A Jewel in Water
Part 37
A/N: It's so hard making scene transitions interesting. Why so many transitions!?
Paul soared through the sky, the wind whipping his face raw. "Faster!" He shouted at Honchkrow, only to have his voice drowned out by the wind. Honcho row could feel it's trainers agitation but couldn't oblige to go faster. It knew that Paul body wasn't designed to go at these speeds unprotected, so it just tolerated Pauls demands and flew on. Paul gripped onto Honchkrows feathers tightly, threatening to pluck them off. At this rate he would be able to reach his destination in around 30 minutes, which felt like a lifetime. The wind buffeted his face as Honchkrow soared over the sea, keeping close to its surface, its claw skimming the water. If Paul dared to speak again, he would likely be suffocated by the wind. Knowing that there was nothing more Paul could do at this moment strangely calmed him. All he could hear was the wind.
"I think he's this way," mumbled May as she glanced at her PokéNav and took a few tentative steps forward. After confirming she was going in the right direction she nodded at Brock and took some more confident steps, still glancing down at her Nav every once in a while.
"I didn't realise you were so old school when it came to your boosting your Pokémon condition. Aren't poffins and PokéBlock far more convenient?" Brock asked.
"It's not that I particularly favour berry powder, I just thought whilst I'm here I might stock up on some vitamins and herbs. Anyway, people far and wide talk about this guy constantly, how could I pass up the chance?" she said whilst they continued walking. They passed by the Cerulean gym, which had certainly seen better days. There currently wasn't a leader residing in it, so the gym was temporarily out of commission. As a result, the shops nearby weren't attracting as much attention as they could have been. Walking past a Boutique Couture, May saw the shop attendants talking amongst themselves, with nothing else to do with no customers around. May continued to peer through the shop windows as she idly chat to Brock. Then she came across an odd shop window. It didn't quite fit in with the modern designs of the other shops, giving off a traditional vibe, what with its store name written on a wooden panel outside the door: "Melanie's". It sounded like a bar but inside it looked like a standard Item store, seeming to specialise in stat boosting items. As her eyes darted across the window, she caught the eye of a young woman suddenly, and instinctively smiled at her. The woman had been leaning on the till, bored, but upon noticing May a grin spread across her face as she ran outside to grab her.
"I couldn't help but notice your interest in some of the products I have!" she almost shouted at May as she grabbed her arm and tried to tug her into the shop. "Please do come in and take a closer look! I'm sure you'll find the things you need!" Taken aback by the sudden attack, May resisted the ladys' advances and looked panickedly at Brock. Brock, clearly amused by this sudden turn of events, shrugged at her and smiled as he waltzed right into the shop calling out "Come on May, you said you needed supplies!"
Cilan wandered around the post in Olivine city, waiting for the SS Aqua to ready for boarding. He had only been on the ship once before, totally unprepared to face the trainers that were wandering the halls and even walking into his room sometimes to challenge him to a battle! He could always use the time to practice his bond evaluating skills on any trainer looking for a battle. Cilan sat down on a bench and looked at the open sea. He was a class-A Connoisseur right now, running his own successful shop whilst also managing the Striaton Gym with his brothers. Unlike the others, he was fairly content with his life. His work life that is. He embodied the cliché of not working a day in his life since he loved his job, and that was good because he worked all year around, with very few breaks. As he got older though, there was something that he noticed lurking in the back of his mind, and it was something that lingered in all Connoisseurs minds: Becoming an S-class. That elusive position that seemingly existed, although there were no known S-class connoisseurs around, in the public eye that is. People would often joke that it was something that rival class A connoisseur rivals made up, to try and become better than each other, and it didn't exist. It was the only class where there was no form of assessment, making it rather special, ironically. A lot of connoisseurs usually became satisfied after hitting B level status, spending their time travelling around the world and making money rather than staying put in a shop. All of a sudden the ships horn blew, resonating in Cilans' ears. He looked over to where the ship was docked and saw a slow-moving crowd disappearing into the ships entrance. He would have to ponder the practicality of wanting to become an S-class another time.
Meowth pounced from tree to tree, not quite used to behaving like a cat. The leaves rustled slightly too much for his liking. He would be easy to track at this rate, but he was moving so fast there was no time to think. Every second wasted was a second that put Jessie and James closer to danger. The trees suddenly began to thin out, and jumping from one to another wasn't going to be as easy as it had been before. At this point Meowths' options were either to push his limits and jump further than he had ever jumped before, or risk setting foot on the ground again. The air smelt safe, but dirty. It probably wasn't detectable by humans, but the Boss wasn't messing around. Something was being made here. It didn't smell like factory pollution, and at the outskirts of the forest the scent was too faint. History had always shown that when an evil boss had an evil plan brewing, it was always on a grand scale, and always, always involved a Pokemon of Legend. It send shivers down Meowths spine, and whilst his senses were filled with fear, he didn't notice that he was being watched. The uncharacteristically diurnal Pokémon had been struggling to sleep so Meowth's ungraceful fumbling around in the branches didn't bother it too much. What did bother it was seeing a Meowth standing on two legs, as it sniffed the air, and mumble in a language that Meowth's usually didn't speak.