When we left the gym, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Looking back, I
don't see why I was so sad. But, then again, losing wasn't something I was
used to. I started sobbing, trying to be as quiet as possible. I guess I
was hoping Vera wouldn't notice. But she noticed. At the time, I was very
glad she did, as she put her arm around my shoulder, attempting to comfort
me. That's all I really remember; the feeling I got when she touched me. I
know, sounds very corny, but I was hopelessly in love with her. Even though
I thought it'd be too much to hope that she'd love me back.
I remember that we ended up deciding to visit a fire pokémon breeder, so I'd have a chance of beating Erika. Vera was always full of good ideas like that. We headed straight for the breeder's place, which wasn't too far out of town. The only thing was, I didn't get my pokémon healed. Which turned out to be more of a big deal than you'd think.
It took about twenty minutes of walking to reach the breeder's house. House is actually not the word. Ranch? Who knows? It was a very large area of land, with lots of fire pokémon. There were a few pens with Slugma in them out the front, but I already had a good idea of which fire pokémon I wanted. I knocked on the door, trying to look confident, as Jason and Kenny had been assuring Chris was the way to go, when he wanted to impress this girl who lived near him. If it'd work for Chris, it'd work for me. I hoped. The breeder didn't look too pleased to see me; he must've assumed I was some kid who couldn't hope to afford his pokémon. "What d'ya want, kid?" He asked, looking annoyed.
"I'd like a fire pokémon. Preferably a Ponyta or Rapidash."
"How much y'got?"
"Couple of million yen."
He laughed. "No, how much have you really got."
"I was serious."
"Oh. Well, I've got the perfect pokémon for you, then!" I took a sideways glance at Vera, who wasn't paying attention. I elbowed her as gently as I could.
"C'mon, he says he's got the perfect pokémon for me!"
I said, grinning. The breeder led us to a large paddock in his backyard, and whistled, sticking two fingers in his mouth and blowing. When he did this, a huge Rapidash came galloping towards us. It looked perfect.
"Kiddo, you can have 'im if you've really got enough." I pulled out my very heavy wallet. "How much?"
"Well, 'es my breeding stud, so I can't let 'im go for less than 2 mill."
Two million yen? That was a fairly reasonable offer. But Will said that if anyone tries to sell me anything; don't accept their first offer, because they usually try to rip you off.
"I'll give you one and a half."
"You've got yourself a deal! Jus' give me the money, an' he's yours."
I took the money out, counting it carefully. I didn't want to give him too much.
"Okay, kid, he's yours. Once you capture him."
What did he mean, once I capture him? He just had to return it into his pokéball, and then give it to me. I suddenly realised that he was trying to rip me off, by making me capture my own pokémon. There wasn't any way out of it, though. I decided to ask, anyway.
"Can't you just give me his pokéball?"
"You catch 'im, you keep 'im."
Great. The last thing I needed after losing to Erika, Vera-wise. I was gonna have to ask her to weaken him for me. It'd be hard to make up for all that. Maybe even impossible. I sighed. She might not even agree to weakening him for me.
"Vera, all my pokémon are fainted from Erika. Would you mind weakening the Rapidash for me?"
"Oh, okay. I guess I could." She said, reluctantly. At least she agreed to it; perhaps she did care about me, after all.
"Faith! Go!" She said, releasing her Charmeleon. Her fire-type was also a surprise to me, seeing it for the first time. I'd assumed she'd have something like a Ponyta, or a Growlithe - something small and cute. I then decided that she was one of those girls that like the type of pokémon that are strong, not cute. It made more sense, now that I'd gotten to know her a bit.
"Weaken that Rapidash! Cael wants to capture it."
