I do not own Pokémon.
But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in
the game or TV show
If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to
have my permission
A Grey life
Chapter 14: I Hate Him Already
You should know these things before reading my story:
" " people speaking
( ) a person's thoughts
Vincent stormed out of the small house where he had been for almost an hour now. And what an hour it had been! He had won the tournament, yes. But now afterwards, he wished he never even participated. He now was the main person in a real life television show about the everyday life of a Pokémon trainer. HIS everyday life.
He had thought that after the tournament, he would head back for Twin Falls and beat the leader there, finally seeing if that annoying woman could bring him back to were he belonged. But he couldn't do that now! He had to put up with another, probably just as annoying woman sticking a camera in his face every single second of his woken time. And having to shave his armpits just added to his aggravation!
Vincent stomped the short distance of no more than 200 yards back to the rocks that defiantly stood in the sand and hid his backpack from sight. While doing this, his mind was filled with all sorts of profanity that he would love to tell the people inside the house and especially to that Vice President, Devon. His fists clenched and unclenched all the way to the rocks and he felt like having a sparring match with Slate, even though he knew he would lose. But just for the reason to have something to punch and let lose all the aggression he kept inside at the moment.
He calmed down a little when he rounded a large rock and took sight of his backpack. It had a note on it.
"Dear Vincent. Congratulations on the TV show! I'm so happy for you! I'm sorry that I couldn't stay behind and talk to you more but Jak insisted on that we left. When I can, I'll catch you on TV. Here's my Pokégear number. Call me sometime! Hugs / Wendy"
"Congratulations my foot." Vincent said to no one "Why couldn't you win, Wendy? Then I wouldn't be in this mess." He kicked a small stone and grabbed his rather large and worn red and dark green backpack, hung one of the straps over his left shoulder and headed back for the house and that DJ character.
With no difficulty, he could spot her the minute he turned his eyes towards the house. She was darting from bag to bag. Vincent imagined that apparently she was repacking her equipment and personal belongings into a backpack or whatever. And adding to the ease of spotting her was the fact that she was the only woman in the crew team.
It didn't take much time for him to once again stomp the short distance to the house and DJ.
She still thought it was strange that they had assigned only her to do this job. But at the same time, she was kind of glad that Max Devon believed in her. She smiled at the thought as she carefully packed down extra videotapes and light bulbs for the rather large camera. But at the same time she was happy, she was also very nervous and worried. She really had no idea what kind of guy this Vincent Grey was. He could be a seriously demented psycho!
(But he is kinda cute tho...) She had to remind herself not to think of him like that. The fact of the matter was that she had to do her job and not try to pick him up. She also had to slow down with the flirting in general because Devon himself had told her not to flirt with Vincent which could only mean she had gained the reputation of being a very flirtatious girl. A reputation that she didn't want but one that she couldn't deny was kind of true.
"Five minutes" DJ spun around and was met with the piercing gaze of no other than Vincent Grey.
"You've got five minutes. Then I leave. With or without you."
"I don't need much longer." She turned her back at him and continued with her pack while she could hear the soft grind of the sand as Vincent walked a little further away from her.
Vincent went over to the water and let the solemn waves hit his feet and the ragged bottoms of his beige khakis who instantly turned a deeper shade when they came in contact with the water. Although the water was not cold because of the almost tropical climate it still felt cool. Vincent looked out to see and estimated that the sun would be completely down in about two hours.
(Walk for half an hour, make camp, eat. And swim with Kingler of course.) He didn't train his Pokémon so close after a battle. If he didn't give them some slack, they would soon turn against him. His hand drew towards Kingler's Pokéball but decided not to release him until they were at the camp.
He knew that his Pokémon meant the world to him. Not only were they his partners, but he could even call them his friends. Well, some of them. Slate was definitely a friend. The incredibly strong Pokémon was the ace in Vincent's deck and someone that had been with Vincent for the entire two years.
After the break-up with Sara and Wendy, Vincent had caught a Krabby in a river. The very same Krabby that evolved into Vincent's massive Kingler. According to the Pokédex, Kinglers were supposed to be about 4'3" and weigh about 130 pounds. But Vincent's Kingler was a little different. From the ground to the top of its crown-like head, it measured five feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. Not only was the giant crab very loyal, it was also an incredible fighter and an ally that Vincent proudly called his friend. Whenever he had the chance, Vincent took a swim with the crab. Holding onto the crown and being dragged along the seabed was an incredible feeling. Kingler even used to participate in Vincent's private training by acting as bench press-weight.
Those two Pokémon were the base of Vincent's team. In nine out of ten cases, he had those two with him. Slate was no doubt the physical powerhouse and knew many devastating moves and techniques. Kingler was also very strong but not as fast and agile as Slate. But Kingler more than made up for that by being able to use water-type attacks. But Vincent knew that Kingler wasn't the best for those types of attacks. Of course, he wouldn't abandon or stop training the royal crab. He would only find another Pokémon stronger at executing water attacks.
After Kingler, Vincent caught and trained many different types and species of Pokémon, the latest instalment his rather impetuous Scyther.
Standing there and looking out at the horizon, thinking about his Pokémon, an image of his mother flashed into his head. Elina Grey. At times, he really missed her and his own world. He had spent so many sleepless nights just thinking and making up different theories and possibilities about what exactly had happened to him that day two years, two months and two weeks ago to date. Even though it was such a long time ago, Vincent remembered the event like it had happened two seconds ago. He had been cycling home after the graduation of his ninth year in school and after a dispute with Matt. Then a huge tidal wave of light flooded over him and the next thing he knew, he was in this world.
