Note: I do not own pokemon.
Brendan hastily put his pokenav back inside his backpack, and leaned against the wall of the pokemon center. He sighed, and closed his eyes, the day already turning into night.
"Brendan!" a girl's voice called.
He immediately opened his eyes, and stood up. He put a small smile on his face, and walked over to Sylvia.
"You were supposed to come back thirty minutes ago," he said sternly, but the grin suggested he was joking.
"Pshhhh," she said, and stuck her tongue out at him. "I lost track of time, and Torkoal wouldn't wake up," she accused, pointing at the turtle near her feet.
"Torkoal!" the pokemon said, trying to defend herself.
"Whatever," Brendan replied. "Come on,"
The three walked into the pokemon center, and sat down on the red chairs. Torkoal remained standing on the floor.
"So, did the training go well today?"
"Kind of. Beldum only knows take down for now, and whenever it uses that attack it hurts itself too," Sylvia explained, holding out the pokeball containing the Beldum. "I bought a bunch of potions and used them all up,"
"Oh," Brendan said. "Um, Sylvia,"
"Yeah?"
"You got a call from a guy named Steven today, right?"
"Yep," she said. "How do you know that?"
"Well, Steven's someone you knew in the past," he explained.
"How come I've never heard about him until now?"
"He went some place for a while,"
"Oh," she said, not really interested in the matter. "I wasn't that close with him, was I? I mean, if I was, I would have heard of him by now,"
"Actually, I'm not so sure. All I know is that you met him while you were on your journey,"
"Oh," she said.
"He's gonna come to Petalburg,"
"Oh," she repeated.
"Can't you say anything more interesting?" Brendan joked.
She simply stuck her tongue out, like she had done earlier.
"Come on, it's getting dark," Brendan mumbled, then yawned. "We can go to your dad's gym and rest there,"
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"Skarmory, faster," Steven urged as he struggled to stay on his pokemon.
"Skar! Skarmory!"
"Don't worry, I won't fall off," he said with a smile, and wrapped his arms around the giant bird's neck.
"Skarmory!" the bird screeched, and increased its speed.
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"Let's go!" Brendan yelled into Sylvia's ear.
"Aaaah!" she screamed, and out of instinct hit Brendan's face with her fist.
"Oooof," he mumbled, rubbing his cheek. "It's just me,"
"Sorry," she said, and took out a pokeball. "Come out, Torkoal,"
Torkoal appeared in a flash of red light.
"Come on," Brendan said, and grabbed the girl's arm. He dragged her out of the gym, the Torkoal following close behind them.
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"There it is," Steven said, seeing Petalburg. He looked around the area, and spotted Brendan in front of the gym. "Skarmory, land there!" he shouted, pointing at the building.
The bird launched itself into a deep dive, and spread its wings at the last minute, gracefully landing in front of Brendan. Steven stumbled off his pokemon, shaking his head as he did so.
"Skarmory, return," he grumbled, still a bit dizzy. He looked up and saw Brendan, along with Sylvia and her Torkoal.
"Hey," he said nervously, no longer stumbling.
"Hey Steven," Brendan said cheerfully, and took a step to the left. "This is Steven," he whispered to Sylvia.
"Hi," she said. She held out her hand. "I'm Sylvia,"
"He already knows that," Brendan said, and Sylvia instantly put her hand back to her side.
"Sorry, I forgot...," she mumbled sheepishly, and smiled at Steven.
"You forgot alot of things, didn't you?" Steven asked softly, staring into her eyes. They showed no sign of feeling, they were simply blank. She was not happy to see him, nor was she sad. He was someone new to her, she did not consider him a friend like she did long ago. She did not feel anything when she saw him.
She looked away, finding his gaze uncomfortable.
"Well," Brendan said, breaking the silence. "I gotta go now, why don't you two spend the day together?" He waited for one of them to comment or object. "Steven, you can help Sylvia train the Beldum you gave her," Brendan suggested, and turned around. "Jolly good day, see you later," he said as a farewell, in a slight british accent.
"Let's go, then," Steven said. He walked off towards the direction of the Petalburg woods, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, wait up!" Sylvia shouted, returning to her cheerful self.