Chapter 24: The Detour
Four down, four to go. After winning his forth badge at the Veilstone City Gym, Lucas called his brother John to let him know how he was doing in an attempt to reconcile with his sibling. But after their short phone conversation, the former juvenile delinquent was fully reminded of what precisely he hated so much about John, and had his motivation to become Champion completely recharged. All the doubts and creeping homesickness that had plagued him since parting with the dark-trainer Morgan instantly evaporated with the call, and Lucas was fired up to move on to the next town and the next Gym.
The teen only stopped briefly at the Pokemon Center the switch out his team before heading out to Route 214. He boxed his Kadabra, Chimecho and Bronzor and exchanged them for Franky, Hotrod and his new Buneary, Stella. Route 214 was a flat, rocky path that was littered with tall, thick shrubbery. It meant the Trainer would not get too tired from the walk, but it also meant he had to be careful where he tread to avoid tripping and face-planting over hidden stones and napping Rock Pokemon. According to the Pokevice, the Route was a straight, easy to navigate path that split once he passed Lake Valor, a small resort along the way. Like in Hearthome, from there he had a choice of two towns and two Gyms: Pastoria City, which he had skipped back in Hearthome in favor of Veilstone, and Sunnyshore City, a coastal town where the ferries to and from the Hoenn region could be caught. Sunnyshore was also the town Ashley had gone to after leaving Hearthome after the Super Contest. He knew she would be long gone from the area, but a tiny part of him hoped he could see her again, even if it were only to show that the egg she had given him had hatched.
The unrealistic idea was reason enough, so Lucas settled on Sunnyshore. Route 214 was long, but the relatively obstacle-less path could be walked in a little over a day. If the teen kept a good pace, he would get to Lake Valor by the next morning, and at Sunnyshore by the afternoon. Compared to the soggy, unpleasant experience of Route 215, 214 was a nice one as the warm mid-day sun glazed the boy's skin and a light dry wind blew at his back. His feet kept a steady rhythm as the boots ground against the gravel of the road. A few Trainers littered the path, but the increasingly experienced young man found these opponents to hardly be a challenge.
He was getting better. It wasn't just that his team got stronger every time he fought, or that he found stronger and rarer Pokemon, he genuinely felt like with each battle he was getting smarter. People's strategies and attacks didn't catch him off-guard as often anymore, and he didn't feel as lost or as naive. He finally felt like was good at something and it was a good feeling to have.
As the teen crossed a short patch of grass, a small black and orange canine blocked his path. It was the dark/fire type Houndour, the preevolved form of Morgan's Hounddoom. The Pokemon looked cocky and self-assured, like a puppy that had won tug-o-war against its sibling for the first time. Lucas took this opportunity not just to try to catch the spunky creature, but give some training to one of his newest Pokemon, "Go! Stella!"
This was the first time Lucas had dealt with Stella since she was born, and it was the first time she went into battle, but her reaction was not what he expected. As soon as Stella came out of her Pokeball she immediately threw a large and very loud tantrum. The normal-type's behavior even caught the Houndour off-guard and it held back its attack. When it was clear Stella had no intention of stopping her crying, Lucas called her back and summoned Hotrod instead. After a few short attacks the Houndour was caught. A couple of hours later Lucas found a Rhyhorn and once again sent out Stella, and once again the rabbit-like Pokemon shrieked and cried and stomped its paws on the ground. Once more the Trainer switched the bad-tempered Pokemon for one of his team and again added a new Pokemon to his collection.
As the afternoon wore on, the teen Trainer dealt with almost a dozen more of Stella's battle-related tantrums. According to the Pokedex nothing was actually wrong with Stella. Her health was just fine, she had no status issues and she was fully fed and hydrated. In fact, after all her short stints in battle, she was almost level 9. Finally, Lucas tried a different approach. After another battle against a high-level Geodude, the boy paused by a rock and released his Buneary. She was not shrieking this time, but she was clearly unhappy, "What's the matter, girl? Do you not like fighting? Are you scared?"
