I was awoken the next morning by Shinobi taking the covers off of me and shaking me lightly.
"I'm awake! I'm awake!" I stage-whispered to her, giving her a stern look as she retreated with an awkward chuckle. After dressing in the corner and waking Azure and Cinder, I called for everyone. "Okay, everyone, gather round." I yelled, getting Azure and Cinder to drag themselves out of bed. "Santalune City has a Pokemon Gym in it. I'm pretty sure that the owner uses Bug Pokemon. I think you know where this is going." They all nodded and Cinder hopped onto my shoulder triumpantly.
"Oh yeah, someone's going to be kicking some ass today!" She boasted as I returned Azure and Shinobi, hoisting my bag over my shoulder and sighing. "What's wrong, Jack? I thought you'd be excited!" She yelled, pecking me in an aggravating manner.
"You know I'm not doing any of this out of choice. I'm going to go through, beat some of the gyms and return home, tell my mother to fuck off and die for throwing me out the house, and retire as a trainer." Cinder seemed shocked by my statement. "When I return home, I'll release Azure and whoever else I catch back into the wild, ask Shinobi what she wants to do, then go back with you to how my life used to be." Cinder looked annoyed. "I'll grow up, get a job, buy a house, and be normal. I don't want this to be the way I live." I sighed again and pushed open the door, walking out of the Pokemon Center and into the street. "Now where's this gym. I want to get this over with." Cinder pointed in the vague direction and I started walking at a brisk pace.
"We're here, Cinder." I stared up at the museum-like building, unimpressed by the spectacle. I was more concerned with the girl next to the building trying to fit roller-skates on a Zigzagoon. She looked over to me, blinked once, and diverted her attention back to it. "What the hell are you doing to that Zigzagoon?" I asked, looking at the scared creature at her feet.
"I'm trying to teach my Zigzagoon how to skate." She said, frustrated at the Zigzagoon, who seemed to be tripping over his own feet in an effort to stand up. "What's it to you?"
"Well, I don't really care. All I'm asking is - is that really practical?"
"Nah." She muttered, getting more annoyed by her klutzy racoon. "Well, unless I can get the bloody guy to stand up. If that happens, he'll be much faster in battle." She gestured to the racoon, who had managed to get used to standing and moving about.
"Pretty sure that's not legal, or even functional, but whatever. I'm going in the gym." I started walking towards the building, but she grabbed my by the back of my jacket and pulled me towards her.
"Not yet. I'm challenging you to a Pokemon Battle." She took off her rollerskates and stared at me.
"Why? Have you got any other Pokemon besides the comedy routine?" She looked at me angrily. "No? Then you're not worth my time." I was about to walk into the building, but the Zigzagoon managed to get itself moving properly and bit my leg. "OW! Get your bloody rodent off of me!" I grabbed Azure's Pokeball and threw it behind the frenzied creature. "Get this blasted thing off of me, Azure!" I screamed, sighing with relief as she effortlessly tossed the thing aside with her tail. I stood up and grabbed the Zigzagoon, throwing it at its trainer's head. "And stay down!" I put Azure back in her Pokeball and walked inside the building.
The interior was laughable. There were a few paintings of bugs hanging from the walls, and the building appeared to be so run down that there was a hole in the ground with what looked like a web in it. However, upon closer inspection I realised that it was some sort of nylon thread, and that the hole led down to the Pokemon Gym proper.
"What a weird design." Cinder chirped, staring down the chasm.
"You can say that again." I muttered, grabbing her beak to stop her from doing just that. With nothing to lose, I grabbed the thread and used the walls of the hole to rappel down the hole. However, the hole didn't go all the way into the cave. Instead, there was a large fall onto what felt like a spider web. I got up and brushed myself off. "This is the strangest place I've ever seen." I whispered, looking around the nature-filled cave, realising that I didn't care and walking across the web. I walked past trainers who took one look at Cinder and decided not to throw their lives away, eventually coming across a tent-like structure at the back. I peered inside to see a woman wearing incredibly bulky cargo shorts taking pictures of a familiar-looking Vivillion.
"Viola, he's arrived." He said, gesturing to me. Before I had time to wonder what kind of name Viola was, she turned her gaze to me.
"Ah! You must be that trainer my Vivillion was talking about! I'm Viola, but you knew that already. What's your name?" I looked at her quizzically but told her regardless. "So, Jack. As you have probably figured out, I'm the Gym Leader of Santalune City. My name's Viola. I'm a photographer of bug Pokemon." She proudly stated. I stifled a laugh.
