Chapter Ten: Rumors
And Everything Came Crashing Down
I was sitting at the kitchen table in Sally's house. I already met up with Oliver in Eterna and he gave me a quick tour. He showed me the gym, Center and Mart then took me to his house. I met his older sister Sally, who owned the house, her daughter Caylie, and his younger brother Ray. They were extremely nice to me. Including Oliver who thought I was crazy once I made it into Eterna.
When I met up with him I was very frantic. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I—I came upon a Hoothoot who tried to attack me, and I caught it on accident, but it scratched my hands and they hurt and are all covered in blood!" I was shaking tremendously.
"Let me see your hands." On the run to Eterna I grabbed some leaves and had been gripping them in my hands to soak up some blood. I had my hands in my pants pockets, I brought them out and uncurled them. He brushed off the leafs and gave me a weird look.
"Is it bad?" I whispered.
"Uhh, what? No. Cynthia, there is no scratch, no blood, nothing. Is there even a Hoothoot? It's way too early to find them battling out there." He was right; the sun was still high in the sky.
With shaking arms I brought my hands up to my face. Nothing. No scar. No dried blood. "But, but!" I blinked. "Look at the leaves! They're covered!" I pointed to the crumpled leaves on the ground.
Oliver picked them up and inspected them. He shook his head. "They're sweaty, but not bloody. Are you alright? How hungry are you? Did you eat anything out there?" He felt my forehead.
I groaned and pushed his hand away. "No! I'm hungry, but not that hungry. I swear there was a Hoothoot, I caught it, and I have it." I grabbed the Pokéball. "See?" I handed it to him.
"It's a Pokéball, but how do we know it's a Hoothoot unless—" He went to push the button.
"No!" I grabbed the ball. "You want it to try to kill me again?" I started to breathe weird.
"Hey, it's okay." He put his arm around my shoulder. "No Hoothoot will attack you. C'mon, we need to get you to Sally."
And we went to Sally's home. Oliver didn't mention my episode throughout the time, but I kept sneaking peeks at my hands to make sure the scars and blood hadn't come back. They didn't.
Sally served the best salad I had ever eaten. And I am a vegetarian, I had eaten a lot of salads in my lifetime. But this one stood out the most. I was silently thankful that she didn't serve meat.
"Did you like it, Cynthia?" Sally asked me as she took my bowl to the wash basin.
"Yes I did. It was great. I'll have to ask you to make me one sometime before I leave." I said.
Oliver laughed. "Sall, you'll have to cook her something less lazy next time." He turned toward me. "She's the best cook. She makes all kinds of stuff! What was that thing you made last week, Sall? Stuffed berries?"
"No, stuffed caulicumber." She laughed. "It is greens stuffed inside a rare caulicumber."
"It's good!" Caylie chirped. She was sitting on the counter in the kitchen watching her mother wash dishes. Little Caylie was about two or three. She was a chubby toddler. She had long blonde hair, total opposite of her mother's brown and greenish hair, and the cutest round face. You would never think Sally was her mother. Sally was tall and slender with a very slim face. The only thing that matched was the deep-green eyes. Kind of like my father and I, we had the same gray colored eyes.
"I'm assuming you two met in the Forest, since that's where Oli spends all his time." Sally said.
"Yeah, yeah. She was at the poem. You know 'The power of three' and all that." Oliver said.
"Ah. I remember when I first learned about it. It was in school many years ago. Then I went out in the middle of the night with a flashlight to find the statue myself. I got out to Eterna Forest and then heard a Hoothoot chirp, then ran away. All the way back home." She laughed. I didn't. The mention of a Hoothoot made me nervous. Another look at my hands: nothing. I just assumed I was slowly going crazy. Maybe I was. Oliver glanced at me as well, but didn't say anything.
Sally finished up washing the dishes and said she would take me to the Center, where I requested I needed to go. Oliver joined us, but Ray had to get back to Eterna Pokémon School. He only came home for lunch break.
Sally had Caylie resting on her hip as we walked. The town was quaint and cozy. Trees filled the area, but it wasn't like Eterna Forest. There was a cooling breeze that made the hot day enjoyable. The houses were all two-stories but not very wide. Sally's house was small but had a second story for the bedrooms.
