Chapter Four: Numbers
It wasn't really a garden, Kuro realized soon after he'd started wandering around the expanse of... Well, he wasn't sure, exactly. The entrance had certainly been shady-looking, now that he thought about it, but Kuro wasn't usually one to be deterred by anything, so he'd strode forward and disappeared into the shadows.
Vultri was curled into the crook of his neck, seeming content, but Kizoku was just about one sudden noise more from leaping into his pokeball and refusing to come out until they'd left the eerie yard. Patrat had scoffed at the Snivy and was riding along on Kuro's boot as the young teen walked on, which Kizoku had snarled—rather pathetically—at in return. The grass-type Pokemon was a bit of a scaredy-cat, and Kuro wanted to smile at it, but it felt like the muscles in his face weren't working properly.
Not to say that they ever had, but he could usually pull of a small, hesitant-looking half-smile most of the time, when the circumstance called for it.
Lillipup had gotten tired half an hour ago, and had lazily clambered into Kuro's bag. He'd been distracted for a minute by the tell-tale flash of light of a pokeball opening inside his bag, and had almost tripped over a root of a rather sinister looking tree that twisted it's way into the air like an abandoned tower form some sort of fairy tale. Vultri had hissed at that, unhappily, and Kuro was sure his Lillipup was going to be lectured about proper decorum(again) sometime later on.
After walking on for a while more, Kuro was surprised to run into a girl that looked to be about a year and a half his elder. He'd run into a younger boy earlier who'd challenged him to a Battle, but Kuro realized he was just scared of the dark and trying to act tough. He had Vultri lead the lost kid, Joey, out of the yard and then continued on.
This girl, however, had dark navy hair and was wearing a peach-colored blouse over khaki capris. She eyed him as he approached the fenced in area of the densely wooded yard. Kuro stopped a few feet away and tilted his head, examining her silently in return.
The girl blinked. "What pokemon did you choose, as your starter?"
Kuro tilted his head, puzzled. He briefly wondered why she was asking, then decided it didn't matter and nudged Kizoku forward with his toe. The Snivy gave a nervous whir, but the girl seemed to brighten.
"Fight my Purrloins?" She asked, smiling. "I have two. If you beat me, I'll give you my Panpour. I have two of them, too, but they always fight with each other so I think it would be a good idea to give the girl to someone who can take better care of her."
Kuro raised his eyebrows and considered the offer. On one hand, he rather liked the team he had now, and wasn't sure he was ready to drop some of them off in day cares or any Pokemon Exchange Units. He was rather attached to the ones he had, and the law stated you were only allowed to carry twelve occupied pokeballs at a time, and you could have only a maximum of seven pokemon with you outside their pokeballs at a time—otherwise you'd be approached by an officer for crowding. The only way out of that is if you had a permit, and even that had a limit to how many pokemon you could have with you.
That said, Kuro was rather attached to his pokemon team.
On the other hand, a Panpour would level out the team he had with him pretty well. And he'd heard that the three leaders of the Striaton gym had the Pan-trio pokemon as their primaries.
The girl watched him think about it, then offered, "It's good to have lots of different kinds of pokemon on your team. That way, you'll be ready to face any other Trainer's team, no matter what type they have. I'm not saying you'll win every time, or anything, but something usually works out in the end—there's a better chance of you being victor, at least."
Kuro nodded at that; she was right, really, and it was just common sense. Except, Kuro didn't have the same goal as most other Trainers did. He wasn't really looking to win all his Battles. If he lost some, that was fine. The only thing matter was that his friends—humans and pokemon alike—enjoyed the Battles.
Kuro wasn't exactly a very competitive person, by nature. Not like Cheren or Bianca were.
That was probably Ando's fault, actually.
Kuro reached into his messenger bag and pulled out his Battle Log, and the girl smiled, bringing her own out as well. They traded them and went about setting up a new entry. Kuro entered his Trainer information, and the girl entered hers, and then they gave the logs back and tapped "Accept."
Stashing his log away into his pack, Kuro tossed Lillipup's pokeball out instead. The pokemon yawned as the contraption opened, then cast a disgruntled look at it's trainer. Kuro only smiled at it, the corner of his lips pulling at the skin a little, unused to curving upward more than a quarter of an inch at most.
Lillipup yawned again, trading a look with Patrat as the girl, Kuro's opponent, pulled out her first Purrloin.
Lillipup looked disheartened as he ambled forward into the circle projected by Kuro's Battle Initiator, and Kuro couldn't keep a small sigh in. The girl giggled at his lazy pokemon and nodded at her Purrloin.
"Use Scratch." She began.
If she was surprised at Kuro's way of battling, then she didn't show it. Kuro was grateful—most of the (admittedly few) Trainers who had challenged him along Route 2 had been rather stunned and kept asking Kuro how he'd gotten his pokemon to act on command without having to speak to them, apparently not understanding that Kuro was mute. Those of them that had understood his disability, though, almost went easy on him—before Kuro had gotten annoyed and sent Kizoku in to obliterate their teams. The Snivy was just as fond of being underestimated because of their silence as Kuro was. As in, they weren't.
The girl was soon forced to bring out her next Purrloin, who was ordered to use Growl. The girl might have had some strategy planned, but Lillipup was apparently totally done with having to put forth effort, so used the fact that it was at least four levels higher than the girl's Purrloin and put a quick end to the Battle.
The girl was a bit put out at having been defeated so quickly by a guy who apparently didn't even tell his pokemon to attack, but she was a good sport and shook it off, tossing him a pokeball like she'd promised.
Kuro accepted her Battle log once more, selecting his name as the winner—the girl's name was Emi, it seemed—and then a notice popped up, saying -((Was the victor given Panpour as was agreed upon?))- and Kuro tapped (-Yes-) before handing Emi's log back to her and taking back his own. If he'd selected "No," then Emi would have a mark on her record and would be approached by an officer of the International Police's Pokemon Division, like Amelia, and would be given a talking to if it was the girl's first offense.
