Chapter 5:

Time for An Adventure

"What do you mean he's gone?" asked Noelle.

"He left a note on his bed saying he is going out on his own adventure to get stronger since I will not help him and all I do is yell at him," replied Omar with a shaky voice.

"Hey… don't worry. I'm sure he is just blowing off steam. Maybe wait until tomorrow morning, and see if he comes back," Ariya said as she sat down on the bed next to Omar. "We can stay here with you if you would like until the morning, just so you have somebody."

"I would really like that. If you guys want to get your shopping done tonight, I can go with you. I can lead you to all the stores you need to buy stuff at," Omar replied.

Omar tried to shake off the events that transpired in his apartment and went out with Noelle and Ariya to buy whatever they would need for their adventures. They purchased materials for sleeping out on the routes overnight if they need to, they bought food that won't expire if they are out for a couple of days at a time, and they bought some potions, and other manmade medicines for their pokémon in case they cannot get to a pokémon center.

They exited the final store they planned to go to and it was now dark outside. They returned to Omar's apartment, and organized through all the stuff they bought, packing it away in the bags they had began their journey with. "You guys can sleep in the extra room if you want, it has two beds even," Omar told them.

"Thank you, Omar, we will take you up on that," Noelle responded.

Each of them settled into their rooms. Omar stared up at his dark ceiling with worry for his brother. "Why did he push him away? Why couldn't he just be a good brother for once?" he thought.

Ariya settled into bed after putting her hair back in a tight ponytail. Noelle was sitting on the edge of the bed watching her as she started playing around with Horsea who was sitting on her chest.

He laid down and pulled the covers up to his chin. He began taking off his clothes from under the blankets. Ariya looked over at him and saw him struggling to get his pants off under the covers. "Hey," she said startling him a little, "it's not that big of a deal, I can just turn around if you need me to."

He glanced over at her and gave an embarrassed smile. "Besides," she continued, "its not like I'm Omar," she finished with a full laugh.

"Shut up!" Noelle said with a laugh. "I just have never been confronted like that by an almost naked person before!"

They both laughed together loudly. As they calmed down, Ariya told Noelle goodnight and rolled over to go to sleep. Noelle stared up at his ceiling. "That was the reason I was so flustered… right?" he thought to himself. He felt Phantump slowly float his way up the side of the bed and position himself under one of Noelle's arms. "Goodnight buddy," he whispered.

Noelle awoke early in the morning when the sun was just coming up to Ariya snoring quite loudly. He giggled and got up out of bed. He grabbed his bag and snuck into the bathroom down the hall to take a shower since he felt he probably smelled badly. Once out of the shower, he dried himself off with a towel he had bought the day before. He dried off completely and got dressed before exiting the bathroom.

Ariya was now awake and was straightening her hair when Noelle walked into the bedroom. "Oh hey! You look nice and clean," she said to him after turning away from the mirror.

He packed his clothes from yesterday into his bag and walked out into the kitchen. There was nobody else around. He walked towards Valeo's room to see if he had come home in the night. It did not appear that he had. He continued down to Omar's room to check to make sure he was still home and hadn't left for some reason.

He looked through the already ajar door and saw Omar lying down with only his underwear on. "At least I'm not the only boy who sleeps like that," Noelle thought to himself.

Just then, Omar quickly got out of bed and began walking towards his door. Noelle panicked a little and tried to move away from the door as quickly and quietly as possible. "Oh God, what if he thinks I was spying on him," Noelle thought as he quickly moved down the hall.

"Good morning Noelle."

He slowly turned around and responded, "Good morning Omar. How did you sleep."

"Not well. I was lying awake waiting for Valeo to come home and he never did." He glanced down at his own midriff. "Jeez, I'm always running into you like this. Let me get changed quick."

Noelle returned to the living room and sat on the couch. Ariya was the first one to join him and she had already applied all her makeup and finished straightening her hair. A minute after Ariya emerged, Omar emerged, fully dressed this time. He joined them in an armchair in the living room. "Hey Omar, I'm sorry Valeo didn't come back last night. I'm sure you are worried sick," Ariya said to him.

"Yeah… I am. But worrying will get me nowhere. So, I'm sure you guys are ready to head out on your adventure officially then."

"Yeah we should best be on our way. Noelle still has all 8 gym badges to collect. We should head to Oreburgh City to battle Roark. That's the closest gym leader to this city."

Noelle nodded to this suggestion and looked to Omar, who had a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, you guys should get going, you're going to want to use as much daylight as possible."

"Thank you for letting us stay here last night Omar," Noelle said to him. "If there's anything we can do to repay you, let us know, okay."

Omar looked up at Noelle and stared into his eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. Ariya looked at Noelle, then back at Omar.

"I want to come with you guys," he finally proclaimed. "I want to come with and look for my brother. I am worried sick about him but worrying will do me nothing if I just stay here and wait. Please… can I come with you guys?"

Noelle and Ariya exchanged looks between the two of them.

"Yes," they both said simultaneously.

Omar's face changed from worry to joy as he was accepted into the group. He thanked them and ran to his room to pack the things he would need for an adventure. Once ready, he joined them back in the living room. "Hey Noelle," he started, "if you want to leave your bike here you can. You are the only one that has one and you've just been walking along side it since I met you."

Noelle agreed and left his bike in the apartment. Omar left a note for his brother in case he returned while he was not there, and the three were off to begin their adventure together.

They exited Jubilife City early in the morning through the eastern exit. They arrived at a grassy route that led to a small mountain up ahead. They continued forward towards the mountain. After ascending the stairs, they were now standing on barren, rocky terrain. Ariya took a step forward and felt something under her foot. She heard a "SsssSSss!" and jumped backwards.

Her foot had managed to land on a perched salandit. The salandit recoiled and used a poison spray on Ariya. Horsea broke the spray up with Twister and stood in between Ariya and Salandit. Noelle and Omar took a step back and grinned at each other about to watch the battle ensue. "This one is not getting away from me!" Ariya yelled. "Horsea, use Bubble!"

Horsea bombarded Salandit with bubbles and it jumped back from the hit. Salandit retaliated with a Sludge Bomb on Horsea.

Horsea got hit with the sludge and tried to shake it off. As Horsea was shaking off the poison spray, Salandit clamped its jaw down on Horsea's tail. Horsea wailed and shook its tail to knock Salandit off, to no avail. Horsea looked right at Salandit, furious, and blasted him with a strong stream of water. "Awesome!" Ariya shouted. "Horsea, Water Gun one more time, let's go!"

Horsea unleased a spray of water at Salandit. This knocked Salandit onto its back as Ariya threw a pokéball at the immobilized creature. She hit Salandit with the ball, and she nervously watched it shake. Eventually, the ball clicked shut and Ariya jumped up and down with joy as she caught her first pokémon since leaving on her journey. "Great job Ariya!" Noelle proclaimed from behind her.

S he thanked him for his praise and they continued their route. The mountain had a cave entrance, much like the last route they were on. They entered the cave, and there were no abnormalities unlike the last one. They continued straight through and emerged at the entrance to Oreburgh City.