Because Annie, the champion before Lea, lived in Eterna she gave 'extra' funds to her home town. So they became wealthier then Solaceon or Celestic, but didn't turn into a Golden City. You couldn't tell it by the people. They all looked normal, except that some of them had green tinges to their hair, and I even saw a few of them working. A group of men were building a house, a few woman arranging flowers outside of a flower shop, and we even passed the Pokémon School where there was a group of young children being taught outside.
We made it to the Center in a matter of minutes. Oliver walked in with me while Sally stayed outside and played with her daughter. I walked up to the counter and handed them my Pokémon. I now had four Pokéballs. I decided I was going to heal Hoothoot, since that was fair to the Pokémon, and even get it checked on the hologram screen. That would be proof to Oliver also.
"Could you show me this Pokémon on the screen?" I picked up the Pokéball. I knew which one it was because Hoothoot's had grass stains and I thought I even saw blood on it. But I was just going crazy.
"Sure thing." The nurse took the Pokéball and placed it on the screen. The hologram came up and Oliver and I walked over to it. "It looks like you have a level ten to thirteen boy Hoothoot here. Our machine is having a hard time cracking his level, however."
"Thank you." I turned to Oliver. "I told you I caught a Hoothoot. Believe me now?"
He ran his hand through his hair. "Nah." He grinned.
I scoffed. "Thanks." I rolled my eyes and collected my Pokémon. We walked toward the door when a man in the post office uniform stopped me.
"Cynthia Everheart?" He asked.
"Yes?"
"This is from Celestic." The man handed me a package. I looked at the name and address. It was from Grandmother. I quickly opened the box. A letter sat on top of everything. I opened it and read it. Happy Birthday Cynthia! Signed from Grandmother, Jamie and Ember. There were three stones in the box.
"Hey, that's a shiny stone and an everstone, I'm not too sure what that other one is. But those are cool gifts. It's your birthday?" Oliver asked.
I thought for a moment. "I guess my birthday was last week. I forgot about it." I laughed slightly. "I guess that's what being a trainer does to you." We laughed and I stuffed my gifts into my bag as we walked out the door.
We met back with Sally. "Everything a-okay?" She asked as she picked up Caylie.
I nodded. "Yep. Do you know of anywhere I can train? I would like to work with my Pokémon before challenging the gym."
"Oh a trainer! How nice." Sally chirped. "The three of us never wanted to be trainers. Ray might change his mind, he has time, but I can't." She smirked then held the toddler in her arms closer. I smiled at Caylie. She yawned and rested her face on her mother's shoulder. "Anyways, you can go back to Route 205 to train. That's really the best place around here."
That's the last place I want to be. I thought. "Oh, okay. And thank you for lunch."
"No problem. Come back and visit anytime."
"See you, Cynthia." Oliver grinned and walked off with Sally.
I nodded to them and walked toward the path. Eterna was easy to navigate through, so it didn't take me long.
I tapped my foot on the grass at my Snorlax-Gible. "Listen to me!" I yelled at her. I had gone way past my usual level of frustration with my Pokémon. "How hard is it to Tackle?" I crossed my arms over my chest. Gible was sitting on the ground, she was totally zoned out. I had trained a good bit with Budew and Bidoof and made great progress. I had saved this Pokémon until last. I sighed then groaned. What to do… I thought. Then, I smirked. "I've got it."
I reached into my bag and pulled out Bidoof. "Alright then, let's see how you do in a battle." I walked a good distance from Gible and released Bidoof. "Go, Bidoof! Let's do this." I got Gible's attention.
"Rollout, now." I commanded. Bidoof curled into a ball and literally rolled into Gible. She snarled and showed some teeth, but no comeback. Bidoof continued. Each hit was stronger until Gible was knocked back a foot or two. She jumped up and growled.
"Tackle her." I yelled. Bidoof used Tackle perfectly and it was beautiful. It could have easily been a critical hit.
This time, Gible growled then stomped angrily to my Pokémon. Her stomp turned into a sprint and she slammed into Bidoof. It was a full-body slam. Gible recoiled and fell on the ground, she took some damage too.
"New move, huh? This is why we train." I said to myself. I called back Bidoof before he took too much damage. "Alright, Gible, are you ready to train?" She growled, but walked up to me.
"Okay, start with using Tackle that tree." I pointed to a big, fat tree. Gible didn't do anything. "You need to listen to your trainer! How do you not understand that?" Just then Gible jumped backward. She peered into the trees and growled. "What?" I turned around. I heard a crack. Ellena all over again. "What? Who's there?" I wasn't scared this time however; I knew that I didn't just escape illegally from a Golden City.