Emi smiled at him. "I'd have given you the male Panpour, but he's a bit of a handful, so I'd feel bad about saddling you with him. The girl Panpour is much more friendly—well," she giggled, "at least to everyone but her brother."
Kuro nodded, waving a farewell to her as he walked on, Vultri snuggled into his shoulder and Patrat curled around his boot once again. Emi stepped back into the shadows and seemed to walk back toward the entrance to the wooded area, throwing a "Have fun in the Dream Yard," over her shoulder.
So, this place was called the Dream Yard, then. Kuro tilted his head, exchanging a look with Vultri while Lillipup gave an irritated huff and tried to climb back into Kuro's bag.
Kuro started chuckling at him and helped the annoyed pokemon back into it's pokeball for a nap.
After a while, Kuro met the end of the gate and found an opening that looked like it had been used often. Climbing through it, he glanced around and was surprised to see that he was in some sort of ruins, as if a large building had been torn down and the construction crew had never gotten passed the 'cleaning up the area' stage. There were a few random walls that might have formed rooms once that surrounded him, and a few barrels full of some sort of substance were strewn about. Kuro ducked carefully underneath a short scaffolding that looked like it might have once been a system of stairs, leading up to a stone stage that had probably been a second floor. Now, half of it was missing and Kuro wasn't really sure it was safe to even climb onto.
Kizoku whirred, apparently deciding Lillipup's idea was a good one, and tried to launch himself into his trainer's messenger bag. Kuro sighed and helped the Snivy into it's pokeball, before walking deeper into the abandoned construction site that the locals called the Dream Yard. Patrat and opened an eye, as if it was somewhat interested in what would happen to them here.
He could always hear murmuring voices somewhere in the ruins the surrounded him, so he knew there were there people in the Dream yard, but he didn't meet anyone until about an hour into his wanderings.
By then, he'd doubled back to the gate after meeting a dead end, and had walked along the concrete wall until he reached a hole big enough to fit a person through. It was practically hidden by a twisting tree, however, so Kuro had taken a bit of time climbing up it's admittedly thin branched to get through.
On the other side, he came face to face with someone he hadn't expected to be anywhere near Striaton City. Bianca blinked up at him in surprise, then broke into a wide grin.
"Kuro-kun!" She exclaimed, loudly.
Kuro almost flinched at the large contrast to the past two hours of silence, before smiling back at her softly and beginning to make his way down the tree. Bianca met him at the base, holding out a hand to help him down the last jump. The blond girl beamed at him.
"I didn't expect to see you here!" She told him. "I thought you'd go challenge the gym leaders first thing, like Cheren-nii."
Kuro shook his head, lifting his hands to sign an explanation. He told her a few things about her day, then asked, What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you here, either.
Bianca nodded, lifting her eyes from his hands and straightening from her usual semi-slouched stance, like she always did when she was about to use sign language.
I thought Striaton was a good place to look around and try to level up. She told him, then relaxed again with a smile. "Cheren's probably looking around the school, then, if that's what the waiter man told you. I'm here because I heard the Dream Yard was the best place to find Munna, a psychic-type pokemon. Usually, you'd find most of Unova Region's psychic-type wild pokemon in Celestial Tower, which is a long way away from here, but then I heard about Munna being sighted in the Dream Yard, and I got really excited! I remember reading about Munna in Cheren's pokemon index, and the picture was so cute! I really want it!"
Kuro nodded in understanding. Munna was suppose to have the very powerful ability of Telepathy, which would come in handy sometimes. It also had the skill of Synchronize, which would definitely be a godsend in any pokemon Battle. Munna was also rumored to evolve into Musharna if you were lucky enough to find a Moonstone, and Musharna was a rather envied pokemon for various reasons. If you could teach it Hypnosis or Sleep, the attack was guaranteed to be very effective. Kuro could see why Bianca would want to try and catch Munna—aside from the fact that it was cute.
Actually, now that he thought about it, Kuro realized his sister-figure might not even have thought about all those facts. She always was a sucker for the pretty pokemon.
Suddenly, there was a clang that echoed throughout the site, and both Kuro and Bianca startled. They blinked, glancing at one another. Kuro felt Kizoku's pokeball shudder in his bag, and he placed a hand on the opening flap in reassurance.
"Did you hear that?" Bianca asked him in a hushed voice. She'd ducked down a bit and Kuro thought that maybe they didn't have to hide—but it sure felt like it.
"Let's—wanna go see?" She asked, and Kuro spared no time in casting her a nod. She grinned, and they both slunk forward in silence.
There was a lone, arched doorway a few meters ahead of them, and when they walked through it, they both froze in shock. Just a few feet away, a sleepy-looking Munna—not that that meant anything, since all Munna and even their evolutions were sleepy by nature—blinked up at them. It gave a short yawn and turned away.
"Munnnnn," it hummed in such a way that it even made Kuro feel slightly lethargic, and ambled forward to disappear into a large expanse of tall grass that much resembled the fields of it back in Nuvema. Kuro felt a sudden pang of homesickness in his chest, and looked away.
"W-Wait!" Bianca called, moving to chase after the Munna.
Instead, she stopped again, and Kuro looked up to see two Team Plasma members standing before them. He blinked.
They had the Munna grasped between them, and one of them was shaking it slightly. "C'mon, we've found you! Make some Dream Mist!"
Vultri hunched forward from her place on Kuro's shoulder, and the raven frowned.
"What are you doing?" Bianca shouted at them, hands on her hips. The blond girl absolutely hated it when she saw others possibly mistreating a pokemon. "Who are you?"
