Hello there! Welcome to chapter 14! Guise, guess what? It's the one-year anniversary of this story! (even though it's almost midnight) *throws confetti and streamers* I can't believe it's already been a year; it feels like I just started this last week. *sweatdrop* Didn't get too awfully many chapters done this year... but I think the word count is pretty good... maybe not... I dunno. XD
Anyway, a big thanks to all of you who have been around here for the year! I hope you stick around for another, because this story is just starting to get fun. *rubs hands together*
Another bit with N in the beginning. This should be fun. XD
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
"-and when we found it… there was a Plasma Grunt with it." N's mind seemed to halt, his entire world going still as shock set in. He could barely hear the clunks and thunks behind him as all of his Pokémon rushed to look over his shoulder.
Team Plasma… they were supposed to be completely disbanded. At least that's what he'd heard. He'd read in the newspaper not too long ago that White had captured all of the Team Plasma Sages. The article had said that she'd found the last and Looker had taken him into custody nearly three months ago, they'd held off on publishing it till later due to some sort of confidentiality.
N had been a bit more relaxed after that. He finally felt as if he could take his mind off of the past and fully set it on trying to find the future. All of his wrong-doings and the ties he had with Team Plasma were slowly but surely disintegrating, and before long he wondered and hoped if the entire thing would have blown over. That way he could return to Unova without it being a big deal. If everyone had forgiven him, he could live a normal life in peace.
Not only that, but he could finally put his heart and soul into finding the truth. The truth of the interaction between Pokémon and humans. Sure, he'd been at it nonstop since he'd read that article months ago, nearly nothing holding him back now, but he still hadn't made any progress. He'd taken that short trip back to Unova, without truly realizing it, his path slowly trailing back to his home region, but he'd left again. He wasn't finding any answers, which at first frustrated him, but after breathing that clean Unovian air, things started to make sense. Maybe he was looking for something that'd been right in front of him all along. Maybe there wasn't some magical answer when it came to the relationship between humans and the creatures he loved so much. Maybe in those small moments he'd see White, or another trainer, playing and laughing with their Pokémon, that was the answer. If people were happy being with Pokémon, and Pokémon were happy being with people, maybe that was as simple as it was.
Sure, there were those trainers out there who abused or neglected their Pokémon, but that definitely didn't mean they were the majority. Maybe they were the sore minority. Maybe it wasn't a matter of separating all trainers and Pokémon, more just a matter of finding those that abused theirs and working on them alone. Maybe the eye-opening answer had been something he'd observed his first journey over.
He'd hit that realization about a week prior to White's sudden voicemail. He'd felt free, like suddenly his entire mind and body was cleared and maybe he could finally move on. He could go back to Unova, reconnect with those he'd left, and start on another pathway. Surely he could do something about those trainers who were horrible to their Pokémon; he had Reshiram's help after all.
But with this voicemail, he suddenly began to doubt it all again. Sure he could go back to Unova, sure he'd had some closure and had realized what he needed and wanted to do, and sure he'd finally found an answer that had to do with Pokémon-human interaction that finally satisfied him, but with Plasma back… he was back to square one on a different matter.
If Team Plasma was once again active, and the Sages and Ghetsis had escaped, just as White had said, he would face great opposition.
There wasn't a doubt in his mind that they were after stealing Pokémon again. If they did that, the region would once again turn against them, which would mean the region turning against him as well, as he was still likely viewed as part of Plasma.
He listened to the rest of White's voicemail quietly, his mind running non-stop.
It felt so unfair. He finally had that closure and excitement he so seeked. He finally had the drive and the will to start seeing the world the way White saw it, and he was beyond excited to go back and tell her. He figured he'd spend a few more weeks in Kanto –he was having a very good time with Professor Oak. That man did know a lot about Pokémon- but after that he figured he'd finally go back to Unova and face everyone, White included. He could finally see the end of the deep depression he felt he'd sunken into, and now it was all ruined again.
He became even more confused when White mentioned the Ice Gem Ghetsis had given to her. He had no idea what it could mean either. Of course, he wasn't surprised.
