~ Chapter 54 ~
The First Train to Hearthome
"The first train to Hearthome was early in the morning. We booked seats for it and everything. Then…we forgot to set our alarms for the morning and slept in. We missed it. We spent the rest of the day scrambling around trying to get seats on the next train. We almost had to wait another day for availability, until someone cancelled their seats on the Midnight Train to Hearthome last minute. We booked our tickets sometime around five in the afternoon, and then went off for some food. We were done dinner by about seven and had nothing better to do but sit around outside the Train Station. Until Lyss decided she wanted to battle…"
The ground napped underneath a tree, just outside of the Train Station. It was seven at night; within the clock tower of the Veilstone Train Station, a bell rang out the time.
Crickets chirped somewhere in the grass and sung their songs on this hot summer evening. It was peaceful. More peaceful than the group had deserved after such a long and hectic day.
They were tired, they were full of warm food, and they were all about to suffer a bout of sleep coma if they weren't careful.
They couldn't risk missing their train again.
Niya kept an eye on time with one eye open, peaking every few minutes to ensure she kept herself awake.
Sam was about to fall asleep himself when suddenly Alyssandra shot up, shoving him awake.
"Hey, you, up now!" she cried, shaking Sam mercilessly.
Sam jolted upright. "What the hell woman? What is it? The park better be on fire."
Alyssandra smiled at him. "No, actually. But I'm bored, I'm falling asleep, and I want to battle."
Sam sighed, running his hands over his eyes. "Do I have to?"
Alyssandra grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him towards the nearby open field. She wasn't taking no for an answer. "We have some time until our train arrives and I'm tired of sitting around almost falling asleep."
"So, what, now I have to be your puppet and entertain you with a Pokémon battle?" yawned Sam as he stretched himself out.
"Yes," smiled Alyssandra drawing a Poké Ball, "In a manner of speaking."
Sam sighed. "Fine, as you wish. But I'm not going easy on you."
Sam drew a Poké Ball and stretched one last time, popping his neck as he did. "Very well. In that case, if you win…I'll give you something special. Go Cranidos!"
"Go, Roselia!" cried Alyssandra.
She knew even though her Pokémon held the type advantage Sam was clever. She also knew Sam had equipped his Cranidos to deal with Grass Type Pokémon by teaching it secret moves meant to confuse opponents.
She had to be careful of the Flamethrower and—
"Cranidos, Ice Beam while Lyss is distracted!" cried Sam.
Alyssandra cut back into reality and quickly commanded her Roselia to dodge—just barely.
A patch of ice hit the ground where Roselia stood, rendering it slippery and dangerous.
Sam didn't let up, calling on another Ice Beam.
Roselia dodged again, this beam missing and hitting the tree behind her. Several leaves fell and a Murkrow flew from the branches cawing loudly.
Jeremy and Niya shot up to watch the fight, woken from their brief slumbers by the noise.
"What the hell is going on?" cried Jeremy.
Niya yawned. "I'unno," she muttered, "Coast Guard?"
Jeremy looked at Niya in confusion before continuing. "Are they seriously battling?"
Niya shrugged again, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Alyssandra gritted her teeth and decided to start going on the offensive. "Roselia, use Magical Leaf!"
Roselia lowered her flowery hands and shot glowing black leaves at Cranidos.
Sam merely swatted them aside with a carefully timed Flamethrower—burning the leaves to a crisp before they even got close.
Alyssandra called for another Magical Leaf. "Roselia! Magical Leaf, and don't stop until you get through!"
"You should know better than that. Brute force doesn't work against a Cranidos," smiled Sam, "Cranidos, let's show off a bit! Hit those leaves with an Ice Beam!"
Cranidos, with practice, had perfected his Ice Beam to go from long, drawn out attacks to short bursts of ice energy.
Cranidos shot as many of the leaves as he could and let them fall into the grass as icy chunks. What she couldn't hit, Cranidos dodged magnificently.
Niya smiled, more awake now than she was before. "Sam wouldn't make a half bad Coordinator," she smirked, "The way he's turning his opponent's attacks against them. Lyss just keeps going at it and Sam keeps shutting her down like it's an art form."
"Lyss is tired," shrugged Jeremy, "She's usually better than this."
Niya nodded in agreement.
Sam focused on Roselia and tried to go in for the kill. Roselia was looking tired out from the Magical Leaf, and now was the time to strike. "Cranidos, while she's tired, go in for a Zen Headbutt!"
"That's new!" cried Jeremy.
Niya smirked. "Spent hours helping him work on that the other day. Glad he's finally using it."
Alyssandra closed her eyes. Breathed in, and out, and then opened her eyes, hoping to counter attack. "Roselia, Mega Drain on Cranidos! Suck its health dry!"
Roselia fired a beam of green energy at Cranidos, hoping to hit the Pokémon.