"Us?" One of them, the one on the right of the distressed Munna, asked. "We're Team Plasma."
The one on the left grinned, and Kuro resisted the urge to flinch. The smile had a cruel edge to it, but it didn't look very exercised. Like it was a mask that only was half glued on. "We Battle day and night to liberate pokemon from foolish humans!"
Bianca scowled. "You're those Plasma grunt guys?" She asked, almost in disbelief.
The guy on the right shrugged. "I'd rather you not refer to us as 'grunts,' thanks. But, yes. We're Team Plasma, as I just said. You asked what we were doing?" He hefted Munna up and deposited the pokemon into the arms of his cohort. "Munna and Musharna emit a vapor called Dream Mist. It shows peoples' dreams."
The left one held Munna in a tight grip, smirking. "Leader Ghetsis has a plan to use it to make people release their pokemon!"
The right frowned, elbowing the other in the ribs. "Baka! We're not suppose to tell! What are you gonna do next, shout it from the rooftops?"
His friend growled at him, narrowing his eyes. "Che... Whatever! It doesn't matter, it's not like they can stop us anyway!" He shook the pokemon in his arms. "Now spit it out already, you useless creature!"
Everyone else, even his teammate, frowned at him.
"What the hell are you doing?" The Team Plasma member yelled, reaching forward to stop his partner. "You're gonna hurt it!"
"Who cares?" Left guy huffed with a scowl. "All we need is the Dream Mist."
"Team Plasma is about helping the pokemon," Right guy seethed, snatching Munna from his tight grip. It was a bit of a tug-a-war session before the moaning pokemon came from. "Not abusing them!"
"Oh, you actually believe that?" Guy on the left laughed—Kuro narrowed his eyes. He looked a little.. hesitant. As if he wasn't sure what he was suppose to believe. "Ghetsis is a liar. What he really wants is to have all the pokemon for Team Plasma's use only."
The other Plasma teammate's eyes widened. He paused, before scowling and stalking over to Kuro, thrusting the Munna into the younger teen's arms. "If that's true, then I don't want any part in team Plasma!"
He took of his helmet to reveal somewhat spiky black hair and cinnamon eyes that glinted with barely suppressed rage and disbelief. "If even half of Team Plasma thinks that, then no way do I want a part in it! Any team with someone like you on it is rotten to the core!"
His ex-teammate looked on in shock. "Wh-What do you think you're doing?" He shouted. "Team Plasma needs that Munna for the Dream Mist!"
"Like hell it does," The ex-member drawled, eyes narrowed from where he now stood before Kuro and Bianca. "Team Plasma's not getting it."
"He's right!" Bianca yelled back. "You're hurting a pokemon just for Dream Mist? That's mean! You're a Trainer too, aren't you?"
The still helmeted teen bit his lip, before shaking his head in anger and crossing his arms. "That's right. I'm a Trainer, but I'm fighting for a different reason than you!"
"To have all the pokemon in Unova for yourself?" The red-eyed ex-member asked, scowling. "That's selfish! What do you thinks gonna happen then, huh? You're gonna battle with your own teammates? There won't even be any Champion to beat, there won't be any Pokemon League to rise above! That's a life without goals if I've ever heard one!"
"T-Team Plasma has the right idea in mind, though," The other spluttered, hands now on his hips. He was rather expressive. So was his ex-teammate, in fact. "We'd give the Pokemon more freedom than they have now."
"And then Unova will be full of wild Pokemon," Bianca rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, sure. Dream come true."
"Well—" the Team Plasma member clenched his hands into fists, before letting out an enraged shout and grasping his helmet to fling it off. It landed on the ground with a thud. The teen, a redhead, glowered at them, emerald eyes bright with—well, Kuro didn't know. They looked a little misty, actually, and the teen looked very frustrated. "I-It doesn't matter. Team Plasma was a farce anyways."
He turned away from them, crossing his arms again with a huff. Apparently he quit too.
"C'mon Clemente," the cinnamon-eyed soothed hesitantly, but he still looked angry, so it wasn't so reassuring. Kuro blinked, wondering why Bianca and him were even here—well, Bianca did say she wanted a Munna...
He turned to her while the two ex-Team Plasma members held a shouting match, holding out the now drowsy Munna for her to take. She looked at him, startled.
"U-Um," she bit her lip. "I-I actually think you should take that Munna, otouto. I-I don't think I'll be really good with a pokemon that's been hurt. You're gentler than me, and I don't wanna accidentally scare it."
Kuro tilted his head, as if to ask Are you sure?
Bianca paused, then nodded. She brightened. "Besides! There's lots of patches of tall grass here in the Dream Yard, so I'll probably run into a lot of wild pokemon! Maybe I'll catch a few new ones, and Battling them will definitely get my pokemon some experience!"
Kuro's keen ears twitched at a sudden drop in the volume around them, and he glanced over at the only other people in the area with them, blinking. The two Team Plasma—sorry, ex-Team Plasma members—had stopped shouting and were now eying them speculatively.
The redhead, Clemente, huffed again. It appeared that his default mode was 'pissed off.' "It was all pretty sketch anyway. Team Plasma was all about taking Pokemon by force, and stealing is against International law, so... Tch, whatever," he sneered, turning away and walking out of the clearing, heading for the trees.
The black-haired one crossed is arms, huffing. "That guy..." He glared at the darkened woods, as if he could set the other on fire from where he stood. Then, he sighed and turned to Kuro and Bianca, who stood a few feet away, looking nonplussed. "Ah, s-sorry about that. Rival's a bit of a loose canon... And I probably made a big mistake joining Team Plasma anyway."
Bianca frowned. "Wait, his named Rival? I thought it was Clemente."
