Chapter 6: Playing by the Rules

He woke to the sound of cars rushing above on the highway. Trying to focus his vision, Cody looked around, trying to remember where he was and what had happened the night before. He remembered he was running because of something Frank had. Was it the helmet? Yes, that had to be it. It all seemed like a bad dream.

Dream. Just the thought of that made him shiver. It brought back the images of what he dreamt about the night before. Something felt so wrong and unnatural with that dream. He had had nightmares before, but nothing that bad. Nothing he had dreamt in the past seemed that real.

A small sigh came from the girl who was still sleeping soundly on the ground. Suddenly, Cody remembered that he had brought Heather with him. The situation seemed like something out of the cinema. Getting lost in the woods with a girl after running away from something evil seemed like the kind of thing a movie would be made of. It was kind of cliché even.

A small pond was sitting a hundred yards or so away from where they camped and their pokémon were already playing by the water. They had released them the night before to stand watch.

"You awake?" Heather asked with a cute yawn as she stretched to wake up.

"Yeah," Cody said as he sat down next to her and opened up his pack. He felt too weak to go scavenging, so he pulled out two power bars. He offered one to Heather, but she refused, as she had her own food. "You sleep well?"

"Considering that we ran for an hour in the middle of the night before sleeping in the dirt, I guess I slept alright," Heather replied with a small amount of spite in her voice.

"You could have used your sleeping bag," Cody said, but she shook her head.

"I was practically dead when we got down here. But now I have a kink in my neck. At least I filled up my canteen last night so we don't have to make a fire yet." After stating all of this, a smile reappeared on her face. "I'm sorry Cody, I'm not really a morning person. And I do think we made the right decision to-"

"Don't worry about it. I'd be pissed too." After finishing up the power bar, he pulled out his canteen and took a sip. "So yeah, we should take off soon. The longer we stick around, the more uncomfortable I feel about…"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," she agreed. It only took the two of them a minute or so to pack up before gathering their pokémon and heading north into the forest.

Travelling with another person made all the walking less boring. Even after walking for five hours, Cody still had a lot of energy from talking with Heather. It was bizarre to him how comfortable he was talking with her. Typically, he would be slightly more reserved and awkward talking with a girl he didn't know as well, but she seemed far more approachable.

As they talked, Mars kept himself busy by playfully chasing Nadine farther down the path. Bastion (who was still adjusting to being called by his new name) was walking at Cody's side, looking up at the two trainers as if he could understand what they were talking about. Feathers was flying, circling above the two of them. Somnos was also outside of his pokeball, but he couldn't stay out too long without water, being a tadpole and all. The group eventually made it to a large field with no definite path. Clusters of trees and small mountains were off in the distance, but even with the map, it was tricky to tell where they were.

"That's a pretty funny story, but I can top it," Heather giggled. Cody had just got done telling about the first double battle he had when Mars was still fresh and he thought he was supposed to attack Bastion and not the enemy pokémon.

"Try me," he challenged.

"Okay, so it's my first day out, right? I'm walking out in the woods near Mt. Fiyero, which used to be an active volcano. Anyway, I see these red berries and I go to pick one, but suddenly a bunch of Torkoal come out to chase me away from their territory. But they were so slow. I mean, practically ten feet per minute. It was hilarious. I actually started walking backward slowly just to tease them."

"Wow, you're a dick," Cody laughed.

"Yeah, but that was the only time I didn't have any difficulty running from a pokémon."

"Yeah, especially Tailow. Those things are obnoxious," he reminisced. "After outrunning those, you can outrun anything." He looked across the field to see a Rapidash grazing. Part of him wanted to catch it, but he knew Bastion and Mars weren't experienced enough to fight it. "Speaking of running away, do you think the other trainers at the campsite were able to get away before Frank could do anything?"

"I don't know," Heather replied coldly. The laughter was suddenly gone. "But we don't even know if he could do anything. Many of those trainers had at least two pokémon, and he only had two himself. He would have been outnumbered."