Was the world of Pokémon a parallel universe? Then maybe, just maybe, he had been replaced with the Vincent Grey of this world. Or maybe not. Had his mother wept for him when he didn't come home? He thought so. Had anyone else missed him? The only answer he could think of was 'No'. He never had any friends so no one would miss him except for his mom. His dad, whom no longer was worthy enough to be personalized with a name, left them both the summer that Vincent turned seven so he certainly wouldn't have missed him.
It still made Vincent mad whenever he thought about his father. Unaware of it himself, he clenched his hands into fists and pressed his lips together when he remembered that his mother cried herself to sleep for months after his disappearance. He had never said why, he just left.
"Good to go!" Vincent, who had been broken from his trail of thought, turned around. "And it didn't take more than five minutes either." Seeing DJ made Vincent snicker for a second. The backpack she had strapped on was very big and overly packed so she had to bend forwards not to topple over backwards from the sheer weight of it. To top that, she had two more bags, one on either side of her. They too, filled to the brim. All bags were black and she seemed to be panting just from the short walk from the house over to him.
"Are you going to take all that stuff with you?" He motioned for her bags with a quick nod.
She took a quick glance down at the bags that kept her from putting her arms to her sides. "Well... yeah!"
Vincent nodded "Ah. I see. Let's go." He started walking away and was followed by DJ.
A sore back, shoulders, neck, feet and probably some scratch marks on the inside of her forearms. Those were the pains that DJ would complain about or suffer from when they got to their destination. And by the way he saw it she had two options. To re-pack and thus leaving much of her precious stuff. Or just quit the entire show. Vincent hoped for the later.
They had only walked for no more than twenty minutes before Vincent was already a hundred feet ahead of the struggling DJ.
He stopped and sighed so loud that DJ could almost hear it. (Shit. Guess I have to wait for her then!) It was just like he had predicted. This cameraman/woman just slowed him down. Not that he often was in a rush or anything but it still annoyed him. He could have sworn that if he was in her position, he would at least try to keep up.
While DJ slowly trudged towards him, he released his current team, all at once. But he directed it so that Scyther would materialize at safe swiping distance from the others. Just in case. His normally stern and serious face took on a smile and friendly eyes as he saw his Pokémon. Fearow materialized in the air, already flying while Marowak and Jolteon took form beside each other, Marowak leaning on its bone club and Jolteon sitting. Kingler happily snapped with its claws and Slate stood, so much like Vincent, with his bottom pair of arms crossed.
A high-pitched yelp was heard from down the beach in DJ's direction and caused the seven pairs of eyes to turn their heads and stare at the now running DJ.
"People, that is DJ." He turned his head back to look at the Pokémon. "She will be travelling with us for a long time now. Sadly, it doesn't matter if we want her to or not."
"You... You have a Fearow?!" DJ, who now had reached Vincent, bent over and put her hands on her knees while panting heavily.
"No. "He shook his head at her. "That's just a big potato with feathers, a big beak and, oh yeah, it can fly."
She kept her stare at the big bird. "Don't be smart with me. I know what a Fearow is, what it looks like and how to take care of one." She now stood up and walked towards the big bird "My father had one." She gently raised her hand towards Fearow and stroked its neck feathers. "I used to help him take care of it."
"Sure you did. Lets go." As soon as Vincent moved, his Pokémon followed. Slate and Kingler stayed closest to him.
"Vincent!" DJ jogged the short distance and slowed down beside him. "How much further are we going to walk?" She panted as she said that.
"Oh, not much longer. Maybe an hour. Why? Tired already?" He smiled inwardly.
(It doesn't look like it'll take much work to get rid of her...)
"An hour?! Vincent, I'm beat. My legs are aching, my feet hurt and my neck is killing me! Can't we stop over there for the night?" He looked over to where she pointed.
For the entire time they left the tournament, They had the sea on the left and trees on the right. DJ pointed to a clearing in the trees that formed a semi circle no more than 30 feet in diameter.
Vincent still thought they could press on a little further. But it was her first day on the road and he had to fix her pack.
(She can't walk with those bags tomorrow. If I don't do anything she'll wine and I'll go crazy!)
"Ok, fine." He turned to her again and looked her intensely in the eyes. "But I won't stop because you're tired tomorrow. Got that?"
"Don't you worry about me, little boy. I'll be fine." She started walking and left Vincent to be mad at what she called him.
"Let's go!" His six Pokémon followed close behind.
"Aaah! Finally!" In the middle of the small clearing, DJ dropped her three bags and sat down on the ground to remove her hefty walking boots. The action reminded him of Sara and Wendy on the first day of their journey.
"Guys, you know the drill! Let's fix this fast before food, Ok?" The Pokémon all nodded and set off to do the various things they always did when they stopped for the day. Finding something to sit on, firewood, stones for the fireplace and maybe something edible. Fearow, who was a bit clumsy on the ground and had no hands, usually took off high in the air to scout for other trainers, cities or anything that looked odd. After a quick explanation from Vincent, Scyther got over to the log that Slate carried over and swiftly cut off all the twigs and branches, so he did a part as well.
After the daily routine of making a camp, Vincent gathered his companions and walked out on the beach again. They needed to finish the conversation that DJ interrupted before.
Vincent sat down cross-legged in the sand with his face towards the sea and his back at DJ. He sat like that so she couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Have a seat, guys." Slate sat down just like Vincent, Kingler rested its belly on the sand beside him, Marowak and Jolteon sat down beside Kingler and then came Fearow who just stood because of its inability to sit down. Scyther chose to remain standing to the left of Vincent. He thought it was funny because the Pokémon used to do like this. The oldest to the right and youngest to the left. They created a half circle around Vincent going counter-clockwise from Slate to Scyther.
