16
I wake up the next morning slowly and calmly. Markus is sitting a few feet away from me, feasting on a rattata.
I try to get up, but just fall over. I guess Markus heard me, as he turns around and tosses the remains elsewhere. I don't think you can walk.
"Neither do I…" I think, and just let him pick me up and throw my arm over his shoulder. He stands up and starts a brisk walk opposite of the mountain, which should lead straight to the road eventually. He hobbles along through the trees, not encountering any pokémon and keeping a steady pace, making sure I don't feel much pain.
I decide to take the time to try and console Markus. "I think you should tell eev- uh, Veera, about who you are. I'm sure she doesn't know her father."
I… just don't know. She may know me as someone who just left her mother for no reason.
"Or maybe she yearns to know who her father is."
He doesn't respond, and we just continue our direction. We keep walking, and after a few hours, we get to the path. By now it is almost noon, and we haven't said a word. I get off his back, feeling able to walk again, and just continue next to him. We continue walking for what feels like hours, when we find Sakura, prowling the forest with her Roserade.
"Oh, thank god we found you!" She says. "We were worried you got attacked or something."
"I was…" I say, and indicate my arms and abdomen, which are covered with first and second degree burns. "A growlithe attacked me with a vicious fire spin…"
"Oh no. Well, Serena went off in some other direction, pidgeot is looking for them. Lets go. I'm not much of a doctor, but Serena knows her stuff."
I nod, and we just go forward. We head off along the path, which is void of tree tops, so we can see Sakura's pidgeot. After a few minutes, it appears and calls us off to the north, toward the mountain. We come into a clearing, and I see a boy attacking my ninetails with a Xatu. Abby launches a flamethrower by command of Serena, who is just behind her, back to the mountain.
The boy is not to tall, nor short, and looks like he is a trainer too. He has long, brown hair that covers a lot of his face, and goes down to his shoulders. He wears a purple shirt, black cargo pants, a green belt, and green combat boots. His shirt has some kind of patch on his shoulder, as if covering some kind of logo or symbol.
"All right, lets get this done. Xatu, Psybeam." His Xatu readies itself as it launches a multicolor beam at Abby.
"Use an Iron tail Abby, get around that beam!" And on command, Abby shifts her body so the beam goes to her left. She ducks and jumps at the Xatu, shifting her body so she flips her glowing tail into the Xatu. It goes flying several feet away, and into a tree.
"Crap!" Yells the boy. He returns it. "I know that is not your ninetails, where is its trainer?"
How would you know that?! Asks Abby.
"I saw him at Pokémon tower." He answers frankly. He sticks his tong out at Serena, none of them aware we are watching from the trees.
"Well, why are you looking for him?!" Asks Serena, angrily.
"I have business. His name is Raizu, no?" Asks the boy.
I decide to reveal myself, with Markus next to me. "I am he. Raizu Kawashima. What is it you want?" I say, giving myself what I perceive to be an air of superiority. I turn to Markus, who has an aggressive stance, and I smirk at the boy.
He freezes up, and says. "MY last name is Kawashima. I'm Rachamim Kawashima, and I want to challenge you to a battle."
I chuckle. "You have already lost out to my ninetails, and she wasn't under my command even. Do you have two more pokémon to use?" I motion for Abby to come to me, and Veera from behind Serena. Markus gives Veera a concerned glance, but she doesn't notice.
"Fine. But just one more." He tosses out a pokéball that releases a Feraligatr, and I decide to go with Markus.
"Ready for a fight?" I say, completely confident.
"Hell yeah." We both command for our pokémon to charge, and we start my first truly challenging battle.
--
I can't believe I lost. This… KID… Rachamin, completely annihilated me. Markus wasn't left with any real wounds, but he was knocked out fairly quick. After healing up Abby and his Xatu, we fought, and Abby lost too. Veera kept wanting me to send her, but I shook my head every time.
After the battles, we decided to head straight for Saffron, but Rachamin wanted to follow us.
