-- Chapter 4 --
''Ugh, NO,'' I panicked. We'd learned that Tentacool always approached boats, and could even block them.
''They're coming towards us, I see them,'' said Kiara, pointing to a lump in the water coming to the boat. Then, I reached from behind me. A Pokeball! I threw it at my feet. Out came Cyndaquil.
''Uh oh, Fire types aren't good against water,'' I said. But I'd give Cyndaquil a shot. I knew if he tackled, he'd get poisoned some way. So, I commanded him to use Ember. Cyndaquil emitted a tiny wall of flame that only wore out the Tentacool a bit. Just enough for Kiara to zoom the boat away quickly.
''Ahh! Kiara, slow down...'' I said. Kiara didn't seem to hear me.
''STOP!'' The boat crashed lightly into Mr. Brant's dock, rocking it violently.
''I hope Mr. Brant didn't see that,'' said Kiara, shakily jumping on the front of the boat and onto the dock to tie the boat back up. She pushed it so it rotated, and I jumped straight out. We went back to Kiara's house. Her mom was shopping, and her dad and older brother were out fishing somewhere. Kiara went over to the fridge and poured two glasses of water. I sipped, a bit shook from the speedy boat ride.
''What if the Johto Coast Guard saw that?'' asked Kiara, who seemed worried.
''I doubt it. There isn't really anyone out boating on a Sunday,'' I said, reassuring her. Kiara gulped down some more water. Then, we went out to the Underground to shop. The Underground was the route that ran, well, underground in Goldenrod city. There were small businesses... some artisans, some proffessionals, and beyond the shops, there was a creepy territory of shady loiterers. I never went back there, though.
''Ooh, look at these schoolbags,'' said Kiara, pointing out a stand with Pokemon design bags. Kiara shelled out money for a Clefairy-theme bag, and we continued on. Kiara decided that we'd turn right and look for more shops. Unfortunately, we ended up in the shady part, greeted by cigarette smoke.
''Kiar-uhh...'' I said, unsure of walking around here.
''Cheryl's moms shop is down here,'' said Kiara. We were now going down a set of stairs. The smoke was dense, now, and quite stinky. Only one stand was there, selling cheap-looking bead jewelry.
''We should go back,'' I said to Kiara.
''Don't worry, it's down here,'' my friend replied. More smoke, more... then Kiara opened a door. It was clear, and full of boxes. We were in Goldenrod Department Store's stockroom!
''We're in the department store!'' I said, with a tinge of annoyance in my voice.
''Well, we'll get out, through the store,'' said Kiara.
''My mom works at the front desk. She'll see us, know we were in the Underground since we didn't come through the front doors, and I won't be allowed out alone for years,'' I explained. ''Now, we have to go back through the underground.''
''Okay, we'll go quick,'' said Kiara. We ducked through the polluted Underground, and dashed through. Unfortunately, a trainer stopped us.
''Hey, hehe, youu gotta battlllle,'' he said, sounding drunk. He released a Geodude. I reached into my pocket. Cyndaquil! Oh, brother, Fire was bad against Rock.
''Uhh, unh, uhh, TACKLE!'' shouted my opponent.
''Dodge!'' Cyndaquil got out of the way, just in time.
''Smokescreen! Now Ember!'' Cyndaquil spread smoke, confusing Geodude's vision. Then Geodude was slightly burnt.
''Ugh, uhhhhhmmm, tackle, go for it, dumbo,'' said the trainer. The Geogude brushed Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil made a sucessful tackle this time, but it barely impacted Geodude.
''Quick attack!'' I shouted. Cyndaquil got Geodude again.
''Rock slide,'' said the man, calmly. The Geodude made rocks come down from the ceiling. Cyndaquil was dodging fine, but suddenly, one rock crushed it.
The man paused. He seemed to want to keep going, though. What would I do? Then, Kiara pushed the rock aside and rescued Cyndaquil.
''I'll be at the Pokemon Center,'' she shouted. I took out Eevee.
