- AAAAAaaaaAaa!! - White screamed to the top of her lungs, grabbing the handle of the bridge over the lake at the outskirts of Striaton City - ...!!!!... FfffUUckk...!
- WHITE! - Bianca came running after her, immediately grabbing her hands and turning her around - Look at me... - White obeyed and looked at her friend in the eyes, clutching her hands, she sniffed loudly and her eyes watering, trying her hardest not to cry - It's alright.
- it's not alright!
- The battle was awesome, you fought so bravely even though you had no chance.
- So you also think I had no chance
- That's not what I meant. Losing is not that bad, you learn from it. Someone just told me, that what's important is how you take this loss and continue on.
- I know, I know, I'm not mad at losing. Even though it was so crushing, even tho he was such an asshole! that I really want to make him cry like a little girl... I'm mad at myself. - She gripped her hands tightly, gritting her teeth, unable to look her in the eyes - I messed up, they got hurt not because they were weak, but because I messed up, they gave it their all and I let my team down.
- That's not true.
- It is. It absolutely is, had I been quicker and less dumb, and less of a klutz, they would be ok - White laid down on her shoulder and sniffed a bit more. Bianca just ran her hand on her hair, trying to calm her down a little bit - You wanna go back to heal them - White nodded, Bianca took her by the hand back to the pokemon center and her friend just looked at the floor all the way back.
Bianca wasn't sure what to do, White had been sighing face down on her bed for over half an hour now... at least she wasn't crying anymore... was she? - you ok?
- Not really...
- ª
Silence... until a knock on the door made White jump from the bed an run towards the bedroom entrance. An Audino dressed with a nurse hat, a cotton pouch on her neck and a metal tray in her hands greeted her on the other side of the doorframe. She chanted happily as she showed the tray with three pokeballs to the girl - Thank you very much - She said as she hastily grabbed the orbs and clutched them near her chest - oh yeah - she grabbed what she had in her pocket, some litte money and some candy for pokemon she had bought while she was lost looking for the gym - Here's your tip - She stuffed the items in the rosy pouch hanging from the pokemon neck. The pokemon happily took the candy out and ate it as it walked back to the lobby.
White let her pokemon out immediately once inside the room, they seemed perfectly healed and happy. She went to hug them all at once - I'm glad you're all okay.
- Hey, White - Bianca called out - Cheren just talked to me.
- Is it here? - White pointed towards the building just in front of them, a tree stories high of wooden beams and brick walls with a big clock near it's roof.
- So it says here.
- Why did Cheren come here? We finally have our chance to go out and travel and he comes to school? - White complained entering through the doors... Then, she was completely blown away, a big hall, the walls littered with bookshelfs and whiteboard, little spaces with pillows on the floor where kids ands teens with their pokemon hanged out together. And in the middle an open space behind some glass panes under direct sunlight where a pokemon battle was being held - This is nothing like the school back home...
- Yeah... Oh that's Cheren! - Bianca stumbled forward as she pointed towards the battlefield where the two trainers were, one kid in a uniform, consisting of a shirt, a tie and some shorts; while the other one was much older, and actually, Cheren.
- Snivy, Leaf Tornado! - Cheren signaled his pokemon to attack waving his arm, he seemed a lot more excited than his usual demeanor would suggest, his partner acted accordingly, sending a huge wave of leafs wiping with it's tail towards the Blitzle of the kid and ending the battle.
After recovering his pokemon, and a shake of hands the kid walked away.
- That was amazing! Bianca said coming into the field.
- Hey, it's been a while.
- Not really - Cheren responded - but hey, you've been doing ok?
- Kind of... - White rubbed the back of her head and tried to smile. not succeeding though.
- You looking down, all good?
- I mean yeah, sure.
- Mmm, ok.
- You on the other hand, looks like you are really enjoying battles.
- Yeah, they're fun, wether I win or loose, it always feels like I walk out knowing something new.
- That's cool... Hey... have you tried the gym out yet? - White stuttered a bit, even though she didn't really wanted to talk about it, she wanted to know.