"You all did a great job today. You too, Scyther." He looked at the big, green bug "You are stronger than I thought so I'll give you heavier weights tomorrow. As I said, you all did a great job. But sadly, that was a tournament I would rather have lost." He scanned the eyes of his Pokémon looking for any emotion.
Looking at Scyther, Fearow and Jolteon, he found that they really didn't understand him. Marowak, Slate and Kingler however showed no signs whatsoever. They all looked composed.
"I won the tournament and the prize I got is that woman up there." He motioned with his head at her. "She is supposed to follow us around for six months and film us every day. Then she'll send that tape to someone and it'll be on TV." He paused and sighed "But I'll try to make her leave as soon as possible. Just so you know what's going on if I act weird."
"Vincent?" He frowned at the sound of her voice. "What?!"
"What are we going to do now? Fight some wild Pokémon? Or find some other trainers and beat them?"
Vincent got up from his seat and started walking towards her "Is that all you think I do? Fight? Whenever I don't walk, I fight? Listen here now, lady." He got up close to her and stared fiercely at her "You do whatever you want. I don't care. And don't ask if I want to do anything with you. Because I don't. The way I see it, this is my last day for six months to do what I want without having a camera in my face. So leave. Me. Alone." He turned his back towards her and went over to his Pokémon and squatted down where he sat a few seconds ago.
"Me and Kingler are going to go swim. Look after DJ up there. Don't let her do anything stupid like setting herself on fire or something, ok?" The Pokémon nodded and walked up to the clearing as Vincent and the huge crab walked down to the sea.
Kingler happily trotted directly into the cool, azure water. It definitely belonged in the water and if it had had lips it would most certainly smile. Vincent however, stopped at the water's edge and let the waves wash over his tired feet. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Let the water undermine his feet and carry the sand below him out to sea. After three or four waves, he opened his eyes and walked into the water, still with ball belt and pants on. When he had water up to his waist, he leaned forward, shot his arms out and dove right into the cool seawater. He had been a little hesitant to swimming in lakes and the sea after Twin Falls. He remembered clearly what the leader had said and as soon as he could, he found the source of the Twin Falls river and marked the entire water flow from source to the tiniest creek in bright red on his map. He would never even touch that water again. At first, he had been a little suspicious about the sea as well but he had never heard anything again so he figured the leader was out of reach.
After the familiar splash of his body breaking the surface, everything went silent. Vincent blew out some of the air in his lungs and slowly drifted down to the bottom. His compact body silently found a resting place on the sandy bottom and the only thing Vincent heard was the slow yet steady pace of his own heart. He hadn't really timed himself but he knew that he could hold his breath for a long time. Longer than the average person anyway, and all thanks to his strict training routines.
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar shape of Kingler further out in the water. The crab was almost completely surrounded in water, save for its crown that broke the surface with an inch or two. Vincent dug his fingers into the rippled bottom and with one mighty pull, he set out for his Kingler. As soon as he felt he was slowing down he started kicking with his legs and doing breaststrokes. It didn't take long for him to reach Kingler and grab hold of the crown-like antennas on its head. As soon as he did that, Kingler started walking along the bottom. They used to do this every time. When the duo went for a swim, Vincent took hold of the crown and was given a ride on the bottom. Vincent had been swimming slowly along the bottom for as long as he could remember but when he caught Krabby he didn't have to spend precious oxygen on swimming. Krabby could just pull him along and therefore; Vincent could be down for a longer time.
In the beginning, Krabby held on to Vincent's legs or arms with its claws but they didn't do that after an incident where Vincent nearly suffocated. So now that Krabby was a Kingler, he could hold on to the big crab and just be dragged along instead of being pulled.
He stuck his head out and filled his lungs with fresh air, closed his eyes and went down under again.
(What a day...) he replayed all the events that hade taken place that day and still wished he never had participated in the tournament. (If I just had taken the day off I wouldn't have this damn woman on my neck and I could be heading for Twin Falls! But nooo! I had to fight and I just had to win!) He wouldn't be able to head for Twin Falls when DJ was with him that was for sure.
He opened his eyes and saw the calm and soothing movements of the sun refract in the water, making its beautiful dance on the bottom. But the serenity didn't last long because he was instantly reminded of his current situation with DJ and that TV show.
(I have to get rid of her! She can't seem to take a hint so I guess I'll just make her want to leave on her own. I'll drive her mad!) The darker side of Vincent liked the idea.
(Be a total asshole. Yeah... that can't be so hard!) He felt uneasy at what he was planning to do. He really didn't like it when people actually hated him. (No! I don't care what she thinks! I don't care what anyone thinks! Can't she just leave me alone?! Dammit!)
Thinking about DJ had made him mad and messed up the good time that he usually had when swimming. He figured it'd be best if he got back up and made food for himself and his Pokémon. Probably for DJ as well. He didn't think she could do anything except sitting on a rock.
He tapped on Kinglers hard armour so that he had the crabs attention, pointed to himself twice and then the way they came. Kingler waved with his right claw to show that he had understood. After seeing that, Vincent started heading back for the beach. They had both agreed on the use of signals because of the lack of speech under water.
When Vincent surfaced it was only a few feet to the beach so he walked the last bit. Seeing his Pokémon and DJ caused him to almost laugh. Almost. All five of his Pokémon stood in a broad circle around DJ, staring at her intensely. All of them looked at her like she was a prisoner and they were the guards. They wouldn't take their eyes off her even for one second. Even Scyther stared but he obviously didn't take it as serious because he leant against a tree and didn't have as much determination and anger in his eyes.
DJ sat on a rock in the middle of the clearing desperately looking at the Pokémon with eyes the size of plates.
