~ Chapter 67 ~
The Watery Path of 218
"The inability to compete in the Grand Festival was weighing heavy on Lyss's mind as we travelled back to Jubilife City. I tried speaking with her about it, but it was nothing compared to the advice Niya could give. Niya had actually had competed in and won the Sinnoh Grand Festival a few years back. She also had the Wallace Cup under her belt—that was the epitomy of Pokémon Coordinating apparently, I still don't pretend to understand it. Niya was able to explain to Alyssandra that she had made the correct, and even mature, decision. If she didn't have the confidence, it was better to redouble her training efforts, get some more experience with contests rather than let the Grand Festival get to her head for the rest of her life."
The boat hummed gently, then slowly rattled to a stop.
It was a decently sized boat, with a small cabin beneath the deck where the four teens could sleep in the evenings. By boat it was only a two-day trip to Canalave City, however, that now turned into three as the group took their time to catch some Pokémon, fill in their Pokédex, do some fishing, and take in the sights of Cape Canalave.
A small U-shaped curve of land made of sheer cliff face, and tiny white sand beaches, along the edge of the coast, which faced a small cape that bled out into the ocean.
The water sparkled sapphire under the sky, and there were Wingull and Pelleper squawking in the air above.
Alyssandra and Sam had taken the time to fish, while Niya tossed the anchor into the water below, and ensured it was properly secured.
Jeremy sunbathed on the bow of the boat along with Pikachu.
Everyone was wearing his or her bathing suits, bikinis and swim shorts, as the basked on the boat.
Niya soon lay down her towel, lathered her pale skin in sunscreen, placed her glasses on her face, and went to sleep beneath the bright, midday sun.
"You used to fish all the time with your grandfather, didn't you?" asked Alyssandra as she sat there, blowing her hair out of her face. Her hair had been done up in a high bun, but her bangs hung down the side of her face.
"All the time!" roared Aurelio, leaning against the railing of the boat, "He was pretty good too—taught him everything he knows!"
Sam rolled his eyes. "He and I used to go out, early in the morning to Lake Verity and we'd fish often, yeah," replied Sam, "I used to catch more than him."
"Twice!" Aurelio protested.
"Yeah, a week," muttered Sam under his breath, smiling to himself.
Alyssandra didn't' seem to notice, but if she did Sam didn't care as much. She knew his secret, and that his grandfather's ghost hung around him, she just couldn't hear him.
"Not a lot happens, huh?" asked Alyssandra.
"Not always, no," admitted Sam, "More often than not you don't catch anything. But sometimes you get lucky. What are you trying to catch?"
"Anything, Pokémon though for sure," replied Alyssandra checking her Pokétch for the time, "Just some things to fill out my Pokédex, and give me an extra Pokémon I could potentially sub-in during Contests. A Finneon would be nice, because Lumineon are beautiful, and would well during a Contest Appeal."
"How are you feeling about that, by the way?" asked Sam, trying to see where Alyssandra was at with coming to terms with her recent development in Celestic. Due to the Team Galactic takeover, the Pokémon Contest in the town was cancelled. Nilama and a few other elders were supposed to be the judges, along with the local Nurse Joy—Mama Lama even offered Alyssandra the ribbon she had for helping Celestic Town, but Alyssandra refused to take it on the grounds of her own honour and decency.
Sam was proud of her.
Niya was fifty-fifty. She was proud of Alyssandra's integrity, but her competitive coach side thought Alyssandra should've accepted and been cunning.
Jeremy was also proud, and Pikachu spent the day following Alyssandra around as a sign of solidarity.
But because of the cancellation of the Celestic Contest, the last Contest of the year before the Grand Festival in a month meant Alyssandra was a ribbon short to qualify for the Grand Festival.
Despite her protests and her reasonings, Alyssandra had been crushed by the news. But eveyone's support and advice had helped her. Or so they hoped, Sam was making sure it had now.
"Better than I was," she shrugged, "I was…it hurt knowing I couldn't even try. Niya's advice really helped. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of the Grand Festival judges at my first Grand Festival. The competition is vicious. I'm glad I'm waiting…but part of me; part of me feels I could've won it. Part of me aches that I can't compete…less and less every day though. I'm also a little bummed out that I won't be able to compete in another Contest for another few months. It'll be a month until the Grand Festival, and then another month or so before they start the circuit up again. At least I have time to practice…I'm still serious about seeing other regions. Maybe I'll go off to Kanto or Hoenn and do some contests."
"If that's what you want to do, we'll support you," smiled Sam, "We'll go together, travel the world!"
Alyssandra smiled. "You mean that? The man who didn't want to leave home because of your grandmother?"
"I've gotten the taste for travel," shrugged Sam.
"You just can't stand to be without her, more like," chuckled Aurelio.
