Disclaimer: If you have read the disclaimers of the last twenty three chapters, then you should know by now that I do not own Pokemon.
MESSAGE TO READERS: You may or may not notice that this chapter is actually a bit shorter than usual. This is mainly because I did not want to give too much away in this chapter, particularly with Jonathyn vs. Sandra right around the corner and I also need to find a slight "filler" if you will until the chapter in which they will battle. Please keep those reviews coming in as I love hearing from all my fans and foes! So, other than that grab a lemonade or something, kick back and enjoy!
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 24: THE CURFEW HITS! JONATHYN'S SPECIAL DELIVERY!
The time had quickly passed us by. The revelation that there was to be a curfew struck all of us with great shock, all for the sake of two or three avaricious individuals who desired to bring fortune to themselves and suffering to others. This made me rather angry, especially knowing that I had encountered such people during my days here at the Pokemon League. Jessie and James of Team Rocket, along with their talking Meowth companion. Creators of some kind of grand design, yet it failed to impress me or any other respectful human being. Even Darkhan seemed to match the description quite well, despite the fact that he referred to himself as a Pokemon "Collector", whatever that is. He could call it whatever he wants, it still means the same thing. I looked at the time on my Poketch. It was just ten minutes until the curfew hit and hunger was beginning to strike. It took almost half an hour to register the four Pokemon that I was going to use against Sandra in the fourth round battle and then I had to make a call regarding a Pokemon that I needed to get for the battle. Time was running short. Misty was still waiting for me, I hadn't seen her since the curfew had been announced. I was faced with a dilemma, either see Misty first and starve or eat and have my girlfriend give me more grief than a Granbull in a china shop.
Hoping that there was at least some sandwiches or fruit in the refrigerator at the dorm, I had decided to choose the first option. After all, someone once said that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. That advice seemed to echo in the back of my mind, which is possibly one of the reasons that I had decided it. By now, the Trainer Village was baron. Not by the fact that all the trainers had been almost forced indoors, but also the fact that most of the trainers had been eliminated from the tournament and had to depart the premises. Although Misty was allowed to stay with me, albeit not legally since none of the officials seemed to bother about trainers sharing rooms. I passed several Officer Jennys on the way to the dorm, all walking alongside their tradition Pokemon of choice, Growlithe and Arcanine. Although a couple did have some different Pokemon, mainly Bug Types though such as Spinarak and Ledian. Upon arrival of my dorm, the door was slightly ajar. I raised an eyebrow at this and opened the door without a second thought. I looked around the bedroom, but Misty was nowhere in sight. A small frown appeared on my face.
"Where the heck has she gone?" I wondered out loud, still looking around the dorm for some reason. Obviously she wasn't here, so why was I still looking? After kicking off my boots and slinging my backpack on the floor messily, I slumped into the comfort of the bed that I had been sleeping in. Wearily, I clasped my hands at the back of my head and let out a long, tired yawn. My head then rolled to the left hand side as if through a will other than my own and saw a small white envelope on Misty's pillow. With a sigh, I reached over to it and examined it. There was no name written on it, nor any indication as to who it was written by… that is until the familiar smell of Misty's favourite perfume wafted over my nostrils. Quickly, I tore it open. A small note was left inside.
"Gone shopping with Brock," I read the letter out loud. "I drank the last of the lemonade. Sorry! I know that it's your favourite." I smirked a little at this comment. "Damn right," I chuckled to myself, discarding the letter in the waste bin just to the side of the bed. Another yawn exits my mouth as I slumped back once again. Thoughts began entering my mind about how the Fourth Round match would unfold against Sandra. I knew she had a Gabite that she was desperate to have mate with my own. She had already confirmed to me that they were opposite genders. I remembered back to our first encounter and the methods that she used at that time…
"You don't have a clue what a Breeder's Pokemon is capable of," she chuckled. "Attract!" Her Gabite began to hold its claws near its heart. A strange light appeared, it seemed to form into a heart itself. It released the strange energy as Gabite approached its target. The light dispersed across my Gabite's torso. Immediately, Gabite stopped it's tracks and began to blush! "What are you doing, Gabite?" I called over to it. "Dragon Claw, now!" Gabite slouched forward, hanging its arms down by its side. Its eyes narrowed, as it seemed to drool at the sight of the female Gabite. "What's the matter?" I frowned.