A lady, quite a bit older then myself, walked out of the woods. She had platinum blonde hair pulled back in a bun and wore a traveling outfit. "Hello there." She smiled.
"Hello." I blinked. "Were you… Watching me?"
"Oh, no! I was just coming out here to train. I see you found this place too, huh?"
She laughed.
"You're a trainer?" She seemed a little old.
"Well, ex-trainer, I guess. I did happen to see your little battle there." She pointed to Gible, who surprisingly didn't try to make an escape while I was distracted. "Nice Bidoof. But your Gible isn't as stubborn as you think."
I laughed. "That's funny, because she doesn't listen to a word I say. She doesn't even listen to the command Tackle."
"Because she doesn't know Tackle." The lady explained. "She replaced Tackle with Take Down, her new move. A Pokémon automatically forgets a move when a new one is learned. When you say Tackle, that's like saying Leaf Storm to her." She laughed.
"Oh, of course." I looked at Snorlax-Gible. "Take Down, on that tree." I pointed to the fat tree again. Gible obeyed. She worked up a run and used the move. Afterward she panted and came back to me.
"She'll need practice, of course. But she's pretty good." She smiled and extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, I am Annie."
I gave her a weird look. "You're Annie, as in Champion Annie?"
"Ex-champion, yes. And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Cynthia." I shook her hand finally. "It's great to meet you." I smiled.
Annie laughed. "Thank you. Anyways, are you going to continue training? I can leave you be, if you would like."
"No, I think I'm done here. I actually want to challenge the gym." I returned Gible and grabbed my bag and egg pouch.
Annie noticed my pouch. "Is that an egg you're carrying?"
"Yeah, it was a gift."
"May I see it?"
"Sure." I pulled out the egg and handed it to her. She studied it.
"Well this is a beauty. And quite a ways along too. It should hatch soon." Annie nodded and put the egg back in the pouch.
"Really? That would be great. I need another Pokémon." We started walking back to Eterna.
We walked through Eterna and I healed my Pokémon at the Center. We approached the gym. It was huge. It was a huge arena three-times the size as Oreburgh's gym. Before we entered, I saw a huge tree in the distance. It had a huge trunk and what looked like stairs that wrapped around it, leading up to the top of the tree. You couldn't see anything up there because of the mass amount of leaves.
"What's that?" I had stopped in my tracks and was gawking at it.
"Leaf Tower. A temple of sorts. That's where people go to seek peace. I will take you there after your battle, if you like. I'm sorry I can't take you now, if you earn the badge from Serena then you become eligible to enter Leaf Tower. It has to do with being tough and earning your way." Wind wisped around and knocked hundreds of leaves off the tree and carried them around Eterna. Even though the tree lost a lot, you couldn't tell it. There were so many leaves.
"I would hate to be here when fall comes." I said.
"Actually, the amazing thing about that tree is it never loses its leaves. We don't have winter here, or a long fall, but it still never changes. It's amazing." She looked at me and smiled. "Anyways, ready to battle?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." I said. Butterfree filled my stomach, but nonetheless, I was confident that I would win.
We entered the arena. I was taken aback. It was simply amazing. It was huge, for one thing, there were two large battle areas. There were Pokémon out training with a handful of trainers.
"Which one's Serena?" I asked.
"None of these. These are trainers, Serena lets them train here. I'll get her." Annie walked to a flight of stairs and went to the balcony that overlooked the battle areas. She came back down with a young lady following her.
Serena looked about in her twenties. She had dark colored hair that was all messy and stuck out everywhere. She wore only a green shirt that barely laid on her thighs, and she was barefoot.
"Cynthia, this is Serena, and vice versa." Annie introduced.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled thinly.
Serena gave me a look over. "You're not as pretty in person. On TV you're much better looking."
Annie slapped her forehead. "Serena!"
"Honesty is the best policy." She shrugged. She looked over at me. "I suppose you want to battle."
"No, actually." Annie cocked her head at me.
"No?" Serena sounded happy about that.
"I want to defeat you." I fought of the urge to grin.
Serena puckered her lips and almost winced. "I see. Well then, I'm just going to have to watch you fail." She walked toward the closest battle area and told the trainers to leave and that there would be a battle. They all dispersed and waited for the battle to start. Great… A crowd. I thought. Although last time I was on television, I didn't have all those eyes on me.
