A/N: 15,000 huh? Wow... that's incredible.
Tyler: What's 15,000? That's not how long this chapter is is it?
DrPhill26: Oh hell no, I don't want to write another chapter that long for a long time. No, actually we crossed 15,000 views a few days ago.
Wendy: We did? That really is incredible.
DrPhill26: Yeah, honestly I'm at a loss for words. Well besides thank you of course. I just wish this chapter wasn't that dry. I want to properly mark the occasion you know?
Tyler: I'm just surprised I'm actually awake this time. Normally I'm sleeping when we do a milestone chapter.
DrPhill26: I could fix that if you'd like.
Tyler: No thanks, I'm good.
DrPhill26: Then if you've got no complaints, let's resume our adventure.
"Check." Wendy said with a smirk, watching the frustration set in on Tyler's face once again as she picked up his rook and replaced it with a knight piece. The two of them had been playing chess for just over an hour in the living room of Candice's house while they waited for the news conference to begin. They sat on opposite sides of a glass coffee table, while the Gym Leader sat in a nearby chair reading a book and enjoying a cup of tea.
"I hate this game." Tyler grumbled as he looked over the board. They'd already played three games to completion since Tyler first challenged Wendy. But his early eagerness quickly disappeared as he saw Wendy was a far more experienced player than him, having beaten him in all three of their games. And seeing as Wendy's remaining black pieces now doubled Tyler's white pieces, he was probably going to lose the fourth game as well.
"Then why did you challenge me if you hate chess so much?" Wendy sighed, moving a pawn one space forward and receiving an annoyed stare as her response. "I'm just saying, you're the one who challenged me. I thought you'd at least be somewhat good at this game."
"Would you please shut up and let me think?" Tyler held his hand over his black-bishop piece, debating if he should move it forward or back. It was either move the bishop, or the knight standing next to Wendy's recently moved pawn. He decided on the knight, moving it up and over the pawn to a spot diagonally behind it.
"I'm just a little disappointed is all." Wendy moved one of her rook pieces three spaces forward. "You're rather smart when it comes to Pokémon battles. But I guess Pokémon and chess smarts are two different things… that's check by the way." She added seeing Tyler try to move his knight to take out one of her bishops.
"God dammit." Tyler frowned taking his king and moving it up and to the right
"You sure you want to move there?"
"Wendy, just let me play the game okay. I don't need you to commentate over it."
"Alright…" Wendy picked up her white-bishop and moved it two spaces up and to the left, taking out a pawn diagonally in front of Tyler's king. "Checkmate."
"What? How?" Wendy started drawing imaginary lines with her fingers as she accented her explanation.
"The bishop is checking you now, and he's protected by my queen so you can't take him out. Plus, you can't move up to either of the other spots because of your pawns trapping you, and you can't move to the row below because of the rook I moved last turn.
"God dammit I suck at this game!" Tyler complained falling backwards and looking defeated at the fan spinning above the living room. "One more round."
"You sure you want to keep embarrassing yourself Ty?" Stubbornly Tyler sat up and started moving pieces back into their starting positions for another game. With a heavy sigh Wendy began doing the same. "Candice, do you want to play Tyler this time? I'm getting bored of chess."
"Nope." The Gym Leader replied turning the page of her book. "It's just getting to the good part. Candice has to know what happens next." Another sigh came from Wendy as she placed her king on the board.
"My dad would be so disappointed that I was beating up a novice chess player like you."
"You know, I don't think you've ever told me about your whole family yet. It seems like I've only heard about dad from you."
"You're one to talk." Wendy cheekily raised an eyebrow at Tyler to which he just rolled his eyes.
"Touché." Tyler said placing his rooks on the board. "You have any siblings? A little sister who annoyed the crap out of you growing up?"
"Nope, I was blessed to be an only child." Wendy laughed as Tyler shook his head with a grin. "My mom's name is Julia and my dad's is Arthur. They were married for about three years before they had me. They met at the university in Canalave City, which is where I was born. But I wasn't born until about a year after they both finished the veterinary program there.
"Really? So they wanted to be Pokémon doctors?" Tyler grabbed his last remaining knight and placed it on the board.
"Yeah and my mom still is, but I've told you a couple times my dad is a breeder." Wendy said placing her last piece on the board. "I was born a year after they graduated, and then we all moved to Hearthome City before my first birthday."
"Wow, that's pretty cool. So can we get playing again?" Tyler asked moving his king's pawn forward two spaces.
"Hey no, you're not getting off that easy. What's your family story?" Wendy countered moving her queen's knight into the field.
"You know my family; you've met them through the video call that one night remember?" Tyler moved the now open white-bishop three spots on the field while Wendy moved her knight again. "My dad James is a cop with the P.C.P.D. and my mom Miranda is a travel agent, though she works from home a lot to watch over me and my little sister Brittney. She's not that bad of a kid, but at the same time she's my little sister so you know, we don't really get along that well. Especially considering that she's now getting into that bratty teenager phase."
"Pain in the neck?"