"You've never seen the move Attract before?" Sandra laughed. "You're even more dense than I thought! Attract infatuates a Pokemon of the opposite gender, immobilising it with love. Your Gabite has fallen in love with my own."
"That's right," I caught on to what she said to me yesterday. "If she uses Attract against Gabite, then she may well get what she wants. It simply wouldn't attack it! So I need to find a way to get around that. Only a Pokemon of an opposite gender would be able to counter it… how do you check that kind of thing anyway? Hmm… lift their tails up?" I suddenly stopped as the lock of the door clicked. I stared at my Poketch, the time now showed that five minutes had lapsed over the curfew time. I could hear two female voices talking.
"I didn't know anything about a curfew," Misty's voice came from the doorway.
"Headquarters' rules, miss," the officer replied. "You must stay inside until morning."
"Aww, man," she moaned, closing the door behind her. The rustling of plastic carrier bags filled the room until she began to stomp along the wooden floorboards in frustration. "I can't believe they put on a curfew!" she whined to me. From where I was laying down, I simply shrugged in response. "It's still light outside, for crying out loud!" she opened one of the curtains. A beam of dusk's sunlight shone directly in my face, forcing me to turn the other way to block my eyes. I let out a small grunt as the light shone over me. "What's the matter with you?" she asked me, beginning to place some of the groceries she had picked up into the fridge.
"Nothing is wrong with me, Misty," I replied, sitting upright to avoid the sunset. "What's got you all riled up?"
"They've put a cerfew into effect," she moaned. "I was just on the way back and got escorted by two Officer Jennys. Something to do with Pokemon Thieves. It's not fair that we should be locked up like animals in here just because of idiots like Team Rocket."
"I know, I know," I replied comfortingly. "We've just got deal with it. As soon as it's under control, we'll be allowed back out."
"But what about the trainers?" Misty whined still. "They could be getting valuable training for their matches and they've been restricted all because of these vagabonds!"
"Misty, relax," I smiled, stretching in relaxation myself. "It's nothing all that serious. Could you pass me a lemonade?"
"A please wouldn't go amiss," she responded, still upset with the curfew.
"Alright, bossy!" I chuckled slightly mockingly at her anger. "Please could you pass me a lemonade." With a small huff, she walked over to the bed and sat down, passing me a small bottle of the delicious lemonade that I had grown so used to. "Kick back and relax, Misty," I smiled, opening the can of fizzy liquid. It hissed and crackled as it opened, the same sounds came when Misty opened hers. She propped up a pillow against the headrest and sat upright. To be on the safe side, I did the same. "Look, I know it's annoying, but we've just got to deal with it."
"I know that," she sighed. "There's something else on my mind though."
"What is it?" I asked trying to show concern. "You can tell me anything, you know?" She turned to smile at me slightly, before giving me an affectionate kiss on the lips for just a second.
"Yes, of course," she smiled, before hanging her head again a little sadly. "I was talking to Brock about Ash…"
"What about him," I replied, not too sure whether I truly wanted to carry on this conversation.
"His girlfriend is coming over to see him battle tomorrow," Misty quietly mumbled. "And I just don't know if I can face her."
"Why not? Do you still have feelings for Ash?" I sighed, a little dreary of carrying on like this.
"No, and that's the weirdest part of it," she replied, lifting her head up. "I love you and I don't see Ash the way I used to anymore. I don't understand why I'm feeling like this."
"You know what I think?" I smiled after a small pause. "You and Ash have been through a lot together over the years. Perhaps you just don't want to see one of your best friends get hurt by a complete stranger to you." Misty fell silent, perhaps absorbing what I had said and processing it in her mind. A few moments passed, still the sound of Starly tweeting in the distance was the only thing to break Misty's silence. I took a purposefully loud slurp from my can of lemonade, but even that did not snap her out of her trance. "Misty," I nudged her gently.