"Maybe," Cody replied. "But I remember what he told me about poor trainers getting involved in crime. A lot of those trainers looked poor. That was probably what he was recruiting for; trying to bring in poorer trainers."

"But why here?" Heather questioned. "Let's say hypothetically that he is with the Cipher: what could they possibly do in Skitrex? I mean, wasn't there a law a few years back prohibiting the use of shadow pokémon in this region?

"Yes, but they may not be doing shadow pokémon stuff," Cody answered. "He did tell me that his organization does charity work. It sounds like a good cover story, I guess. Maybe they do charity work to cover up their real intentions? Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding and they're actually good? But… I don't get it. This is confusing."

"Me too. I'm just glad we're out," Heather said, that time with a smile. The two walked without speaking for a few minutes before she started up again. "So, why did you choose me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you choose to wake me up and get me away from Frank? There were other trainers you could have just as easily helped, or you could have been safer traveling by yourself. Why did you choose to help me?"

Cody felt his face reddening, but he worked to keep his expression cool. "I don't think I would have been safer traveling alone. But why I chose you... Because I knew you," he answered, though the answer sounded a bit absurd. Heather laughed at that response.

"Cody, I only met you once for an hour back in Kindle a week before that night."

"Yeah I know, but that's more reason to wake you over anybody else."

"Okay, but we're still just acquaintances," she reminded him. "It's not like we had been hanging out for weeks or anything."

"Well then," Cody began with a grin. "Would you have rather me not woken you at all and left you to deal with Frank?"

"No, I…"

"Well, I think you would have looked great in one of those helmets," he continued, grinning to himself.

"Very funny." She paused. "I just wanted to know your motivation. That's all." Another silence came about before Cody finally said anything.

"I was going to leave by myself," Cody replied with an odd quietness in his voice. "But I felt like it would be wrong to leave you there. It just didn't sit right with me. That's all I can say."

An awkward silence followed. After a few seconds, the two looked at each other at the same time. Heather was smiling mischievously. "Well thank you then," she said in almost a whisper.

Something about the moment was very unsettling for Cody. Being alone in the middle of nowhere with that girl was growing on him.

I really need a distraction, he thought to himself, and he saw it the moment he turned his head. Up in a clearing was a small, greenish pokémon chewing on what looked to be a slab of stone. It had a horn on its head, a spiky tail, and odd black markings under its eyes and its lower torso near its red belly.

"Is… that a Larvitar?" Heather asked, but Cody was already ahead of her. He remembered that Larvitar were rock-type pokémon, and right there was a perfect opportunity to catch one for the flying-type gym. On top of that, they were a pretty rare species. He couldn't pass that up.

"Yup. Dibs!" And he knelt down to Mars and whispered, "You're up."

The Diglett already knew what to do. With a confident squeak, he burrow-charged up to the Larvitar. But before he even got close, the Larvitar looked up at his attacker and let out a yelp before running away from the charge.

"Seriously Cody? Dibs? What are we, five?" Heather joked, giggling again, but Cody looked on at his target. It was still running from Mars, but it wouldn't last long. Mars was much faster and it wouldn't be long before he caught up.

"Yeah, I called it because I still need a third pokémon more than you do for the next gym," he replied.

Mars had finally knocked the Larvitar with a strong Dig, causing it to trip. He tried to follow the move up with a Scratch, but on contact, the mole squeaked in pain as his claws made a shrill noise against the target's rocky hide. The little reptile could have taken this moment to strike Mars, but it continued to run instead. The Diglett managed to overcome its pain and began to spin like a top in the earth, causing the immediate ground to shake. This light tremor began to force the Larvitar to tumble back in Mars's direction. He was becoming more efficient with using the Arena Trap strategy that Cody had gone over with him.

"I wish it would fight back though," Cody said to himself, focused on Mars as he returned to the chase. "The little guy is kind of cowar-" He stopped suddenly as he felt his phone vibrate. "Wow, I'm actually getting reception?" he asked himself. He pulled out his phone and tossed it to Heather without looking. "Tell me who's calling."