"Someone's career went downhill." Cinder whispered into my ear.
"Yes, um ... I do this on my spare time to help pay for my equipment. However, just because I'm not a seasoned battler doesn't mean that I'm not worth your time." She shouted, walking away and pulling a Pokeball out of one of her pockets. "I'll show you why!" She yelled, throwing the Pokeball to the ground and releasing a Surskit. I didn't even bother holding back my laughter.
"Okay, what we're you saying again? That not being a seasoned battler doesn't mean that you're not a match for me?" I said, much to the frustration of both her and her Surskit. "Oh, this'll take seconds." I threw out Shinobi's Pokeball, letting her share in the laughter. "Okay, Shinobi. Use-"
"Fell Stinger, Surskit!" Viola yelled, pointing at Shinobi
"Fell Stinger? What the fuck is a-" I watched in amazement as the Surskit slid up to Shinobi and shot a stinger at her from god-knows-where, sending her flying off of the wooden platform and down the chasm. "SHINOBI!" I yelled, running over and peering over the edge.
"I'm alright! There's a net! Don't worry!" She shouted back at me. I sighed, pulled her Pokeball back out and returned her to it. When I turned back, however, the Surskit was glowig some sort of horrible dark-red colour.
"The fuck is wrong with your Pokemon." I asked her, pulling out Azure's Pokeball and sending her out. "It's glowing red. It that bad? Am I screwed?" Viola nodded.
"Fell Stinger doubles the power of the user if it defeats the opponent with it. Yes, you're very screwed, Jack." She yelled, pointing at Azure and instructing the Surskit to do it again.
"Oh crap. Any last words, Azure?"
Azure shook her head and hopped over to the Surskit. She sighed, took a few deep breaths, whispered something in its ear and kissed it. Almost instantly the red aura around it dissipated and it fell to the ground. "What was that? Did you use Charm?" I asked her, watching her look away and chuckle a little. "Not really. Well, it worked, so it doesn't really matter." She looked at the Surskit, which was still completely out of it. "What next, boss?"
"Well, the only atacking move you know is Bubble, so use that." She nodded, spraying the Surskit in a series of watery projectiles. Despite not being very effective, the Surskit closed its eyes and accepted its fate. "What the hell was that? One ineffective attack and it's down? That's ..."
"Pathetic?" Cinder continued, reminding me that she was still there.
"Yeah. Then again, Surskit have all the lastability of already-broken biscuits, so I shouldn't be too surprised. Got anything else terrible, Viola?" I teased, putting Azure back in her Pokeball. Viola was at her wit's end.
"Not bad at all. However, no. I have Vivillion, though." She instructed Vivillion to take her Surskit's place. "How's that?"
"Much better. Cinder?" She nodded and hopped down to the ground, staring up at the butterfly.
"So, Jack. I said I was going to battle you, and here I am. Don't hold anything back." I shook my head at the Vivillion.
"Alright, Cinder. Use Peck!"
"Infestation!" Both of our Pokemon flew towards the other. Vivillion flapped its wings at a brisk pace, sending out a cloud of spores at Cinder, who flew right past them and stabbed him with her beak. He dropped to the ground, dragging himself back up and precariously standing, half concious. Cinder landed and soon collapsed, small creatures coming up out of the ground and beginnning to eat her. However, she shook them off and stood up.
"What the hell was that? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned, sighing with relief as she nodded her response. "It's almost gone, and I don't want that to happen again. Use Quick Attack." She went back into the air and seemed to disappear, re-appearing behind Vivillion and dashing into him, knocking him into the ground.
"Well, I guess you win." Viola muttered, grabbing a strange badge from a box in the corner. "This is my gym's badge, the Bug Badge. It's a sign that you beat me." She handed me the badge. I inspected it before putting it in my pocket.
"Uh, thanks, I guess." I murmured, walking towards a set of stairs that seemed to be a shortcut out of the gym.
"Wait." The Vivillion called, getting back on its feet. "Can Cinder stay here a little while? I'd like to train with her for a while." I considered the proposal, but found myself not having to do so, as Cinder had made the decision for me and flown down to him.
"I'll catch up with you later, boss!" She yelled as I walked up the hidden staircase and came up to a dead end. I pushed the dead end, I realised it was a painting. And it smashed.
I ran out the building as fast as possible.