"Huh," she suddenly looked around, before finally her eyes managed to focus on me.
"Don't worry about it," I assured her again. "Do you think Ash is thinking the same about you and I? I doubt it, not if he's in love with Anabel now."
"Hmm," Misty hummed. "I guess you're right." I let out a reliefed breath of air, wiping my forehead a little. She giggled at me and leaned over to kiss me once again. "So… who did you get drawn up against?" she asked. I let out a confident grin.
"Remember that girl Sandra, the one with the Flygon you met at the lake?" I continued to smirk.
"You're battling her?" Misty exclaimed, a little shocked. "The girl who helped beat Team Rocket the first time they appeared here?"
"The very same," I could not stop smiling. "I can't wait! Do you know what the best part about it is? We made a bet earlier on."
"What sort of bet?" Misty asked, now with a serious tone. "You'd better not be getting into anything bad, Jon."
"It's not that bad," I tried to hold back my laughter, remembering the bargain we had made with one another. "If I win, she has to make out with Harley!" with that, I burst out laughing hysterically, almost spilling a small amount of lemonade over the duvet.
"No way! You're kidding!" Misty gasped. "That's awesome! But hold on… what if you lose?"
"I won't lose," I replied, still recovering from that sudden outburst of hilarity.
"But what is the stipulation?" Misty insisted on knowing. "If you lose, what do you have to do?"
"Oh, she's obsessed with having my Gabite breed with her own, so if I lose they have to mate." I answered.
"Eww…" Misty cringed. "And you agreed to that?"
"Like I said, I'm not going to lose," I repeated my earlier statement. "And in any case, my Gabite is ten times better than hers."
"But all her Pokemon are Dragon Types, aren't they?" Misty spoke her mind to me. "The only sort of attacks that will do much damage against them are other Dragon moves."
"And Ice moves," I grinned. "And I've made a call to Johto asking to send through a Pokemon that will provide a small shockwave to Sandra's gameplan."
"Which Pokemon is that, then?" Misty asked with an intrigued expression etched across her face.
"Let me put it like this," I grinned a little cunningly. "I've already told you."
"Huh?" she shrugged. "What's that meant to mean?"
"You'll find out," I smirked. "I just hope that it gets here tonight, otherwise I'll have no time to see what it can do before the match tomorrow."
"But how will you get it tonight if we're not allowed outside?" Misty retorted. Upon hearing that, I simply let out a small grin.
"I've got it covered," I replied. "Rufus said that he would deliver it personally. And besides, I've had to register which ones I'd use in this round. I've decided to use Gabite, Aggron and Pelipper along with my surprise fourth. I'm on the Water Field."
"You're on the same field as me when I lost then…" Misty sighed. "Hopefully your result won't be like mine."
"Aw, don't say stuff like that Misty, you'll 'Jynx' it," I grinned.
"That was the lamest pun I've ever heard," she frowned at me, unimpressed at my attempt at humour. "But all joking aside, why are you using Aggron on the Water Field? Don't you know how heavy Aggron is?"
"I know," I nodded. "But I've got some tricks up my sleeve that will come in handy."
"I hope you know what you are doing," she replied, finishing off her can of lemonade and throwing it into the bin to the left of the bed. "So anyway, are we still going to head for the Whirl Cup after this?"
"Whirl Cup?" I frowned as I tried to remember exactly what she was talking about, before recollecting the conversation we had the other day. "Oh, right. Of course, yeah. That'd be great!"
"Good, because I really think I've got a chance of winning it this time!" she smiled, obviously daydreaming about the thought of her lifting the coveted Whirl Cup trophy. I too wondered what the feeling would be like, but rather than of the Whirl Cup, I thought about raising the Pokemon League trophy high above my head. I almost drooled at this thought until it was Misty's turn to gently nudge me out of my trance. I chuckled a little before slouching back down into the comfort of the bed. There was a short silence, until the bed made a quiet creak as Misty stood up. "I'm going for a shower," she smiled, removing her socks. I nodded in acknowledgement and turned away whilst Misty was undressing. "Oh, get a grip. You're my boyfriend." Misty chuckled as she unclipped the braces holding up her denim skirt.