He hadn't had any clue that Plasma would arise again. He thought they were done for good, and even if they weren't, he was nearly positive they wouldn't be able to get back onto their feet. But without him hearing anything, without even receiving a quick call from Rood, the Sage he'd always been in close-contact with, they had started stealing Pokémon again, working toward that goal that he'd originally thought his own. They were separating people from Pokémon, just after he'd realized exactly how flawed that goal was.
He bit his fingernails, his Pokémon watching White with intrigue as she finished her voicemail. He felt a little bit better by the end. She seemed sad and defeated at first, but by the end he could see that spark of hope and fire in her eyes. She'd said she should just work toward defeating them again; she'd done it once after all.
He felt a little more at ease. There was no doubt in his mind that White could take down Plasma again. In fact, he was more sure of it this time, since he wouldn't be a distraction. She was powerful, just as he was, and without a fellow Hero to defeat, she'd probably have a nearly easy time of it.
The screen clicked black for a second as White hung up before it displayed all of her messages. He sat still and silent for a bit, his Pokémon muttering behind him. Maybe it all wasn't a lost cause. The people of Unova wouldn't like him while Plasma was around stealing Pokémon again, but if White was going to take them down again… Unova might not be so adverse to him after all of that. If they saw Team Plasma arise and then disband once again, all without him interfering, they might accept him.
He knew White was trying to convince everyone, even if it was one person at a time, that he wasn't to blame. He just hoped it was working.
"Oy, anyone else know about this?" N looked over his shoulder at Carracosta as the blue tortoise pointed a flipper at each of N's Pokémon.
All of them shook their heads and N finally did as well, giving his turtle Pokémon a sympathetic look. "Sorry guys. I think our trip back home will be a bit delayed."
Archeops whined to itself before shooting up into the air and doing loops to blow off steam. Carracosta, Vanilluxe, and Klinklang all seemed indifferent, shrugging and going their separate ways.
N hadn't exactly been worried about those four, rather the other two who sat on the grass, staring at him intently. It was deathly quiet, aside from the wind blowing lightly and a few chirps of Pidgeys in the distance. N had found sitting in the corral full of White's Pokémon at Professor Oak's to be very relaxing. All of them knew him anyway, and tended to take a liking to him.
Zoroark's gaze was nearly piercing but before long he shrugged, muttering, "Fine by me. Whatever'll make things the easiest."
N then turned to Reshiram, who hadn't spoken, his eyes steeled and his teeth clenched. Zekrom sat beside the white dragon, the two brothers becoming quite inseparable in their time together at Oak's lab. The black dragon yawned, grunting at Reshiram. "Eh, don't worry 'bout White. We beat you two like it was nothin' so I think she'll be fine this time." The dragon's eyes widened and he began lightly prancing in place, his steps shaking the entire area. "Ooh, I bet that means she'll be transferring me back soon! She said she'd wait 'till she was Champion, but with this maybe it'll be sooner!" The dragon roared in happiness. N couldn't help but smile.
Reshiram sent a sideways glance at Zekrom before shaking his head. "No, White isn't the one I'm worried about; we've been shown her strength time and time again. I have faith in her and her abilities, even without you." Zekrom barked angrily at Reshiram and the white dragon smiled, turning his gaze back down to N. "I saw this coming, but I don't think you did. Did you honestly think that man wouldn't try again?"
N was slightly taken aback, his eyebrows shooting upward in surprise. "I… No. I guess I thought he'd be in jail." N's mind wandered for a second. "But I guess it was pretty predictable that the Shadow Triad would help him get free… and I suppose he'd want the other Sages free as well. But even so, I thought that surely they wouldn't have the funds or the willpower to do it again. It took almost two decades to get to where they were a year ago; I thought it'd take at least that long before they could even think about stealing Pokémon again." N flinched, a feeling akin to frustration boiling in the pit of his stomach. Stealing Pokémon. Even the thought still made him furious. Stealing was definitely different than liberating.
Reshiram took a deep breath before nodding. "I suppose that's sound logic. Even so, I assumed it would happen. I'm not surprised. Although, I would like to know what you plan on doing. It sounds like White, even though she's hesitant, is going to try and destroy them again, all the while working toward her goal to be Champion. The one that seemed as lost as you were now has a plan. What is your plan, N?"