- Of course not, I'm not dumb enough to think I can beat a gym leader in day, I respect this region's line up - Every word was a hit straight to her - Also I heard out there is this newbie crusher among the Striaton Gym leaders - Bianca looked discreetly at white, who seemed more down every second - So I'm planning to prepare the best I can for a few days at least, that's why I'm here.
- Ah... Great.
- Ugh... - He said with a hand on his frown - You fought the gym, right?
- Shut up.
- And that newbie crusher I've been hearing about rocked your shit.
- You don't have to say it like that!
- Well, I'll say it like this, Are you dumb?
- ... Maybe. Just a tiny bit.
- Goddammit. So your feeling down now, coz you lost.
- I mean it's not exactly because I lost.
- Than what is it?
- ... I really messed up in that battle, there was so much more I could've done better... My pokemon did fine... I'm just... Not that good of a trainer - She sad, looking at the floor.
- Are you actually dumb?
- Huh?!
- what were you expecting? - Cheren said directly.
- Eh?
- You've been out for A DAY, you are completely new to this, you are gonna mess up. You were overconfident and learned a lesson, that's literally the first step to getting better at anything, being a trainer isn't as simple as you thought huh?- White just took it, standing there and getting his words in.
- Don't you think you're being too harsh on her?! - Bianca jumped out to defend her friend.
- No, Bianca, he's right.
- Course I am.
- Oh Shut up... But... Thank you, I think I needed to hear that. I'm feeling a little better now. Hey since we're here, care for a battle?
Cheren smiled a bit, just a smirk at seeing her go back to her energetic mood - Thought you would never say it.
White fell back on her bed back in the pokemon center - I'm dead, I'm so tired - She said, her eyes closed, yet, her smile bright in her face.
- Are you really ok? You lost all the five matches you had today - Bianca sat in her own bed across the room, offering some food to her tepig who jumped on the bed with her.
- I'm feeling a lot better than this morning. Now I feel like I got something out of it. I feel like I learned and saw something new in each of them - White talked as she cuddled herself in bed, immediately falling asleep.
Bianca just laughed, at last she happy again.
Bianca, sat up on her bed, it was still early, around 7 am, her eyes still shut tight, she let a big yawn out, as she reached for her glasses on the bedside table, once she could see once again, she looked around the room, the pale curtains letting a mild pink light in. The first thing she realized was the open bed on the other side, White was already out and had left her behind... Her eyes blinked a couple times, she took her glasses off, left them were she had left them last night, and went back to sleep.
White on the other hand was outside, running through the streets of striation city, her pokemon following just behind, the storefronts were still closed, and she wasn't sure where to go, but that didn't matter at the second, she just wanted to get stronger as soon as possible, and she was trying to take the first step, and training was first on her list.
- Munna? - White asked herself, her phone between her shoulder and her face as she and her pokemon took a break to eat.
- Yes, it seems a friend of Professor Juniper is looking for one here in Striaton, so she asked of we could deliver one. You know since it's kind of our mission to find as many pokemon as we can - Bianca was telling about the request.
- I mean, sure, but where?
- It seems they can be found just outside of Striation City.
- That close!? Why hasn't she gone for one herself then?
- It seems she isn't really good at pokemon stuff, like catching and fighting. Wait, I'll send you the place, let's meet up.
- Ok!
- The professor told me that we should be able to get one fairly easily, it seems a handful of them were taken to a research lab that used to be there, but since it was closed down, the Munna and Musharna have made it their home.
Once White and her team had finished their meal, they jumped back up, a quick visit to the pokemon center and straight to the address Bianca had sent her.
She ended west of Striation, the trees thickening and swallowing up the last streets in, as if leading to a place just outside the city, yet at the same time, not quite in, something apart from the bustling streets... Something much more calmer inside the forest, She walked in, unable to keep her curiosity in check, even if it meant leaving Bianca behind... a Rubbled walls full of vines and overgrown appeared soon enough, the floor tiles still distinguishable from the moss and dirt above it, stairs leading to a second floor that was not there anymore and arches of concrete made paths to nowhere, it definitely used to be a building, there was no doubt about it, but it didn't seemed like it was a house, nor a mansion, the still there architecture signaled to something much colder, like a hospital or a lab... No doubt, this was, the Dreamyard.
