Chapter 83

Volt stared back at Kim, wondering if she was joking. The way she was staring into space was unnerving. She was somewhere far away. Was she even thinking clearly?

"You can't be serious," he said plainly.

Kim shook her head, "no, I'm pretty serious."

Volt looked over at Sprinkle, but she was quiet, with her head down, just like Kim. When was the last time he had seen her like that? Had he ever seen her like that?

"I'm going to tell them, Volt," Kim continued, "I feel like I have to."

"You don't have to tell that kid a damn thing!" Volt yelled, "He's the little bastard who yelled at you! Why apologize for something that's not your fault?!" When Kim didn't answer, he went on, "What? Are you falling for him or something?"

"Volt, shut up," Sprinkle sighed. The Vaporeon-girl stood and walked over to sit next to Kim. "You never told anybody except for us, your mom and the psychiatrist," she spoke quietly and gently. She was not the flirtatious girl she was on the beach. Kim needed her and Sprinkle would do anything for her. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yeah…I think so," Kim nodded, "it's been years since it happened. I should be able to move on by now, right?" The two human Pokémon fidgeted at the question, "Never mind, don't answer that. Even if this whole mess is his fault, I don't want to end up pushing them away and just making it all worse. I just want to have friends again…"

Volt and Sprinkle each looked away this time. Volt even crossed his arms and began to scowl.

"Friends, huh?" he scoffed, "you mean human friends, right?"

"Volt…" Kim looked back and forth between the two before she realized it, "that's not what I meant. I'm not putting them above you guys. You're not friends, you're family."

"Fine, whatever…" Volt grumbled, determined to oppose Kim's idea to the bitter end.

Kim had no choice but to let him go. She knew he wouldn't agree with the idea. He was stubborn and had no reason to like Mark or Maple. Neither of her human Pokémon really did. It was Kim who told them about the tournament and led them around the island. She had grown attached to them while Volt kept his distance and Sprinkle focused on her fans. Kim didn't want to lose them over one, petty fight.

"What about you, Sprinkle?" Kim turned to the Vaporeon-girl. Sprinkle barely knew Mark and Maple at all, but Kim always counted on her. She could trust Sprinkle to look out for her.

"You're really going to do it?" she looked heartbroken, though Kim didn't understand why.

"Yeah, I am," she was more convincing this time.

"Okay," Sprinkle nodded, "if that's what you want, then that's what you should do."

"Thank you, Sprinkle," Kim smiled at her, "these are good people. They'll understand."

Sprinkle smiled back and nodded again. But there was something forced about it. That heartbroken look remained even as she smiled. Was there something Kim had overlooked?

"Hey," Volt spoke up once more, "for the record: you're not falling for that kid, are you?"

"No, idiot," Kim sighed, "He's only sixteen. He's still a kid."

"So? You only gotta wait two years," he smirked, "it won't be so awkward when you're twenty-five and he's twenty-one."

Kim nearly burst into laughter from sheer relief. She hated talking about something as serious as her past. Volt, Sprinkle and even Cotton knew about it. Sprinkle had seen it all firsthand and talking to her about it was still hard. She would have to tell Mark and be serious again, but until the time came, it would be good to laugh it off.

Someone knocked at her door. Volt moved to answer it, but Kim waved him down.

"I'll handle it," she said. She wasn't that weak.

Whoever it was knocked again. It was quick, almost frantic.

Mark and Maple, both soaked from the rain, were standing on the other side.

"Oh, it's you, noob…" it was easy for Kim to slip her mask back on, "what do you want?"

"Kim, I'm sorry," Mark panted, "for everything…"

"Damn right, you are," Kim snarled. Easy, you idiot, she thought, easy.

"I'm sorry, I really am. But we need your help," he paused, as if too ashamed to finish, "Cherry…ran away."

Kim blinked, "what?"

"Cherry ran away," he repeated, "I…I did something stupid."

"What else is new?" Kim rolled her eyes and sighed, "What did you say to her?"

"Uh…I don't think she's going to evolve…not now, maybe not ever."

Kim's eyes widened, "get in here and dry off, you idiots. You're dripping everywhere." She grabbed two towels from the bathroom and flung them at the pair.

"Don't you have an umbrella or something?" Kim asked as they dried themselves off.

"We did…" Maple fidgeted.

"We left it behind when Cherry took off," Mark explained, handing his towel back over.

"How long has she been gone?"

"I don't know…almost an hour, I think."

"A whole hour?" she asked, taking Maple's towel from her, "who else is looking?"