N paused for a second. Indeed, in the beginning when White would plead for him to come back to Unova, he felt as if they were in a similar boat. They both knew what they wanted; for her it was the Championship and for him it was closure, but neither one knew how to get there happily. Slowly but surely they both began to grow and mature and slowly but surely they both began to reach and get closer and closer to those goals, all the while tying up loose ends. Now, she seemed to have her plan: she was going to collect the remaining Gym Badges, train new Pokémon, take down Team Plasma, and then become Champion. Her goals were set in stone. His weren't. He was being left behind.
"Well," he started, taking a deep and steadying breath. Reshiram knew that he'd found the answer that he'd been looking for. He'd told the white dragon about his small epiphany; that the answer had been right in front of his nose the entire time, and so simple that it almost made him feel stupid. "I mean I guess I thought I'd go back to Unova and work toward helping Pokémon who were owned by abusive trainers."
Reshiram nodded. "But what about now? After hearing that news?"
N opened his mouth to answer before quickly closing it. He wasn't entirely sure. "I guess I'll wait till it all blows over and then go back…" he trailed off. It sounded awfully cowardly. He looked up at Reshiram with a sheepish smile. "What do you think I should do?" The dragon seemed to be much more intuitive than he was.
Reshiram let out a chuckle. "I think you should do whatever you think you should do. If you think it'd be best to not interfere and wait till White does her duty and wrecks your father's team again before going back, -I'm assuming because of the reception you'd get- then I think that's what you should do. You're the hero after all, not me."
N let out a relieved sigh before nodding. It felt nice to have his dragon agree with him, even if it was only because Reshiram would support him whichever way he went.
N leaned back on his hands to look at the sky. There. He had somewhat of a plan. He would go back to Unova after everything had passed. He'd go back and repair his relationship with White and the Unovian people alike, and then he'd work toward his ultimate goal of eliminating any abuse or neglect or mistreatment of Pokémon.
Although, he figured it'd be easier said than done.
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Chapter 14: New Thoughts
"Mei? Hugh?" I knocked lightly on the door for nearly the tenth time. Although I was not a morning person, sometimes catching crap from Bianca and Cheren alike about how much I slept, these two sure had me beat. If they thought they could travel around the region, sleeping till noon, they were sorely mistaken. That, or they planned on taking years to get to even Castelia.
I'd awoken a few hours earlier with a jolt of realization. Bianca had told me to call Juniper… and I never had. Professor Juniper was an insanely understanding woman, but that was no excuse. I wanted to learn as much about this Snivy I had as I could, and who better to talk to than the woman who had given it out?
I'd called her as quickly as I could and she'd waved her hand to dismiss it, telling me it was quite alright; that we both were busy people and it was understandable. She'd then asked where I was, and when I'd said Virbank, she'd promptly told me to meet her at a small café near the Virbank Complex in four hours time, and she'd be there. It was now about three and a half hours later, and I was growing impatient.
I assumed Hugh and Mei wanted to get up at least before the sun set if they planned on taking the Gym Challenge, well at least if Hugh did anyway. Mei had seemed so excited last night to see the city, and Hugh was more than pumped to battle the Gym Leader. Why weren't they getting up?
"White?" I jumped slightly, looking down the hallway toward the lobby of the Pokémon Center to see Hugh sauntering toward me, a soft pretzel in one hand as he chewed on it lazily.
I looked to the door, then to Hugh, and back again. I'd thought for sure he'd been inside. "Hey Hugh… Where've you been?"
He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Went to battle the Gym Leader." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She was pretty tough but my Pokémon pulled through." He grinned and gave me a thumbs up.
My eyebrows shot upwards. So not only had he not been sleeping, but in the amount of time I'd been up, he'd gone to the gym, challenged it, gotten his Gym Badge, and then had time to buy a pretzel? Wow. This kid was just as productive as I'd pictured him to be. I pointed to the door. "Did Mei go with you?" I'd be awfully embarrassed if I'd been knocking on the door for nearly ten minutes without anyone inside.
