Chapter Five
After some time….
Brendan and I waited just outside Professor Birch's lab as he finished packing up his jeep. Professor Sycamore was also there as he and Birch signed many documents on the hood of the car. The former looked very excited as his colleague finished up going through the large packet of papers. I asked Brendan what that was all about, and he replied that for liability purposes. Professor Sycamore was going to be my temporary acting tutor since he was so insistent upon it. I have to say it all felt weird getting passed off from one Professor to another; even if it was just for a while. I had just gotten to know him even though I barely saw him most of the time. Maybe it was because I was with his son more.
A month before their planned trip, the two of us (after the fainting episode) went back to Rustboro City to and earned our Stone badges. The victory for Brendan had been easy since his mudkip watered down all of Roxanne's rock-type Pokémon. As for me…it was effortless! I found out that that rock-types suck against steel Pokémon and milked the advantage for all it was worth! We celebrated that night with hearty bowls of ramen from a local shop. Beldum ate most of mine. For a floating piece of metal with no mouth, it sure had a big appetite. The next day, we thwarted another Team Magma flunkie who stole some goods from the Devon Corporation and tried to use an old sailor's wingull as a hostage. His cowardly actions made it easier to punch him in the face and relieve him of his wallet. After we secured the stolen items, the two of us went to the Devon Corporation where he president had thanked us. Strangely enough, he also asked if we could deliver them to a man who called himself Captain Stern in Slateport. Naturally, it was entrusted to me because the more responsible of the small party was going to be at Mt. Pyre before the City could be reached.
Brendan and I backtracked to give the wingull back to the old sailor who in return, offered a boat ride to Dewford Town. We happily accepted and enjoyed the ride for what it was: swift, bumpy but fun. Once there however, our happiness that we had got horribly crushed under Brawly's fighting-type Pokémon. On top of that Beldum had stopped listening to me and thus was the downfall of my entire party. My companion made it by a small sliver of will his shroomish possessed as it took down the leader's machop.
My face was fixed into an irritable scowl, for my pride had been flattened. Thankfully, Brendan wasn't the sort to rub his victory in my face; otherwise I would have punched him again. Instead he asked where I got my Beldum. I explained in return that it was from some 'mystery gift' thing. This piece of knowledge made him able to explain that Pokémon given or traded won't listen to its new owner when it gets stronger unless proof of superiority is shown or some shit like that. In other words, I couldn't use Beldum properly until I got the knuckle badge.
Geez, why are Pokémon so picky?! Wasn't it enough that I was trying? Couldn't it see my hardships? While this piece of news bothered me, it turned out that I had other options in my party. For starters, we went granite cave to train and met an strange person who was staring intriguingly at the vast, old cave paintings. After I was confident enough, I stepped back into the gym with my battle ready wingull perched on my arm. The leader and I fought again; my water/flying type in front this time. The white and blue bird glided around the battlefield and wind swirled about as it aerial aced the hell out of Brawly's makuhita. The force of wingull's attacks even broke some of the gym's exercising equipment as a bonus on top of the flawless victory.
I ran out of the gym with an idiotic grin on my face as my pokemon flew swiftly to keep up with my pace. Without any warning I attacked Brendan with an ursaring-like hug that nearly suffocated the life out of him. The action nearly made him jump out of his skin out of fear that I lost the match and was displacing my anger on him. When he saw my ecstatic expression though, he breathed out a sigh of relief. That night, we went to go eat seafood at one of the local restaurants in the small town. Wingull had snuck her beak on my plate and stole half of my prized portions.
While the celebration was merry, I was still inwardly distraught over my Beldum's disobedience. As much as it pained me to do it, I would have to restrict its training more than the others.
Other than the two victorious gym battles and a foiling a scheme, not much else happened after that. We both trained hard, gathered items and prepared for our separate journeys. Right now, I stared distractedly at the two conversing professors: One who fumbled with the survival gear in his hands while the other had neatly held the thick packet of freshly signed documents. Well, I stared mostly at the goofy professor who was to go out into the wild because I didn't want to get sucked into those deep blue eyes of the one who remained composedly energetic. It was silly to think that just by looking at someone, a person could nearly stop thinking and forget what air was. It was bothersome and uncomfortable.