"Exactly, she's a great big pain in the - Ow!" Tyler dropped the pawn he was going to move on the board, knocking over three more pawns as he clutched at his bruised shoulder. "Son of a bitch my neck!"
"Instant karma…" Wendy frowned, folding her arms crossly at him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Have you been doing those stretches that Dr. LaSalle wanted you to do?"
"Not today but I did all the other days." Tyler meekly stretched his arm out, trying to move it in a slow circle. "I guess I got distracted by everything that we did today, so I forgot to do them." Wendy sighed once again, looking disappointed at her Tyler's lack of responsibility.
"Take off your shirt."
"I'm sorry what?"
"I said take off your shirt." Wendy insisted with a frown. "If you're not going to take care of yourself with the stretches that you need to do, then I'm going to stretch them for you."
"Wendy that's not-" Tyler shut himself up seeing a cold, irritated stare from Wendy. Instead he silently took off his shirt and lay down on the snow white carpeting. "You're not going to give me another present like that day at the hospital are you?"
"You're not in the hospital anymore, so you don't get a get-well present." Wendy teasingly poked Tyler's nose before straddling his back. As she sat on his butt, Wendy grabbed a Poké ball from her belt and released her Lucario.
"Why do you need Pulse to give me a back rub?" Tyler asked curiously, watching the Lucario place his paw on Wendy's shoulder. A momentary flash of purple energy surrounded both of them before the Lucario crouched down and touched Tyler's back and the energy shrouded his body as well.
"So I can properly give you a back rub." Wendy replied while rubbing her hands together, generating a warmth in both hers and Tyler's hands. "And before you ask, no we're not doing anything sexual with Pulse's Reiki link this time. Despite what you, your surprisingly perverted mind and your experiences with it may have you think, Pulse and I most commonly use his Reiki ability for healing and to help us relax. But I won't deny that it has benefits in the bedroom too."
"Fair enough, but then why have me take off my shirt in the first place?"
"Just because we're not going to do anything really fun with the Reiki this time doesn't mean I don't want to flirt with you while we're doing it." Wendy teased, placing both her hands lightly on Tyler's lower shoulder blades. "Besides, you look good without a shirt on."
"If you say so."
"Of course I say so. You have exactly the kind of body that I like." Wendy purred as she dragged a finger up Tyler's spine, feeling him shudder. "I like a guy with a little bit of muscle to his body, but only enough to give his body some definition but not too much. Anything beyond what you've got going starts becoming a turn off for me."
"Funny, I didn't think anything was a turn off for you." Tyler rolled his eyes as he spoke into the carpet.
"Even I have standards Tyler. Just be glad you're perfect in nearly every way. Now can you please hold your arm out for me?" Tyler did as he was asked, with Wendy placing warming her hands again before placing them on the back of Tyler's left arm. Wendy might not have been as good as Nurse Kohl, but there was one area where Wendy really excelled compared to the nurse. Maybe it was due to the Reiki link, but Wendy was easily finding all the little aches in his back and shoulder muscles.
After finishing her work on his back, Wendy told Tyler to roll over so she could get at his collarbone directly. With Wendy straddling his stomach and her hands lightly gliding across his chest, it was difficult for Tyler to keep his mind from wandering to more perverted thoughts. He thought that they were safe in his head, until he heard Wendy giggling with a coy smile on her lips. Tyler had forgotten that the Reiki link technically linked their thoughts together as well as their body's senses as Wendy bounced on him a couple times and let out a few fake moans. Candice was able to put up with it for a moment, but eventually reminded the two of them that she was in the room with a loud cough after Wendy got a bit too loud with her teasing.
Tyler thought that interruption would end the massage, but Wendy wanted a neck rub as repayment for her massage. So this time Tyler sat on Wendy's butt, warming his hands together and lightly pressing them between Wendy's shoulders. He made small circles with the tips of his fingers before pulling them towards the palm of his hands. At the same time, he felt the phantom force of his own hands on his neck from the Reiki link, telling him he was going too roughly. So he tried again with less energy and felt a more pleasurable tug in the muscles of his neck. Wendy too sounded happy with an affectionate comment to inflate Tyler's ego.
A few minutes later and Wendy was content with Tyler's efforts to tell him to stop, so he got off her and sat expectantly at his side of the chess board. Wendy shook her head at him, somewhat annoyed that he wanted to continue playing, but Tyler countered with the puppy dog eyes. She tried her best to resist, but Tyler's persistence won over and with a relenting sigh the game continued once more. Before she sat down she mirrored Tyler's move of the queen's pawn one space ahead, then brought her thumb to her lips and lightly bit on the nail, a pose of hers that signified intense focus.
Surprisingly, this time Tyler was actually able to hold his own. He wasn't improving much in Wendy's eyes, but he was finally taking time to think before making his moves, nor were they as obvious to her this time around. Their chess match went on for a few minutes with the two of them trading pawns and capturing each other's knights. Then the game became more calculated and time consuming as both Tyler and Wendy carefully planned out strategies for their upcoming moves. But Wendy's experience seemed to be paying quicker dividends as Tyler found himself heavily pressured by her queen.