''Haha, little puppy dog,'' snarled the man. ''Geodude, tackle.''
''Eevee, tackle, HARD!'' I yelled. But Eevee missed, and was knocked out by Geodude. I returned Eevee to her Pokeball and hurried up the stairs.
''No, you wait!'' said the man. He lunged at my ankle, but I broke free and ran out to meet Kiara.
''Hey, did you win?'' asked Kiara. I frowned. She got the message. I ran over to the nurse, and requested for her to revive my Eevee. Then, I joined Kiara and told her about the end of the battle. She nodded.
''I guess both of them have trouble with Rock types,'' commented Kiara. I agreed with her.
-- The next Saturday --
RINGGGG!!! RINGGG!!! I rolled over on my side, and grabbed the phone.
''Hey, Mish, it's Kiara!'' said a familiar voice. ''Mr. Brant's got a new boat, and he's going to let us own his old one!''
''Seriously?'' I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, with my free hand.
''Yeah, wanna come out to the dock? And Mr. Brant says if your mom gives him permission, he'll build a dock right by your house so we don't have to go all the way to his dock,'' Kiara chattered excitedly. ''Wanna come meet me by Mr. Brant's dock? Don't worry about breakfast, I have a box of muffins up here.''
''Sure, I'll just ask my mom,'' I said.
''Okay, see you,'' said Kiara. She hung up. I put my bathing suit on, then wore shorts and a T-shirt overtop. My mom gave me permission to go, so I hurried down to Mr. Brant's. Kiara was waiting for me on the dock. She offered me a blueberry muffin. We sat on the edge of the dock as Kiara pointed out Mr. Brant's new boat. Then, we got into the speedboat. I released Eevee, who loved to sit in the back and feel the air rushing past.
''Are we going to our beach?'' I asked. Kiara nodded, and then parked at our beach. I put my clothes in the seat, and swam out to the shore. First, we soaked up the sun. Then, we swam out and treaded water, watching a distant boat sail farther away.
''What's that sound?'' I asked. Something coming from the shore.
''No clue,'' replied Kiara. Then, I saw three boys come through the forest, onto our beach. They were Quinn, Taylor and Andrew.
''Hey, what's that boat, Tayl?'' said Quinn.
''Who cares?'' said Quinn. They settled down on the sand. Kiara and I ducked in the water. They were in our special place! It felt like they were invading it. What if they had seen us?
''Hey, what do we do?'' I whispered to Kiara.
''I dunno, we could go up to them,'' said Kiara.
''Nah,'' I said. I was secretly a bit shy.
''We can just climb into the boat, maybe they won't recognise us,'' suggested my friend. We agreed on that, and climbed up the little side ladder. Kiara had the boat in gear before the boys had a chance to really identify us. I sighed. This time, Kiara didn't crash into the dock when she stopped, at least. Mr. Brant told us that my mom had given him permission to build a dock, and he would start in April. He also said we could help and customize it, and even install a railing! That was a bit exciting. It would be neat to have the boat right by my house. Kiara told me about the boating license tests they had in the summer at Olivine City, too. So I could probably learn to operate the boat, too. Then Kiara described the test.
''You take the test after this course,'' she explained. ''You have to go through a buoy-pylon course, and know how to come to sudden stops...''
Summer came closer and closer, but there were still exams to get through. I wasn't extremely tensed up about them, but it was a bit stressful. I spent most of my evenings in June reading textbooks and old handouts from my binders and taking notes. There was a study meeting, with Kiara, Cheryl, Claire, Talia, Amanda and I, and we also had individual visits sometimes. The exam week came soon. The first test was the Pokemon Knowledge, which I was relatively good at, considerring I had two of my own. I was stuck on naming the type combinations of a few Pokemon, and I think I got a wrong answer on where Poliwag appears in Johto, but I was okay. Then there was the usual math, English, literature and all. On each one I got about 90 or 95 percent, at least. I passed them all.