My gaze then wandered around the surrounding area in hopes that I would find something more interesting to look at, when my blue eyes locked onto a familiar sight. Instantly, a cute, girlish smile spread across my face and my sights brightened with overwhelming joy. Before I knew it, my feet broke into a fast run towards the object of my desire. I
t took Brendan a minute or two of breaking out of the same monotone boredom I had been trapped in, but his reaction consisted of terrified sweating and a horrified look on his face. Professors Birch and Sycamore stopped talking when they noticed my run and looked in mild surprise. The reactions we all had were thanks to a man who looked to be in his mid thirties wearing a red, black and grey tracksuit jacket with ash grey tracksuit pants. On his feet, he adorned hard, Maple wood sandals. His slicked back coal colored hair showed the rest of the world that he wouldn't leave his home unkempt and disorderly. Though tired, his dark eyes gave off an uncomfortable intimidation. That never bothered me though, because he was the only member of the opposite sex whom I could shower him with hugs and kisses without worry or mercy. The person who helped me prepare for my journey beforehand and made sure I was within his sights as a small child.
"DAD!" I exclaimed shortly before impacting on my parent with full force and hugged him mercilessly. He staggered back from my surprise attack, but his face no sign of shock from it. Instead, his tired features allowed him to have a small smile as he ruffled my hair. I clung to him in innocent affection as I had done since I was four.
"After a month, I finally get to see my little girl. How's your journey coming along?"
"AWESOME! I Already have TWO gym badges! And I also got a bunch of Pokemon I caught from here to Dewford! I even beat up some thugs with Brendan too! There was al-"
"Brendan?" He interrupted me suddenly as his face grimaced "You mean the boy, Brendan?"
If there was any heartwarming music playing during this moment, it would have been scratched, broken and burned in a small fire.
My father backed away a little to where I could still hug him, but be able to still look at my face. The smile had already been gone when I mentioned his name, but the start of his fury was already showing. His dark brows furrowed in annoyance. Thinking back at it now, I think mom would have been right about dad being jealous about his daughter getting stolen away by some boy; this would have been a prime example.
"Well…yeah. He's been helping me out and stuff. We sleep together by the fire and go eat out somewhere when we're not training. Mom and Professor Birch said it was okay," I replied innocently. To my father, it felt like it was blunt and harsh. I knew that he could yell at Birch all he wanted, but it wouldn't be effective at all. If he tried that with mom, she would throw out his pillow and tell him to sleep on the couch that night. The only option he had available was to take it out on the one who came in contact with me in the first place to earn such a wrath. And already, dad's gaze now landed on the victim and sent glares of hate Brendan's way. The teen who was unfortunate enough to share a friendship with me, reluctantly received them with a smiling, sweating face.
Of course any sort of reaction he would make only pissed off my father even more. While still clinging to my dad, he began to storm over to Brendan with murderous hate in his eyes. But before he got within reaching distance, an excited Sycamore blocked his path of destruction with a large smile and an outstretched hand. The unexpected gesture threw my dad off guard as he now faced with the professor's naive-like expression. Any thoughts of dealing with Brendan were quickly forgotten.
"Good day Monsieur! It is quite a pleasurable surprise to meet such an esteemed man like yourself! Only a month into your reign as a gym leader and you have already built up a terrifying reputation that scares away any unprepared challengers! I am Professor Augustine Sycamore! I will be taking over temporary tutorship of your darling daughter while Professor Birch and his son are out on field research!" He said in a very ecstatic tone. It took a good minute, but after recovering from the sudden, overly friendly introduction, my dad stretched out his own hand and shook the professor's in a professional manner. Upon seeing the Kalosian up close and too dam personal however, I timidly buried my face into dad's jacket to avoid anyone seeing the growing blush on my face until it went away. Thankfully, my father was too preoccupied with getting acquainted to notice my strange behavior.
"I see. I've heard much about your work from Albert. He's very…eager to have you here," he responded with his harsh,dark gaze meeting a cheerful, blue sight. As hilarious as finding out that Birch and Sycamore had actual first names, I couldn't help but notice how different my father and the professor looked in comparison. Sycamore was so relaxed and dad was as stiff as a statue.
At this time, Professor Birch came into our company with a sigh of relief. "Well, everything's packed now! Brendan and I better leave before it starts getting dark. I'm really glad that you're here to see us off, Norman," he said while putting a hand on his shoulder. Oh right; that's my dad's name. The very stern gym leader that was my father looked back at his childhood friend with a determined expression. "Of course. I had to rush finishing off a few trainers and closed the gym early, but it was no problem at all…unlike your useless, trouble-making son that I suspect you're pushing on my delicate, innocent daughter," he accused in a monotone fashion. The goofy professor just laughed cheerfully however; completely ignoring the obvious dislike dad had for Brendan. Of course, he wouldn't stop trying to nudge me towards the teen no matter how disapproving my dad would be.
The time came for the two to leave and the three of us waved goodbyes to the swiftly departing jeep. When they disappeared from view, dad and I were about to take our leave when the professor promptly stopped us. I suppose this is where my troubles began.
*Continued in Chapter Six*