I was proud at the way I walked to my side of the arena. I wasn't lugging my huge black bag around, instead I had my Pokéballs attached to my belt loops. I had confidence written all over my face and a stern expression on. I could easily wipe my face free of emotions. That's something I have learned with my childhood.
"Oh, Cynthia, I'm so sorry about your parents." Someone would say. And I learned quickly to clear my face so no one would really know what a touchy subject that is for me.
I took my battle stance. My eyes locked with Serena's. She was on the other side talking with another lady. The lady handed her three Pokéballs. Three on three. Even though I did have Hoothoot with me, I obviously wasn't going to use him. I was hoping that she would see I have four Pokémon and she would get intimidated. She didn't notice.
I grabbed Bidoof and released him. "Go, Bidoof." I yelled. My voiced trembled a tad.
"Roselia." Serena tossed her Pokéball in the air. A green Pokémon came out. Its hands were flowers, roses to be correct. It was the evolved form of Budew. "Leech Seed." Roselia spit seeds at Bidoof. They stuck to his fur because of the weird acid that covered the seeds. Bidoof slightly winced and I knew that they were literally leeching seeds.
"Rollout." I commanded. Bidoof, despite the seeds, sprinted to the foe and hit her. She fell backward, but quickly got up.
"Magical Leaf." Serena yelled. Roselia focused and closed her eyes. She made colorful leaves appear. They spun around her and multiplied, then she opened her eyes and the leaves shot to Bidoof. They cut into his skin and left small gashes. He let out a short cry, mostly because the seeds oozed more acid, before continuing to use Rollout. He had more vigor as he hit the opponent two more times.
Roselia dodged the last hit and looked at her trainer and awaited a command. "Mega Drain." Roselia's eyes became a yellow color. She looked intensely at Bidoof. He stood there staring at her while the seeds drank away his energy, and then he hit the ground. He cried out in pain. The opponent sucked the life out of him to refill hers.
I wasn't expecting my Pokémon to get up from that. Bidoof tried to fight off the seeds that were draining away his last bit of life, but the seeds won. Bidoof gave up and fainted. The seeds suddenly became a gray color instead of green and fell off of him.
I returned him. He fought hard and Roselia couldn't have much energy left. Let's not bring out Gible yet… Well, Grass Type, let's see what you can do. I thought. "Go Budew!" I released her. She came out and leapt into the air.
Serena laughed. "You really expect to win with that thing? Please! Roselia, finish her off with Mega Drain." Roselia focused. I knew there was no dodging this move, but I did have something in mind.
"Mega Drain." I commanded. Budew focused as well. Roselia's eyes became yellow first. She extended her invisible claw and tried to grasp Budew, but couldn't. Budew opened her eyes next. They were a mesmerizing light yellow. Budew did the same thing, although she was less experienced. They both didn't inflict nor feel any pain, they were both in the 'zone.'
The question was, however, who would let their guard down first?
"Keep fighting, Budew." I encouraged. Serena shook her head and rolled her eyes. Both Pokémon fought for a bit, but Roselia stopped trying first. Big mistake. Budew clawed her way into the rival's energy and absorbed it herself. She breathed it in like the best scent in the whole world.
Roselia fell to the ground. She was panting hard, but she hadn't fainted.
"Budew, Mega Drain again." I yelled. My Pokémon used Mega Drain. It took her a while to get focused, but once she used the move Roselia cried out in pain. It was a high-pitched noise that pinched your ears. That said she was down for good.
Serena returned her and quickly grabbed her next Pokémon. "Burmy, fight hard!" A green, odd, floating Pokémon materialized from the Pokéball. I had learned about it in my studies. It was a bug type that you could attract with honey on trees. I didn't know my chances of beating it.
"Mega Drain." I shouted. That time it wasn't Budew's toughest. That made me nervous. I suddenly realized all the eyes on me from the crowd.
"Start with Tackle." Serena commanded. The foe awkwardly tackled Budew, but it was tough. Budew met the ground hard. But she jumped right back up.
"Stun Spore." Budew spit seeds at Burmy. He was temporarily paralyzed. Any moves he used would have to be anything but physical moves.
"Hidden Power." Serena yelled. Light surrounded Burmy, and then he called the light inside of him. The light shot out in the forms of circles and hit Budew. She fainted instantly.
I called her back into her Pokéball. I took a deep breath. Gible time. I didn't know how well she would do, considering that she refused to train and even listen to me for the most part. But I knew that she was my last hope. I needed to beat Serena; she got on my nerves too much with her obvious laziness and arrogance.