(Heh! She's scared.)
"It's ok now guys." Upon hearing Vincent, the Pokémon settled down and when DJ heard him she darted up from the rock, over to him and grabbed his arms.
"Oh, Vincent!" she stared at him obviously struck with fear. "Thank god you're back! You forgot to put your Pokémon back into their balls!" She looked over her shoulder at the Pokémon and back at him again. "I though they were going to kill me!" Vincent felt her tightening her grip on his arms.
He put on the most non-caring face he could muster and said: "You done?"
"Yes..." she said meekly.
"Then let go of me!" She quickly let go of him but remembered that there were Pokémon behind her so she got over to his side.
"Could you please put them away before they attack me?!" she was practically hiding behind him as she said that.
"All of them?"
"Yes!! Especially that one!" She peeked out from behind him and pointed an unsteady finger at Slate, who still glared at her.
"That one?" He pointed to the big pile pf muscle that was the Machamp.
"Yes!"
"Ok... If you say so." He took out Slates Pokéball "But look at what I'm doing in case they escape."
She stood up and looked at the minimized Pokéball in his right hand. "See? This is a Pokéball. You can't recall them if it's minimized so you have to enlarge it first, got it?" He did so and was both amused and annoyed at her bewildered reaction because he was just humouring her. "Then you press this button to recall them." He showed her the button very closely and then threw the ball to Slate who caught it with ease.
DJ totally panicked upon seeing that and almost jumped up and down as she screamed: "What are you doing?! Now you can't recall it and it is going to kill us!!"
Vincent didn't say anything but just walked over to Slate who threw the ball up and down but still had a steady gaze set on DJ. Vincent placed himself by Slates side with width between his feet and crossed arms. He kind of resembled a soldier.
"DJ!" His stern face made her calm down a little. "I want you to tell me everything you know and what kind of experience you have with both Pokémon and outdoor survival.
"Well I'll have you know that I pride myself in knowing quite much about both subjects! I happen to know that-" She immediately stopped talking and hopped aside when Kingler came back from the sea and up to Vincent's other side.
"You have no practical experience whatsoever, huh?"
"None other than the one I have with my fathers Fearow..."
"Then I suggest you start walking the way you came." He turned his back at her and went to make a fire. It became totally quiet. After ten seconds, Vincent thought she was actually going to do as he said so he picked up a block of wood.
"What is wrong with you?!" she screamed at him. "Don't you understand what an opportunity this is for you?! You'll become FAMOUS! Do you understand that word, muscle-head? Famous! People will recognize you on the street, you'll be in commercials, in newspapers, everywhere!"
As she had talked, Vincent gradually tightened his grip on the block of wood with both his hands and after her last word he broke the block in half, slammed it to the ground and got right up in her face.
"I know what the word means! YOU are the one who doesn't understand shit! I don't want to be famous! I don't want to be recognized! I don't want to be in newspapers or anywhere else! What I DO want is that you leave me alone!"
"I would love to but this is my job!" she defiantly stared back down into the shorter boys eyes.
"Believe me when I say that this is a job you can't handle."
"Why?"
"Because you WILL get hurt! You have no idea how to survive out here. And you don't know anything about Pokémon. You probably have no idea how many Pokémon there are that can kill you before you even see them!" DJ's eyes widened a little when he said that. The scary part was that it was true. Many Pokémon were very protective of their environment and their young.
"You can teach me."
"I won't be some damn babysitter." He turned back down to the fire. "If you go now you should be back before the sun is down."
She pulled up the cell phone from her left pocket and walked away to talk in private.
(God I hope she leaves now...)
DJ walked as she dialled the number to the producer.
"Yeahello."
"Sir, it's DJ. We need to talk." She began wandering back and forth. A bad habit when she talked on the phone.
"That's right! Listen, the name of the show is 'A Grey Life'. Not that other name. Got that?"
"..yeah. Sure. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about! Sir, with all do respect, I really think we should think of another trainer for this show. This kid is rude, arrogant and hard to deal with."
"DJ! I've talked with Devon and that is the kid he wants!" He screamed so loud that she had to hold the phone away from her ear. "You just do your job, ok?!"
"But sir-"
"No buts, no questions, no nothing! Just do your job!"
"...Yes sir."
"And don't flirt with him!"
No need to worry, sir. I hate him already."
A/N:
Well well! Seems like I finished yet another chapter. How fun. Yay for me... This chapter is most likely a disappointment for all of you who might have read it. My reason for believing that is the fact that I've opened it up, written a few lines and then closed it down again, only to do the same thing again a few days later. That causes the story to loose the red line that holds it together only because I have forgotten some of the things I have written previously.
It's actually waaay to early on the day to start explaining my faults and that's the reason it sound like a four year old has written it. Sorry bout that.
Lunar Heart: If you haven't noticed, this chapter is actually four pages longer than the usual six I write. I'll try and make them longer but don't get your hopes up... -_-'
Ravens Destiny: yeah, ego-squishing is enjoyable. And you don't have to clean up the mess afterwards. There is absolutely no need to apologize for not helping with the story. The fact of the matter is that I am the one who is supposed to do all the work. You should just sit back, have a soda, maybe some snacks and just read. And review...
The Crystal Wyvern: I could always use some inspiration! And if you ever do post a Pokémon story, let me know and I'll be there in a heartbeat.
PikaJenn: Then you are officially my Beta-reader! If that's ok with you I mean. Up for it? Thank you for your support.
The Duke of Briarcliffe: It feels good that you enjoy my story. Your reviews mean a lot to me.
Leo Cole: I've fixed it now!
KaiserEXE: Wow... four or five times? I feel honoured that you have done that and the things you say about AGL makes me feel even more so. Thank you!