"Dammit… Why are you so good at this game?" Tyler grumbled as he removed his hand from his rook.
"My parents taught me. If you think I'm good, you should see them play a game. They'd make me look like you." Wendy yawned, ignoring the death glare Tyler was giving her to look up at the clock that read 8:24. "Hey Candice, it's almost time for the press conference. Can you turn the TV on?"
"Sure." Candice set her book down on her lap and grabbed the remote and pressed the power button. A blue light in the corner of the TV lit up, and a logo popped briefly on the screen before fading to an ad for a burger restaurant in town.
"So are we putting this game on hold?" Wendy asked Tyler this time, stepping back from the chess board.
"Yeah sure, just let me make a move first and we'll pause." Tyler dismissively waved his hand at her as he continued to stare at the board. Wendy moved over to a couch by the window and sat down as Candice changed the channel to SNN. Out of respect for Tyler's concentration, she kept the volume low, adding a low murmuring to the background while he picked up a piece and thought about moving his bishop.
"I still can't believe this happened." Wendy sighed sitting against the arm of the couch."It feels like a bad dream."
"I know what you mean Wendy." Candice said placing a bookmark in her book. "I haven't felt this horrible about something since the Red Chain saga all those years ago."
"Why do you think they did that? Not the old Team Galactic I mean, why do you think this group targeted the Pokémon Center and stole all those Pokémon?" The Gym Leader shook her head and frowned.
"Candice would already be in Sunyshore City offering to help if I could."
"I just don't get it." Wendy pondered. "Let's assume for a moment that a new Team Galactic really is behind the attack. That means they would have a lot of money to lead the attack, which we know they have if Saturn is in charge. But then why don't they use the money to buy their own Pokémon instead of stealing them?"
"Isn't that what criminals do?" Tyler commented looking at his queen. "They just take whatever the hell they think they're entitled to. It doesn't matter why they do what they do, it's still illegal. They deserve to be punished."
"Well duh Tyler, I know that." Wendy watched Tyler set the queen back on the board without moving it. "Just humor me here. I know you come from a police family and think all people who commit crimes are bad."
"Because they are…"
"Look I agree with you Tyler, these guys are horrible people doing what they've done and they should be punished. But just try to humor me on this okay?" Tyler looked up at Wendy with a look somewhere between disgust and disappointment. "I'm not trying to fight you; I'm just trying to figure out why they might have done what they did." They stayed silent, staring at each other for a moment longer before Tyler let out a sigh and picked up a pawn, moving it to threaten Wendy's rook.
"Because they'd be pre-trained Pokémon." Tyler said standing up to sit next to Wendy on the couch. "That way they wouldn't have to raise all the Pokémon they stole. They'd be battle ready."
"That does make sense." Candice commented. "Especially considering that back when Volkner was still the Gym Leader, lots of Sinnoh's elite Pokémon trainers would either challenge his or my gym to win their last badges. And even though Riley is relatively new, he's already earned a reputation as a very tough Gym Leader, so lots of strong trainers want to challenge him."
"Well okay, that makes sense." Wendy relented. "But what do you think they're going to do with those Pokémon?"
"Looks like we're about to find out." Tyler said pointing at the screen and seeing the camera zoom in towards three podiums each with microphones resting on stands on top of them. A man wearing a navy suit blazer stepped up to one of the podiums and poked the microphones with his hands to see if they were on. Hearing the audible noise they made from his tapping, the man cleared his throat and addressed the media before him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, thank you all for joining us this evening…" The man paused to clear his throat once again. "I apologize; I'm getting over a bit of a cold so I'll keep my part in this brief. Once I'm done speaking, Police Chief Brauner, Mayor Howard and the Gym Leader Riley will each take the stage. We'll hear from Police Chief Brauner as he gives new information about the attack that we have learned over the past few hours, before opening the floor to the press for you to ask questions of your own. Are we clear?" No one in the room said anything so the speaker continued.
"Alright, then at this time Police Chief Brauner, Mayor Howard and Mr. Riley, you may all take your places and we can begin." With that the speaker exited the stage to his left, with the three men entering from the other side. First up was the Police Chief, easily identifiable by the midnight blue uniform he was wearing, adorned with a six pointed silver star over his heart, and an emblem of Sunyshore's Police badge on both forearms of his shirt. Out of habit, Tyler found himself saluting the Police Chief as he walked out, completely ignoring the suit wearing Mayor and the sharply dressed Gym Leader behind him.
"So that's Riley huh?" Wendy commented as Tyler's gaze broke from the Police Chief's salt and pepper moustache, and to the man standing on the screen's right. "You were right Candice, he's definitely a hottie."
"Damn, you weren't kidding." Tyler added as he laid eyes on the new Gym Leader. He was exactly as Candice had described him earlier in the day, wearing his blue blazer over a black dress shirt and pants. He even had the necklace she'd described perfectly positioned between the lapels of his jacket and the curiously shaped hat on his head. "Riley is a really good looking man."