"Do you forfeit, or what?" She yelled.
I balled my hands into fists. "No, quite the opposite actually." I grabbed Gible's Pokéball and released her. Unfortunately there was not a look of fear or even surprise on Serena's face. She kept her face completely clear.
"Hidden Power." Serena commanded. Burmy collected the light faster than last time and shot them at Gible fiercely. Gible readied herself quickly and the light orbs seemed like it did little damage.
I had a plan with Gible. I had come up with this strategy while training with her a while back. I needed this Pokémon defeated so I could move on to Serena's last Pokémon. "Sand-Attack." I shouted. Gible protruded a bit of sand on the floating Bug Type. He started to shake his head and he fell to the ground. "Take Down." She took a minute to concentrate, but then stampeded to the foe and slammed into him a few times.
"Protect!" Burmy quickly obeyed. A blue transparent shield covered him as he cowered behind it.
"Stop using Take Down!" I screamed. But Gible, being stubborn, didn't listen. She rammed right into the shield and flew backward. She collided hard with the ground and let out an 'uhg' as she stood up. Her legs shook greatly, I knew she didn't have much left. Take Down took a lot out of her.
"Hidden Power." Serena said. The rival floated back into the air. Light orbs circled around him.
"Sandstorm, Gible." Sandstorm was a newer move Gible had learned a while back. I decided to see how good she was at using it.
My Pokémon opened her mouth and emitted sand. She controlled the sand telepathically as it traveled to Burmy. Just as Burmy sent out the light orbs, the sandstorm raged around him. The spheres zigzagged about and eventually evaporated because they couldn't find their target. Perfect!
"Dragon Rage." I yelled. Gible started to run to Burmy and through the sandstorm. She didn't listen to me again. "Gible!" She growled as she approached the foe.
"Use Protect!" Just as Gible leapt towards Burmy to use Take Down, the blue wall appeared and knocked Gible down. She squirmed on the floor for a second before getting back up. Burmy put his shield down.
"Dragon Rage!" I screamed. Gible projected some purple electricity that flew right onto Burmy's face. The sandstorm still raged, so the opponent was completely blind. "Again." Gible shot me a mad look, apparently hating that move, but obeyed. The purple energy hit Burmy hard, possibly a critical hit, and he screeched an insect screech. His eyes closed and he hit the arena floor. He had fainted.
Worry and nervousness and excitement filled me all at once. Worry because Gible did not have enough life to last the rest of the battle, nervousness because I really needed and wanted to win. Not just for my own satisfaction but because I was starting to get low on money and I needed the badge. And excitement because of the jolt of the battle. My heart raced throughout my chest and the sides of my lips turned up into a slight smile.
Serena called in her Pokémon and released her last. "Leafeon, defeat them!" The Pokémon was green and tan colored. It stood on four legs and looked very feline-like. It had a leaf as a tail and a leaf on the top of its head. Leafeon was one of the evolutions of Eevee, the Grass Form. You could see the veins pumping sheer energy through the leaves. This Pokémon was up in levels, and I would have a hard time defeating it.
The sandstorm lost most of its sand, but still swirled on. "Sand-Attack." I yelled. Gible used the move almost perfectly. Practice makes perfect. I thought. The Leafeon tried to shake off the sand, but failed to do so. "Take Down." I took a bet. If Gible could successfully use Take Down all the way through, Leafeon's life would be chopped down. But since the move takes a lot from Gible, she might faint through it.
Gible worked up anger and sprinted to the foe. She tackled Leafeon twice before falling to the floor. Gible growled and snarled and fought hard to stand back up. She worked her way into a sitting position.
"Finish her with Tackle!" Serena commanded. Leafeon gracefully pounced on Gible.
Gible met the ground again. She growled once before slipping into oblivion.
The breath caught in my throat. No, I'm not supposed to lose. I'm going to be the Champion! I felt like falling to the floor myself and crying, but I couldn't do that. I couldn't let all these people know how I dealt with defeat.
I returned my Pokémon. I noticed how Serena wasn't making any comments or even returning her Pokémon. Why? Gible's fainted. I thought. She see's Hoothoot's Pokéball. I took a bet. I grabbed Hoothoot and got ready to release him. One scenario, he would come out and beat Leafeon since he has the type advantage, the other scenario, he would come out and kill me. I released him.