The first day of Summer was hot. The dock was all built, now, and painted a bit by Kiara and I. Kiara showed me a bit about driving a boat, because I would be going to Olivine City with her family the next week. The first week was spent yukking around, swimming, and biking in National Park. The trip came along.
The morning we left, we piled into Kiara's family's car. I knew this was going to be a fun trip.
Hours later, we stopped for lunch at the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak City. In fact, we were spending a few hours there. I really wanted to go see my old friend, Christina. Kiara wanted to meet her, too. After a brief meal of salad and a sandwich, we headed down my old street, where Christina lived. I knocked on her door. No one there. I was disappointed. Kiara suggested that we went down to the dance theater, but it was too late to see a show because we were expected at the Pokemon Center parking lot, soon. So, we looked at an old shop, instead.
I found myself back in the backseat of the old car with Kiara and her brother in a jiff. I watched a farm from the window. Two girls were playing in a field with a bunch of Miltank. Then, we were at the hotel. It was fancy, and not in the city. Instead, it was in the Battle Tower area. We had to pay for passes to the Battle Tower zone at the guardhouse, but now we could leave and come back freely.
The hotel was very neat. Kiara's parents had gotten two rooms... one suite with two seperate bedrooms, where her parents and brother would sleep, and a standard one-room-one-bedroom-and-bathroom suite with two beds for Kiara and I. The rooms were linked by a door, though, that could be locked from both sides for privacy. The bathroom was big and fancy, with soaps, shampoos, brushes and other things already set out. The rest of our room was equally pleasant. The door for the bedroom was like a sliding screen, and a big window offered a view of the Battle Tower area. There were even a few trainers warming up outside of the Tower. That was entertaining, especially with an overhead view of it all from the fifth floor.
''Oh. My. Gosh!'' said Kiara, upon entering the room. I was pretty psyched too. It was quite fancy. Later, we went swimming in the hotel pool and then went for dinner with Kiara's family to a seaside restaurant. I ordered some Magikarp, as cruel as it sounded. Many people around the world felt strongly against eating Pokemon. Eating a Pidgey wouldn't be a good idea, but fish Pokemon, like Magikarp, which were mostly everywhere, didn't seem bad.
''So, Kiara, Misha, how do you like the hotel?'' asked Kiara's mother. Kiara began gushing about the fancy bedroom and the pool.
''I know,'' laughed her mother. ''Our room's just like it.''
''I like the view, and the Battle Tower being right by,'' I said.
''Oh, yes. It was built mostly for spectators. Battle Tower does have special rooms for competitors, but not the tourists,'' chuckled Kiara's dad.
''Oh, Daddy, are we going to Battle Tower on a tour this week?'' asked Kiara eagerly.
''We'll see,'' said her dad, turning back to his dinner. Soon, I found myself totally full. We all rode back to the hotel. I watched the starry blanket of the night reflect on the dark sea. Now, many ships could be seen, replaced by Goldenrod City's lights. The lighthouse beamed on the ocean for a minute. I had read that it was lit by an Ampharos, an Electric Pokemon.
Back in the hotel room, I phoned my mom.
''Oh, hi sweetheart!'' she said.
''Hi mom!'' I said. ''Whats up?''
''Oh, I'm just sitting here, alone. I miss you already,'' said Mom.
''Well, I'm at a really cool hotel, it's right by Battle Tower...'' I said. I told her about the hotel, and going for dinner.
''Well, honey, that's great,'' she said. ''When are you going to take that boating test?''
''I'm not sure, maybe in a day or two,'' I responded. I had forgotten about that.
''Alright, have fun! Bye,'' said Mom.
''Bye.'' I hung up, and went to Kiara, who was watching a Pokemon battle on TV. A Pidgey was versing a sleepy-looking Koffing in Violet City Gym. I watched for a moment, then retired for the night.
''MEE-SHA!'' yelled Kiara. I was concious again. As I opened my eyes, I expected my room. But I remembered: Misha, silly, you're in Olivine. I got up. Kiara was pointing at the sunrise.