"It says 'Mom,' " Heather shouted to him over the sounds of the Larvitar's yelps. "Do you want me to answer it?"

"No, no, just let it ring. I'll call her back when I'm done." But it didn't look like the fight would last much longer. The rocky reptile was staggering now, wheezing as it tried to dodge the frenzied mole.

"Mars, you're working too slow! Magnitude!"

With a raged squeak, the mole stirred up a violent tremor. The shaking made the Larvitar fall on its face. It tried to regain its footing, but Mars was too quick. With a well-placed Dig, he sent the reptile flying before it landed with a thud. Cody pulled out an empty pokeball and chucked it at the sprawling monster. After a flash of light, the pokeball wiggled a few times before it sat still.

"That was way too easy," Cody said with a smile as he walked over, picked up the pokeball, and then gave a piece of kibble to Mars, who looked as though he wanted more from the fight.

"Yeah, you lucked out by getting a skittish pokémon like that," Heather stated. She handed Cody's phone back to him. "Hopefully he grows out of it when he gets older."

Yeah, imagine that. Images began to run through Cody's mind of a Tyranitar being too scared to fight. But then his mind then focused on the idea of having a Tyranitar. That was something worth thinking about for sure. But the possibility of that happening was years away, considering how slow the Larvitar line grew. But he was drawn out of his imagination when he saw something trot past him. It looked like the Rapidash they had seen earlier, only smaller.

"Hey, look at the Ponyt-"

"Dibs!" Heather shouted in almost a squeal as she and Nadine took off in the direction the little horse ran, Feathers following in the air. After a few seconds, he could barely see them in the grass.

"And I'm five?" Cody asked Mars as if he expected his second pokémon to answer. He looked back over to where he left Bastion. The Squirtle was busy digging through Cody's pack, most likely looking for food. Somnos was close by, waddling around as he frantically searched for his trainer.

"Heather! You forgot something!" Cody yelled out over the grass. No response. He then felt something bumping at his shins. Somnos was nudging him, making a funny sounding whine. "You okay little guy?" Remembering that Poliwag couldn't stay out of the water too long, he picked the tadpole up and poured some of his canteen water on him, which was followed by a sigh of relief from the little poliwog. He then realized that it probably would have been smarter to have Bastion spray Somnos rather than wasting his drinking water, but it was too late.

He looked back down at Bastion, who had broken into the kibble bag. Giving the Squirtle a gentle nudge with his foot to get him out of his stuff, Cody used his free hand to open up his cell phone and re-dial his mother. It only rung once before she answered.

"Cody! Oh thank God, I thought you were in some sort of trouble! Why wouldn't you answer your phone?" His mother sounded as though she had seen a ghost.

"Good to hear from you too, mom," Cody chuckled as he set Somnos down in the shade of a nearby tree.

"This isn't funny Cody! I know that you get bad reception out there, but I would like you to answer your phone when I do manage to reach you. I mean, we've only talked once since you left. Why wouldn't you pick up your phone?"

"I'm sorry mom," Cody sighed. "But I was catching a pokémon. It's not like I could ask it to sit there and wait while I answered the phone."

"Okay. But I'm just worried about you," she responded, her voice softer now. "I feel like I'm the only one worrying about you being out there. Your father only obsesses over what pokémon you're going to catch next."

"Well, tell him I caught a Larvitar," Cody replied. "He'll be excited about that."

"Well, that's nice that you caught a Larvi-… Larvi-… what is it?"

"Larvitar. Google it. They look really cool."

"Sure Cody," she said with a tired sigh. "Look, I know I'm overbearing, but I'm not comfortable with you being alone out there. I remember some of the horror stories that Derrick told-"

"I'm not alone anymore," Cody interrupted before she could finish. "I'm traveling with this girl I met near in Kindle City."

"Wait, what?" She definitely did not sound comforted by that.