"Oh." Wendy said with a drawl. "You think Riley's attractive? Interesting, maybe I should-"
"I didn't mean it in that way and you know it."
"I know you didn't. But you can't stop me from fantasizing about it." Wendy giggled, looking at Riley with a dreamy expression. "God I hope I can get a day with him for Sweet Kiss. He is just gorgeous." Tyler rolled his eyes, wanting to retort but was silenced by the Police Chief coughing loudly as he approached the stood at the podium.
"Once again, thank you all for coming tonight." Chief Brauner gripped the arms of the podium tightly as he spoke. "Before we all get caught up on these horribly tragic events, I'd just like to say really briefly that we have every available officer working hard at the station trying to tie every piece of information together, so we can bring those responsible to justice in a swift and efficient manner. And to anyone listening to this conference, either in person or through the various news affiliates broadcasting it; if you have any piece of information that can help our investigation, please forward it to us at the Sunyshore City Police Department."
"That being said, here are the details that I can report as the time are as follows." The chief paused a moment, grabbing a set of index cards from one of his pockets. "At around 3:00pm this afternoon, there was an explosion that took place at the Sunyshore City Pokémon Center that was caused by two Pokémon who used Explosion to create a hole in the eastern wall of the building. Within moments, a group of men that we believe to be between 30 and 50 in total, entered through the hole in the building wearing molded body armor, and using the threats of their Pokémon and light assault weaponry, including submachine guns and assault rifles to take over the Center with little resistance."
"We believe that two men in particular were the ringleaders of this attack, as they were seen entering the building in different styled armors than the majority of the men in the attack." The television monitor display created a windowed effect with Chief Brauner on the left of one window, and a still image of the Pokémon Center attack on the right.
Two men stood prominently in the photo with their backs to the camera, wearing mostly dark colored suits of armor compared to the whites of the grunts standing in back of them and their Pokémon. Both men looked fairly similar, with only subtle differences between them. The one on the left had ice blue accents to his armor and a black furred Pokémon stood to his left, standing about half as tall with a red crown like tuft on its head. The one on the right had blaze orange accents where his partner had ice blue ones, and his Pokémon was a hulking red ape that leaned on its massive arms. The two of them stood before a scared looking Nurse Joy and her Chansey, while other grunts in bright white armor stood farther in back of them.
"Unfortunately we know nothing about these two men themselves at this time, other than the two Pokémon standing next to them of course being Weavile and Darmanitan."
"Weavile huh? Those two look kind of similar." Tyler wondered thinking back to the night Yuki and he were attacked on Route 217. He dug into his pocket, pulling out his P*DA and flipping through its menus to find information about it.
"Effectively with these two men's arrival, the attackers took over the Center and held both trainers and Pokémon hostage. After threatening them, the attackers began taking Pokémon from the Center, bringing in crates and cages from trucks that drove up to the building so they could be transported. At the moment, we believe the amount of stolen Pokémon to be no lower than 250, and no larger than 350. That is of course 350 more than is acceptable and we would like to make a formal apology to all trainers who have had their Pokémon stolen from them, as well as a formal promise to them that we will not rest until every stolen Pokémon is returned to you safely." The Chief paused for a moment as the camera zoomed back on only him.
"It was then, at about 3:05pm when we first received calls about the attack at the Police Department and mobilized SWAT teams to respond. However by the time we could respond effectively, the attackers had already cleared out using the trucks to transport both the stolen Pokémon and their personnel away from the building." Murmurs of displeasure accompanied this statement but the Chief continued anyway.
"Following witness and citizen reports, we followed the trucks to the south plaza, where more reports indicated that these armored men were transporting the stolen Pokémon onto hovercrafts. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts and the assistance of the local Coast Guard branches, we have been unable to find the vehicles used by these thieves at this time. Nor have we been able to apprehend anyone in the city that has a connection to them either." The displeasured murmuring continued but again, the Chief continued without stopping.
"Fortunately, despite all of the damage that has been caused, no one who was harmed in the attack was killed. We do have reports of people who were held captive in the Center or trainers who tried to protect their Pokémon being assaulted and injured. These people have been taken to the hospital and are awaiting treatment.
"Thank God…" Tyler mumbled to himself as he heard more people say the same in the background of the conference.
"Regretfully, this is all the information that we can piece together at this time and report to you because we have very little leads at the moment. So I believe we shall open it up to the press, unless either of you want to make a statement before we get started."
"I would like to say something." The camera panned over to see Mayor Howard looking over at the chief. Tyler hadn't taken much notice of him, but he looked somewhere between the age of the Police Chief and Riley, with dirty blonde hair that was starting to gray. He looked firmly out over the press and spoke.
"It is with a heavy heart that I stand before all of you today this evening. As the mayor of Sunyshore City, I feel as though I've failed all of you for letting this tragedy happen to our fair city. We've known a period of peace in the time since the Red Chain Saga came to an end, believing that we would never experience the kind of terror that we did all those years ago. But I fear that we may be experiencing the dawn of a second age of uncertainty and dread that may wash over the Sinnoh region." Even more murmuring accompanied the mayor's statements. But he continued again once the people quieted down more. "Still, as your mayor, I will work hand in hand with the good men and women like Police Chief Brauner of our local police force to rebuild our city's pride. Like our city is, our citizens are solar powered; and as the sun rises in the east every morning, so too shall we continue to shine brightly like the sun in the afternoon sky after this harrowing day."
