Night at the Pewter City Museum
"Amy? Holy shit, what are you doing here?"
Jet immediately hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek. Amy laughed and said, "Did you think that with you and Brian telling me all of these amazing stories that I'd stay home?"
Jet let go of her and said, "I thought you said the first place you were going when you left was Cinnabar Island? Why Pewter City?"
"Umm, because it's the rainy season in Cinnabar, and I wanted to meet up with you guys in Cerulean. I figured I'd head to Pewter and spend some time here before checking out Mt. Moon."
Jet smiled and said, "That's what I told Brian! Can't miss Mt. Moon for Chestnut fields!"
"Yeah, great minds think alike!"
Jet looked over and saw what looked like a slightly irritated Natalie and said, "My bad; Natalie, this is my friend Amy. Amy, meet Natalie!"
Amy smiled and said, "Hi, I've heard a lot about you! You're a lot prettier than I thought you were!"
Natalie put on an even bigger smile and said, "I know what you mean! From what Jethro told me I thought you would be an ugly lab geek but you're soooo cute!"
Jet was worried; both girls were using backhanded comments and smiling so wide that it had to be fake. He decided to steer the conversation into less dangerous waters, "So, how's the Professor doing?"
"Huh, Jet? Ohh… he's fine. I think he's trying to still trying to find out who's gonna replace us."
"You know, Amy," Natalie interrupted, "We were actually just going to check out the city, we'd love for you to join us, wouldn't we Jet?"
Jet mumbled, "Uhh, yeah! You know, the more the merrier!"
In truth he wasn't exactly sure that he was comfortable with the idea of his two crushes hanging out together, but Amy had already said she'd be delighted so there was no getting out of it.
As they hit the mall, Jet reflected that the situation was worse than he thought. Both Natalie and Amy ended up getting along fine, which meant they spent the better part of two and a half hours shopping while telling stories and making jokes at Jet's expense.
"Oh my god, he went all the way up route one naked?"
"Yup! He got peed on by something in the woods and he thought it was my Eevee!"
Both girls laughed their asses off. Amy hit Jet in the shoulder, "How come you didn't tell me about this story, Jet?"
Jet simply went red, to which Natalie said, "Lighten up, you're always so serious!"
Amy turned to Natalie and said, "I know, right? When we were in school he would always focus so much on his work, we hardly ever got to hang out!"
Natalie sighed, "It's the same thing with his training; he needs to get laid!"
Amy giggled and said, "Oh, Jet! We should get you laid tonight!"
Natalie smirked, "I do believe he's blushing!"
Jet snapped angrily, "I don't blush!" But he knew that was a damn lie. He could feel his face getting hotter as both girls giggled.
"Oh, check this out!" Amy pointed to a poster, "The natural science museum is letting people in for free all week long!"
Natalie squealed, "Oh, we should go!"
Jet raised his eyebrows, "We could go anywhere in the city and you two want to go to a science museum?"
Natalie rolled her eyes, "I would've thought you'd be excited, Poindexter!"
Amy giggled and Jet sighed, "Fine, I'll call a cab."
"Please and thank you!" said Amy.
Twenty five minutes later they found themselves in the crowded entrance hall of the Natural Science Museum. There was mostly families there; parents trying to instill some knowledge into their loved ones.
The exhibits were plentiful. There were skeletons of prehistoric Pokémon, a miniature tornado, and a giant, walk in brain were just a few examples.
"Daddy, can I have a Pikachu? Annie from down the street has one!"
"Tyrell, no! We do not touch!"
"And here, class, is the dreaded Aerodactyl! Now an endangered species, these dragon-like Pokémon are a rare hybrid of rock and flying type!"
"Wow," said Amy, "This place is huge!"
"How about we go to the space exhibit?" suggested Natalie.
The three of them headed up to the second floor. There were planetary models there, along with old spaceship parts put on display. Jet was attracted to a display that held a fist sized moonstone behind glass.