Lucas picked up the infant normal-type, and once again she looked into his eyes like she did the day she hatched. He cradled the Pokemon and patted her head. For moment, she seemed to calm down, but then she used her small feet and kicked her Trainer in the chest. In a combination of pain and shock, Lucas dropped the Pokemon. Stella landed on the dusty ground unharmed and began to play with a pebble between her paws. When the teen boy tried to pet the Pokemon again and comfort her, she started another tantrum, one even louder and more violent than any of the ones she ever had before. The young man stared, stunned, at his Pokemon. He had dozens of the creatures now, all with different temperaments and personalities, some species even considered especially dangerous to people, but before that moment he never had his own Pokemon that had attacked him. Something had to be wrong with Stella, he just had no idea what. Suddenly all that confidence he had about knowing what he was doing vanished. He recalled the distraught Pokemon and returned to his march towards Lake Valor, though his pace was slightly slowed by his new disheartened feeling.
As he had predicted, Lake Valor and the small resort built around it came into view early the next morning. The resort was like a small town in itself: there were small shops and restaurants, several small motels and individual villas people could rent. He had to whistle when viewing the high-end vacation spot. Even if he became Champion for years he doubted he could ever afford to stay at even one of the smaller hotels for more than a day. Most of the people here were clearly not Trainers and completely ignored Lucas as he wandered around the area. This meant this place would not have a Pokemon Center, but the teen didn't worry too much about it as Sunnyshore City was only a few more hours a way. He would get someone to check out Stella then.
Lucas turned the corner between some villas that lead to the path to Sunnyshore when he ran into something strange. A large crowd of annoyed-looking people were gathered around an officially dressed man standing in front of the door to the gatehouse to Sunnyshore City. He held a bullhorn in one hand and was trying to gesture to the crowd to be quiet with the other. Looking around, Lucas realized that this crowd was made up almost entirely of Trainers based off of their dress and the few loose Pokemon in the group. The teen boy joined the crowd to discover what the man had to say. Standing next to Lucas was a funny-looking guy with a laid-back stance and a bright, red Afro. When the dull roar of the crowd lessened slightly, the official brought up the bullhorn to his mouth and spoke, "I'm sorry, but the path to Sunnyshore will be closed again today. The road is still being blocked off as the power system in Sunnyshore is being repaired. We still have no official word on when the repairs will be finished and the path reopened. So please check back tomorrow. We appreciate your patience,"
The crowd was anything but patient as they let out a collective groan interspersed with swears and complaints of incompetency, but when it was clear the official had nothing more to say and the gatehouse would remain locked, the mob slowly dispersed. Lucas let out a swear of his own now that he knew he would be unable to go to Sunnyshore. He was one of the last of the group to leave, the very last was the funky-looking guy with his hippy sandals and candy-apple red Afro. As Lucas walked away he noticed the young man's expression was somewhere between disappointment and bemusement as he shook his head and said to no one in particular, "Seriously, bro? Not again..."
With Sunnyshore temporarily off-limits, it meant that the teen would have to go to Pastoria instead. He wasn't entirely sure why he was so reluctant to head to this city, though he suspected that it being right next to wetlands had a large part to do with it. Marshes and swamps meant rain, and when Lucas thought about the idea of rain again just barely a few days after half-drowning on Route 215 his shuffled pace slowed down even more. The gatehouse to Pastoria was on the south side of the resort and when Lucas got there he stopped and stared at it, still not ready to face the possibility of heading to an area with a danger of precipitation. Near the gatehouse was a restaurant. Not having had breakfast yet, the Trainer chose to stop by and stall just a little while longer.