When I considered myself to be a safe distance away from the crime scene, I sent out Azure and Shinobi.
"Okay girls, it's not late yet, but it's probably too late to start travelling. Plus, Cinder's down at the Pokemon Gym training." I quickly showed them my badge to clear up any confusion. "With all that in mind, I'm gonna say that today you can do whatever you want in and around the city. Go nuts." The girls took a moment to think.
"I'm going for a walk back on Route 3. I need to clear my head." Shinobi told me, walking away.
"Well, Jack. I suppose it's just you and me, then. I haven't got anything particular in mind, so I'll just go along with you." We exchanged short smiles before walking off.
The next few hours were rather eventful. We went and ate dinner, visited the local clothing store and bought Azure a black baseball cap that she was obsessing over, and spent the rest of our time walking around the small city bonding. Eventually, when it got dark, I decided that I'd gotten close enough to her to give her a hug. I got down on my knees and gave her a brief hug, but pulled away when I realised that I was holding a Marill.
"What's the matter? Is there something on my face?" She asked, feeling around her face with her arms before stopping and staring at them in confusion. "I HAVE ARMS?!" She screamed in surprise. "When did those get there? ... Oh, right. I must have evolved into a Marill." We looked at each other as the cogs turned in her head. "Wait - I'm only supposed to evolve when I make a deep emotional connection with someone." She used her newly-acquired arms to adjust her cap and smiled at me. "Thanks, Jack. I'm glad I've got a friend like you." We hugged properly, now that she had arms to reciprocate it.
"Well, now that we've got that cleared up, shall we go get Shinobi?" I asked her, standing back up and walking off with her.
We sat down at the entrance to Route 3 and waited. We waited for a good hour, and there was nothing. Then we waited some more. Eventually, after it had gotten dark, Shinobi decided to make an appearance, much to the shock of both of us.
"So, you sure took your sweet time with your walk." I said, gritting my teeth. "Where the hell were you? We've been waiting for hours!"
"I'm sorry. I really lost track of time. I promise it won't happen again." She muttered, looking at the floor. After calming myself down, I hoisted her onto my shoulder and woke Azure up. "So, I see that Azure evolved. Guessing that you two must've had quite the fun in my absence." She pointed out, trying to break the near-impenetrable ice.
"Yeah." Azure said calmly, still trying to wake herself up.
"So ... what now?" She asked me.
"Well, due to the fact that someone managed to waste all our fucking time, the Pokemon Center's rooms are now all filled, so we're sleeping in the tent." I muttered, pulling the tarp and pegs from my bag. "Figure out the sleeping arrangements between yourselves, my time has better uses." I told them, starting to pitch the tent.
"Hey, Azure? Why are you wearing a hat?" Shinobi asked, inspecting the cap on the Marill's head. "I kinda like it. It suits you."
"It was just a present from Jack. Speaking of, tent done yet?"
"Yep." I shouted, rolling the last of the tarp across the grass and putting the sleeping bag inside, in addition to my pillow. I also pulled another pillow and a blanket from my bag which I had bought earlier in the day.
"Okay, with these in mind, who's sleeping where?" Without a word, Azure grabbed the extra pillow and blanket, set them up next to the sleeping bag and got inside, lying on the pillow and covering herself with the small blanket. "Okay then. Shinobi, what about you?"
"I'll show you when you're in your sleeping bag." She whispered, as Azure had already fallen asleep. I got into the sleeping bag and slipped my jacket, undershirt, hat and jeans off.
"Okay, hit me. Where are you sleeping tonight?"
"Well, this may sound strange, but can I ... get inside your sleeping bag with you?" My eyes widened. She was making her move.
"But, I'm practically naked."
"Yeah. You are." She smiled and hopped over to me. "Does it matter? Like you said, we're all friends here." I frowned.
Using my own words against me, was she? How rude.
"Fine. Because you're my friend, I'll let you get inside here. However, you have to face away from me the whole night, and if you touch me once you get inside, you're sleeping outside." She reluctantly accepted the compromise, gently trying to get herself into the sleeping bag. To stop myself from laughing and waking Azure up, I gently grabbed her sides and managed to get her into the prison of heat. "Satisfied?" I asked, kissing her forehead and stopping her from rolling over.
"I thought you said that I'd have to face away from you the whole night?" She inquired, staring into my warm eyes. "Or did you change your mind?" I nodded, carefully bringing my arm around her and holding her. We fell asleep in each others embrace.