''We're going to do our boating test, today!'' said Kiara, excitedly. ''Or at least you are. But I get to retake it again so they can know that I'm still good at boating.''
''Really? Cool!'' I said, and got dressed. We went down to the hotel's free breakfast room, and stuffed our faces, basically. Then, Kiara's dad drove us down to the city and took us to the pier where they were holding tests. We were a few of the first ones there. A woman with a clipboard came up to us.
''Are you getting a license today?'' she asked Kiara and I.
''She's a first timer, and I need to renew my license,'' said Kiara quickly.
''Okay, your names?''
''I'm Misha, she's Kiara,'' I said.
''Alright, both of you, there's a course beginning in five minutes in the tent down on the beach,'' said the woman. We went to where she said, where another young woman was stationed, under a white tent. A few other kids our age and some teenagers were seated. Kiara and I sat down. Almost immediately the course began. The woman introduced herself. Her name was Becca. She talked about the Johto coast guard, and it's duties, and then got into boating talk. She explained about restricted areas, and certain signs. She also mentioned ''infested areas''. I remembered the Tentacool last spring. Later, we wrote a quick test, then went back to the pier. An instructor would ride with us for the test. When it was my turn, a guy called Ryan was my instructor. We both went down the ramp to the lower dock, where there was a speedboat, much like the one back home. Ryan guided me through how to put the boat in gear and the gas and brakes. Soon, I was slowly inching out of the parking spot at the dock, going faster, until I was zooming. Suddenly, I spotted a ''Stop'' buoy. I slowed and fully halted, although the boat was close to floating past the sign. Then, there was a bit of a steering course. Buoys were set up to dodge, and a track was also made. I may have bumped once, but I got the hang of it. Then, I did the course again with no walking-through by Ryan. I was presented with my license after.
I spotted Kiara, and showed her my brand license. We decided to go shopping, until it was time to go back. Kiara announced that we were going to Battle Tower the next day, and I could do a battle there. I had packed my Eevee's Pokeball, after all.
''Ugh, NO,'' I panicked. We'd learned that Tentacool always approached boats, and could even block them.
''They're coming towards us, I see them,'' said Kiara, pointing to a lump in the water coming to the boat. Then, I reached from behind me. A Pokeball! I threw it at my feet. Out came Cyndaquil.
''Uh oh, Fire types aren't good against water,'' I said. But I'd give Cyndaquil a shot. I knew if he tackled, he'd get poisoned some way. So, I commanded him to use Ember. Cyndaquil emitted a tiny wall of flame that only wore out the Tentacool a bit. Just enough for Kiara to zoom the boat away quickly.
''Ahh! Kiara, slow down...'' I said. Kiara didn't seem to hear me.
''STOP!'' The boat crashed lightly into Mr. Brant's dock, rocking it violently.
''I hope Mr. Brant didn't see that,'' said Kiara, shakily jumping on the front of the boat and onto the dock to tie the boat back up. She pushed it so it rotated, and I jumped straight out. We went back to Kiara's house. Her mom was shopping, and her dad and older brother were out fishing somewhere. Kiara went over to the fridge and poured two glasses of water. I sipped, a bit shook from the speedy boat ride.
''What if the Johto Coast Guard saw that?'' asked Kiara, who seemed worried.
''I doubt it. There isn't really anyone out boating on a Sunday,'' I said, reassuring her. Kiara gulped down some more water. Then, we went out to the Underground to shop. The Underground was the route that ran, well, underground in Goldenrod city. There were small businesses... some artisans, some proffessionals, and beyond the shops, there was a creepy territory of shady loiterers. I never went back there, though.
''Ooh, look at these schoolbags,'' said Kiara, pointing out a stand with Pokemon design bags. Kiara shelled out money for a Clefairy-theme bag, and we continued on. Kiara decided that we'd turn right and look for more shops. Unfortunately, we ended up in the shady part, greeted by cigarette smoke.
''Kiar-uhh...'' I said, unsure of walking around here.