Faith, what she named her Charmeleon after it had saved her from a man who'd kidnapped her, started Flamethrower-ing the Rapidash, which just returned the fire. It wasn't until the smaller pokémon decided to try a bite attack that it started getting interesting. The Rapidash ran off, clearing the fence in a single bound. I hoped I didn't look too panicked - everything my friends had told each other was to remain cool at all times. Vera told her Charmeleon to run after the Rapidash. I knew that it'd have no hope of chasing down such a fast pokémon. That was when it set on fire. I panicked for a second, thinking that the Charmeleon was finally being hit by the Rapidash's Flamethrower attack. I was wrong; moments later, there was a Charizard standing in the paddock, looking raring to go. It was a very large Charizard. About thirty centimetres bigger than they usually are. A very scary-looking pokémon. He seemed to be inviting us to ride him. No way would I do that. I knew that some people ride them, but I'm not a risk taker. Unfortunately, Vera was. I was frozen in place, hoping I didn't look as terrified of the pokémon as I felt. Had to remain cool. It was hard to keep myself from screaming when it picked me up in its sharp claws. The large, imposing pokémon flapped its wings, and started flying after the Rapidash at a very uncomfortable speed. The next thing I knew, Vera was pulling me onto the back of her large pokémon. I hugged her tightly, not wanting to slide down onto its tail flame. Or fall off, for that matter. Or perhaps, back then, I was just looking for an excuse to hug her.
After what seemed like eternity, the dragon landed. I jumped off. Vera or no Vera, I didn't want to stay on that thing for another second. I felt sick. The Charizard roared, grabbed the Rapidash, and gave it a few Seismic Tosses. I couldn't believe Vera could stay on the beast while it did that. The ride on his back was bad enough. I grabbed one of my unused pokéballs, which I threw at the Rapidash. By then, I decided to call it Haaj, which means a sacred journey of sorts. My pokéball caught it, and I felt incredibly proud of myself, even though I didn't do anything apart from hand over the money. "Yes! I've caught a Rapidash! I'll call it Haaj!" "But I was the one who weakened it, Cael." She said, having a habit of pointing out the obvious. "I payed for it."
I countered, grinning. She nodded, agreeing with me.
"So, we can Fly back to Celadon, can't we?"
Another flight on the Charizard? I couldn't think of anything I'd hate more. But I had to remember to be strong, and act like I wasn't scared of anything.
"Yeah, I guess."
She stroked the lizard. I had no idea why she'd want to touch it.
"Good job, Faith. Can you Fly us to Celadon."
The monstrous pokémon roared in agreement, and Vera hauled me onto his back. I didn't want to let go of her hand. I'm not sure whether it was because of the flame that was so close to me, or because of the tingly feeling that swept across my skin whenever I touched her. Either way, I put my hands around the beast's thick neck. No way was I going to fall off. I closed my eyes the entire journey, fighting back an urge to vomit.
I remember that we ended up deciding to visit a fire pokémon breeder, so I'd have a chance of beating Erika. Vera was always full of good ideas like that. We headed straight for the breeder's place, which wasn't too far out of town. The only thing was, I didn't get my pokémon healed. Which turned out to be more of a big deal than you'd think.
It took about twenty minutes of walking to reach the breeder's house. House is actually not the word. Ranch? Who knows? It was a very large area of land, with lots of fire pokémon. There were a few pens with Slugma in them out the front, but I already had a good idea of which fire pokémon I wanted. I knocked on the door, trying to look confident, as Jason and Kenny had been assuring Chris was the way to go, when he wanted to impress this girl who lived near him. If it'd work for Chris, it'd work for me. I hoped. The breeder didn't look too pleased to see me; he must've assumed I was some kid who couldn't hope to afford his pokémon. "What d'ya want, kid?" He asked, looking annoyed.
"I'd like a fire pokémon. Preferably a Ponyta or Rapidash."
"How much y'got?"
"Couple of million yen."
He laughed. "No, how much have you really got."
"I was serious."
"Oh. Well, I've got the perfect pokémon for you, then!" I took a sideways glance at Vera, who wasn't paying attention. I elbowed her as gently as I could.
"C'mon, he says he's got the perfect pokémon for me!"
I said, grinning. The breeder led us to a large paddock in his backyard, and whistled, sticking two fingers in his mouth and blowing. When he did this, a huge Rapidash came galloping towards us. It looked perfect.
"Kiddo, you can have 'im if you've really got enough." I pulled out my very heavy wallet. "How much?"
"Well, 'es my breeding stud, so I can't let 'im go for less than 2 mill."
Two million yen? That was a fairly reasonable offer. But Will said that if anyone tries to sell me anything; don't accept their first offer, because they usually try to rip you off.
"I'll give you one and a half."