"What I wouldn't pay for one of those," said Jet, "Evolution stones are extremely hard to find."
A fat guy with a Spock t-shirt and a long ponytail walked up and said, "It sure is something isn't it? One of the pieces from the original moon stone that the Clefairy came to earth in."
Without looking away from the stone Jet said, "Clefairy didn't come from the moon. That's a myth, like Trubbish was made from garbage and chemical waste."
"Or," Amy piped in, "that Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro when a Shellder bites its tale."
Natalie frowned, "That's a myth?"
Amy nodded, but the fat guy said, "Nuh uh, there is hard scientific evidence that Clefairy came from the moon! Why do you think they evolve when exposed to the moon stone?"
"Because the type of energy the moon stone gives off reacts to Clafairy's natural energy and acts as a catalyst for its evolution. The same way it reacts with Nidorino and Munna. That doesn't make them space aliens now does it?" Jet said in a condescending monotone voice, as if he were trying to explain long division to a six year old.
The fat guy started to get angry, "If you go online there are all kinds of scientist that say Clefairy come from the moon!"
"And there are far more intelligent people who know that Clefairy couldn't possibly survive on the moon's atmosphere," said Jet without raising his voice, "It really is just an old wives tale."
"Pfff," said the fat guy, "They said Galileo was wrong! They condemned Copernicus! You just have a closed mind!"
Jet shrugged, "If you say so, big guy." He turned to Natalie and said, "Want to get some food?"
And so they walked away, leaving the fat guy pissed off in their wake. Natalie asked, "Did you really have to argue with that guy? Does it really make a difference where Clefairy came from?"
Jet raised his eyebrows, "As many times as you started arguments with me just out of boredom, and you're going to tell me off?"
Natalie opened her mouth and then closed it, "Good point."
Deciding it would be far cheaper to take the subway instead of another cab, the Natalie, Amy, and Jet went to go get tokens. Once at the subway, Natalie said, "Ugh, I hate these things. They always smell like piss or puke."
Amy asked, "When does the train get here anyway?"
Jet said, "I think it does twenty minute loops, so I guess we just have to wait."
They walked pass three guys leaning on a wall and smoking a blunt. One of them said, "Damn, what are two fine pieces of ass like you doing down here?"
His buddy said, "Aye baby, why don't you ditch the kid and get with a real man!"
Jet turned to look at them and the biggest of them said, "What the fuck are you looking at?"
Jet's heart started beating with both anger, and apprehension. Amy pulled Jet away and said, "Don't worry about them Jet, just ignore them."
Jet turned away and one of them said, "Yeah that's right turn around!"
"You two can have the brunette; I want the little red Lolita. Love to get me some of that fire crotch!"
At this, Jet dropped any apprehension he had before, and exploded in pure anger. He ran at the three thugs, one of which reacted immediately and came at Jet as well.
Natalie yelled, "Jethro, no!"
But it was too late. Jet had ran on a bench and jumped off, grabbing the first guy's head and slamming it into his knee as he did so. The Jet felt the man's nose break when it made contact with his knee. The man dropped; he was out cold.
The other two howled with rage and came at Jet. Jet ducked the first one's right and hit him with a right hook. The second one had swung at Jet from behind and hit the side of his neck.
Jet stumbled for a second, but soon regained his balance and started fighting. He ducked, swayed, and then struck at his enemies one at a time. Every time he knocked one down, the other got back up.
One of them got behind him and held his arms. The other got up and said, "You little shit!" as he went in for the attack. Jet hit him in the face with a front kick and knocked him backwards. Jet then head-butted the guy holding him with all his strength. The man loosened his grip and that was all Jet needed.
He pulled away, pivoted, and then hit the thug with a straight left. The man was knocked back so Jet took advantage and went in. He swung at the man's body, then his face, then a knee to the groin, and an elbow to the side of the head. The man dropped like a rock.