''Cheryl's moms shop is down here,'' said Kiara. We were now going down a set of stairs. The smoke was dense, now, and quite stinky. Only one stand was there, selling cheap-looking bead jewelry.
''We should go back,'' I said to Kiara.
''Don't worry, it's down here,'' my friend replied. More smoke, more... then Kiara opened a door. It was clear, and full of boxes. We were in Goldenrod Department Store's stockroom!
''We're in the department store!'' I said, with a tinge of annoyance in my voice.
''Well, we'll get out, through the store,'' said Kiara.
''My mom works at the front desk. She'll see us, know we were in the Underground since we didn't come through the front doors, and I won't be allowed out alone for years,'' I explained. ''Now, we have to go back through the underground.''
''Okay, we'll go quick,'' said Kiara. We ducked through the polluted Underground, and dashed through. Unfortunately, a trainer stopped us.
''Hey, hehe, youu gotta battlllle,'' he said, sounding drunk. He released a Geodude. I reached into my pocket. Cyndaquil! Oh, brother, Fire was bad against Rock.
''Uhh, unh, uhh, TACKLE!'' shouted my opponent.
''Dodge!'' Cyndaquil got out of the way, just in time.
''Smokescreen! Now Ember!'' Cyndaquil spread smoke, confusing Geodude's vision. Then Geodude was slightly burnt.
''Ugh, uhhhhhmmm, tackle, go for it, dumbo,'' said the trainer. The Geogude brushed Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil made a sucessful tackle this time, but it barely impacted Geodude.
''Quick attack!'' I shouted. Cyndaquil got Geodude again.
''Rock slide,'' said the man, calmly. The Geodude made rocks come down from the ceiling. Cyndaquil was dodging fine, but suddenly, one rock crushed it.
The man paused. He seemed to want to keep going, though. What would I do? Then, Kiara pushed the rock aside and rescued Cyndaquil.
''I'll be at the Pokemon Center,'' she shouted. I took out Eevee.
''Haha, little puppy dog,'' snarled the man. ''Geodude, tackle.''
''Eevee, tackle, HARD!'' I yelled. But Eevee missed, and was knocked out by Geodude. I returned Eevee to her Pokeball and hurried up the stairs.
''No, you wait!'' said the man. He lunged at my ankle, but I broke free and ran out to meet Kiara.
''Hey, did you win?'' asked Kiara. I frowned. She got the message. I ran over to the nurse, and requested for her to revive my Eevee. Then, I joined Kiara and told her about the end of the battle. She nodded.
''I guess both of them have trouble with Rock types,'' commented Kiara. I agreed with her.
-- The next Saturday --
RINGGGG!!! RINGGG!!! I rolled over on my side, and grabbed the phone.
''Hey, Mish, it's Kiara!'' said a familiar voice. ''Mr. Brant's got a new boat, and he's going to let us own his old one!''
''Seriously?'' I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, with my free hand.
''Yeah, wanna come out to the dock? And Mr. Brant says if your mom gives him permission, he'll build a dock right by your house so we don't have to go all the way to his dock,'' Kiara chattered excitedly. ''Wanna come meet me by Mr. Brant's dock? Don't worry about breakfast, I have a box of muffins up here.''
''Sure, I'll just ask my mom,'' I said.
''Okay, see you,'' said Kiara. She hung up. I put my bathing suit on, then wore shorts and a T-shirt overtop. My mom gave me permission to go, so I hurried down to Mr. Brant's. Kiara was waiting for me on the dock. She offered me a blueberry muffin. We sat on the edge of the dock as Kiara pointed out Mr. Brant's new boat. Then, we got into the speedboat. I released Eevee, who loved to sit in the back and feel the air rushing past.
''Are we going to our beach?'' I asked. Kiara nodded, and then parked at our beach. I put my clothes in the seat, and swam out to the shore. First, we soaked up the sun. Then, we swam out and treaded water, watching a distant boat sail farther away.
''What's that sound?'' I asked. Something coming from the shore.