Hugh rolled his eyes. "Nope. She's in there. She sleeps like a rock; it's really a bit of a bummer." He took a quick look down at his watch before exaggeratedly rolling his eyes, pulling out the room key, and shoving into the bedroom. "Mei," he whined.
I peered inside to see a lump of sheets grumbling on the bottom bunk of the bed inside. I barely remembered what the smaller rooms at Pokémon Centers looked like; I hadn't been in one in forever.
"C'mon," Hugh barked, grabbing ahold of the sheets and ripping them from the sleeping girl. She flailed, arms and legs flying everywhere.
"HUGH!" she shrieked, flopping around and finally rolling off of the bed with a thud and an 'oof'. She sat up, rubbing her back and glaring up at her traveling partner. "Dang it, Hugh. Why'd you do that?"
He glowered down at her, tossing her sheets back onto the bed. "Because it's twelve-thirty and you're still not up. I'm starting to think all that stuff you jabbered about catching cute Pokémon was a lie. All the cute ones are up early."
Mei gasped, her eyes going wide. "Really?! I didn't know that!" She was up and off of the floor in a blur, shoving Hugh out of the room and into the hallway, nearly knocking me over in the process as he stumbled out. She slammed the door shut, and a few moments and a lot of ruckus later, she opened it again, her hair done perfectly, her clothes without a wrinkle, and her bag packed. "Okay, I'm ready!" she sang.
I stared at her in shock for a moment before Hugh patted me on the shoulder. "You'll get used to it after a while," he grinned. I looked over at him as he sent a wink my way before turning on his heel and sauntering off toward the lobby.
Something told me they'd known each other for a very long time and Hugh had learned all the tricks to get Mei to do almost anything. That stuff about cute Pokémon being up early was absolutely bogus after all. I snorted to myself before jogging after him, Mei giggling as she danced after me.
A few moments later we'd all made our way out onto the streets of Virbank. Nurse Joy had told us to enjoy the day and honestly, I couldn't see how we wouldn't. Just like the past night the smell of the sea hit me instantly, and now that it was light outside, I could tell why. It was a town built on the ocean. The cobblestone streets and wooden docks here and there were all surrounded by crystal clear blue saltwater. It was otherworldly and beautiful and the cries of Wingull broke out into the open air.
Mei danced on ahead. "Where do you guys wanna go first?"
I looked down at my X-transceiver on my wrist and sighed. "Juniper should be at the café any minute; I should probably head on over there."
Hugh coughed. "Juniper? As in, the Professor Juniper?"
I stared blankly at him for a moment as his eyes grew wide with excitement. "Y-yeah, that Juniper." She'd given me my first Pokémon, and I'd talked with her numerous times on my journey and afterwards alike; I forgot sometimes that she was a widely renown researcher.
Hugh looked like he could explode for a second before he took a deep and calming breath. "Is there any way I could… join you guys?"
I chuckled. "Sure, the more the merrier. I'm sure she'd be happy to meet new trainers as well."
He gave me a thankful smile before shoving his hands into his pockets. "You lead the way then."
Mei whined suddenly. "Oh c'mon you guys! You're such buzzkills. We're surrounded by this beautiful day and you want to sit at a café and talk?" She frowned. "That sounds boring to me."
Just as I was about to tell her that she could go ahead and do what she wanted, Hugh nearly steaming beside me at the insult to Juniper, a different and fancy voice rang out into the air.
"Oh my! Is that who I think it is?"
I froze. When people said that nowadays, ten to one they were talking about me. I peered over my shoulder to see a very stout and very short man jiggling up to us. He walked with his hands out to his sides, his blonde and balding head shining in the sunlight. He wore a bright purple suit, but surprisingly… he was pulling it off.
The small man stopped in front of Hugh and I, his eyes sweeping me up and down, his tiny mouth in the shape of a small 'o'. "Well, it is! It's our wonderful Hero!" He clapped his hands together before throwing them up into the air in joy. He then looked to Hugh, scanning the boy up and down with pursed lips, tsking to himself.