"Oh my God, that was so cheesy." Tyler thought, stifling a laugh beneath his hand as the crowd applauded politely.
"Are you kidding me?" Wendy openly laughed, poking Tyler's leg repeatedly. "Did you hear that? That line was so cliché! Hey, how many times do you think he practiced that backstage before he went out there?"
"I dunno, I'd say that he writes as good as you do." Tyler grinned arrogantly, laughing a bit louder as Wendy stopped poking him, her face quickly turning red from anger.
"Hey! I'm a thousand times a better writer than him or whoever writes his schmaltzy speeches!"
"I dunno. From what I read of that article of yours about Elesa, it wasn't that much better than this."
"You jerk!" Wendy half pushed Tyler, knocking him over on the couch and then hit him with a throw pillow a few times. Tyler couldn't hold back the laughter any longer as Wendy hit him, which only seemed to annoy Wendy more and make her hit him harder."Apologize for that!"
"But it's true. You write just like him."
"You are so mean!" Wendy hit Tyler again in the face with a pillow.
"Will you two cut it out?" Candice frowned looking at the laughing couple on her couch. They both looked at her with a pair of innocent faces, smiling at the Gym Leader as if they hadn't been fighting a moment earlier. "Riley's about to say something, Candice wants to hear what he has to say."
Tyler turned his head to look towards the TV seeing the blazer wearing Gym Leader standing at his podium. As Tyler sat up, Riley looked straight at the camera filming him and out at the people in attendence. But to Tyler, it felt as if the new Gym Leader was looking directly at him and with a surprisingly intimidating stare. It showed strength that held a commanding presence, but also held warmth to it that was both nurturing and relaxing. Even with Candice's explanation of it, Tyler still had a hard time understanding just what she meant when describing his presence. He could only listen with bated breath as Riley opened his mouth to speak.
"I have been honored to be the Gym Leader here in Sunyshore City in the past six months since Volkner and the rest of the Sinnoh League decided I was worthy of the position. It has been a very refreshing change of pace compared to living and training on Iron Island. And I've been thankful for the hospitality that my Pokémon and I have received from all of you since we've moved here." Riley's presence grew even more intense, increasing in both its power and its warmth. It sent both a shiver down Tyler's spine, and heat into his cheeks at the same time.
"With that said, in light of this tragic attack on our city's safety today, I and my Pokémon wish to make a solemn vow to the citizens of this city that have shown us such kindness." Riley stepped back from the podium and reached into the vest of his blazer, grabbing and enlarging a Poké ball. He released the Pokémon inside, a flash of bluish-silver morphing into the body of a Lucario standing beside him. Riley grabbed a microphone as he and his Lucario both dropped to a knee, placing their right hand/paw on the ground. The Lucario placed his other paw on the propped up knee, while his trainer moved the microphone to his mouth and both Riley and his Lucario looked toward the ground.
"As the sun rises, and as the rains fall, so does the aura of life flow through us all. With reverence to creation and the blessings of the divine Arceus, it is our solemn duty as his guardians to serve, protect and nurture the world that he has created for us. We pledge our services to the men and women of Sinnoh and make a promise to every trainer who has lost their partners today, that we will return every single one of them to you." He paused a moment, looking up at the camera once again with all traces of the previous warmth in his eyes replaced with subdued strength. "And to those of you responsible for today's tragedy, I make an additional vow. On my honor as both the Sunyshore City Gym Leader and as an Aura Guardian, I will do everything in my power to see that you receive an appropriate retribution for your heinous actions. We will never forgive anyone who disrupts lord Arceus' divine order, and you will swiftly face his and our combined judgment."
As Riley finished his statement, a small, translucent bead of blue energy appeared in front of both his and his Lucario's forehead and then expanded outward in a pulsing force that spread out beyond the camera's focus of him. The press room fell silent after Riley's speech, and even Tyler was floored back in Candice's living room. He sunk back in the couch in awe of what he'd just heard.
"Whoa…" It was all that Tyler could say after what he'd heard. Riley was certainly something special if he was able to have this kind of an effect on him despite being on the other end of a film crew that was cities away from him. He looked over at Wendy, seeing she had her eyes glued to Riley as he stood back behind the podium again with his Lucario. Tyler waved his hand in front of Wendy but it wasn't until a moment after he started that she registered the waving in front of her.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Wendy asked looking back from the TV to Tyler. "Sorry, I uh… I got really caught up in Riley's speech."
"You weren't the only one Wendy." Candice giggled as both Tyler and Wendy looked at her curiously. "Candice was watching both of you the entire time Riley was speaking. I'm not surprised you fell under his spell Wendy, but Candice wasn't expecting Tyler to as well."
"Really?" Wendy said turning back to Tyler as his face flushed red. "My Tyler was looking at Riley that same way I was?"