''No clue,'' replied Kiara. Then, I saw three boys come through the forest, onto our beach. They were Quinn, Taylor and Andrew.
''Hey, what's that boat, Tayl?'' said Quinn.
''Who cares?'' said Quinn. They settled down on the sand. Kiara and I ducked in the water. They were in our special place! It felt like they were invading it. What if they had seen us?
''Hey, what do we do?'' I whispered to Kiara.
''I dunno, we could go up to them,'' said Kiara.
''Nah,'' I said. I was secretly a bit shy.
''We can just climb into the boat, maybe they won't recognise us,'' suggested my friend. We agreed on that, and climbed up the little side ladder. Kiara had the boat in gear before the boys had a chance to really identify us. I sighed. This time, Kiara didn't crash into the dock when she stopped, at least. Mr. Brant told us that my mom had given him permission to build a dock, and he would start in April. He also said we could help and customize it, and even install a railing! That was a bit exciting. It would be neat to have the boat right by my house. Kiara told me about the boating license tests they had in the summer at Olivine City, too. So I could probably learn to operate the boat, too. Then Kiara described the test.
''You take the test after this course,'' she explained. ''You have to go through a buoy-pylon course, and know how to come to sudden stops...''
Summer came closer and closer, but there were still exams to get through. I wasn't extremely tensed up about them, but it was a bit stressful. I spent most of my evenings in June reading textbooks and old handouts from my binders and taking notes. There was a study meeting, with Kiara, Cheryl, Claire, Talia, Amanda and I, and we also had individual visits sometimes. The exam week came soon. The first test was the Pokemon Knowledge, which I was relatively good at, considerring I had two of my own. I was stuck on naming the type combinations of a few Pokemon, and I think I got a wrong answer on where Poliwag appears in Johto, but I was okay. Then there was the usual math, English, literature and all. On each one I got about 90 or 95 percent, at least. I passed them all.
The first day of Summer was hot. The dock was all built, now, and painted a bit by Kiara and I. Kiara showed me a bit about driving a boat, because I would be going to Olivine City with her family the next week. The first week was spent yukking around, swimming, and biking in National Park. The trip came along.
The morning we left, we piled into Kiara's family's car. I knew this was going to be a fun trip.
Hours later, we stopped for lunch at the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak City. In fact, we were spending a few hours there. I really wanted to go see my old friend, Christina. Kiara wanted to meet her, too. After a brief meal of salad and a sandwich, we headed down my old street, where Christina lived. I knocked on her door. No one there. I was disappointed. Kiara suggested that we went down to the dance theater, but it was too late to see a show because we were expected at the Pokemon Center parking lot, soon. So, we looked at an old shop, instead.
I found myself back in the backseat of the old car with Kiara and her brother in a jiff. I watched a farm from the window. Two girls were playing in a field with a bunch of Miltank. Then, we were at the hotel. It was fancy, and not in the city. Instead, it was in the Battle Tower area. We had to pay for passes to the Battle Tower zone at the guardhouse, but now we could leave and come back freely.
The hotel was very neat. Kiara's parents had gotten two rooms... one suite with two seperate bedrooms, where her parents and brother would sleep, and a standard one-room-one-bedroom-and-bathroom suite with two beds for Kiara and I. The rooms were linked by a door, though, that could be locked from both sides for privacy. The bathroom was big and fancy, with soaps, shampoos, brushes and other things already set out. The rest of our room was equally pleasant. The door for the bedroom was like a sliding screen, and a big window offered a view of the Battle Tower area. There were even a few trainers warming up outside of the Tower. That was entertaining, especially with an overhead view of it all from the fifth floor.
''Oh. My. Gosh!'' said Kiara, upon entering the room. I was pretty psyched too. It was quite fancy. Later, we went swimming in the hotel pool and then went for dinner with Kiara's family to a seaside restaurant. I ordered some Magikarp, as cruel as it sounded. Many people around the world felt strongly against eating Pokemon. Eating a Pidgey wouldn't be a good idea, but fish Pokemon, like Magikarp, which were mostly everywhere, didn't seem bad.