The raven waved his hand, rubbing the back of his neck with the other. "Ah, no, that's his last name." He paused, blinking. Then, he scrambled for the trees where the other had disappeared to. "Ah, damn! Rival has my bag! Sorry, gotta go!"
Kuro and Bianca stared after him for a minute, feeling a little lost. Bianca turned to look at him. "That was weird," she commented, and Kuro couldn't help but agree. Vultri was almost hanging off his shoulder, blinking after the two ex-Team Plasma members with wide, curious eyes. Apparently she didn't have a clue about what had just happened either.
(~Pokemon~
Bianca and Kuro had parted at the gate of the Dream Yard, having walked back toward the entrance together. The blond girl had given him a tight hug, absently reminded him to take his medicine, and had then disappeared back behind the gates and into the abandoned construction zone after Kuro, in turn, warned her about climbing on what was leftover of the second floors.
He walked back along the path toward Striaton City proper wondering about Team Plasma's true motives. Was Ghetsis actually lying, like Rival—what a strange name—had said, or was the redhead mistaken? The unnamed ex-Team Plasma grunt had seemed almost prepared to believe it, but what if they were both wrong? Kuro thought back to the green-haired teen he'd met in exiting Accumula Town, and shook his head. N, at least, didn't seem like the type to join such a cause—and he was related to Ghetsis, wasn't he, so that meant that N was probably pretty high up in Team Plasma's ranking system, his... relative, being the leader.
Then, Kuro wondered about the redhead himself. Rival Clemente had looked desperate to believe in something. Kuro almost felt bad for him. Rival, once blindsided by his partner's deserting—perhaps it had looked almost like betrayal, to the older teen. Kuro wasn't sure, but when his friend had promptly quit Team Plasma right in front of him, the redhead had looked a little hurt. Then, he'd covered it up with anger, before quitting Team Plasma himself in a fit of frustration.
Rival was a mess of emotions, it seemed. He seemed like someone who wasn't sure of their place in the world—kind of like Kuro, actually. Kuro, though, reacted by reigning in his emotions so tightly that sometimes even he wondered if they were still there. Rival was a boy who had no where to place his frustration but outwards and onto the people and pokemon around him.
He was also the boy who had just stepped into Kuro's path, green eyes glinting in the dark of the wooded area and a Battle Log in his gloved hands. Kuro tilted his head, reaching up to rub Vultri's ears when she started growling lowly. The Munna still snuggled in his arms shifted nervously.
"I'm Rival," The teen, dressed in the knight-esque uniform of Team Plasma, announced. "Let's Battle."
Kuro blinked at him, at a loss for what to do. He held up a finger, signaling for the other to wait a minute, before reaching into his bag and pulling out the bottle of pills Heiko always made him carry with him. It was almost half empty. He'd have to get a refill at Striaton Pharmacy after he challenged the gym leaders, maybe.
Rival watched him swallow two of the red and blue capsules silently, tilting his head when Kuro stashed the bottle back in his bag and instead fished out his Battle Log. The redhead exchanged it for his own, asking, "What were those for."
Kuro blinked, then hesitantly raised his hands to sign, lung disease, not really expecting the other to understand what the hand signals meant—but to his utter surprise, Rival's eyes widened.
And then he raised his own hands to sign back. I'm sorry for being rude. Can you hear?
Kuro closed his eyes, giving a nod. Rival relaxed, knowing that Kuro didn't need to read his lips, and grinned sheepishly. "I guess I should have asked, but I thought you were just a quiet person. It was stupid of me to just assume like that, though. I had a sister who was deaf."
Kuro tilted his head at that, contemplating whether to ask, and then deciding it was rude of him to prod any further, and handing Rival back his log.
Rival saw, though, and laughed mirthlessly. "Uh, yeah. She died... two years ago. We didn't have parents, so I joined Team Plasma last year because Jake did—the other guy. I bet he didn't introduce himself, the idiot. But then the jerk just up and quits the Team, and now I'm alone again..."
Kuro was releasing an irritated Lillipup from it's pokeball, and raised his eyebrows. Rival shook his head. "Jeez... Ahem, sorry. You're easy to talk to, I guess. What lung disease, if you don't mind me asking?"
Kuro shook his head, pulling out his note pad. Emphysema.
Rival raised an eyebrow, and Kuro thought that the other had looked grateful for being allowed to change the subject, even as he looked relieved that Kuro hadn't apologized for hearing about his sister's death. Kuro always hated it when people apologized to him for things they weren't involved in in the first place, either. He hated getting told "I'm sorry" when people heard about his muteness, or lung disease. What were they sorry for?
"I don't think I've heard of that. What does it do?"
The gist of it? Well... It makes me cough up blood, sometimes, if I don't take the pills when I'm supposed to.
Kuro wasn't sure why he was telling Rival this. He didn't usually hold conversations with anyone other than Cheren, Bianca, Ando or Heiko.
The redheads eyes widened, and he winced. "Oh... Jeez, that sucks." He stretched, popping his spine, and tossed his Battle Initiator into the air. There was a whirrrr as it activated and began to hover, and there were blinking lights projected onto the ground until the holographic circles of a standard pokemon Battle formed. Rival tossed forth a pokeball as Lillipup clambered into the circle on Kuro's side of the path, and a Tranquill emerged from the flash of light.
Kuro was impressed—he had yet to evolve any of his own pokemon. Perhaps Rival would be a challenge after all—not that Kuro had thought he wouldn't be, it was just that Kuro had yet to loose a pokemon Battle against anyone but Ando... and that one time Cheren had beaten him, back in the beginning.
It was a close call, like Kuro had expected. Rival's Tranquill had fainted against Lillipup, who had in turn fainted against Rival's next pokemon, a Timburr. Kuro was forced to use Vultri, who blew the Timburr and Rival's final pokemon, a level 17 Drilbur and a level 20 Blitzle. Vultri had just reached level 26 the day before, had was pretty smug about it too.