A Grey life
Chapter 14: I Hate Him Already
You should know these things before reading my story:
" " people speaking
( ) a person's thoughts
Vincent stormed out of the small house where he had been for almost an hour now. And what an hour it had been! He had won the tournament, yes. But now afterwards, he wished he never even participated. He now was the main person in a real life television show about the everyday life of a Pokémon trainer. HIS everyday life.
He had thought that after the tournament, he would head back for Twin Falls and beat the leader there, finally seeing if that annoying woman could bring him back to were he belonged. But he couldn't do that now! He had to put up with another, probably just as annoying woman sticking a camera in his face every single second of his woken time. And having to shave his armpits just added to his aggravation!
Vincent stomped the short distance of no more than 200 yards back to the rocks that defiantly stood in the sand and hid his backpack from sight. While doing this, his mind was filled with all sorts of profanity that he would love to tell the people inside the house and especially to that Vice President, Devon. His fists clenched and unclenched all the way to the rocks and he felt like having a sparring match with Slate, even though he knew he would lose. But just for the reason to have something to punch and let lose all the aggression he kept inside at the moment.
He calmed down a little when he rounded a large rock and took sight of his backpack. It had a note on it.
"Dear Vincent. Congratulations on the TV show! I'm so happy for you! I'm sorry that I couldn't stay behind and talk to you more but Jak insisted on that we left. When I can, I'll catch you on TV. Here's my Pokégear number. Call me sometime! Hugs / Wendy"
"Congratulations my foot." Vincent said to no one "Why couldn't you win, Wendy? Then I wouldn't be in this mess." He kicked a small stone and grabbed his rather large and worn red and dark green backpack, hung one of the straps over his left shoulder and headed back for the house and that DJ character.
With no difficulty, he could spot her the minute he turned his eyes towards the house. She was darting from bag to bag. Vincent imagined that apparently she was repacking her equipment and personal belongings into a backpack or whatever. And adding to the ease of spotting her was the fact that she was the only woman in the crew team.
It didn't take much time for him to once again stomp the short distance to the house and DJ.
She still thought it was strange that they had assigned only her to do this job. But at the same time, she was kind of glad that Max Devon believed in her. She smiled at the thought as she carefully packed down extra videotapes and light bulbs for the rather large camera. But at the same time she was happy, she was also very nervous and worried. She really had no idea what kind of guy this Vincent Grey was. He could be a seriously demented psycho!
(But he is kinda cute tho...) She had to remind herself not to think of him like that. The fact of the matter was that she had to do her job and not try to pick him up. She also had to slow down with the flirting in general because Devon himself had told her not to flirt with Vincent which could only mean she had gained the reputation of being a very flirtatious girl. A reputation that she didn't want but one that she couldn't deny was kind of true.
"Five minutes" DJ spun around and was met with the piercing gaze of no other than Vincent Grey.
"You've got five minutes. Then I leave. With or without you."
"I don't need much longer." She turned her back at him and continued with her pack while she could hear the soft grind of the sand as Vincent walked a little further away from her.
Vincent went over to the water and let the solemn waves hit his feet and the ragged bottoms of his beige khakis who instantly turned a deeper shade when they came in contact with the water. Although the water was not cold because of the almost tropical climate it still felt cool. Vincent looked out to see and estimated that the sun would be completely down in about two hours.
(Walk for half an hour, make camp, eat. And swim with Kingler of course.) He didn't train his Pokémon so close after a battle. If he didn't give them some slack, they would soon turn against him. His hand drew towards Kingler's Pokéball but decided not to release him until they were at the camp.
He knew that his Pokémon meant the world to him. Not only were they his partners, but he could even call them his friends. Well, some of them. Slate was definitely a friend. The incredibly strong Pokémon was the ace in Vincent's deck and someone that had been with Vincent for the entire two years.
After the break-up with Sara and Wendy, Vincent had caught a Krabby in a river. The very same Krabby that evolved into Vincent's massive Kingler. According to the Pokédex, Kinglers were supposed to be about 4'3" and weigh about 130 pounds. But Vincent's Kingler was a little different. From the ground to the top of its crown-like head, it measured five feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. Not only was the giant crab very loyal, it was also an incredible fighter and an ally that Vincent proudly called his friend. Whenever he had the chance, Vincent took a swim with the crab. Holding onto the crown and being dragged along the seabed was an incredible feeling. Kingler even used to participate in Vincent's private training by acting as bench press-weight.
Those two Pokémon were the base of Vincent's team. In nine out of ten cases, he had those two with him. Slate was no doubt the physical powerhouse and knew many devastating moves and techniques. Kingler was also very strong but not as fast and agile as Slate. But Kingler more than made up for that by being able to use water-type attacks. But Vincent knew that Kingler wasn't the best for those types of attacks. Of course, he wouldn't abandon or stop training the royal crab. He would only find another Pokémon stronger at executing water attacks.
After Kingler, Vincent caught and trained many different types and species of Pokémon, the latest instalment his rather impetuous Scyther.
Standing there and looking out at the horizon, thinking about his Pokémon, an image of his mother flashed into his head. Elina Grey. At times, he really missed her and his own world. He had spent so many sleepless nights just thinking and making up different theories and possibilities about what exactly had happened to him that day two years, two months and two weeks ago to date. Even though it was such a long time ago, Vincent remembered the event like it had happened two seconds ago. He had been cycling home after the graduation of his ninth year in school and after a dispute with Matt. Then a huge tidal wave of light flooded over him and the next thing he knew, he was in this world.
