Chapter 36: vow in history

Josh:

I was broken out of my thoughts when both Leafeon and Jolteon nudged at my hands, they seemed concerned and I gave them a reassuring pat on their head. Though I couldn't understand them like how Nei could or they speak to me like her Glaceon and Sylveon, I could tell by the look in their eyes that something was weighing on their minds. Though I gave both the same soft head pats, I gave jolteon more, I was concerned about him more being that close to a potentially dangerous attack and guess it would have left him feeling just as worried as myself. They needed to be reassured that we had a plan to deal with the problem and I got this feeling they were not the only ones worried.

They both led me to the training floor that was out in the open, that's were Tank and Winona was training with Courtney watching from the side lines with both Tanks Espeon and Umbreon, she was leaning against the wall of the building while the eeveelutions were laying next to her. Jolteon bounded over to Umbreon and Espeon, they didn't seemed to bothered by his sudden appearance and Espeon played a game of tag with Jolteon while Leafeon rested with Umbreon. Courtney blew a bubble from her gum and it popped, seemingly she wasn't bothered when the eeveelutions were playing. I joined her and said to break the ice "those four have known each other for a while, but it's been a while since they had time to play with each other like this" she gave a slight nod, I assumed it was to show some signal that she was listening as she was blowing bubbles in her gum. It seemed so carefree of her to be blowing them, but I'd think she's assuming the same with me casually starting a talk with her. She asked curiously "how has it been since they've seen each other?" I paused and had a think on it, I answered as accurately as I could "I think the last time they saw each other was three years ago, we all went our separate ways before we could say goodbye to each. So, as you'd imagine, they missed seeing each other and having time together to play like this"

She asked curiously "have you lost someone close to you before?" the tone of her voice changed from genuine curiosity to a more sorrowful one, I gave a nod and answered "in the past there were pokemon that I travelled with, they were during the times I was travelling across Johto. A friend was raising a Furret, which is this long fluffy pokemon that we often called a fluff noodle" Courtney gave a slight chuckle to the nickname we gave the Furret, I continued "the Furret had become sick, and the sickness kept getting worse. Eventually, in the care of the nurse's in Goldenrod City, they couldn't find a cure for this sickness and by the time the diagnosed what it was it was too late" Courtney asked "what was the cause?" I sighed and looked to the sky answering "the battle before hand used a move that inflicted poison and the signs didn't show until much later, the sickness showed when we went into the battle after, and we were a long ways from that pokemon centre. We still hold guilt to this day for not recognising that their pokemon was ill and we didn't help, that was the day we both make a vow to each other to become stronger trainers" she listened intently as she chewed on her gum and she asked "was this friend Nei by any chance?" I shook my head "no, it wasn't long after this that I met her in the Johto region. We've been friends since then"

She asked "would Nei have been able to help?" I gave a nod without a second thought, she was surprised how quick I responded and I answered "she's unique but her drive to help pokemon and people alike is a reason I know she'd find a way to help if she could. Her unique skill doesn't hurt though" Courtney looked puzzled and asked "unique skill?" I often forget that she doesn't make her skill known to people and they witness it through first hand experience. I responded "sorry, I forget she doesn't talk about it much. She has the skill to read the minds of pokemon and even healing them too. She became a medic so she knows how to make a range of healing potions for people and pokemon" a surprised expression spread across her face and she pointed out "you seem to view her in high regards, it shows how much you trusted her" I couldn't deny that after what happened in Johto, we've been good friends since then and have even been able to work off of each other, even to keeping in regular contact with each other.

We could hear both Espeon and Jolteon still playing together while Umbreon and Leafeon relaxed and overheard our talk, I guess they were just curious about what we were talking about. "You sound like someone whose made a lot of friends over your travels" she spoke with the same sorrowful tone of voice. She sat and hugged her knees; I couldn't help but to join her and face her general direction. Her bubble gum popped as she turned to face me and I couldn't resist laughing at the comedic timing to that, at first she was confused and for a second she let a laugh come through her gum. Surprised by this she turned away and I just kept laughing, I could see she was resisting this and was going great. She took a deep breathe, to compose herself, and I asked "feeling better?" she gave a nod but looked to me and said "in a way yeah, but I doubt I'd be feeling better any time soon" I assumed she asked the losing someone question based on everything she learnt recently and I want to help her vent it out, but should I is the biggest question.