"Hey!" Hugh growled in offense.
The man held up his hands. "Oh my, don't mind me. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Stu Deeoh, Owner of Pokestar Studios." He held out his hand and I hesitantly took it. He shook it roughly, so fast our hands nearly blurred before holding a hand out to Hugh.
The boy crossed his arms, sticking his nose up into the air in defiance. He was still offended by that weird look this Stu guy had been giving him.
Stu shook his head. "Well, we have a feisty one."
"Pokestar Studios…" I trailed off. "That's the new cinema right? The one with its own production company on site?"
Mr. Deeoh's eyes lit up. "White, the Hero of our region has heard of my studio?" I swore I saw him blush as he giggled to himself. "I have to admit I'm flattered."
Mei slowly trotted up behind us, peering over our shoulders at the small man. "Did you say Pokestar Studios?" she asked.
Mr. Deeoh nodded. "Yes, young lady. Anyway!" His attention turned back to me, his eyes sparkling. "This can't just be a coincidence! I can see it now! The Hero of Unova starring in one of our shows!" He took in a breath, looking upwards dreamily. "Oh it'd be fantastic. Ms. White, I do invite you to star in one of our shows! It would be magnificent! You wouldn't regret it!"
I stumbled. "Wait, what? Now?" Stu nodded and I held up my hands. There wasn't anything that sounded more embarrassing than staring in some show. I'd never acted before, but I hardly thought I could compare to those actors on TV or in shows. "I-I have a meeting to get to," I laughed awkwardly. It was true, if we kept talking like this Juniper would think I'd stood her up.
It went on for what seemed like forever after that. Stu was a persistent man, throwing possibility after possibility my way as I came up with excuse after excuse, trying to somehow sneak my way out of this magical show he talked of.
Finally, a decent idea dawned upon me. I leaned backward, grabbing Mei by the shoulders and shoving her toward Mr. Deeoh. "Here. This is Mei, she looks a lot like me, and I think she'd be absolutely perfect for your show. She'd be my first choice for the lead in a show! You can say that I supported her!" I nodded quickly with a smile, hoping the man would accept.
Mei gasped, her face heating up with both embarrassment and excitement. I'd guessed right; she did find shows exciting. I figured with her personality she'd be one of those girls who'd jump on the opportunity to act in anything, as long as they were in the spotlight.
Stu tapped his chin thoughtfully before throwing up his arms. "That might be even better! A star fully supported by the Hero! A new star who travels with White: the unsung hero of the journey!"
I nudged Mei a little closer and waved a hand at Stu. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a perfect advertisement."
"Mei was it?" Stu asked, reaching forward and grabbing both of her hands. She nodded stiffly, excitement dancing in her eyes. "Marvelous Dahling!" He then immediately shuffled forward, yanking Mei after him as he began strutting down the street. He waved dramatically over his shoulder shouting, "Look forward to the movie you two! I'll have her in and out in a few hours. Chao!"
Hugh and I stared after them as Stu bustled down the street, people parting as he walked through, Mei stumbling behind, both of her hands still in his grasp. She was elated though, and she sent me a gigantic smile before the two disappeared around a corner and out of sight.
"Well he was… interesting…" I said slowly. Only then did it hit me where I'd heard of Pokestar Studios before. When I'd attended the meeting when the bomb of the Gym Leaders leaving was dropped, it was said that Brycen was quitting to work as an actor at Pokestar Studios. I couldn't help but chuckle. Stu was an outgoing and boisterous man, Brycen was not. They were probably an interesting duo. I wondered if Brycen was acting at the Studio right now…
"Interesting alright," Hugh huffed, frowning in the direction Mei and Stu had gone. "So, are we too late to meet Juniper?"
I shook my head of my thoughts before clapping once. "Nope! If we hurry we should make it in time! It's just right up there," I said, shooting off into a sprint as I pointed to the end of the nearest dock. A very small and quaint brick building sat on its edge, chairs and tables with blue and white striped umbrellas sitting outside. No one was eating at any of the outdoor tables, not surprising as the lunch hour had ended a bit ago, not to mention I hadn't seen too awfully many people in Virbank. There were definitely more people in Aspertia.