"I was?"
"You certainly were. Your cheeks were lighting up just like they are right now. Candice has never seen a true man crush before, but I would imagine the look on your face was exactly what it would look like."
"Is that so Tyler?" Wendy wrapped her arm around Tyler's neck, pulling him closer to her. "I thought you said you weren't interested in Riley in that way?"
"I'm not!" Tyler squeaked. "I just… you know, Riley has a really reassuring way of speaking. Like it felt kind of like he was my big brother and he was telling me everything was going to be okay."
"Hmm, yeah I guess you have a point there." Wendy conceded. "But correct me if I'm wrong, didn't you say earlier that he was fairly attractive when you first saw him?"
"I uh… I might have said that." Tyler admitted as he timidly scratched his stubbly beard.
"So you do think he's attractive?"
"Look we already know I said it, do I really have to say it out loud again?" Silence was Tyler's only response as both Wendy and Candice looked at him expectantly.
"It's either that or start dancing for us."
"Riley is the sexiest man I've ever seen in my entire life. Happy now?" Tyler dryly commented making Wendy release him in a squeal of excitement.
"Damn! I thought we had him there." Candice pouted, folding her arms in defeat. "Alright well, Candice is going to bed."
"Bed? It's like 9:00. Who goes to bed at nine at night?" Both Candice and Wendy raised their hands, but Tyler could tell that Wendy was doing it just to annoy him.
"If you must know, Candice isn't going to bed straight away." She said stretching her arms over her head. "I just have a lot of boring work related things to do involving maintenance of my Gym and taking care of my Pokémon and I'd rather do that in private. So, Candice will see both of you tomorrow. You're welcome to share the guest room at the end of the hall on the left, but only if you both promise me that you won't keep me awake all night, okay?" Candice winked at Wendy and Tyler as she rounded a corner down the hallway and a moment later they heard the sound of a door opening and closing.
"We promise!" Wendy called out as she hugged Tyler again. "So Tyler, we've got a room to ourselves for the night at Candice's place. *yawn* And I'm kind of getting tired myself actually. So what do you say that we go to bed ourselves?"
"But I'm not tired."
"Neither am I." Wendy laughed as she grabbed Tyler's hand and took a step towards the hallway, but Tyler didn't budge.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Um… the bedroom, so we can-"
"We're not going to the bedroom."
"We're not?" Wendy raised her eyebrow suspiciously as Tyler smiled at her cheekily. "You mean you want to… Tyler! You are a very naughty boy!"
"So come on, let's go." Tyler quickly sat down on the floor dodging the unseen kiss coming from Wendy. She looked down at him confused only to see him eying the chess board enticingly. "It's still your turn, remember? We stopped playing before the news conference began. My last move was this pawn from-"
"Check." With a scowl on her face, Wendy grabbed her previously untouched black-bishop and moved it three spaces up and to the right, finding Tyler's exposed king.
"here to here…" Tyler quizzically set the pawn he had in his hand down where it was previously seeing the now obviously stupid play he'd made half an hour ago. He looked from the board to his annoyed girlfriend, then back to the board. "Fuck it, I give up. I'm going to bed." Tyler dejectedly knocked his king over and stood up with a frown on his face.
"I uh… Tyler wait, it's not mate. We can still keep playing if you want." But Tyler ignored her, leaving Wendy standing alone in the living room with the abandoned chess game. He made his way down the hallway, opening the door to the guest room and found the bed. He took off his shirt and fell on the bed, releasing his three Pokémon from their balls before he closed his eyes and went to sleep with a sullen expression.
The sound of a loud alarm went off in the morning, waking Tyler from a dream as he flailed his arm around trying to turn off the clock. His failure to reach it only annoyed him more, forcing Tyler to stand out of bed to try and find the nuisance. But once he did, the ringing stopped and he felt a hand pull him back into the bed. Wendy pulled Tyler closer to her while still half asleep, lazily draping her arm across his shoulder and mumbling something about not wanting him to leave. Tyler rolled over and smiled seeing the half sleeping woman beside him with her hair disheveled in front of her eyes. He brushed it back and heard a knocking and then the sound of the door creeping open with Candice poking her head in and apologizing for the alarm. Apparently she was a heavy sleeper and needed a loud alarm to wake up. Hearing Tyler yawning through his responses, she told him to get some more sleep and would come back when breakfast was ready.
About an hour later Candice came knocking again, very quietly this time but it still woke Tyler up from his light sleep. Like she had the night before at the Center, Wendy had fallen asleep on his chest and had to be lightly shaken awake. It wasn't until both of them smelled the vibrant scent of coffee wafting in with Candice's voice however that Tyler and Wendy perked up and got out of bed. They quickly got themselves dressed and followed the earthy aroma to the kitchen where they unsurprisingly saw an assortment of pastries which Candice had gotten from the same café they went to yesterday.