"Please let me come with you guys. I could show you a thing about battling or two."
"I could care less." I say. "If you have better trained pokémon, then I just need more time."
"No, I believe you have fine pokémon, you just need more battle practice. I mean, Serena beat my Xatu with your ninetails, and when you took command, you lost."
"Her name is Abby." I say, and sigh. I have to give in I suppose. His pokémon don't look much stronger than mine, and I need all the help I can get. "Fine, I'll take what ever pointers you have. I don't like being the only guy here…"
"SWEET!" He says. He walks up to me and puts out his hand. "We've exchanged names already, but what the heck. I'm Rachamin Kawashima."
I bring out my hand to meet his slowly. "Raizu Kawashima. I'm sure it's just pure coincidence that we have the same last name."
"Yeah, I am too." He says with a bright smile.
--
Later that night, I call everyone to meet in a group again, and reveal something to lighten my mood.
"Well, I'm 13 now." I say nonchalantly.
Sakura just looks at me. "Wait, it's your birthday today?" She asks, clearly confused.
"Yep. I was near 13 when I started, and now I am. I'm officially 'Teenager' status." I answer with a sleight chuckle.
Rachamin gets up. "This calls for some kind of party!" He gets out his MP3 player, speakers that he has seemed to pull out of nowhere, and turns them on really loud, to a song I hate, called "Magical Mystery Tour," by The Beatles. We all crack up laughing.
"Where did you get those?" Asks Serena, laughing the hardest of any of us.
I shush Rachamin. "We can celebrate tomorrow, when my burns are gone and we can actually celebrate."
He shrugs and shoves the equipment into his pocket. Then Sakura points out something I had not yet realized. "Your burns are gone Raizu."
I look down at my body, arms, and pull up my shirt. I'm totally healed. "Meh, must not have been too bad I suppose."
For a safe night, to make sure nothing happens, we release all out pokémon, to meet and greet one another. Markus mentions nothing to Veera, who doesn't seem to care about what happened the previous night. We all greet, and snuggle down in the group when I notice two missing. Markus and Abby. Not entirely tired yet, I get up and look around, and notice a certain bush south of us is crushed. They must've gone that way. I think. I get up silently and follow the direction I think they went.
I head through the forest, not running into any pokémon as I walk. Eventually, after a few minutes, I start to hear their thoughts.
… so you haven't? Asks what I recognize to be Abby's voice.
Not for fun, no. Answers Markus
I duck and look around, and notice a small fire to my immediate left, and walk toward it. In the clearing, I see Markus and Abby both sitting on the ground. Markus is relaxing, his back on a log, and his eyes pointed at the cloudless sky. Abby is just looking at him, only a little lower than she probably should be when talking to him.
It is a fine night. Says Markus. I feel bad, almost like I'm betraying Alexis…
You don't have to worry, She says, edging closer to him. I'm sure you'll find her again. And I'm sure she won't mind what I'm about to do…
I peek out from behind the tree, noticing Abby creeping closer to him, almost pressing her tongue against his stealth, but I stumble forward and fall flat on my face into the clearing. Markus stands up promptly and Abby sits up and turns to me calmly.
What are you doing? Asks Abby, her usual self. Why can't we get a moment alone, especially in the forest?
It's all right Abby. Says Markus. I'm not sure we should do this in the first place.
I just sit there silently as Abby does what is probably the closest thing she can do to a shrug, and just walks off towards camp. I get up and look at Markus, who is sitting hunched over, looking at the ground.
I walk over and place my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry I got in the way. I shouldn't have even watched."
No, it's okay. I remember a little about my parents, and they said not to engage in these activities if you are having any second thoughts. I already felt bad before she started coming on to me. He gets up and I just look at him walk toward the camp, but stops at the edge of the forest. Raizu?…
"Yes?" I say, feeling bad that I disrupted their alone time.
Can you wake up Veera? I suppose I should talk to her.
I nod, and we both head back to the camp.