jess10 Chapter 10

Pewter City

Luke

Jessica, Mikey and I walked into Pewter City, looking around in wonder. Pewter was the strangest city I'd ever seen. There were so many rocks! Everywhere! In some people's front gardens they even had large boulders for decorations instead of trees.
Jessica immediately headed for the Pokemon Center, which had a large Pokeball carved out of stone adorned on the roof. Mikey and I followed her into the large building. The Pokemon Center was cool and air-conditioned. Along the left wall there was a row of videophones. The screens flashed the message "Insert coins".
At the reception there was a pretty lady with unusual pink hair. She smiled as we approached her.
"Hello. I'm Nurse Joy. Welcome to the Pokemon Center. What can I do for you? Rabies injections are half price today!" The Nurse said.
"Pokemon can get rabies?!" Jessica exclaimed. I shuddered at the thought.
"Oh, yes indeed! Not all Pokemon, though. Eevees, Meowths, Sandshrews and Aerodactyls are the most likely to get it. Do you want the injections?" Nurse Joy replied.
"No thanks. We just need to heal our Pokemon, Nurse Joy," Mikey said. We handed our Pokeballs over to her.
"Actually, could you give my Aerodactyl the shots? He's been acting strange lately." I said, holding Aero's Pokeball.
"No problem! All of you, come back in ten minutes. Your Pokemon should be healed by then." Nurse Joy informed us. Two Chanseys, one holding Vapor and the other holding our Pokeballs, walked down the corridor to the back of the Pokemon Center.
Leaving the Pokemon Center, we wandered around town, marvelling at the unusual sights. Suddenly, be were approached by a man with spiky hair.
"Hello. Would you like to buy one of my fine rocks?" He asked, pointing to a pile of boulders that I'd thought were just rubble. Looking at them closer, I could see there were price tags on them.
"What do you use them for?" Jessica inquired.
"What do you use them for?" The Man echoed. "What do you use them for?! Why, what do you think you use them for?"
"Sitting?" I guessed. The man grinned and slapped me on the back. He slapped me so hard I nearly fell over.
"You have a fine head upon your shoulders, young boy. Yes you can use them for sitting. More importantly, it's your pass into Pewter gym." The man explained.
"But last time I went to Pewter gym I didn't have to buy a rock!" Mikey protested.
"You must have visited when Brock was the leader. He's left on his Pokemon Journey now. There's a new leader. And the new leader says you have to buy a rock!" the man said. I sighed.
"All right, we'll take three." I replied. The man grinned again and then turned his back on us to rummage through the pile of rocks. He emerged with three smallish flat rocks with the words "Pewter Gym" engraved in the middle.
"That'll be six dollars," The man informed us. I handed over the money and he gave me the three rocks. I handed one to Jessica and Mikey. We began to walk away.
"It hardly seems worth it," Jessica commented, turning the rock over in her hands. Besides the engraved letters in the middle of one side of the rock, there seemed nothing special about it.
"Hey, I'm the one who paid for it. What are you complaining about?" I snapped.
"Nothing! I'm just saying it was a waste of money!"
"Well, if you think it's a waste, you can go and get a refund!"
"Hey, calm down! Think of it a souvenir," Mikey suggested.
"We better get back to the Pokemon Center," I said. "Our Pokemon should be ready by now."
We turned back the way we came, but quickly became lost between the rocky winding streets.
"But I was sure it was this way!" I cried as we came to a dead end.
"I guess you were wrong," Jessica replied, a hint of spite in her voice.
"Hey, you can't find it either!" I snapped back.
"Well I would have found it if we went my way! But no, you had to say 'no, you're wrong, it's this way!'" Jessica shouted.
"Guys, guys, stop fighting! The Pokemon Center is that way. Look!" Jessica and I both shut up at once and looked in the direction in which Mikey was pointing. Above the rooftops I could see the great stone Pokeball looming above us.
"I knew that," I said, and begun to head in that direction. Jessica just rolled her eyes and followed me with Mikey not far behind. He was meek as always.
A few minutes later we finally did arrive at the Pokemon Center. Vapor came running out to greet us as soon as Jessica opened the door. Jessica smiled at her tiny pokemon and lifted it into her arms. Nurse Joy smiled at us.
"Your pokemon are fighting fit! Oh, and young man, the rabies vaccination for your Aerodactyl will cost you ten dollars." Nurse Joy stated, handing back our Pokemon. I gave her the ten dollars.
"Oh, and I found out why the Aerodactyl is so temperamental," Nurse Joy added casually. "She's pregnant."