Was the world of Pokémon a parallel universe? Then maybe, just maybe, he had been replaced with the Vincent Grey of this world. Or maybe not. Had his mother wept for him when he didn't come home? He thought so. Had anyone else missed him? The only answer he could think of was 'No'. He never had any friends so no one would miss him except for his mom. His dad, whom no longer was worthy enough to be personalized with a name, left them both the summer that Vincent turned seven so he certainly wouldn't have missed him.
It still made Vincent mad whenever he thought about his father. Unaware of it himself, he clenched his hands into fists and pressed his lips together when he remembered that his mother cried herself to sleep for months after his disappearance. He had never said why, he just left.
"Good to go!" Vincent, who had been broken from his trail of thought, turned around. "And it didn't take more than five minutes either." Seeing DJ made Vincent snicker for a second. The backpack she had strapped on was very big and overly packed so she had to bend forwards not to topple over backwards from the sheer weight of it. To top that, she had two more bags, one on either side of her. They too, filled to the brim. All bags were black and she seemed to be panting just from the short walk from the house over to him.
"Are you going to take all that stuff with you?" He motioned for her bags with a quick nod.
She took a quick glance down at the bags that kept her from putting her arms to her sides. "Well... yeah!"
Vincent nodded "Ah. I see. Let's go." He started walking away and was followed by DJ.
A sore back, shoulders, neck, feet and probably some scratch marks on the inside of her forearms. Those were the pains that DJ would complain about or suffer from when they got to their destination. And by the way he saw it she had two options. To re-pack and thus leaving much of her precious stuff. Or just quit the entire show. Vincent hoped for the later.
They had only walked for no more than twenty minutes before Vincent was already a hundred feet ahead of the struggling DJ.
He stopped and sighed so loud that DJ could almost hear it. (Shit. Guess I have to wait for her then!) It was just like he had predicted. This cameraman/woman just slowed him down. Not that he often was in a rush or anything but it still annoyed him. He could have sworn that if he was in her position, he would at least try to keep up.
While DJ slowly trudged towards him, he released his current team, all at once. But he directed it so that Scyther would materialize at safe swiping distance from the others. Just in case. His normally stern and serious face took on a smile and friendly eyes as he saw his Pokémon. Fearow materialized in the air, already flying while Marowak and Jolteon took form beside each other, Marowak leaning on its bone club and Jolteon sitting. Kingler happily snapped with its claws and Slate stood, so much like Vincent, with his bottom pair of arms crossed.
A high-pitched yelp was heard from down the beach in DJ's direction and caused the seven pairs of eyes to turn their heads and stare at the now running DJ.
"People, that is DJ." He turned his head back to look at the Pokémon. "She will be travelling with us for a long time now. Sadly, it doesn't matter if we want her to or not."
"You... You have a Fearow?!" DJ, who now had reached Vincent, bent over and put her hands on her knees while panting heavily.
"No. "He shook his head at her. "That's just a big potato with feathers, a big beak and, oh yeah, it can fly."
She kept her stare at the big bird. "Don't be smart with me. I know what a Fearow is, what it looks like and how to take care of one." She now stood up and walked towards the big bird "My father had one." She gently raised her hand towards Fearow and stroked its neck feathers. "I used to help him take care of it."
"Sure you did. Lets go." As soon as Vincent moved, his Pokémon followed. Slate and Kingler stayed closest to him.
"Vincent!" DJ jogged the short distance and slowed down beside him. "How much further are we going to walk?" She panted as she said that.
"Oh, not much longer. Maybe an hour. Why? Tired already?" He smiled inwardly.
(It doesn't look like it'll take much work to get rid of her...)
"An hour?! Vincent, I'm beat. My legs are aching, my feet hurt and my neck is killing me! Can't we stop over there for the night?" He looked over to where she pointed.
For the entire time they left the tournament, They had the sea on the left and trees on the right. DJ pointed to a clearing in the trees that formed a semi circle no more than 30 feet in diameter.
Vincent still thought they could press on a little further. But it was her first day on the road and he had to fix her pack.
(She can't walk with those bags tomorrow. If I don't do anything she'll wine and I'll go crazy!)
"Ok, fine." He turned to her again and looked her intensely in the eyes. "But I won't stop because you're tired tomorrow. Got that?"
"Don't you worry about me, little boy. I'll be fine." She started walking and left Vincent to be mad at what she called him.
"Let's go!" His six Pokémon followed close behind.
"Aaah! Finally!" In the middle of the small clearing, DJ dropped her three bags and sat down on the ground to remove her hefty walking boots. The action reminded him of Sara and Wendy on the first day of their journey.
"Guys, you know the drill! Let's fix this fast before food, Ok?" The Pokémon all nodded and set off to do the various things they always did when they stopped for the day. Finding something to sit on, firewood, stones for the fireplace and maybe something edible. Fearow, who was a bit clumsy on the ground and had no hands, usually took off high in the air to scout for other trainers, cities or anything that looked odd. After a quick explanation from Vincent, Scyther got over to the log that Slate carried over and swiftly cut off all the twigs and branches, so he did a part as well.
After the daily routine of making a camp, Vincent gathered his companions and walked out on the beach again. They needed to finish the conversation that DJ interrupted before.
Vincent sat down cross-legged in the sand with his face towards the sea and his back at DJ. He sat like that so she couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Have a seat, guys." Slate sat down just like Vincent, Kingler rested its belly on the sand beside him, Marowak and Jolteon sat down beside Kingler and then came Fearow who just stood because of its inability to sit down. Scyther chose to remain standing to the left of Vincent. He thought it was funny because the Pokémon used to do like this. The oldest to the right and youngest to the left. They created a half circle around Vincent going counter-clockwise from Slate to Scyther.