I heard Hugh's footsteps behind me soon enough, both of us flat-out running to the café. The instant we had made it to the building, both of us panting slightly and trying to catch our breath, the door to the café swung open, revealing the very person we were supposed to meet.
Juniper smiled amusedly, holding a tray of coffee in one hand and a tray of wrapped sandwiches in the other. "There you are. I was starting to think you weren't going to show."
I looked down at my X-transceiver again. It was only about five minutes past our meeting time. She had to be kidding. I sent an unamused look up to her and she laughed.
"Although I have to admit I didn't think we'd be having guests." She set down both trays on the nearest table and held out a hand to Hugh. "Hi, Aurea Juniper. Nice to meet you."
Hugh quickly took her hand, pure admiration on his face. "H-Hugh. Hugh Hyuu." I couldn't help but smile. This was his version of Mei's excitement over acting in a show. It was entertaining.
"Sorry I didn't get you a coffee," Juniper apologized, pulling out a chair and motioning for us to join her. "Again, I didn't expect White to bring someone along."
Hugh shook his head, shooting into a chair and leaning forward in anticipation. "Oh no, that's perfectly fine. I wasn't thirsty anyway."
"Well that's good," Juniper smiled, turning her attention to me as I joined them at the table. "So I heard Bianca told you to call me when you saw her in Aspertia? Nice city, huh?"
I nodded, reaching forward and snatching one of the sandwiches off of the tray, unwrapping it slowly. "You can say that again. That place is clean as a whistle. Unova really outdid itself."
Juniper nodded in agreement, taking the other sandwich and a swig of coffee. "I haven't seen you in forever, White. Bianca and Cheren were both awfully worried about you after you turned down the Championship, but I see you're doing just fine."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was then too," I added, my mouth full. Hugh shot me a look of disgust and I rolled my eyes. "Although, I just found out a bit ago that Bianca was working as your assistant."
Juniper pointed a finger at me. "That girl can work! She is so passionate about Pokémon. I think that one day she'll make a fine Professor. She knows a lot about Pokémon." Juniper sat back in her chair, shaking her head nostalgically. "Man, it seems like just yesterday I was handing out new Pokémon to you three, now look at you. One is going on the path of a researcher, probably to become a Professor, one is a Gym Leader, and the other is a Unovian Hero, trying her luck at being a Champion. I never would've thought you three gangly little kids could pull of careers like that. I'm proud."
I took another bite of my sandwich, a bit embarrassed. "Well, it was only thanks to a great professor who got us started off on the right track."
Juniper winked. "You betcha. Anyway, speaking of new Pokémon. I hear you got that Snivy safe and sound. How you handlin' him?"
"Well, uh…" I trailed off, scratching the back of my head sheepishly and averting my eyes. "I haven't actually… let it out of its ball yet."
Juniper let out one loud laugh before waving a hand. "Don't worry about it. He's pretty feisty; I'm not surprised. I'm sure you're wanting a few tips about 'im anyways, am I right?" I gave her a nod and she continued, setting down her drink and her sandwich and leaning forward, resting her chin in her hands. "Well, he was raised at my lab, just like all the other Snivy given to new trainers. He was a real enjoyable little thing and I thought he'd be perfect for a beginning trainer. I gave him to a new kid starting out on his journey and didn't hear anything back from him till two weeks later when the kid showed up out of nowhere, leaving Snivy inside of the pokeball, saying it was too weak and small to be of any help."
I felt my gut clench. I truly did hate it when people talked that way. Maybe it was my imagination but I swore that since I'd been so close with N and listened to all he had to say, that I hated those types of trainers even more than I did in the beginning.
Juniper shrugged. "I didn't really think anything of it. Pokémon don't usually get returned, but then again I figured I could just give it to a better trainer, but the Snivy, when I let it out of its ball, had changed. It's really hurt that its trainer would do something like that and has just been acting up at the lab to get attention. It's being a little brat because it's all offended. I mean, I get where it's coming from but yeesh, that equipment is expensive." Juniper sat back in her seat, shaking her head. "I figured that'd be the worst type of Pokémon for a new trainer, and so, why not give it to an experienced one?" She nodded to me. "That's where you come in. From what I've seen that Snivy is anything but weak; it just doesn't know how to control its moves. And if I know anyone who knows what to do with power, that'd be you." She sent me a wink and I nodded.
