again. "I'll spare you the gory details. Let's just say I don't trust guys very easily anymore. Please just leave me alone, Brock. Please." She stood and walked off, leaving her dinner behind.
Brock watched her leave. She passed the girl he had seen her with the other night, Ara. She was glomping a tall, scared-looking boy with dark blonde hair as she spoke to Riley. Riley nodded to her friend and continued out the door.
"…Was it something I said?" Brock wondered.
He picked up her roll and took a bite out of it.
(a/n: Eee! See, Ara? I put Shaun-glomping in there, just for you. *pushes Xing out a second story window* Ooh. Wait – didn't I feed him to Aesta at the beginning of the chapter? Oh, well. Bwahaha. Aaaanyway, sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter. I had to put it on hiatus due to a severe Pokéblock. Nrah. Pleeeeease write me pretty reviews so I'll be motivated to write more. Also, just 'cause I'm curious, what do you think is going to happen with all of this?)