The Pokéball flew out of my hand once I pressed the button. The ball opened on the floor and shot out light beams. Hoothoot appeared from the light. He crowed a few times, and turned his head completely around to view me. That was a little disturbing, but I just prepared myself for the worst. He examined me, then turned back around and awaited a command.
Unfortunately, Serena beat me to it. "Razor Leaf!" Leafeon made leaves appear in front of her, and then pushed them forward with her mind. Much like Magical Leaf, they pieced Hoothoot's skin. He crowed in pain but it didn't do too much damage.
I thought back to my quick battle with Hoothoot. He knew Peck, for one thing. "Okay Hoothoot, use Peck." He flew over to Leafeon and jabbed her with his beak.
"Sand-Attack." Leafeon spit sand on Hoothoot. He started to miss his attacks.
"Use… Anything else!" I shouted. Serena gave me a weird look, but I didn't care. I just needed to win. Hoothoot's eyes became a weird color, and Leafeon hit the ground. At first I thought she had fainted, but she had fallen asleep. Hoothoot had used Hypnosis.
Serena groaned. "You think you're clever, don't you?" She looked at her sleeping Pokémon. "Wake up, Leafeon! Please?"
"Peck, Hoothoot." Hoothoot obeyed. He pecked her on the side. There was no reaction. What other moves? I thought. "…Tackle?" My voice sounded unsure. Hoothoot rammed into Leafeon. "Tackle!" Now my voice rang with confidence. Hoothoot tackled the sleeping Pokémon again, but this time she sprang up and growled.
"Razor Leaf!" Leafeon used Razor Leaf. This time it was definitely a critical hit. The leaves circled around Hoothoot, who was hovering in air, and then they all spun into him. He cried out in pain and looked at me for a command.
"Peck then Tackle." I yelled. Hoothoot pecked Leafeon's face. She winced and started pawing at her nose. Then Hoothoot used Tackle. He knocked the rival to the ground. They both groaned, and then jumped back up.
"Tackle." Serena commanded. Leafeon jumped into the air and pushed my Pokémon down.
"Peck!" While Leafeon was still on top of him, Hoothoot pecked her again. He even scratched her and fought to push her off. Eventually she had enough and scurried back to her place on the other side of the arena. She shivered and panted of near-defeat. "Tackle her one last time." I said. Hoothoot flew over to her faster than I had ever seen him fly. He slammed into the foe with no hesitation. He was graceful and swift. He knocked her to the ground without falling with her. So he was still in the air when Leafeon struggled on the floor.
Leafeon's wispy, quick breaths turned deep and even as she closed her eyes. She accepted defeat, and I accepted victory.
I returned Hoothoot and a group of people surrounded me. They yelled and cheered for me.
"Hey, you won! You defeated her!" They yelled. Annie came over and joined in.
"Three cheers for Cynthia!" She shouted. I smiled at them all but kept pretty calm. Although inside I was jumping for joy.
The crowd made a path for Serena. She approached me with her head held high. She handed me two things. I accepted them with a 'Thank you' and looked at them. One of them was a badge. It was a green badge with trees painted on it. It was expertly painted and looked magnificent. The other was a wad of money. I didn't count it right then but instead stuffed it in my pocket.
"You won fairly and shown true strength." Serena said almost robotically.
"Thank you, Serena. You were a tough opponent, and maybe one day we can have a rematch."
"Maybe." She walked off. The group walked with her. They were all praising her and telling her things she wanted to hear.
"Why are they acting like that?" I asked Annie.
"Oh they respect their Leader and want to make her happy. You can see how she uses it though. She gets away with treating them like dirt, and all the while getting everything she wants."
"Why aren't you the Leader, Annie? Why do you put up with her?" I collected my items and walked out of the gym with her at my side.
"Because, I'm much too old. And it's sort of degrading to go from Sinnoh Champion to Leader. I help out Serena. She has tough enough Pokémon, and she's young, but I help out with the decisions for Eterna." Annie explained.
"What kind of decisions?"
"Such as Leaf Tower." She pointed to the giant tree in the distance. "It was my idea to turn it into a temple, but I sort if used Serena to do so. She gets the attention, I get to make Eterna a better place. Fair trade." Annie smiled. "Ready to go to Leaf Tower?"
"Sure, let's go." We walked towards the other side of Eterna.
The sun was dipping under Mt. Cornet and clouds started to cover the darkening sky. This was a familiar sight back at Celestic. I felt so close to home is made me sick. A nice breeze swirled around and made me shiver. The walk was longer than it looked. Leaf Tower, although seen from anywhere in Eterna, wasn't actually in Eterna. It was on the outskirts.