"Umm…" Mark hesitated, "we came here first…"

Kim blinked again, "alright, fair enough. Any ideas where she might have gone?"

They both shook their heads.

"Grand…" she grumbled, "hey! You two hear that?!"

"Somebody's missing?" Sprinkle called, coming over to lend a hand.

"Yeah, Cherry's missing," Mark nodded, "we have to find her. Soon."

Sprinkle stared blankly for a few moments.

"The Charmander-girl," Kim supplied and realization came to Sprinkle and quickly turned to fear.

"Oh my gosh!" she gasped, covering her mouth, "Volt, come on!"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

"Lead the way," Kim nodded to Mark.

The group was assembled and ready to go, when there was a second knock at the door.

This time, Quickstep, the human Mienshao that Kim met alongside Maple was standing there. However, he proceeded to ignore her and glared directly at Mark and Maple.

"You two are a piece of work," he complained, "You run around in circles for an hour and neither of you thinks 'Hey! We can just ask the psychic guy for help!'" He paused for effect before continuing his tirade, "Nope! Never crosses your freaking minds! So I have to chase you down myself just because Astral's too much of an all-important jackass to do it himself!" He directed his next comment at the ceiling, "You heard me!"

"Quickstep!" Maple cheered. Whether she chose to ignore his rant or didn't take notice was difficult to say.

"Yeah, hey…" he nodded back.

"Umm…who is this?" Mark asked the Leafeon-girl.

"Oh!" she started, "Mark, this is Quickstep. He's the one who introduced me to PureBlueSky and Teardrop and Briar and Pixie and Cashmere and…oh!"

"Yeah, Astral," Quickstep supplied the name she forgot, "and if you're all ready to go, we'd better leave before your little Charmander moves again."

"You found Cherry?!" Maple exclaimed.

"No, Astral did," Quickstep sighed heavily, "sweet Arceus, have you even been listening?"

"I'm sorry…" Maple's ears drooped as she looked away.

"Dammit, don't start that now," Quickstep groaned, "c'mon, let's just get going already. We got a long walk ahead of us. She's fast for such a little thing."

"Is she okay?" Mark asked. He had no idea what to make of Quickstep. So far he had no reason to like him. But no matter what he thought about Quickstep, Cherry's safety came first.

"She's fine," Quickstep assured him, "wet, like we'll be, but otherwise fine. Still kinda pissed at you, but she'll calm down. She's only ten."

Mark nodded. He had no idea what he could say to apologize to Cherry, but first they needed to get her off of the streets. Alone out there, she was a walking target for Team Deus. They needed to hurry.

"Come on, losers," Quickstep directed, "follow me."

"Your dad's in charge of the whole tournament?" Cherry asked.

"Yep!" Claire chirped, "The whooooole tournament was his idea. He paid for it and everything!"

"Really? Wow," Cherry said, not as impressed as what she probably should have been. She thought she remembered hearing about Alfred Silph before, but she wasn't sure. Of course, if he ran the tournament then he certainly was important.

"What about you?" Claire asked.

Cherry tried to think of something impressive to say. There wasn't much to pick from. She didn't want to say that she spent most of her life in a Team Deus prison. There wasn't really anything else to talk about.

"My trainer's name is Mark," was the only thing she could decide on.

"Really?" Claire asked with full enthusiasm, "what's he like?"

"He's…" Cherry tried to pick a word that suited him best, "he's a liar."

"Really?" Claire asked with dismay this time, "what did he lie about?"

"He said that I'd evolve if I fought a bunch of Pokémon and trained a whole bunch," Cherry explained, "but it didn't work. Now I have to fight in the tournament as a Charmander."

"You're fighting in the tournament?!" Claire squealed with delight, "That's so cool!"

"Uh…I guess so…" Cherry hadn't really thought about it. The matches were fun to watch, but she had never thought about how she would be in one of them.

"Wow…I wish I could fight…" Claire mused, "Daddy won't let me train until I'm a bit older. He doesn't want me to get hurt."

"Huh? Really?" Cherry asked. That was odd. Claire was definitely old enough to fight. All of the other kids trained just like the adults. Why wouldn't her dad let her fight? Mark let Cherry fight, after all…

"When's your next match?" Claire asked, changing the subject.

"Tomorrow morning," Cherry told her, her voice was filled with dread.

"Okay, I'll be there!" Claire declared, "We never miss any of the matches!"