"Yeah, this girl I met, Heather. We met in Kindle and we met up again in the woods. We've been traveling together since this morning." He stopped talking to wait for some response, but it didn't come for a few seconds.

"Cody, you're going to be mad at me for telling you this, but I… I didn't think about telling you this before… no girls." That was an order.

"Mom, are you serious?" Cody lashed out suddenly. "It's not like we're dating or-"

"Cody, I don't care," she said firmly, cutting him off. "No girls. Look, I can accept you being a trainer, but can you not get involved with women? You have enough to worry about!"

"Who said anything about 'getting involved'? We're just friends! And besides, wouldn't it be safer to travel with somebody than alone?"

"Cody, I do not want you to be getting into any emotional relationships while you're out on your own! I know how you are. You let that sort of thing mess with your thinking. Remember you and Angie?"

Cody groaned at the mention of his friend's name. "Mom, I never told you anything about that. Now you're just making assum-"

"I know enough!" She retorted. "Do you realize how much I'm afraid you're not going to come back? That something could happen? Can you please just listen to me for this one little request!"

There was another silence. As annoyed as he got with his mother, he didn't want to put her through any more problems. He wasn't about to just leave Heather or anything, but he would lie to set her mind at ease for the time being. However, he was a shitty liar, so he could only hope that she wouldn't pick up on his tone over the phone.

"Okay mom… No girls, I get it, alright?" Cody said solemnly, crossing his fingers. "But I'm not going to bar traveling with them. That's fair, right?"

"You just don't…" She gave up. "Okay. Fine. I love you, Cody." She suddenly up. Her last words seemed very forced.

"Jesus..." he groaned, forming a fist with his left hand. That was why he rarely called his mother. He couldn't stand those conversations with her.

"Well, that was a big waste of breath!" Heather gasped as she reemerged from the grass, out of breath. Feathers was resting on her shoulder, and Nadine looked pooped from all of the running.

"I assume you didn't catch it then?" Cody asked.

Heather shook her head. "Nope, it was too fast. We chased it for a minute before I realized that none of us were fast enough. I don't know how you can catch something that swift."

"You'd probably have to ambush one while it's eating or sleeping. Or you would need a much faster pokémon to chase it down. " Cody replied, thoughtful of the scenario. He looked down to see Somnos nudging his trainer's leg, happy that she had returned.

"So, did you call your mom back?" Heather asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, she just wanted to know how I was doing. We didn't talk long though. I love her, but I don't really get along with her all that well. She started arguing with me about how I should… be careful and shit." He stopped himself before he told her what they really talked about. It seemed like an incredibly awkward thing to discuss.

"Oh… that sucks, but you know parents," Heather replied softly. "I get along with my parents pretty well, but I don't think I will anymore after taking off like I did." With that, she took out her phone and looked at it with a frown. "I don't know how you're getting any bars out here."

"I guess I'm just really unlucky," Cody answered with a grin. "Hey, I'm going to let the Larvitar out, so stand back just in case it actually decides to fight. He pulled the ball off of his belt and opened it into a spot with short grass. The lizard flashed onto the ground, its hands over its head as it crouched in fear. Pulling a piece of kibble from his pocket, Cody knelt down with his the treat in his hand. "Hey little dude, you want some food?" he asked sweetly. The Larvitar opened its eyes and looked at Cody. In a panic, it let out a loud scream and bolted in the opposite direction.

"Son of a- Hey Heather, make sure my pokémon don't go anywhere!" Cody yelled as he chased the little pokémon down the field. It took a sharp turn and headed the opposite direction back to the starting point. Bastion and Mars were ready to intercept it, but Cody waved them off. "I have to do this myself!"

"Cody, just call it back to the pokeball!" Heather called out as he passed her.

"No way," he returned. "I gotta do this on my own."

The Larvitar's pace dropped, and with his target in range, Cody lunged forward and landed on his pokémon, crying out in pain upon the crash. Being a rock-type, pokémon's skin was super hard. The Larvitar tried to wiggle free, but it couldn't under Cody's weight, so it ceased after a few seconds. Rearing in pain, Cody stood up with his new partner in his arms. It looked afraid, but it was too tired to flee, so it resigned to being held

"Are you okay? Why'd you scream like that?" Heather asked as she caught up with him.