"You all did a great job today. You too, Scyther." He looked at the big, green bug "You are stronger than I thought so I'll give you heavier weights tomorrow. As I said, you all did a great job. But sadly, that was a tournament I would rather have lost." He scanned the eyes of his Pokémon looking for any emotion.
Looking at Scyther, Fearow and Jolteon, he found that they really didn't understand him. Marowak, Slate and Kingler however showed no signs whatsoever. They all looked composed.
"I won the tournament and the prize I got is that woman up there." He motioned with his head at her. "She is supposed to follow us around for six months and film us every day. Then she'll send that tape to someone and it'll be on TV." He paused and sighed "But I'll try to make her leave as soon as possible. Just so you know what's going on if I act weird."
"Vincent?" He frowned at the sound of her voice. "What?!"
"What are we going to do now? Fight some wild Pokémon? Or find some other trainers and beat them?"
Vincent got up from his seat and started walking towards her "Is that all you think I do? Fight? Whenever I don't walk, I fight? Listen here now, lady." He got up close to her and stared fiercely at her "You do whatever you want. I don't care. And don't ask if I want to do anything with you. Because I don't. The way I see it, this is my last day for six months to do what I want without having a camera in my face. So leave. Me. Alone." He turned his back towards her and went over to his Pokémon and squatted down where he sat a few seconds ago.
"Me and Kingler are going to go swim. Look after DJ up there. Don't let her do anything stupid like setting herself on fire or something, ok?" The Pokémon nodded and walked up to the clearing as Vincent and the huge crab walked down to the sea.
Kingler happily trotted directly into the cool, azure water. It definitely belonged in the water and if it had had lips it would most certainly smile. Vincent however, stopped at the water's edge and let the waves wash over his tired feet. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Let the water undermine his feet and carry the sand below him out to sea. After three or four waves, he opened his eyes and walked into the water, still with ball belt and pants on. When he had water up to his waist, he leaned forward, shot his arms out and dove right into the cool seawater. He had been a little hesitant to swimming in lakes and the sea after Twin Falls. He remembered clearly what the leader had said and as soon as he could, he found the source of the Twin Falls river and marked the entire water flow from source to the tiniest creek in bright red on his map. He would never even touch that water again. At first, he had been a little suspicious about the sea as well but he had never heard anything again so he figured the leader was out of reach.
After the familiar splash of his body breaking the surface, everything went silent. Vincent blew out some of the air in his lungs and slowly drifted down to the bottom. His compact body silently found a resting place on the sandy bottom and the only thing Vincent heard was the slow yet steady pace of his own heart. He hadn't really timed himself but he knew that he could hold his breath for a long time. Longer than the average person anyway, and all thanks to his strict training routines.
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar shape of Kingler further out in the water. The crab was almost completely surrounded in water, save for its crown that broke the surface with an inch or two. Vincent dug his fingers into the rippled bottom and with one mighty pull, he set out for his Kingler. As soon as he felt he was slowing down he started kicking with his legs and doing breaststrokes. It didn't take long for him to reach Kingler and grab hold of the crown-like antennas on its head. As soon as he did that, Kingler started walking along the bottom. They used to do this every time. When the duo went for a swim, Vincent took hold of the crown and was given a ride on the bottom. Vincent had been swimming slowly along the bottom for as long as he could remember but when he caught Krabby he didn't have to spend precious oxygen on swimming. Krabby could just pull him along and therefore; Vincent could be down for a longer time.
In the beginning, Krabby held on to Vincent's legs or arms with its claws but they didn't do that after an incident where Vincent nearly suffocated. So now that Krabby was a Kingler, he could hold on to the big crab and just be dragged along instead of being pulled.
He stuck his head out and filled his lungs with fresh air, closed his eyes and went down under again.
(What a day...) he replayed all the events that hade taken place that day and still wished he never had participated in the tournament. (If I just had taken the day off I wouldn't have this damn woman on my neck and I could be heading for Twin Falls! But nooo! I had to fight and I just had to win!) He wouldn't be able to head for Twin Falls when DJ was with him that was for sure.
He opened his eyes and saw the calm and soothing movements of the sun refract in the water, making its beautiful dance on the bottom. But the serenity didn't last long because he was instantly reminded of his current situation with DJ and that TV show.
(I have to get rid of her! She can't seem to take a hint so I guess I'll just make her want to leave on her own. I'll drive her mad!) The darker side of Vincent liked the idea.
(Be a total asshole. Yeah... that can't be so hard!) He felt uneasy at what he was planning to do. He really didn't like it when people actually hated him. (No! I don't care what she thinks! I don't care what anyone thinks! Can't she just leave me alone?! Dammit!)
Thinking about DJ had made him mad and messed up the good time that he usually had when swimming. He figured it'd be best if he got back up and made food for himself and his Pokémon. Probably for DJ as well. He didn't think she could do anything except sitting on a rock.
He tapped on Kinglers hard armour so that he had the crabs attention, pointed to himself twice and then the way they came. Kingler waved with his right claw to show that he had understood. After seeing that, Vincent started heading back for the beach. They had both agreed on the use of signals because of the lack of speech under water.
When Vincent surfaced it was only a few feet to the beach so he walked the last bit. Seeing his Pokémon and DJ caused him to almost laugh. Almost. All five of his Pokémon stood in a broad circle around DJ, staring at her intensely. All of them looked at her like she was a prisoner and they were the guards. They wouldn't take their eyes off her even for one second. Even Scyther stared but he obviously didn't take it as serious because he leant against a tree and didn't have as much determination and anger in his eyes.
DJ sat on a rock in the middle of the clearing desperately looking at the Pokémon with eyes the size of plates.
(Heh! She's scared.)