"Oh…" Cherry slowed down her swing; she didn't feel like it anymore, "don't go to mine. You'll just see me lose…"

"Really? Why?"

"Because I'm stuck as a Charmander…"

"That doesn't mean you'll lose," Claire pointed out, "Trainers in cartoons win with unevolved Pokémon all the time. They're really good!"

"In cartoons, maybe, but this is real life," Cherry pointed out. She didn't know what to do. The toughest fight of her whole life was only a day away and she would still be a Charmander for it. Nothing more than a weak little kid.

"Nuh-uh," Claire shook her head, "trainers do it in real life, too."

"They do not."

"Do too!"

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"Okay, fine," Cherry was too tired to argue, "Maybe they do, but what about human Pokémon?"

Claire had to think about that. She really hadn't ever seen an unevolved human Pokémon fight a match before. There weren't any in the entire tournament. There never had been.

"Maybe you could be the first!" she suggested.

"Hmm…" that sounded tempting, "no…no, I'm too weak."

"Ohh…that's too bad…" Claire began to stop swinging as well.

Cherry had already come to a full stop and started twisting in her seat once more. She released and let herself spin in a circle. The headache from her dizziness was still lingering behind when she started again. The second time made her feel queasy. Worse, now that she wasn't moving, the constant rain started to bother her again.

"What other Pokémon does your trainer have?" Claire asked, still eager to talk to her new friend.

"Well…Maple's the only other human Pokémon he has. She's a Leafeon."

"A Leafeon?!" Claire exclaimed, letting her swing come to a slow stop, "wait…isn't Mark the name of the person who's fighting with just one human Pokémon?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah! Yeah, it is!" Claire hopped up and down in her seat, "He beat three human Pokémon with a Leafeon and a bunch of regular Pokémon!"

"He did?" Cherry had never heard about that. Mark and Maple didn't tell her much about the start of the tournament.

"I didn't realize he had you too!" Claire missed Cherry's question, "that was a really good match! You're lucky to have a trainer like him!"

"I am?" Cherry doubted that.

"Hey, what attacks do you know?" Claire turned and leaned towards her.

"Umm…I know Smokescreen, and Flame Burst," Claire's violet eyes grew wider and more excited with each new name, "and Slash, and…I'm not supposed to say the last one…"

"That's okay," Claire told her, "you don't have to. All I know is Scratch and Growl…"

Cherry nodded. Three days ago she didn't know much more than that. She really had come a long way. And that was all because of Mark. He worried all the time, but what was he worried about? Did he just want to win or was he worried about Cherry?

"Your dad won't let you fight?" Cherry asked. Something about what Claire said bothered her.

"Nuh-uh," Claire shook her head, "he says I have to wait until I'm older."

"But you're older than me…sorta," Cherry said, perplexed by the idea, "you could even fight in the tournament if you wanted."

"I know…" Claire said, "But Daddy's not a trainer…" It was strange how sad Claire was when she said it. It was as if she were watching a bunch of other kids buying ice cream in the summer but wasn't allowed to have any for herself.

Cherry didn't know what to say. If she didn't have a trainer, Claire might have to live her entire life without battling. It made Cherry sad to think about.

Claire started swinging again, faster and faster. Cherry watched her for a minute or two, wondering what it was like to live as a normal human girl with cat-ears, a tail, and hair the color of pink bubblegum. And almost never see somebody like you.

Cherry started swinging to try and catch up to the Skitty-girl who was already at the top of her swing. She was used to the swings by then, but Claire was an expert at them. It took another few minutes for her to catch up.

"Would it make you happy to see me battle?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah!" Claire answered, "That would be really cool!"

"What if I lost?"

"I dunno…" Claire answered, "Would losing make you sad?"

"Probably…"

"Then I'll be sad with you," Claire declared, "If you win, I'll be happy with you. If you lose, I'll be sad with you."

Cherry nodded. Win or lose, Claire would be behind her. The Skitty-girl wasn't allowed to fight, but Cherry began to realize that she could fight and win for both of them.

She just made a new friend.

AN: part of why I decided to end the last chapter where I did was because of Cherry and Claire's conversation. I was in the middle of it and realized it was going to be pretty darn long. They wound up having a lot to say to each other.

Btw, I got Pokemon Y yesterday. I haven't played a whole lot just yet, but I made it to Lumiose City and got Bulbasaur for my second starter. Now I have my newest starter and my first starter in the same team…the nostalgia is awesome

I told you I was old.

Anyways, that'll do it for this week.

Thanks for reading!