Day: 25 of 243
Time: Early Afternoon.
Route: Route 205
-.-.-
Shikamaru never cared for rivalries. Too troublesome to deal with and too much work needed to be put into it. To have a rival meant having to one up someone and that was too troublesome to do so. Especially against someone who has a stupid grudge against him because he beat him in so many Pokémon battles that it became right down ridiculous.
Which is why Shikamaru grabbed hold of Sakura's hand as she quickly became enamored with none other than Sasuke Uchiha and march right into Eterna Forest. "For the hundredth time… I am not your rival."
Sasuke Uchiha the second son of a very prominent family in Kanto and an upcoming Trainer. He is wearing a high collared dark navy blue fitted sweater, a pair of white shorts and matching sneakers. Around his waist is a black belt that held his poke-balls and swung around his back is black leather satchel. His hair style still reminded Shikamaru of a Farfetch'd's butt.
"Munchlax!" Munchlax laughed at Sasuke as he followed his human into the forest.
Sasuke did not need to understand Pokémon to know the Munchlax just insulted his hair. Again. "Of course, run away. Like you ways do, Nara."
Shikamaru paused just long enough to shoot the Uchiha a bored look before once again marching back into the forest.
Sakura kept her gaze on Sasuke but the Uchiha only tsk'ed before he headed the opposite direction of the forest. Once Sasuke was fully out of sight, she turned her attention back at Shikamaru. "Who is he?"
Shikamaru had finally let go of Sakura's hand and stopped walking. He scratched the back of his neck to think over his next set of words. There was no way to skirt around the subject without the pinkette forcing the actual answer out of him. "We both went to the same Pokémon Academy. He declared me his rival each time I beat him after every Pokémon battle. Never once did he ever beat me and has hated me because of that."
"Is he really that bad?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she slowly began to realize where they are now located at. A shiver of freight began to rise her spine.
"No. He's actually has what it takes to be a top Pokémon Trainer, but his attitude needs a massive change." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, remembering all the times he battled against Sasuke. True to his own words, the Uchiha is a respectable trainer when it comes to battling. However, when it comes to raising and training Pokémon, that is a completely different issue. He would get rid of any Pokémon that is deemed weak and train them to the brink of complete exhaustion. All the times Shikamaru had spoken to Sasuke's Pokémon and saw how some of them didn't care or just tired of it all. "Look… Just don't take my word for it. Okay?"
"Could we get out of here?" Sakura squeaked out when she heard a couple of bushes began to rustle next to her. She quickly clung onto Shikamaru when something, or better yet, someone emerged from the bush.
"Hello? Could you help me get through the forest?"
-.-.-
Day: 25 of 243
Time: Late Afternoon.
Route: Eterna Forest.
-.-.-
Shikamaru like Cheryl. Cheryl is quiet. She is not troublesome. The only one that is talking nonstop is Sakura and that is mainly due to her nerves getting the better of her. Cheryl joined the duo due to her not wanting to go through the forest on her own. Sakura, once she stopped screaming in Shikamaru's ear, agreed to the request. Thus, having to get through the forest with an extra person.
It was not so bad, Cheryl would heal their Pokémon when needed and so on… What made this trip so horrible is hearing Sakura scream whenever they are suddenly attacked by any bug type Pokémon. He is starting to regret having her tag along with him. "Could you stop screaming? You're attracting more Pokémon to our location."
Sakura sent Shikamaru a glare but went quiet for now.
Cheryl laughed lightly at seeing the camaraderie between Sakura and Shikamaru. They might have been friends for a short while, but she could tell there is trust between the both of them. "Tell me, what are your dreams? What do the two of you plan on doing?"
"I want to become a doctor." Sakura said, with clear excitement evident in her entire expression.
"I just want to battle against my dad." Shikamaru shrugged without much care.
"His dad is Factory Head Shikaku." Sakura whispered to Cheryl, who nodded in understanding. "He doesn't care for any sorts of titles; all he wants to do is battle against his father."
"I've heard that not that many people have been able to go up against him." Cheryl mentioned, causing Shikamaru to pause momentarily before he continues on walking through the forest.
"That's what I'm looking forward to."
Day: 25 of 243
Time: Late.
Route: Old Chateau, Eterna Forest.
-.-.-
"Tell me again how we got here?" Shikamaru deadpanned, looking up at the run-down Chateau in the middle of the forest.
"We took a wrong turn?" Cheryl pipped up.
"That and we needed to find a place to stay for tonight?" Sakura said uneasily, she would rather stay in a Pokémon center but it was either dealing with the Pokémon in the forest during the night or staying in a possibly haunted building. She should have chosen the bug type Pokémon over this.
"I bet three berries this place is haunted." Shikamaru said to Munchlax.
"Munch, Munch, Munchlax~" Munchlax pulled out a soothing bell from its' fur and showed it to Shikamaru. "Munch."
"Deal."
TBC.