"Have you ever tried tackling a boulder?" Cody asked as he winced from the shock. He felt bruises on his skin from where he had hit the Larvitar in the fall. "I just hope I can convince it to battle. It seems to be afraid of anything that moves."

"Aren't you going to make it fight anyway?" Heather questioned as she tried to pet the lizard, but he began to fidget as she got close.

"I don't like the idea of making it fight," Cody answered flatly. "That's just cruel. I'm just lucky that Bastion and Mars love to fight, but if this Larvitar doesn't…" he paused as he put the Larvitar on the ground. Bastion approached to greet the new team member, but it got nervous and hid behind Cody's leg. "Well… I might have a problem with the first gym."

The next five days flew by, though nothing spectacular happened. Just more failed attempts at catching pokémon and more battles in between. Cody was experiencing difficulties training his new Larvitar. The little guy was too afraid to battle properly and it had yet to win a fight. On top of that, he was afraid of just about everybody and everything else except for Cody and Bastion (who had been able to build trust with his fellow teammate.) But his trainer had faith that things would improve.

"Well, here we are," Heather said cheerily. "I can't wait to get to a shower. I hate washing my hair in creek water." Despite the happiness in her voice, she was obviously tired. Cody was too, but it wasn't as bad as the first week when he crossed to Kindle. The trips were already getting easier.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Cody replied as they spotted the pokémon center. Lahonburg wasn't big enough to be a full-scale city, but there were quite a few people there. including a lot of traveling trainers like themselves. Many of said trainers were probably headed northeast from there to Tempest Valley as well. Others were probably headed west to other cities with other gyms.

"Oh please Cody, guys with short hair have no problems compared to girls," she chided. "You can probably get away with using whatever hair products you want, but I have to use specific products to keep mine in order."

"Whoa, I'm just saying I like a nice warm shower too," Cody said, viewing Heathers hair. It still looked pretty good to him, even if it wasn't perfect. "Your hair looks fine by the way."

"What, are you kidding me? It's messy as hell! Boys just don't know anything about hair. Go figure."

"Whatever," he said as they entered the pokémon center. There were quite a few trainers, so it looked like they'd be staying at a hotel that night.

"STORM!"

Cody jumped at the sound of a familiar voice. He turned around to see who called him. It was Laurence, sitting on a nearby couch.

"Laurence? What the- I thought you'd be in Tempest by now!" By now the two of them were standing next to each other. Cody extended his hand and was quickly pulled into a few second hug.

"Well, yeah man, but the waiting list was so long, like two weeks. There were a million trainers there trying to get the badge and all the hotels were booked up, so I decided to come down here to train until it clears up. It's a six-day hike, so I'm leaving tonight." Laurence looked really tan as if he hadn't used any sunscreen on his journey. He also seemed slightly buffer too, but that may have been Cody's imagination.

"Tonight? Geeze man, you can't wait until tomorrow? I want to battle you! I just caught a Larvitar and I need to train-"

"Whoa, a Larvitar? For serious?" He looked genuinely shocked.

"Yeah. I'll show him to you when we hand my pokémon in."

"Okay, I got to pick my pokémon up anyway, so… by the way, who's your friend?" Cody was lost for a moment, but then he turned around to see that Heather had been standing behind them silently for the past minute.

"Oh, this is-"

"Heather. Heather Landon," she interrupted with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Cody's mentioned you a few times."

"Oh, he has? I wasn't aware I was so popular," Laurence answered with false modesty. "Well it's good to meet you, Heather," he said with a handshake. "So, you two are traveling together?"

"Well, we have been so far," Heather responded before Cody could open his mouth.

"That's adorable," Laurence replied. He was obviously trying to annoy Cody, but he wouldn't let it show. "So tell me, kids, how's it been?"