"Cynthia, what made you want to become a trainer?" Annie asked. She tried to relieve the silence.
"My grandfather, really. I have always enjoyed Pokémon, so I decided to start my journey."
"Ah. That's nice. I was real close to my dad, he's who pushed me to become a trainer. Where you from?"
"Celestic."
"Celestic?" She echoed. "Wow, that's a ways away. Isn't it a small town?"
"Yes it is quite small. But it's quaint and nice."
"I bet you guys haven't had any problems with attacks, then." Annie muttered.
I shook my head. "No, we haven't been attacked. I don't think we will be."
"Hopefully those rebels won't see a need to bomb anywhere else."
"Rebels? You think the attackers are rebels?"
"It's a lot of rumors, but yes, I do. I think they're rebelling from Lea's laws. This is how they're acting out, so to speak." We arrived at the base of Leaf Tower. There was a man standing at the bottom of the staircase. "Show him your badge."
I got out my gym badge and showed it to him. He nodded and moved out of the way. I felt like I had just gotten accepted into a rare club.
We started on our walk up the stairs. It really tired you out and took a while. We continued our little chat about the rebels. I told her I thought it was Lea, and she just nodded in response.
Once we reached the top of the stairs the sun was already set. Even though you couldn't see the sun due to the branches and leaves. There was an entrance to go into the base of the tree. We walked into the tower. It was amazing. It was one huge room with a statue of Dialga and Palkia and paintings on the wall.
"This temple is dedicated to Pokémon. A lot of people come here for meditation." Annie explained.
"It's beautiful." I said. It was. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I walked over to Dialga's statue. It wasn't like the one in the woods; this one was much bigger and had gold streaks through it. Palkia's had silver streaks running through it.
Then, something odd happened. While I was looking at a painting of three pink gems side-by-side, I felt the presence return. I heard whispers. I looked over my shoulder; Annie was at the Palkia statue. I kept calm. "Rrrrrrr, rrrrr, rrrr." I heard.
I felt wind at my ear. "Run. Run. Run."
I assumed I was going crazy, but I felt no fear. Overwhelming peace. "Run! Get out of there!" The voice whispered. Then, the peace was replaced with fear. Fear that ate at my soul; pure fear.
"Annie, we have to leave!" I yelled. I spun around; a few other people were in the tower. They looked at me weird.
"What?" Annie ran over to me.
"We need to get out of here!" I was having a panic attack. I grabbed her arm and ran towards the exit. "Everyone, run!" The other people followed behind us as we ran down the steps. Then I heard an explosion. I looked up. The top of the tree was on fire. There was another explosion. Fire lit up around us.
"We need to jump!" I yelled. The fire had started burning up the stairs.
"What?" Annie shrieked. I ignored her and pulled her with me.
I jumped off of the stairs just as another explosion went off around me.
Authors Note: And with chapter ten, we get a new subtitle. "And Everything Came Crashing Down." With every ten chapters that'll change. I would also like to celebrate that I now have over 1500 hits! Thank you guys. You have made this so much fun.
RoboMonkey2012: Actually, no. If I would have to pick something this is inspired by, it would probably be a bunch of books that I was reading when I started writing this. None of them was The Hunger Games. But I guess I see where you thought that. Thank you for all the encouragement! I wasn't going to quit this story, I never quit stories that I've posted on here and gained readers from. So you have nothing to worry about. Except maybe my slow updates... But... I'm working on that. Thanks for the offer about the drawing, but I would like to decline. Nothing personal, and it's not the drawing. Anyways, thanks for reading!
WhiteSkyZach: This may be hard to understand, but my intent was for it to click in your head without me coming out and saying it. Does that make sense? So yes, the fact you got it was good. And the character thing, it was bugging me that one of the slots was empty, and Volkner is going to play a part later, (Spoiler! Oops, I'm too late. Oooh well.) but I haven't really decided if there's going to be romance there. I guess you'll just have to wait and see? Some things I have figured out and the smaller things aren't all together yet. Never fear, they'll all come together soon! And I'm trying to speed things up. I'm trying to get to gyms quicker (Not through them quicker, to them quicker) but the story-line gets so huge and jumpy sometimes. It really does have a mind of its own. But, soon I will get inspiration and get the next chapter out soon and get regular again! Thanks for reading