Behind Jet, his last opponent stood up. One to go. Jet went straight in with a jab. The last guy dipped the attack and punched Jet under his eye. The punch hurt, but Jet rolled with it and got his stance back. Jet hit his opponent with a three piece; two left jabs and a hard right.
The man stumbled back, but then pulled himself up and charged at Jet. Stepping into the attack, Jet pivoted at the last second and hit the man on the back of the head with a reverse elbow. He dropped, and this time he didn't get back up.
Jet heard the sound of the train approaching and walked back over to Amy and Natalie, "C'mon, we don't want to miss the train."
Natalie got angry, "What if one of those guys had a knife?"
Jet rolled his eyes and said irritably, "They didn't."
Natalie glared at Jet and the train pulled up. "Let's go guys," said Amy, "I want to get out of here."
On the train, Jet purposely sat away from the girls and avoided eye contact. Natalie was about to call him over, but Amy shook her head, "I think he's still angry at those guys, and he doesn't want to be around us when he's like this."
Natalie frowned, "Why does he keep doing dangerous shit like this? Doesn't he know he could get hurt?"
Amy gave Natalie a small smile, "You really care about him, don't you?"
Natalie looked at Amy and said, "So do you."
Amy smiled and said, "I've always kind of had a crush on him, but I swear to god he is the most oblivious guy I ever met."
Natalie smiled, "Yeah, that's Jethro. Intelligent beyond reason but completely clueless, all in a measure."
"So," Amy started, "Are you two together?"
Natalie looked down for a second and said, "I don't really know. I mean, I have feelings for him and everything, but we haven't really talked about it since after we first kissed. Why?"
Amy shrugged, "Just asking. You should tell him how you feel." When Natalie didn't say anything, Amy added, "Oh, and if you hurt him I'll beat your ass. Just a fair warning."
Natalie smiled and said, "You lab geeks sure are feisty!"
Amy grinned back, then looked at Jet and said, "You know, he's always been a fighter. This one time he battled a Horsea single handedly, just to give it a bath. There was another time when him and Brian got into a fight at this concert; I heard they took on nine guys at once and walked away without a scratch. I think it's his fighting spirit that makes him such a great trainer. He knows how to connect with Pokémon because deep down, he's a fighter too."
Natalie nodded and said, "Yeah, I've noticed that about him."
When they all got off the train Jet said, "I'm sorry I lost my temper back there. I haven't been that angry in a long time."
He had a busted lip and a lump under his left eye. His knuckles were badly bruised as well, and they were still bloody. Natalie went in her purse and pulled out some ointment, "Here, Jethro. This will help your eye heal quicker."
He stood there and waited as Natalie gently treated his wound. She then asked, "Where did you learn how to fight like that, anyway?"
Jet said, "Uh, my dad was a street fighter when he was a younger. He specialized in boxing and Muay Thia."
Natalie asked, "What's Muay Thai?"
"It's kind of like a special kind of kick boxing that emphasizes the use of elbows and knees. It was originally designed to kill armed opponents in times of war."
"Oh," said Natalie.
Amy said, "You seem real good at it."
Jet shook his head, "I only seemed good because I was fighting untrained opponents. If I was going against someone who knew what they were doing, I'd get my ass kicked."
Natalie punched Jet in the arm and said, "Then stop trying to kill yourself by fighting all the time!"
Jet smiled and kissed Natalie on her forehead, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Amy felt a twinge of annoyance when Jet kissed Natalie. Deciding it best to just leave the matter be, she smiled and said, "Let's go get some food. We still have a whole city to explore!"
Author's Notes:
Yes, I know that Clefairy do come from space in the anime. Yes, I know that Slowbro is basically a fusion between Shellder and Slowpoke. But I don't give a shit, in my story those are myths, because they just seem stupid to me.
Next chapter gets interesting as Natalie and Amy decide to have a little friendly battle while Jet's out training for his big match with Brock, so stay tuned!
And as always, Please review and let me know what you think!