The three chatted for a few minutes while they waited in line for assistance. Most of the talking was coming from Laurence, who dominated the conversation with stories of his misadventures, all of which seemed much more interesting than what Cody or Heather were saying. Neither of them brought up Frank or the mugging or anything like that which could have topped some of Laurence's stories. Both of them decided to keep that on the down low, though they never discussed it.

"… and that's how we beat an entire flock of Spearow." Laurence said with pride about his pokémon and their success. "You should have seen Flex tossing those tree stumps. It was so prime."

"That does sound cool," Cody said as he tried to think of a better story that he could tell.

"Hey, can you guys hold my spot?" Heather asked with a pinch of dread in her words. "I just received all those angry phone messages from my parents. I'm probably going to have to call them back now."

"Sure thing. Good luck with that," Cody replied with a weak smile. But after she left, the conversation seemed to have died. It was strange, being that she barely said anything the whole time, but now there was silence between Cody and Laurence…

That was until Laurence cleared his throat, budged Cody, and asked, "So… Cody… are you hitting that?"

"What?"

"Are. You. Hitting. That." Laurence repeated, louder this time, causing other people in line to look at them. But the older boy didn't care at all.

"Shut up," Cody grunted, feeling nervous around the stares they were getting.

"Your belligerence is telling me 'no.' I demand answers. That girl is an eight. Maybe a nine on a good day. The bottom line is, you're traveling with an eight and you aren't doing anything with her?"

"Okay, first of all, we were traveling together by necessity," Cody retorted. "We felt like there was danger in this group we were with, so we ran away together and we haven't split up out of fear. Second, she's cool, so let's not play the ranking game, huh?"

"So you ran away together in the woods?" Laurence teased. "Aww, it's just like 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' except there aren't any fairies, and you don't have the head of an ass… Oh wait, never mind." He started laughing.

"Do you want your teeth knocked in?" Cody whispered angrily as he looked towards the outside door. Heather could reappear at any minute. "Look, don't you think I'm kind of young to be 'hitting it?' We're only fourteen. I mean, sure, lots of people our age are probably doing it, but I've only known this girl for a week. For our age, that seems a little fast, eh?" His cheeks reddened, talking about that subject, especially since the people in front of them were looking again.

"Whatever, Cody," Laurence sighed. "But seriously, are you doing anything with her? I bet she likes you if she's willing to put up with you and your weirdness for an entire week. And I can tell you like her just by the way you look at here. You are so painfully easy to read."

Silence. The Cody opened his mouth again. "Okay, you're right. I do like her."

"I knew it!" Laurence said out loud, again gathering more stares.

"But I don't think I can do anything about that. There are… issues surrounding the situation."

"Like…" Laurence was searching for an answer, but suddenly an example came to him. "Oh Cody, please, for the love of Arceus, don't tell me this is about Angie."

"Why do you think my problems go back to her?" Cody lashed back, though quietly around the other people. "We were in the 8th grade! I've put that behind me." He stopped talking for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Again, I've only known her for a little bit and I want to get to know her more… but it has to do with my mother."

"What about her?" Laurence asked, his voice growing more serious and understanding.

"Well, for one… I really feel bad about the way I treated her before I left. I feel like a brat for how I reacted. But also, I was talking with her on the phone a few days ago and she told me 'no girls.' And because of the hell I put her through, I feel like I should listen to her."

"Well…" Laurence looked stumped in the seriousness. "I know you want to please everybody, Cody, but think about what you want. You want adventure, right? Your mom doesn't have to know if you are with this girl."

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"And this, of all things, is bothering you? You've broken so many rules back home. Remember when we launched those fireworks off your roof?"

"Yeah, that was pretty epic," Cody said as he smiled at the memory.

"Remember when we snuck out to that concert last summer? Remember how many times we raided my parents' liquor ccabinet?"

"Okay Laurence, I get-"

"Remember when we went into the forest and you caught a Squirtle, despite your mom telling you that you weren't supposed to-"

"Okay Laurence, I get it, I'm a terrible son," Cody laughed. Laurence had a way of lifting the mood. "I'll think about it then."