"You've got yourself a deal! Jus' give me the money, an' he's yours."
I took the money out, counting it carefully. I didn't want to give him too much.
"Okay, kid, he's yours. Once you capture him."
What did he mean, once I capture him? He just had to return it into his pokéball, and then give it to me. I suddenly realised that he was trying to rip me off, by making me capture my own pokémon. There wasn't any way out of it, though. I decided to ask, anyway.
"Can't you just give me his pokéball?"
"You catch 'im, you keep 'im."
Great. The last thing I needed after losing to Erika, Vera-wise. I was gonna have to ask her to weaken him for me. It'd be hard to make up for all that. Maybe even impossible. I sighed. She might not even agree to weakening him for me.
"Vera, all my pokémon are fainted from Erika. Would you mind weakening the Rapidash for me?"
"Oh, okay. I guess I could." She said, reluctantly. At least she agreed to it; perhaps she did care about me, after all.
"Faith! Go!" She said, releasing her Charmeleon. Her fire-type was also a surprise to me, seeing it for the first time. I'd assumed she'd have something like a Ponyta, or a Growlithe - something small and cute. I then decided that she was one of those girls that like the type of pokémon that are strong, not cute. It made more sense, now that I'd gotten to know her a bit.
"Weaken that Rapidash! Cael wants to capture it."
Faith, what she named her Charmeleon after it had saved her from a man who'd kidnapped her, started Flamethrower-ing the Rapidash, which just returned the fire. It wasn't until the smaller pokémon decided to try a bite attack that it started getting interesting. The Rapidash ran off, clearing the fence in a single bound. I hoped I didn't look too panicked - everything my friends had told each other was to remain cool at all times. Vera told her Charmeleon to run after the Rapidash. I knew that it'd have no hope of chasing down such a fast pokémon. That was when it set on fire. I panicked for a second, thinking that the Charmeleon was finally being hit by the Rapidash's Flamethrower attack. I was wrong; moments later, there was a Charizard standing in the paddock, looking raring to go. It was a very large Charizard. About thirty centimetres bigger than they usually are. A very scary-looking pokémon. He seemed to be inviting us to ride him. No way would I do that. I knew that some people ride them, but I'm not a risk taker. Unfortunately, Vera was. I was frozen in place, hoping I didn't look as terrified of the pokémon as I felt. Had to remain cool. It was hard to keep myself from screaming when it picked me up in its sharp claws. The large, imposing pokémon flapped its wings, and started flying after the Rapidash at a very uncomfortable speed. The next thing I knew, Vera was pulling me onto the back of her large pokémon. I hugged her tightly, not wanting to slide down onto its tail flame. Or fall off, for that matter. Or perhaps, back then, I was just looking for an excuse to hug her.
After what seemed like eternity, the dragon landed. I jumped off. Vera or no Vera, I didn't want to stay on that thing for another second. I felt sick. The Charizard roared, grabbed the Rapidash, and gave it a few Seismic Tosses. I couldn't believe Vera could stay on the beast while it did that. The ride on his back was bad enough. I grabbed one of my unused pokéballs, which I threw at the Rapidash. By then, I decided to call it Haaj, which means a sacred journey of sorts. My pokéball caught it, and I felt incredibly proud of myself, even though I didn't do anything apart from hand over the money. "Yes! I've caught a Rapidash! I'll call it Haaj!" "But I was the one who weakened it, Cael." She said, having a habit of pointing out the obvious. "I payed for it."
I countered, grinning. She nodded, agreeing with me.
"So, we can Fly back to Celadon, can't we?"
Another flight on the Charizard? I couldn't think of anything I'd hate more. But I had to remember to be strong, and act like I wasn't scared of anything.
"Yeah, I guess."
She stroked the lizard. I had no idea why she'd want to touch it.
"Good job, Faith. Can you Fly us to Celadon."
The monstrous pokémon roared in agreement, and Vera hauled me onto his back. I didn't want to let go of her hand. I'm not sure whether it was because of the flame that was so close to me, or because of the tingly feeling that swept across my skin whenever I touched her. Either way, I put my hands around the beast's thick neck. No way was I going to fall off. I closed my eyes the entire journey, fighting back an urge to vomit.