Breakfast was quiet for a while as Tyler and Wendy let the coffee warm them both up before turning to quiet small talk with Candice as they debated which pastry was the most delicious. Candice and Wendy got into a surprisingly intense argument over whether or not custard and cream filled or jam filled donuts were better. Tyler stayed out of the arguments, quietly eating his preferred glazed donuts and sipping coffee while laughing to himself. The fight may not have died down for a while, but it did at least wake everyone up. Tyler excused himself to feed his Pokémon as the argument started to finally die down, returning five minutes later to see that Candice and Wendy were both watching the news with a cup of coffee in both of their hands.
"Are you two good now? No more arguing over donut fillings?" Tyler asked taking a seat beside Wendy.
"We've agreed to disagree." Wendy said setting down her empty coffee cup. "But Tyler, I'd like to ask you something?"
"If you want me to decide your donut argument, then forget it. The best donut is the one that's being eaten."
"Actually that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about our travel plans now that you're out of the hospital."
"I dunno." Tyler shrugged his shoulders getting himself lost in thought. "You know Sinnoh a lot better than I do. I was hoping you'd take charge."
"Yeah but this is your journey Tyler not mine, so you should take charge in where we're going. I'm only tagging along for the ride."
"You said you wanted to challenge the Sinnoh League right Tyler?" Candice asked muting the TV. "Then Candice would suggest you go to Oreburgh City and challenge Roark. Most trainers in Sinnoh who challenge the League head to his Gym first."
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan, but where is Oreburgh City from here?"
"Hang on; Candice will go get a map." The Gym Leader stood up and went into her room, returning a moment later with a folded up map under her arms. She knelt beside the table in the living room, putting the chess board on the floor to make room for the map to be unfolded. "Okay Tyler, this is Snowpoint City, and this city here is Oreburgh City. Candice thinks you should go here first." She dragged her finger across the map to one in the bottom left.
"That's all the way across the region! Why do you want me to go all the way there?" Tyler protested.
"That's because most new challengers to the League challenge Roark's Gym first. See this town next to it?" Candice slid her finger to a small circle southwest of Oreburgh on the map. "This is Sandgem Town, and most new trainers will come here to receive their first starter Pokémon. Oreburgh City is the closest Gym to Sandgem Town so most trainers start their challenge with Roark's Gym." A frown came over Tyler's face as he heard Candice speak.
"So basically you're saying that Roark is the weakest Gym Leader?"
"No, Candice doesn't mean it like that. It's just that most new trainers-."
"But I have four years of experience with Pokémon already. And both you and Wendy have said that I'm not just a rookie anymore. I deserve a challenge."
"To be fair Tyler, Roark might be a challenge to you." Wendy commented. "He specializes in Rock type Pokémon. Last time I checked, your entire team is weak to Rock types."
"Uh… where's the closest Gym to here that isn't yours Candice?" Tyler weakly replied, gulping nervously as he imagined Roark's Pokémon crushing his team effortlessly.
"That would be here." Candice pointed to a large city north of Oreburgh. "Eterna City. The Gym Leader is a woman named Gardenia, a Grass type specialist."
"Oh I know Gardenia!" Wendy said excitedly. "She's a lot like me actually. We both have excitable personalities, she's really outgoing and friendly, and she's very passionate with her Pokémon. Plus she's also very active on Sweet Kiss, and I've had the pleasure of interviewing her a few times too. She likes to use the vines of Grass types to tie her up and-"
"Why are you telling me this?" Tyler asked sounding slightly annoyed. "I don't need to know the Gym Leader's sexual preferences. I just need to know what Pokémon she specializes in; and if it's Grass types then I've got a major advantage. I want a reasonable challenge!"
"Then how about Fantina? She's a Ghost type user in Hearthome-" Candice tried to suggest but was cut off
"So where's Eterna City from here?" Tyler quickly interrupted pointing at the map. "Just follow this route south and go west at the intersection here right?" Wendy rolled her eyes behind Tyler.
"That's right." Candice pointed at the intersection again. "There's a rail car system that connects Route 216 with 211 to allow for easier passage between the routes."
"And thank God they put that in." Wendy added with a sigh, tracing a long path with her finger. "Before they did, we would have had to travel all the way through Mt. Coronet to Route 208 and go through Oreburgh or Hearthome to get anywhere in the region."
"Or take a boat out from the Snowpoint harbor to either Canalave or Sunyshore City." Candice added. "And both of those would take just about as long unless you were heading directly to those cities."
"So I guess our first stop is Eterna City."
"Actually Tyler, Can we go to Solaceon Town first?" Wendy said pointing to a town east of Mt. Coronet. "I know you want to begin, but I need to pick up Yuri from the daycare and probably check in with Mr. Kaleo.
"Who's Yuri? And can't you just transfer him through the PC system?" Tyler asked confused.
"My Lilligant, and no I can't. The daycare has a PC system, but it's not equipped to transfer between locations."
"I see." Tyler nodded his head. "Well sure, let's go to Solaceon Town. I've got no problem waiting a bit longer to start my journey."
"Wait, are you two leaving today? I need to get something real quick if you are." Before waiting to hear a reply, Candice left for her room once again, leaving Tyler and Wendy sitting on the couch.