"It's ok now guys." Upon hearing Vincent, the Pokémon settled down and when DJ heard him she darted up from the rock, over to him and grabbed his arms.
"Oh, Vincent!" she stared at him obviously struck with fear. "Thank god you're back! You forgot to put your Pokémon back into their balls!" She looked over her shoulder at the Pokémon and back at him again. "I though they were going to kill me!" Vincent felt her tightening her grip on his arms.
He put on the most non-caring face he could muster and said: "You done?"
"Yes..." she said meekly.
"Then let go of me!" She quickly let go of him but remembered that there were Pokémon behind her so she got over to his side.
"Could you please put them away before they attack me?!" she was practically hiding behind him as she said that.
"All of them?"
"Yes!! Especially that one!" She peeked out from behind him and pointed an unsteady finger at Slate, who still glared at her.
"That one?" He pointed to the big pile pf muscle that was the Machamp.
"Yes!"
"Ok... If you say so." He took out Slates Pokéball "But look at what I'm doing in case they escape."
She stood up and looked at the minimized Pokéball in his right hand. "See? This is a Pokéball. You can't recall them if it's minimized so you have to enlarge it first, got it?" He did so and was both amused and annoyed at her bewildered reaction because he was just humouring her. "Then you press this button to recall them." He showed her the button very closely and then threw the ball to Slate who caught it with ease.
DJ totally panicked upon seeing that and almost jumped up and down as she screamed: "What are you doing?! Now you can't recall it and it is going to kill us!!"
Vincent didn't say anything but just walked over to Slate who threw the ball up and down but still had a steady gaze set on DJ. Vincent placed himself by Slates side with width between his feet and crossed arms. He kind of resembled a soldier.
"DJ!" His stern face made her calm down a little. "I want you to tell me everything you know and what kind of experience you have with both Pokémon and outdoor survival.
"Well I'll have you know that I pride myself in knowing quite much about both subjects! I happen to know that-" She immediately stopped talking and hopped aside when Kingler came back from the sea and up to Vincent's other side.
"You have no practical experience whatsoever, huh?"
"None other than the one I have with my fathers Fearow..."
"Then I suggest you start walking the way you came." He turned his back at her and went to make a fire. It became totally quiet. After ten seconds, Vincent thought she was actually going to do as he said so he picked up a block of wood.
"What is wrong with you?!" she screamed at him. "Don't you understand what an opportunity this is for you?! You'll become FAMOUS! Do you understand that word, muscle-head? Famous! People will recognize you on the street, you'll be in commercials, in newspapers, everywhere!"
As she had talked, Vincent gradually tightened his grip on the block of wood with both his hands and after her last word he broke the block in half, slammed it to the ground and got right up in her face.
"I know what the word means! YOU are the one who doesn't understand shit! I don't want to be famous! I don't want to be recognized! I don't want to be in newspapers or anywhere else! What I DO want is that you leave me alone!"
"I would love to but this is my job!" she defiantly stared back down into the shorter boys eyes.
"Believe me when I say that this is a job you can't handle."
"Why?"
"Because you WILL get hurt! You have no idea how to survive out here. And you don't know anything about Pokémon. You probably have no idea how many Pokémon there are that can kill you before you even see them!" DJ's eyes widened a little when he said that. The scary part was that it was true. Many Pokémon were very protective of their environment and their young.
"You can teach me."
"I won't be some damn babysitter." He turned back down to the fire. "If you go now you should be back before the sun is down."
She pulled up the cell phone from her left pocket and walked away to talk in private.
(God I hope she leaves now...)
DJ walked as she dialled the number to the producer.
"Yeahello."
"Sir, it's DJ. We need to talk." She began wandering back and forth. A bad habit when she talked on the phone.
"That's right! Listen, the name of the show is 'A Grey Life'. Not that other name. Got that?"
"..yeah. Sure. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about! Sir, with all do respect, I really think we should think of another trainer for this show. This kid is rude, arrogant and hard to deal with."
"DJ! I've talked with Devon and that is the kid he wants!" He screamed so loud that she had to hold the phone away from her ear. "You just do your job, ok?!"
"But sir-"
"No buts, no questions, no nothing! Just do your job!"
"...Yes sir."
"And don't flirt with him!"
No need to worry, sir. I hate him already."
A/N:
Well well! Seems like I finished yet another chapter. How fun. Yay for me... This chapter is most likely a disappointment for all of you who might have read it. My reason for believing that is the fact that I've opened it up, written a few lines and then closed it down again, only to do the same thing again a few days later. That causes the story to loose the red line that holds it together only because I have forgotten some of the things I have written previously.
It's actually waaay to early on the day to start explaining my faults and that's the reason it sound like a four year old has written it. Sorry bout that.
Lunar Heart: If you haven't noticed, this chapter is actually four pages longer than the usual six I write. I'll try and make them longer but don't get your hopes up... -_-'
Ravens Destiny: yeah, ego-squishing is enjoyable. And you don't have to clean up the mess afterwards. There is absolutely no need to apologize for not helping with the story. The fact of the matter is that I am the one who is supposed to do all the work. You should just sit back, have a soda, maybe some snacks and just read. And review...
The Crystal Wyvern: I could always use some inspiration! And if you ever do post a Pokémon story, let me know and I'll be there in a heartbeat.
PikaJenn: Then you are officially my Beta-reader! If that's ok with you I mean. Up for it? Thank you for your support.
The Duke of Briarcliffe: It feels good that you enjoy my story. Your reviews mean a lot to me.
Leo Cole: I've fixed it now!
KaiserEXE: Wow... four or five times? I feel honoured that you have done that and the things you say about AGL makes me feel even more so. Thank you!