Sam gritted his teeth and made the tough choice to get Cranidos to tough through.
"Tough it out Cranidos! Charge, double speed!" cried Sam.
It was a dangerous gamble, and he knew that Niya would yell at him for it later…especially if this didn't work out. He needed this to pay off for a lot of reasons.
Cranidos cried out and charged towards Roselia without stopping. Cranidos maintained the Zen Headbutt. At first, it kept going, top speed, but eventually it slowed down.
The more Cranidos charged, the slower it got.
Roselia regained its strength in the meantime, feeding off the energy it sapped off of Cranidos.
Just as Cranidos looked ready to collapse, Roselia ceased its attack.
Alyssandra smiled. "It's over," she smiled, as Cranidos fell over, just inches from Roselia.
Roselia waddled over to check on Cranidos.
Meanwhile, Sam gritted his teeth. He sighed, smiled, and cried out to his Pokémon. "Cranidos, Flamethrower! Follow that up with an Ice Beam and finish up Roselia with a Zen Headbutt for good measure!"
Roselia cried out in surprise as Cranidos's eyes shot open. A blast of flame erupted from her steely jaw, engulfing Roserade and knocked her back.
The Ice Beam caught Roselia while she was down for the count and froze her solid.
Cranidos stood up, cried out, and charged towards the frozen Roselia.
All Alyssandra could do was watch as Cranidos bulldozed Roselia. The ice encasing the Pokémon shattered, and Roselia was sent flying across the grass field.
The small Pokémon rolled, bounced, and finally skidded to a halt as Alyssandra ran towards Roselia, cradling her in her arms.
Roselia was conscious, but weak, and exhausted.
Alyssandra returned to Sam's side, Roselia in her arms. She sighed. "I thought I had this," she said.
"You almost did," answered Sam, "I learned something from Luxray Girl. Make your opponent overestimate their strength and underestimate theirs. Then you when their guard is down, and they're exhausted, crush them. If you hadn't fallen for the ruse, where I made Cranidos look weaker than it was, and had kept up the Mega Drain, you would've won. But I knew you weren't that cruel."
Alyssandra shot Sam a sideways glance. She was both concerned and in awe at how much Sam had learned so fast.
Sam reached into his bag, still smiling, and pulled out a small, crème coloured gemstone.
Alyssandra took it from Sam with confusion.
"I promised you a reward," smiled Sam.
"Yeah, if I won!" protested Alyssandra.
"Yeah well, technicalities," smirked Sam.
Alyssandra smiled and took the stone from Sam. "What is it?"
Sam smiled. "A Shiny Stone. I bought it a few days back. You can use it to evolve certain Pokémon. Ironically, Roselia can be turned into Roserade using a Shiny Stone."
"Why?" asked Alyssandra.
"I'm afraid I don't understand the question."
Alyssandra frowned at Sam. "Why'd you buy it?"
Sam shrugged. "Caught my eye."
Alyssandra shot Sam a stern look.
"Fine, fine," he laughed, "You kept talking about how much you wanted to evolve Roselia, and how you wanted to get her stronger. I know that's why you used Roselia today in the fight. But I also know you couldn't afford the Shiny Stone so…I don't know, I got it as an early birthday present."
Alyssandra smiled, reaching up on the tips of her toes, and kissing Sam on the cheek. "You, sir, are a scholar and a gentleman. And one of the best people I know."
Sam blushed and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.
Alyssandra didn't hesitate, and immediately pressed the Shiny Stone into her Roselia's hands.
Within seconds the Pokémon had evolved into a Roserade. The Pokémon had some of its energy back but was still incredibly tired.
Alyssandra thanked her Pokémon as she returned it to its Poké Ball to rest.
"So, what time—" Sam was cut off as Cranidos cried out behind him.
Sam turned around—he had already checked on the Pokémon before seeing Alyssandra—and saw that Cranidos began to glow with the light of evolution.
Several seconds later the light dissipated, and a mighty Rampardos stood there Cranidos once did.
"Damn," whistled Jeremy in amazement, "Double evolution. And that battle, jeez."
"They're both good," nodded Niya, "Sam's got a bit more refinement in his battle style, but that's no surprise considering he battles more often. Still, they've got talent."
Jeremy nodded.
"Hey, you two!" cried Sam, putting Rampardos's Poké Ball back on his belt, the Pokémon safe inside, "Quit lurking and come over here!"
"Why?" called Niya, standing up and stretching out the creaks in her joints.
"That battle made me hungry, I think it's time we had a snack," called Sam.
"We literally just had dinner an hour ago!" cried Jeremy, not able to comprehend where Sam put all the food he ate.
Sam shrugged. "So?"
"Seriously, where does he put it all!" lamented Jeremy as he carefully placed a napping Pikachu in Alyssandra's shoulder bag, bringing both the Pokémon and the bag over to her.