What?!" I cried. I hadn't known that the pokemon had been female, let alone that she could get pregnant.
"Oh, yes, she's about six months along. She'll have the babies next month. you should see a Pokemon breeder about it. Aerodactyls are hard to raise, I believe." Nurse Joy answered.
"Wow, that's great, Luke!" Jessica exclaimed, grinning. "Now you'll have two Aerodactyls trying to bite your head off!"
"Gee, thanks," I replied sarcastically.
"Actually," Nurse Joy said, "Aerodactyls usually have nineteen babies at a time." I felt myself go pale.
"Nineteen," I whispered. This was just too much.
"Don't worry about it, Luke." Jessica suggested. "We'll figure out what to do with all of them when the time comes."
"Your friend is right. There's not much you can do until they're born," Nurse Joy commented unhelpfully. She turned away from us to serve another customer. We left the Pokemon Center. I had alot on my mind. Nineteen babies! I love flying Pokemon, but that is really too much. Perhaps I could get professor Oak to look after them. I don't believe he has too many Aerodactyls.
"Where to next?" Mikey wondered.
"The gym?" I suggested.
"What's the rush? The Pokemon Gym isn't going anywhere. Besides, I need to stock up on some supplies." Jessica informed us, heading towards the Pokemart. I followed her.
Since the Pokemart was right next to the Pokemon Center, it didn't take us long to get our supplies. I got a few potions and some insect repellent. I hate mosquitoes.
After Jessica and Mikey and selected and paid for their items, we left the small shop and wandered around for a while.
"So, what do you want to do?" I asked. There were plenty of shops along the main street. I didn't get a reply. Jessica had gone into a dress shop, and Mikey was looking at a poster. Shrugging to myself I walked into a cd shop and browsed the shelves. I'd brought my discman with me, but I was getting kinda sick of listening to the same cd over and over. I was looking through the 'D' section when I bumped into someone.
"Hey!" They yelped.
"Sorry," I replied, looking up. It was Jessica.
"Jessica! I thought we were going to meet back at the Pokemon Center." I said, studying her. She was wearing different clothes than before. She must've decided to wear the outfit she'd just bought.
She didn't reply, just stared into my eyes. I felt cold. Why did I have a headache all of a sudden? After a moment she smiled. The pressure in my head went away.
"Hello, Luke." She said in a smooth voice, smiling sweetly.
"Hi. Have you seen Mikey yet?"
"No, I was looking for you." She walked closer to me, her face just inches from mine. I could feel her breath on my face.
"W-Why were you looking for me?" I stuttered. She was acting strangely.
"Because, Luke," her hands slinked around the back of my neck. I trembled.
"I like you." She moved in to kiss me when a rough hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me backwards. Jessica backed away.
"Nicole! What are you doing here?!" The person behind me hissed. I turned around to look at them. It was Jessica! But, wasn't Jessica over there?
"Huh? What's going on here?" I muttered, confused.
"Oh, I was just having a little fun with your friend here, sister. He wasn't complaining." The other one replied.
"Sister?!"
"We both know that's a load of crap! I bet you practically threw yourself at him!" Jessica hissed.
"Why so defensive, Jessica? If I didn't know better, I would say that you had a crush on him." Nicole taunted.
"That's not the point! What are you doing here? I thought you were headed to Cinnabar Island?"
"I was. But now I'm here."
"Whatever. Just stay out of my way, alright?! Come on, Leo, let's go." Jessica dragged me away. For once I didn't bother correcting her. I had way too much on my mind.
"You never told me you had a sister." I commented, looking over at my companion. She was red with anger.
"Well, I do. She's a lunatic." Jessica growled.
"What's the matter?" Mikey had just joined up with us.
"Nothing. We just had an encounter with her sister." I explained, jerking my head towards Jessica.
"I guess you don't get along very well with her, then." Mikey observed.
"You don't know the half of it."
"Well, there's not much we can do, is there? Why don't we just go to the gym so we can get out of here as soon as possible." I suggested. Jessica looked up at me gratefully.
"Good idea. The further away we are from my sister, the better."
We headed towards the gym. I couldn't help but stop and wonder what had happened between the two that made Jessica despise her so much. But clearly Jessica was not in a mood for answering any questions.
We got to the heavy rock doors of the gym and opened them, ready for our next challenge.