"Are we leaving today?" Tyler asked Wendy curiously.
"Only if you feel up to traveling." Wendy replied looking at his bruise. "I don't want you to get hurt again."
"I'll be fine." Tyler laughed stretching his shoulder. "This thing hardly hurts anymore. I'm good to go."
"So you are leaving then?" Candice asked returning to the living room with a small yellow box in her hands. Tyler and Wendy nodded at her in unison. "Then I need to give you these today Tyler. They're for your Glaceon to help her get stronger faster."
"Oh wow, thank you Candice." Tyler took the box from the Gym Leader and opened it, seeing three CDs inside plastic cases separated up by divider tabs. He picked one of the CDs up, blue in color and looked closely at it in its plastic case, seeing the letters TM and the number 03 beside it. "Are these all TMs?"
"Yup." Candice smiled sweetly as she pointed toward each TM in the box. "Each one of these TMs is really valuable for a Glaceon, especially the one you picked out. That's the TM for Water Pulse, a TM that is no longer mass produced globally but you can still order it online. Candice just happened to have these lying around and I don't need them so I'm giving them to you."
"That's amazing, thank you so much." Tyler put the TM back in the small case with a highly appreciative grin. "So what are the other two?"
"Hail and Ice Beam." Candice said pointing at the remaining TMs. "Candice recommends Hail first so Yuki can take more advantage of her Ice Body ability."
"Alright thanks again Candice. Yuki and I both appreciate this." Tyler smiled reaching for his backpack. He opened the zipper, reaching for the case only to see it once again in Candice's hands and a playful grin on her lips.
"But, Candice will only give you these TMs if you dance for us, right now." She tried not to, but Candice couldn't help but giggle excitedly as the words came out of her mouth and watched the frown deepen on Tyler's. Before he could even say anything in protest, Candice picked a small remote and pressed a button, playing the beginning of a song with a very noticeable dance beat. "Come on Tyler, you promised. And you're only getting these moves if you dance. So show me what you've got."
Tyler sat on the couch with an annoyed expression for a minute before finally relenting and standing up from the couch, Candice quickly taking his spot only increased his growing dismay. He nervously bit his bottom lip, waiting a moment as he stood on the other side of the table, tapping his foot to try and get a sense of the beat. Tyler really didn't want to dance, especially knowing that both Candice and Wendy would be howling in laughter at him in a moment. But this embarrassment was for Yuki's benefit, and he'd do anything for her, so he danced.
It started out fine enough, but after only about fifteen seconds the laughter began and Tyler watched in uncomfortable horror as Candice and Wendy fell into each other's arms in a fit of wild laughter. His face was nothing but the purest of red as his attempt at a dance looked more like a Spinda using Teeter Dance than an actual human dance. The only saving grace Tyler had going for him, was that Wendy and Candice were laughing so hard, they had both shut their eyes so they wouldn't start crying. Taking his own cue, Tyler quickly grabbed his new TM case and put it in his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder and stepping outside and started up his hovercraft. He waited a few minutes on top of the vehicle before the girls finally came outside, both of them still giggling.
"Happy now?" Tyler half yelled watching Wendy wipe a tear from her eye.
"That was so hard to watch." She snickered heavily again on seeing Tyler's flustered face. "I'm sorry Ty; I'm honestly trying really hard not to laugh right now. But it's so hard not to when you just did that."
"Just get on the hovercraft already!" Gripping her sides, Wendy stumbled her way to Tyler and sat behind him. His brows furrowed as he felt Wendy's laughter inside him as she leaned against his back for support.
"That just made my entire week." Candice smiled as she took a few calming breaths. "Now that Candice has seen it, I will never ask you to dance again." Tyler just rolled his eyes, again feeling Wendy snickering on his back. "Good luck on the beginning of your journey Tyler. Candice is expecting you to show up sometime for a Gym battle."
"It might be a while. But I'm definitely looking forward to it." A faint smile briefly returned to Tyler's lips as he spoke.
"Candice has one last thing for you before you go." She held out her hand in front of Tyler and placed a folded piece of paper in his hand. "It's my personal phone number. So in case you have any questions or if you maybe just want to chat for a bit, here you go. Candice will be expecting you to call." She added with a wink that made Tyler blush a small amount.
"I will. And next time we see each other, I'll be challenging you to a Gym battle."
"Go show the world that kiai you've got built up Tyler, and good luck out there!" The Gym Leader smiled even brighter than before.
"Thanks Miss Candice!" Tyler buckled his helmet's chin strap and lightly revved the engine forward a bit. And with another slow rev the hovercraft took off withWendy and Tyler waving their goodbyes to the Ice type Gym Leader, and heading south towards the main city to begin the next leg of their journey together.
A/N: There we go, that's 21 chapters done. My story's old enough to drink! Again thanks to all of you guys who have been viewing and following this story. It makes me so happy to know that people have enjoyed this story as much as I have been writing it. I really don't have words right now to express my gratitude to all of you. So I'm just gonna call it a day and look forward to seeing all of you again soon. This is DrPhill signing out.