Rival was grinning once it was all over, though, so Kuro didn't feel too bad about using his eldest pokemon against him.
"That was great," Rival nodded to himself while he selected Kuro as the winner on the younger's log. "I'll train hard, so I can beat you when we meet again," he decided.
Kuro blinked, stunned that the older boy would choose beating Kuro as his personal goal, instead of the dream of challenging the region's Champion, like most others'. Rival saw his look and grinned.
"Hey, hey, don't look like that! Now that I've Battled you, I know I was right. I thought you were an admirable Trainer, when I first saw you. You've proven that now, and I'd rather train to beat a Ace Trainer that I know is dedicated, like you, rather than some big shot champion that I barely even know the name of."
The younger teen tilted his head, wondering at that. He suppose the other boy had a point, when he thought about it. He himself would rather Battle against those that he knew were going to be a challenge, rather than Battling against any random stranger who challenges him on the road. Kuro was a bit annoyed at that, really. Couldn't those people see he had a destination in mind? What if he'd been in a hurry?
Vultri nuzzled against his neck, and Kuro sighed. Even if he'd been in a hurry, Kuro would have accepted the challenge anyway. Kuro was rather terrible at telling others 'no,' and strangers always seemed to strong arm him into battling them anyways.
He'd hate to meet a kidnapper, he really would.
"I've gotta train," Rival announced, and cast Kuro a genuine smile that made Kuro's inside feel warm. Kuro felt like he could breath again, having felt slightly burdened after seeing the lost expression in the redhead's eyes back in the Dream Yard. Knowing Rival had found a purpose, even if it was the short road to beating Kuro—he was pretty certain that if Rival tried hard enough, he'd beat Kuro's team into the dirt—made Kuro feel relieved in a way that he could stand at his true height once again.
"See you!" And with little more than a grateful wave, Rival vanished back into the shadowed woods.
Kuro sighed, burying his face into Munna's fluffy fur, wondering why he always ended up with the strange ones.
(~Pokemon~
Cheren was, in fact, in the Striaton City schoolhouse. He stood in front of the chalkboard, which had a diagram of the various Poison attacks and their effects. His hands were clasped behind his back and he stood straight, every once in a while bringing forth one hand to push his glassed back into place.
Kuro had been accosted by a brown haired Trainer near the entrance to the classroom who had insisted on giving Kuro a pop quiz about items that heal pokemon status conditions. It was an easy subject that Kuro had gone over in one of the books Heiko had lent him during the beginning of his stay with her. Her Chemistry textbook had been far more confusing, and not even as interesting and the various college books on engineering Eiji-san had left with her.
The boy had looked a bit down once he saw Kuro had silently filled the paper out with all the correct answers, but surprised that raven Trainer with a free Full Heal for his efforts. Kuro had been meaning to buy a pack of them for when he challenged the gym leaders, and had thanked the boy with a bow, which seemed to make the younger Trainer a bit happier.
Now he stood just behind Cheren, who was staring quite avidly at the diagram someone had drawn on the board. Kuro let out a silent sigh—Cheren already knew this, it was basic Trainer knowledge. If his brother kept going on like this, he'd run himself into the ground. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the blue-eyed teen, giving him a hug. He felt Cheren release a long breath.
"A pokemon's health keeps on going down throughout a Battle, if it's been hit with a poison attack..." He murmured, then turned around and returned Kuro's embrace. "Ohaiyo, Kuro. Are you looking for the gym leader?"
Kuro blinked up at him, then shook his head. Cheren 's brows furrowed. "He was here talking about Pokemon types until just a few moments ago. In fact, you might have even run into him, just as he was leaving. Have you already challenged the gym leaders then?"
Again, Kuro shook his head. Cheren's frown deepened.
"Where have you been all day, then? I tried your transceiver but you didn't answer, so I assumed you were busy. Actually, now that I think about it, Bianca wasn't available either..."
Kuro released Cheren from his hug and sat down in the nearest desk, one in the front row. He pulled out his notebook and wrote down what had happened to him and Bianca in the Dream Yard. His writing skills were on par with that of a math teacher, and his letters formed with the elegance of a calligraphy master from all the time he spent writing. Kuro didn't mind much, though. Writing was something that calmed him down, and if it also served as another way of communication, then that was great. A win-win.
Cheren's face paled as he read over the paragraph. "You and Bia-chan went into the Dream Yard and met with two grunts from Team Plasma?" He reaffirmed, flopping down into the desk next to Kuro. Kuro nodded, nonplussed, and the spectacled raven pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You should have told me, I'd have gone with you guys! The Dream Yard is dangerous, you could have gotten hurt! It's a red-zone in construction for a reason."
Kuro hadn't known about the Dream Yard's safety hazard classification, but he decided not to tell Cheren that. Kuro wasn't exactly interested in irrelevant information, like Cheren was. He shook his head and took his notepad back.
What are you doing here in the first place, going over basic stuff like this? I expected you to have already gotten the gym badge and to be on your way to the next gym by now.
Cheren read the note, and bit his lips. "I need to train a little more before I challenge the gym leaders."
Kuro blinked at him, then rolled his eyes, putting his pencil to paper once again.
Cheren, I think you're fine. Lots of Trainers challenge a gym multiple times, you don't have to defeat the leader on your first try.
"Ill look like a fool, if I don't," the older teen blushed, and Kuro resisted the urge to busy his head in his arms. Instead, he jotted down another quick note.
If it'll make you feel better, why don't we have a battle? Even if you don't win, which I'm pretty sure you will, I know you can't be as bad as you think you are.
Cheren sighed, setting the pad down after running his eyes over the words. He reached up and adjusted his glasses. "Well... It can't hurt, I guess. Let's go outside."