"Yes, but there's a certain level of decency about me that I try to maintain," I replied, still not looking. Misty let out a small sigh, before snickering to herself.
"Okay," she sweetly smiled at me. "I'll do it in the bathroom." She quietly walked off, closing the door behind her. I took a moment to think, before smiling to myself and rolling onto my side. I could quite easily fall asleep here and now, but that idea was not to be as a loud knock at the door rattled through the cabin. It was a sound that I welcomed. I quickly leapt out of bed and rushed over to the door, opening it with great anticipation. Sure enough, the man I expect had arrived with my special package.
"I believe this is yours?" Rufus Goodshow smiled, extending a Poke Ball in front of my face. I took hold of it with both hands, staring at it with sincere relief that it had arrived with me this early. "Good luck in your battle tomorrow. I'll be watching with great interest."
"Thanks, Rufus," I bowed gratefully. Rufus raised his hand in front of me.
"No need to thank me, Jonathyn," Rufus grinned. "I expect great things from you. Even though you lost that second battle to Darkhan, I truly believe that if you believe in yourself and your Pokemon then you will achieve glory here at the Pokemon League."
"I appreciate that," I bowed once again. "I guess I shall see you tomorrow."
"That you shall," he bowed to me respectfully before walking off into the baron street of the Trainer Village. I closed the door behind me, holding the Poke Ball in front of me. My eyes were fixated on it…
"Well, old friend," I spoke softly to it. "Welcome back onto the team. Come on out!" I held it forward. There wasn't much room for any Pokemon larger than this one, but it was ample room for this creature. It's whole body was blue, with a few grey splotches dotted here and there. It's tail was almost fish-like. It's head was perfectly round and looked shiny like a rubber ball. Although it's eyes were almost like specks, its mouth gapped open as soon as it saw me. "Good to see you again," I smiled to it. Suddenly, it wrapped its flipper like arms around me and dragged me down. A loud thud was heard as I smacked against the wooden floor. "Easy, pal! You're going to knock me out!" I laughed, tickling its stomach area. It let out a little laugh before allowing me to stand back up.
"Hey Jonathyn, are you alright?" Misty called to me from the bathroom. "Did you just fall over?"
"Uhh… not exactly," I chuckled, still tickling my Pokemon's stomach. "Why don't you come and see who I've got with me. You'll love it, I guarantee."
"Let me just dry off first and I'll be right out," Misty called to me. The sound of running water faded, as my ecstatic Pokemon tackled me playfully once again.
"Will you settle down?" I chuckled, the memories of why I left this Pokemon behind all that time ago now coming back to me. It once broke my shoulder where it hit me with so much force. Eventually, the Pokemon stopped and began looking at me endearingly. "So, you ready to help me win the next round?" It called out its name happily just as Misty walked out of the door wearing nothing but a large towel wrapped around her figure. She looked at me and then at the Pokemon!
"Aww…aren't you a precious little Water Type!" she squealed in delight. I always knew that she loved Water Pokemon, but not that much. Misty began to approach my fourth selected ally, but it then prepared to tackle her as it had done with me.
"Return!" I quickly called as it began surging forward. It vanished just before contact could be made. "Sorry about that," I chuckled. "It gets a little bit funny like that."
"That's alright," she laughed. "I'm just going to dry off."
"Fine by me," I nodded, throwing myself back onto the bed. Misty re-entered the room in which she had been showering. I let out another long, tired yawn and closed my eyes, rubbing my side where my Pokemon had hit me just now. I did not even feel Misty clamber into bed with me once I had fallen asleep, hoping to be awake early enough to get some training done before the big match.
TO BE CONTINUED
Next Time: Just what kind of Pokemon will Jonathyn be using in the next round? After a small team talk, it turns out there is still some unfinished business between Aggron and Gabite…