I reached into my bag, slowly retrieving the pokeball and watching its surface glint in the sunlight.
Juniper held out her hand for the ball. "C'mon, let's have a look at him. I have a feeling you two might actually get along swimmingly."
I raised an eyebrow. Really? I had a feeling that it'd be one of the hardest Pokémon I'd ever had to train. I held the ball out and the familiar white light shot out of it, pooling on the ground and morphing into a tiny grass type.
Bianca had received a Snivy when she'd first started off on her journey. I'd remembered thinking that it was quite cute, and the little one standing on the cobblestone next to our table was no exception. The Snivy looked around himself for a moment, surveying his surroundings before slowly looking up to us. He paused, his wide brown eyes looking Hugh and I up and down before it caught a glance of Juniper and huffed, crossing its arms and plopping down onto the stone with a sigh.
Juniper chuckled. "Hasn't changed a bit. Snivy, I'd like you to meet your new trainer."
The Snivy froze for a moment, staring off into space before mechanically looking up at Juniper. I wasn't sure what the emotion in its eyes was, but Juniper didn't skip a beat.
She held out a hand toward me. "This is White. I figured she'd be the absolute best person to try and train you. She's worked with a lot of strong Pokémon before, so I figured she'd be your best bet for training. She agreed and so I think you two should get acquainted."
Snivy's eyes shot over toward me and he again looked me up and down, more extensively this time. It was said that Pokémon could sense the strength of a trainer. I personally had no idea how they could do that, or even if they could do that. I'd just worked with my own Pokémon after all; the ones that I'd had since I was a newbie trainer. Well, those and the two new ones I had now, Eevee coming from an egg and Mareep wanting to join me. I paused for a second, pondering. Maybe Mareep had wanted to come along because it'd sensed I was strong. I blushed. I never thought of myself as a strong trainer, Zekrom after all was really a force to be reckoned with on his own, but maybe I really was.
Snivy's eye twitched before he turned up his nose with a haughty, "Vy."
Juniper chuckled to herself as my heart seemingly sank. Well, there went that idea. If I really was strong, this one wasn't recognizing it.
"Well White, I think he's happy." My eyes bugged.
"What?!" I spluttered. Had she just seen the same thing I'd seen? The Snivy looked absolutely unimpressed, in fact maybe a little offended that Juniper had picked me.
"Yeah, that's by far the best he's reacted to anyone. Usually when he first meets a trainer, or even an assistant… or other Pokémon… he'll fire an attack or put himself back inside of his ball. He likes the idea of you being his trainer, he's just playing hard to get." She leaned over, nudging the Snivy slightly with her foot. He sent her a piercing glare before uncrossing and re-crossing his tiny arms and huffing to himself again.
I stared down at the grass type. Well, if what Juniper said was correct, maybe I had made a good first impression after all. I sure was collecting some interesting Pokémon as my second team.
So there it was! I hope ya liked it! White finally met her Snivy. He's tsundere. Imaaagine that. XD She has four out of her final six now. I'm excited. And yes I do know what those final two will be, but shhh, it's a secret. XD
Sorry if it ended kinda abruptly. I was working on this and realized it was getting extremely long, and so I decided to split the first half or so of Virbank into two chapters, instead of cramming it into one. So White'll be having her Gym Battle next chapter, at least I hope she will.
And lookie there, Stu Deeoh, probably the most fabulous character in Pokémon. XD I know I luld at his appearance in the games. Figured Mei needed something more exciting to do than just talking about Pokemans, and that whole spiel at the Pokestar Studios is way too long and way too boring to write about. Lol! Two Pidgeys, one stone. *thumbs up*
Anyway, thank you guys so much for the reviews last chapter! I snuggle every single one. And no that's not weird. XD I love them all, and I love you all. You guys are fantastic! :D
~Poke-lover88