They both sat on the lawn outside the schoolhouse, and Kuro threw his Battle Initiator into the air. This would be a friendly, off-the-record match, so they forewent the Battle Logs. Cheren, Bianca and Kuro usually never recorded their Battles when they had them.
When the match started, Cheren immediately tossed his Tepig, Moesashi, into the circle. Kuro rolled his eyes, seeing that the other boy had yet to get over his bad habit of starting a Battle with his starter pokemon. Kuro had seen the disadvantage in that, and had to keep reminding Cheren not to use his strongest first thing.
Instead, Kuro nodded at his pokemon out on the grass. Munna curled on his lap and Vultri leaned int his side, keeping one eye open to watch the Battle while she settled down for a nap in the sunshine. Patrat seemed to want to follow her example, but the others had chosen him to go first. He was muttering incessant sounds under his breath as he stalked forth into the holographic circle. Lillipup settled down into the grass on the sidelines, looking rather smug, and Purrloin was pretty interested in the laces of Kuro's combat boots.
During the match, Cheren experimented with various items in the hands of his Battling pokemon, and Moesashi had learned a new attack, Stab, but in the end the older teen wasted too many of his turns having his Purrloin use Allure and Tail Whip, both relatively weak attacks, and Kuro won. Patrat had, as expected, fainted against Moesashi—who was admittedly rather powerful compared to the last Battle Kuro had had with Cheren—but Kuro's new Panpour, who'd gone up next, took the Tepig out with a Stab attack of it's own, which was more effective since it was a Physical attack. Kizoku had the attack too, with the same specifications, but the Snivy was settled inside Kuro's messenger bag, sans pokeball, taking a nap in the warmth, the black color of the material sucking up all the heat of the sunlight that hit it.
Even though he'd lost, Cheren looked a bit brighter than he had back in the classroom in front of that chalkboard. Kuro smiled softly at him.
"I think I've got a strategy now, Kuro-kun." The bespectacled teen admitted, from his seat in the grass next to him. The few bystanders who had gathered closer to watch the match began to trickle away. "Thanks for helping me figure out what I've been doing wrong."
Kuro shrugged, giving Munna another pet. The pokemon mnnnn'ed happily.
Kuro stopped by the Pokemon center with Cheren to get both their pokemon healed, and then Cheren was off to the gym to challenge the leader for a badge with a newfound confidence he'd been lacking before. Kuro waved to him as he left, then made his way over to the Center's shop while his pokemon healed. He invested in a pack of Full Heals, using the money he'd won from N, Rival, and some other Trainer's he'd run into who'd challenged him. Not all of it, of course—Full Heals were rather pricey but not that expensive—but enough to make his Patrat, who was once again clinging to his boot after scampering over from the healing dock, scowl. Little pokedollar miser.
Vultri shot Kizoku a look, and the Snivy leaned over and swatted the rodent pokemon upside the head, earning a scratch for his efforts. He turned a wounded look toward Vultri, but she appeared entirely unsympathetic. Kizoku climbed up Kuro's leg and hid in his Trainer's messenger bag, next to the Full Heals. Kuro sighed, sitting down at the table near a bookcase and a magazine station to wait for his Panpour to heal.
Half an hour later found Kuro standing in front of the gym. The large waiter man was there again, and he cast Kuro a curious look. Kuro blinked up at him and smiled sweetly from behind his lavender scarf, eyes slanting into sideways crescents. The burly waiter huffed and un-crossed his arms, looking away from him.
"If you want to fight the gym leaders, you'll have to follow me," the man announced, adjusting is sunglasses, before giving Kuro a wondering look.
Kuro tilted his head and glanced to the side, thinking about it. On one hand, if he wanted to go no to the next town, he'd need to get this gyms badge now, since he knew he'd be annoyed to double back and get it later...
On the other hand, of course, there was still so much of Striaton to see...
Vultri rolled her eyes and gently bit his hear, giving it a tug. Kuro nodded at the man, who turned around to open the door. He could always revisit Striaton later. He had an entire region to explore, after all.
"My names Clyde," the man told him as they walked over the threshold. "I'm the guide for Trainers challenging this pokemon gym."
Kuro nodded and followed after him as they walked past the receptionist. They entered the double doors on the other side of the lobby and came to a room without any doors or windows. There were three circles on the floor and a red curtain with the symbol for fire on it on the other side of the room. The circles had three symbols inside them; fire, water, and grass. Kuro looked up at Clyde, tilting his head.
The man went on to explain. "The gym leader you'll Battle at the end is entirely dependent on what type your starter pokemon is. If you chose a grass-type, you'll fight against Gym Leader Chili; water-type and you'll Battle Cilan; fire-type and you'll match up against Cress. That's all the information I'm allowed to give you on the leaders before you start."
He gestured to the circles on the ground, and continued. "Each section of the gym has a curtain separating it from the others with a type-symbol on it. You'll have to step on the symbol of the type that is strongest against the one of the curtain to move on. I'll be following you through each section in case you have any questions or are in need of medical assistance."
Kuro blinked up at the burly man, tilted his head. Clyde stared down at him, and Kuro sometimes wanted to laugh because Clyde looked so curious and unnerved by him all the time. Kuro brought up his hands and asked Clyde if he knew sign language.
Clyde blinked, stunned, for a moment, before he broke into a slightly sheepish—shy?—grin. He brought his hands forward and asked if Kuro could hear or if he was only mute. Kuro smiled softly and answered accordingly. The man blushed in embarrassment and replied he'd be speaking both in sign language and aloud from now on so Kuro wouldn't be confused. Kuro was truly touched at his consideration.
Kuro knew it was strange for him to think so, but he thought the large, muscular waiter/security man was absolutely adorable.