Thankfully, the restaurant didn't look too expensive. Unlike the rest of the resort, this establishment appeared to cater to the traveling Trainers as well as the resort guests offering food from haute cousine to basic foods such as reasonably priced sandwiches and salads. As Lucas approached the host to be seated, he noticed a familiar wild black haircut, clashing neon clothing and heavy makeup seated at a table and drinking coffee.
"Morgan?" Lucas was very surprised to see his informal rival. After their parting at the cafe north of Soleceon Town he assumed it would be months or even years before he would see the fellow Trainer from Cherrygrove City. Ignoring the small throng of people waiting for tables, he headed for the girl with her typical sullen expression accentuated by her large lower lip and rounded nose.
The grim young woman glanced up from her steaming mug and regarded the mohawked with mild surprise, "Ah, Lucas, I didn't figure we'd meet up again so soon, Rooster Boy,"
Lucas sneered at the insulting nickname the girl used in reference to his red and black hair. Yup, definitely Morgan, though I doubt anyone else would attempt to look like that on purpose, "What are you doing here, Motley Crue? I thought you were going to Celestic Town,"
"Been and left. I was on my way to Sunnyshore to catch a ferry to Hoenn, but the road's been closed since yesterday. I take it you came here from Veilstone, how'd the Gym match go?" Morgan asked as she tore into a slice of buttered toast.
Lucas sat down at the girl's table and opened up his vest to show his newest badge"I won. Was kinda close though. Only won because I taught Gizmo Dig. How'd you get here so fast? It's only been a few days since we saw each other,"
"I have a Pokemon that knows Fly, obviously," the teen girl said with an eye-roll, "Veilstone's leader has fighting-types if I remember correctly. Pretty impressive that you won with a normal-type. Not a big fighting-type fan obviously, since they are so powerful against my lovely dark-types. Speaking of which, since you just came from Route 214 did you run into any Houndour?"
"Caught one, actually. A pretty spunky male, haven't started training him yet though," He missed the snarky but genuine exchanges with Morgan, even if he would be tortured before admitting it to her.
"Oh, aren't Houndours just the greatest? They are just so cute and cuddly and loyal as can be. You should totally add it to your team the first chance you get," it never ceased to amaze Lucas how the girl's acidic personality would shift so quickly when talking to or discussing Pokemon. It was one of the things he actually liked about her, "So you on your way to Pastoria?"
"No, like you I was trying to get to Sunnyshore, but it looks like I don't have much of a choice. You going to finish that bacon?" Lucas added hungrily as he lunged for the seemingly untouched part of her breakfast.
The girl covered her plate with her hand defensively, "Go for my food again, fish lips, and you pull back a nub. Anyway, you're better going for Pastoria's Gym before Sunnyshore. Most people don't challenge, Volkner, the Leader, until they have at least six badges. He's an extremely powerful Trainer, on par with the members of the Elite Four. He alone is what makes the Sinnoh League so tough, many Trainers never get a chance to even get to Victory Road because they never get their eighth badges,"
"Wow, he's that strong? I guess I really don't have a choice, I will have to go to Pastoria," Lucas said with a slight grumble.
"What's so bad about Pastoria? It's a pretty city, very green. And they have the Great Marsh, which is like the Safari Zone in back home near Cinnabar. I've actually been going there while waiting for Sunnyshore's road to open back up again. I'm trying to catch a Scoropi. Their evolved form is a bug-and-dark type. I'm going back today after I eat. I really want one,"
"I guess that doesn't sound bad. But I'm not looking forward to all the rain that happens in the marshes," the boy sighed.
"Wait. You've been avoiding Pastoria City because it might rain? What are you, some kind of wuss?" Morgan snorted in her coffee.
"I just don't like the rain, okay! Everyone has something they really don't like. In your case it seems to be the ozone layer, you over-AquaNetted hag!" Lucas snarled back.
"Wuss!"
"Hag!"
"Wuss!"
"Hag!"
After Lucas ordered breakfast the two Trainers walked together to Pastoria, arguing and insulting each other the whole way.