Sam's face went red and he quickly looked back at his reel and rod.
He thought he saw the tip bob a bit…but it was just the waves, and leaned back in his chair.
The two teens sat there in silence for what must have been at least an hour. The shadows stretched a bit, and Sam could feel the sun hitting a different side of his body, at a new angle by the time Alyssandra finally spoke.
"Thank you," she said, smiling, blushing slightly, "Your support, your advice. Talking with me. I appreciate it."
Sam shrugged and started vomiting out syllables and sounds unintelligible to any human. He couldn't get the words out.
Alyssandra smiled, brushing some hair behind her ear.
Aurelio rolled his eyes and made a scoffing sound.
Then, the sound of the bell at the end of Alyssandra's fishing rod rang out, loud and clear.
"Lyss, your line!" cried Sam, taking her attention off his gibberish.
Alyssandra reached forward and grabbed the rod. Sam jumped off his chair and stood behind Alyssandra, coaching her.
"Which way is the fish pulling?" he asked.
"To the left," he asked.
"Give the rod a good jerk to the right to set the hook," he explained, "It'll prevent the Pokémon or fish from getting off without a fight or breaking the line."
Alyssandra did as she was told and jerked the rod.
Whatever was on the other end started fighting harder.
Sam helped Alyssandra reel in the fish, and tug hard on the rod. She did really well for her first time, and all Sam could do was offer small changes to technique and speed to improve success.
Within minutes, Alyssandra had reeled in a Finneon. She cut the line, removed the hook, and tossed a Poké Ball at it.
It wasn't an ideal way to catch a fish Pokémon—most people preferred diving and battling underwater. But once Alyssandra had caught the Finneon, she brought it out and healed it up, making sure the wound from the hook wouldn't get infected and would heal over nicely. Some Full Restore helped, and all that was left was time.
Finneon felt better for it, and was greatful for the healing, though it was still shy.
Alyssandra returned it to its Poké Ball to let it rest, and then turned back to Sam to smile.
"This fishing stuff is actually kind of fun," she exclaimed, "Thanks for teaching me."
Sam returned to his garbled mess of words.
Aurelio merely put his face in his heads in protest.
The two sat down again by their rods, and waited patiently for the next fish, or Pokémon, to bite.
It was another small drought of silence before Alyssandra spoke up. "Have you ever thought about it?"
Sam screwed up his face in confusion.
Alyssandra clarified. "If you end up in my position," explained Alyssandra, "If you lose to Valentina or the Elite Four? What would you do?"
Sam paused for a moment. He'd never considered it. His overconfidence had pushed that thought from his mind. Sure he'd lost to a Gym Leader once before, to Maylene in Veilstone, but since then his streak had gone back to perfect.
"I…I supposed I'd try again," replied Sam finally, "I'd take on the whole Elite Four a second time, and climb my way back to Valentina."
"Even if it took years?" Alyssandra wondered.
Sam nodded. "Even if it took the rest of my life. I'd go train, I'd get stronger, I'd hermit if I had to. But I will take down the Pokémon League, and conquer it. That's why I left home, and it's why I've been pushing my Pokémon as hard as I have recently. I'm beating that Pokémon League—I don't care if it's the only League I ever battle in my life. One is enough, if it needs to be."
Alyssandra was impressed with Sam's commitment. But her questions didn't end there. "And what if you win?"
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, confused again.
"Would you take the job and become Sinnoh Champion?" asked Alyssandra.
"I…I don't have an answer for that," replied Sam, "But if I had to have one…I guess it depends. It depends on how old I was, and how long it had taken me to defeat the League. If it takes me ten years; by then I might be ready to settle down and become the Champion in role, and title. But if I get it in one go; I probably won't. There's still so much more that I wan't to see of this world…I got a taste for travel, and I'm hooked."
The remainder of the day went peacefully.
By the time the sun was going down, Alyssandra had caught a Mantyke to add to her collection of Pokémon.
The two gave up fishing shortly before sundown, and now sat on the back of the boat, feet dipped into the water as they watched the sun go down.
Alyssandra rested her head on Sam's shoulder, and the ghost of Aurelio faded away to give the two privacy to talk.
Jeremy and Niya were still asleep, Jeremy developing a Pikachu shaped tan-mark on his stomach.
Sam and Alyssandra simply sat and watched the sun sink low into the sky, until Jeremy and Niya finally woke up, several shades darker than they had been before—except Niya, who remained as pale as vanilla ice cream.
Niya complained about her light complexion; all day in the sun and barely a shade darker.
Meanwhile, Jeremy complained about his Pikachu shaped tan-lines now blaring across his chest as everyone laughed at his expense.
The group decided they would keep the boat moored here for the evening, and sleep the night at this spot, before continuing off to Canalave the next morning.