''So, Kiara, Misha, how do you like the hotel?'' asked Kiara's mother. Kiara began gushing about the fancy bedroom and the pool.
''I know,'' laughed her mother. ''Our room's just like it.''
''I like the view, and the Battle Tower being right by,'' I said.
''Oh, yes. It was built mostly for spectators. Battle Tower does have special rooms for competitors, but not the tourists,'' chuckled Kiara's dad.
''Oh, Daddy, are we going to Battle Tower on a tour this week?'' asked Kiara eagerly.
''We'll see,'' said her dad, turning back to his dinner. Soon, I found myself totally full. We all rode back to the hotel. I watched the starry blanket of the night reflect on the dark sea. Now, many ships could be seen, replaced by Goldenrod City's lights. The lighthouse beamed on the ocean for a minute. I had read that it was lit by an Ampharos, an Electric Pokemon.
Back in the hotel room, I phoned my mom.
''Oh, hi sweetheart!'' she said.
''Hi mom!'' I said. ''Whats up?''
''Oh, I'm just sitting here, alone. I miss you already,'' said Mom.
''Well, I'm at a really cool hotel, it's right by Battle Tower...'' I said. I told her about the hotel, and going for dinner.
''Well, honey, that's great,'' she said. ''When are you going to take that boating test?''
''I'm not sure, maybe in a day or two,'' I responded. I had forgotten about that.
''Alright, have fun! Bye,'' said Mom.
''Bye.'' I hung up, and went to Kiara, who was watching a Pokemon battle on TV. A Pidgey was versing a sleepy-looking Koffing in Violet City Gym. I watched for a moment, then retired for the night.
''MEE-SHA!'' yelled Kiara. I was concious again. As I opened my eyes, I expected my room. But I remembered: Misha, silly, you're in Olivine. I got up. Kiara was pointing at the sunrise.
''We're going to do our boating test, today!'' said Kiara, excitedly. ''Or at least you are. But I get to retake it again so they can know that I'm still good at boating.''
''Really? Cool!'' I said, and got dressed. We went down to the hotel's free breakfast room, and stuffed our faces, basically. Then, Kiara's dad drove us down to the city and took us to the pier where they were holding tests. We were a few of the first ones there. A woman with a clipboard came up to us.
''Are you getting a license today?'' she asked Kiara and I.
''She's a first timer, and I need to renew my license,'' said Kiara quickly.
''Okay, your names?''
''I'm Misha, she's Kiara,'' I said.
''Alright, both of you, there's a course beginning in five minutes in the tent down on the beach,'' said the woman. We went to where she said, where another young woman was stationed, under a white tent. A few other kids our age and some teenagers were seated. Kiara and I sat down. Almost immediately the course began. The woman introduced herself. Her name was Becca. She talked about the Johto coast guard, and it's duties, and then got into boating talk. She explained about restricted areas, and certain signs. She also mentioned ''infested areas''. I remembered the Tentacool last spring. Later, we wrote a quick test, then went back to the pier. An instructor would ride with us for the test. When it was my turn, a guy called Ryan was my instructor. We both went down the ramp to the lower dock, where there was a speedboat, much like the one back home. Ryan guided me through how to put the boat in gear and the gas and brakes. Soon, I was slowly inching out of the parking spot at the dock, going faster, until I was zooming. Suddenly, I spotted a ''Stop'' buoy. I slowed and fully halted, although the boat was close to floating past the sign. Then, there was a bit of a steering course. Buoys were set up to dodge, and a track was also made. I may have bumped once, but I got the hang of it. Then, I did the course again with no walking-through by Ryan. I was presented with my license after.
I spotted Kiara, and showed her my brand license. We decided to go shopping, until it was time to go back. Kiara announced that we were going to Battle Tower the next day, and I could do a battle there. I had packed my Eevee's Pokeball, after all.