"Atta boy," he cheered with a slap on the back.

Just as they finished their conversation, Heather rejoined them. She looked a little steamed, but she acted as though nothing happened. Eventually, they reached the counter and handed their pokémon in. Cody was a bit worried about how the Larvitar would react to the nurses, but he figured the little pokémon would have to deal with it if he wanted to feel better. Laurence also picked up his pokeballs and pulled Cody and Heather over to an empty space in the center.

"I'm going to be showing off now," he said as he opened the first ball. Flex stood before them, looking even stronger than he did a few weeks prior. He got excited to see Cody again and stepped forward to be patted on the head. "He could probably sweep the first tier gym by himself, even if they are flying-types," Laurence stated proudly.

He opened his second pokeball to reveal a Skitrexian variant of Shellos. The amphibious pokémon was a deep shade of purple, with a smooth back and spiky horns on its head.

"I caught Shelly on my second day. She's a real sweetheart, but she's no slouch in battle." He opened his final pokeball. A little squirrel with blue and white fur emerged, and it scurried up his trainer's side to sit on his shoulder.

"Don't be fooled," he warned as the little Pachirisu squeaked. "Bolt is aggressive as any Poochyena." At the end of this line, the little squirrel growled as bits of electricity sparked on his fur.

"So I'm going to have my work cut out for me," Cody said after Laurence's show-and-tell. It would be hard fighting Flex alone, being that the Machop had already been trained for six months. But his other two pokémon looked tough as well.

"You bet you will!" Laurence replied with gusto. "Three years baby, and I'll be winning the tournament. Then the Elite Four. Just try to stop me, Cody."

"Oh I will," he challenged back. "Because when you make it to the Elite Four, I'll already be the champ."

"Keep dreaming, son," Laurence laughed back as if he had told a bad joke. "Hey, I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta head out."

Cody's face fell. "Why man? You got time. You want to get something to eat with us?"

"I already ate. I wanna pull an all-nighter and see if I can find some dark-type pokémon."

"Well, I guess maybe we'll see you in Tempest then."

"Yeah, maybe, dude. We'll battle then. I'll see you guys on the way out, I got to get my stuff first," and after returning his pokémon to their pokeballs, he headed off to the sleeping corridors.

"You're right, he is a really cool guy," Heather said after he left earshot. "But don't you think we should ask if he wants to travel with us? I mean, you know its dangerous being alone."

"I thought about that, but he wants to travel alone right now for some reason." He still didn't quite understand why, however. "We can ask him when he comes back, but I doubt he'll agree to… traveling with us?" Her words had suddenly sunk in.

"Yeah…" She looked down at her feet, touching her hair awkwardly with her left hand. "I know we were traveling together because of… you know. And I know we've only known each other for a little bit… But I really like traveling with you. You're pretty funny and overall cool to be around. So…" Her last word began to trail as she searched for the right thing to say.

"Are you asking me out?" Ooh, that came out wrong. "I mean, to be out with you in the middle of nowhere?" Cody clarified with an awkward save.

"Yes. If you're cool with that at least. I wouldn't want to impose or-"

"It would never be imposing. I would love to," he interrupted, but he felt like an overly emotional dope. "As long as your parents were cool with it."

"Oh they aren't," she laughed. "But they're letting me go anyway."

"Great, you wanna get something to eat? We can keep an eye out for Laurence and say goodbye to him before he leaves."

"Sure, let's go."

The two of them left for the food court, but Cody's mind was stuck on what just happened. A stupid smile was stuck on his face, and he would have felt awkward if people were looking at him again like they were earlier.

"You see, she likes you. She asked you to travel with her. It's so obvious."

Wow, Cody thought to himself. The voice in my head is starting to sound like Laurence.

This chapter was edited on 1/8/18. There may still be continuity or grammatical errors. If you notice any, please alert me in a review or a private message.