He turned back to the room and stepped on the circle with the symbol for water in it. The floor sunk slightly downward and Kuro stepped back slightly to keep from stumbling. He turned to Clyde, who was red in the face.
Sorry, I should have warned you. He said with both his hands and his voice. "Um, it does that."
Kuro wanted to giggle, he really did.
The next rooms were as Clyde had said. Kuro stepped upon the circles for, first water, then grass, grass again, fire, water twice in a row, and fire again. He ended up fighting three trainers that worked for the gym as both Trainers part of the gym puzzle, and waiters and waitresses for the restaurant above the gym.
By the time he reached the end, Patrat had fainted and was unavailable for use in the match against the gym leader, and Purrloin was close. She was still able to fight, so Kuro might use her in the beginning, but he couldn't use her as a crutch if the Battle got difficult.
He ended up in the last room and waited for the gym leader to come out. He sat down on a bench by the side of the door and decided to give Purrloin one of his Full Heals instead of keeping them for later like he'd had meant to. He hated to see her so exhausted. Patrat, he knew, would be completely content with sleeping the rest of the day(week) away inside it's pokeball, so Kuro left him alone.
A bottle suddenly appeared in his line of vision, and Kuro blinked at it, startled. He followed the hand and arm it was attached to and ended up gazing up at a flustered-looking Clyde.
The large man—Kuro had now decided the waiter was a rather shy person, and tried not to place too much attention on him to make him more comfortable(though, that did beg the question; why was Clyde a gym guide and restaurant co-manager if he was so shy? Or was it just with Kuro? The teen wondered at that)—cleared his throat, waving the bottle of water slightly. Kuro tilted his head and accepted the drink.
"Battling is tiring for the Trainer too," was all he said.
The double doors at the other end of the room opened, and a green haired chef dressed in a waiters' uniform—a bit fancier and more personalized than Clyde's was—stepped out of them. The older teen—he looked to be about sixteen—smiled over at him.
"Hello, and welcome to Striaton Pokemon Gym." The teen bowed with a friendly smile. Behind him, the door opened and two more teens around the same age stepped out beside him.
"My name is Cilan," said the first one. "I use primarily grass-type pokemon.
"I'm Chili," the one to his right said, giving a cheeky smile. "I light things up with fire-type pokemon." He announced a bit smugly, shooting Cilan a superior look, to which the green-haired teen rewarded with a mild annoyed look. The blue haired one to Cilan's left sighed, shaking his head—apparently this was a normal occurrence.
"I'm Cress, a water-type specialist" he told Kuro, and Kuro nodded. "What's your name?"
Kuro looked up at Clyde, who stood at his side, then took another drink from his bottle of water. Clyde cleared his throat and spoke to the three gym leaders(who by now looked rather puzzled. Clyde probably didn't usually stand next to the Trainers that challenged the gym, and they were wondering why. Kuro was just special. Kuro was Clyde's favorite. Vultri, still on her perch upon his shoulder, nipped his ear and silently told him to stop with the smug look). "This is Kuro. He uses sign language, bosses."
Kuro smiled up at them sweetly(the only type of smile Kuro could adequately pull of, being of a mild kind) and took another sip of water.
Cress blinked down at him, biting his lip almost imperceptively. He blinked again, then looked away with a blush. Kuro tilted his head.
At that, Clyde crossed his arms and cough, looking away as well. Chili clasped his hands together with sparkling eyes and a wide, adoring smile and Cilan suppressed a grin.
"Aw, you're so adorable!" Chili squealed, launching off the raised floor before the double doors and tackling Kuro backward with an enthusiastic hug.
"Ch-Chili!" Cress called, red-faced. "D-Don't attack him like that!"
"I am not attacking him!" Chili shot back with a glare, turning around with Kuro held tightly against his chest. "I'm hugging him! That's not a crime—if anything's a crime, then it's not hugging him. Look at him! Kuro-kun is so cute!"
Cress didn't answer. In fact, he only turned pinker, and turned away once more, following Clyde's lead and crossing his arms while he was at it.
Cilan laughed good-naturedly. "Okay, Chili. We need to decide which of us he'll Battle!"
"Ooooo, I wanna! Please?" The redhead turned back to Kuro, a pleading look on his face. Kuro bit his lips and giggled silently, and Chili's eyes morphed into stars again. "Oh, pleaaassse?!"
"Chili!" Cress snapped, coughing. "It depends on his starter type!"
Chili released Kuro, who had begin to have trouble breathing and was worried his illness was acting up—this would be a really terrible time for him to start coughing up blood—and clasped his hands together, closing his eyes as if he were praying. "Please, please please have grass type, pleaaaase..."
Kuro couldn't help it, knowing he had chosen Snivy as his starter, and buried his face in his hands, laughing.
"Hey, you okay?" Cilan had jumped down the step and had placed a hand on his shoulder. Cress was still on the upper level, back turned to the scene and arms crossed, shoulders hunched slightly forward. Kuro only smiled up at Cilan and pulled the snoozing Kizoku from his messenger bag.
Chili shouted out a "Yes! Thank you thankyou!" and tugged Kuro back into a hug that was particularly smothering.
Cress had, by then, sidled his way over to Clyde and stood next to the burly waiter, both with their arms crossed and looking away with identical looks of "no, no, don't look, stay strong" on their faces—Clyde's face was, admittedly, far redder than Cress' shade of pink.
The match went well, all things considered. Kuro had been sure he'd loose his first time—especially since Chili seemed to be giving the Battle his all. In the end, though, Kuro's Panpour had defeated the redhead's Pansear, it being weak against water-types.
All four Trainers had been interested in the way Kuro Battled, silently and skilled. After they handed Kuro's his Trio Badge, the badge for Striaton's gym, they'd invited him to lunch with them in the restaurant above.
Well, Cilan had invited him. Cress and squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled "I'm not gonna last through an entire meal"—Kuro was a little concerned for him and Clyde, actually. Were they sick or something? Clyde might have a fever; they shouldn't be working today!—and Chili had given him no time to considered denying their request. The redhead and practically carried Kuro upstairs and sat him down at the nearest free table—or, Chili had sat down and then placed Kuro in his lap.
Vultri leaped onto the table from Kuro's head and puffed up, glaring at the enthusiastic redhead. Cilan was laughing as he took a seat to their left, and Cress his his face and he hesitantly sat down in the chair to Chili and Kuro's left. Clyde placed menus before each other them and then took a small step back—either waiting for their orders or extremely reluctant to leave.
Kuro sighed and resigned himself to being held by his new adoring fan—wasn't it suppose to be the other way around? Exactly who was the region-famous gym leader here, anyway?—for the rest of the meal. Chili held the menu before them, told Clyde he'd have his usual, then helped Kuro pick a dish. He described them all in detail, with Cilan and sometimes even a hesitant Cress adding a comment here or there. Kuro eventually picked a pasta dish that used Alfredo sauce and came with grilled chicken and a side of French onion soup. Kuro liked soup. Soup was easy to eat. Pasta, too.
Clyde set a basket of breadsticks on the table and Kuro picked on up to nibble on, leaning back against Chili's chest. All three gym leaders were at least two heads taller than he was, and Clyde was practically twice his size on a good day. Out of all three of their hairstyles, he liked Cress' the most; he thought Cilan had the most welcoming face and smile; Chili's eyes sparkled with youth and a hidden gentleness, and he was definitely a cuddler.
Kuro tried to avoid the rest of the restaurant customers that sat around the room—thee was a good twenty other tables occupied—and eventually turned and buried his face into Chili's shirt after his finished half the bread stick.
"...Honestly, Chili," Cress sighed heavily, as if giving into some unknown, iron-willed force. He rested a hand on Kuro's back and shot his—friend? Brother?—colleague a sharp look. "You barely let him even answer. Look, he must be embarrassed at all the attention."
Chili paused in his chatter, blinking as he looked around them room. He tightened his hold on Kuro slightly, and narrowed his eyes. "Hmph. They can deal with it. Kuro's my favorite."
"Chili," Cilan frowned from his other side, and Kuro felt the redhead slump a little.
Chili sighed and rested his cheek against Kuro's head, skillfully ignoring the dirty looks the Victini, Snivy and a Patrat were sending him from across the table. And the weight of the strangely alert Lillipup and Munna that were pressing up against his legs. And the Panpour that sat in the fifth chair, eyes barely level with the table and a harsh glare on it's normally cute face. And the Purrloin that, while purring contently in Cilan's arms, would occasionally glance in his direction with a strange, fierce glimmer in it's eyes that promised pain should Chili make any sudden movement. "Sorry, Kuro. I should have let you decided instead of stealing you like that... You're pokemon are really scary."
Kuro sat up, blinking., He tilted his head at his pokemon, who looked anything but intimidating. Vultri was mediating a practically mild conversation between Kizoku and his Patrat, Munna and Lillipup were huddled beneath the table, resting slightly on Chili's feet and Purrloin was napping on Cilan's knee. He cast a confused glance at the pouting Chili.
"Aw, that's unfair. That's cheating," he accused the pokemon, who smirked at him from over Kuro's shoulders.
Kuro frowned at the redhead and gently tapped the side of his head with a loosely held fist. Chili slumped.
"You win, you win." He glowered at the smug pokemon. For now.
Clyde soon arrived with Kuro's meal and Chili, Cress, and Cilan's usuals—which were lasagna, crab puffs and grilled salmon, and olive pesto receptively.
Kuro took his time eating, listening to Chili hold a conversation with Clyde and poke fun at Cilan. He watched Cress mediate between the green haired and redheaded restaurant co-owners, much like Vultri and sometimes Purrloin would referee the spats between his other pokemon. He took another bit of his pasta and tilted his head when Cilan and Chili got into an argument about which seasonings use in the soup recipe they were experimenting with, which soon morphed into a debate on whether fire-type or grass-type pokemon were strongest... somehow.
Cress was the quieter one and soon let out a resigned sigh, sitting back in his seat and munching wordlessly on a crab puff. Kuro liked him—not that he didn't like the other two(Clyde was the best, Kuro was his favorite—Shh, Vultri, here have a breadstick) but Cress was of the silenter types. Kuro adored the noise Cilan and Chili were making, sure, but Cress was a welcome addition. If the azure -haired teen hadn't been of the trio, Kuro probably would not have been able to deal with the other two. It was the same way he could only deal with Bianca on a daily basis because Cheren was there to quiet her down when she got grating(he loved Bianca, he really did, but sometimes Kuro's headaches got to be too much, and Cheren and Ando were usually the only ones to notice, being the quieter ones of Nuvema).
Kuro blinked slowly and then allowed the yawn that was threatening to break his jaw apart out. He gave a silent sigh and curled up against his human chair, eyes fluttering closed. If Chili and Cilan's argument had a sudden lull in noise, then continued on a bit quieter—well, Kuro wouldn't know. He'd already nodded off.
(~Pokemon~
There' go.
Yeah, no N in this chapter, sorry. Cilan's my favorite of the Trio, usually, but I think I love all three of them equally with the way I wrote them—And I've always adored Clyde. He's my favorite. Clyde is bae~
Anyway, I honestly did not expect this chapter to be out so soon, what with my habit of not updating a story for many many months, so geez, how lucky are you guys?!
I've decided to make Na and Kuro a couple—but it'll be slow going, and the level of romance in this story is up for debate because I honestly think I suck at that genre *smiles nervously* Haha~
Read and review, please!
Love ya
~Skye X