"This will be a six-on-six battle between Wallace, once-leader of Sootopolis Gym, and Erin of Pallet Town, and the newest addition to Hoenn's Elite Four!" Winona announced to everyone who was nearby to watch the battle.
The battle arena was… wow.
The trainers were on a raised platform, on islands that provided land for the Pokemon. In between the two small islands was the sea, which provided water for the Pokemon. There were bleachers that were half-filled with Gym leaders, personnel, and of course, the gang, who wanted to see this battle. They hadn't seen Erin Hunter in battle before, and they were going to see it now.
"I have some new water babies I want to try out!" Wallace told Erin. Erin nodded.
"Fine with me! I'm just going to train some of my regulars!" Erin grinned. This is gonna be a great battle! Six-on-six… and against Wallace, too. He's the best rival I could ask for – after Steven, of course.
"Luvdisc, we're up!" Wallace tossed up a Pokeball, and in the water appeared the heart shaped Pokemon. Gary had a flashback of a time when he and Sam had come across a group of Luvdisc… he smiled.
"Alright," Erin squinted her eyes. "Up in the sky! Pidgeot, let's play!" she smiled as her Pidgeot appeared, amidst a chorus of sparkles.
"Hey, isn't that a ball for coordinators?" Amber asked Sam.
"Yeah. But she's a coordinator, too, you know. When I first met her, she was using her contest skills in battle," Sam replied. "She's pretty good. And she was twelve, the last time I saw her."
"Is she good? In contests, I mean," Topaz said, eyes never leaving the battle field.
"She's won all the ribbons in Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Hoenn, and won the Grand Festivals in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn."
"Wow," Skye said, looking in admiration at the redheaded girl. "What about Sinnoh?"
"That's what she was planning to do… but then she got side-tracked by the Pokemon League, and got spotted by the Elite four here, in Hoenn."
"Luvdisc, let's give Pidgeot a Sweet Kiss!"
"Pidgeot, dodge it!" Erin called out her plan, and nodded, satisfied that Pidgeot had dodged it well. "Then use Gust!"
"Underwater, Luvdisc!" Luvdisc went underwater as Pidgeot's Gust made ripples in the water. "Then come up for Hydro Pump!"
Erin winced. Right after a Gust? Hm. Wallace has this hit. A spray of water hit her Pidgeot. "Pidgeot, you okay?" she asked, practically seeing the points being depleted from her. "Right… swoop down, and use Aerial Ace!"
"Underwater again!" Wallace commanded. "Whirlpool!"
"Ah!" Erin gasped as she spotted the starting signs of a vortex that would suck in her Pidgeot and end the battle. Luvdisc would be useless out of water… she smiled. "Change that, Pidgeot! Agility, then get Luvdisc out of the water!"
"That's impossible, Pidgeot'd have to be super fast to reach Luvdisc before Whirlpool is complete," Wallace mused. He gasped, and saw Pidgeot become merely a blur as it sped towards the water.
"That's the fastest Agility I've ever seen!" Gary said, impressed. "Faster than Ash's Pikachu, I'm sure!"
"That's… really, really good…" James said, mouth open.
Pidgeot, meanwhile, had reached Luvdisc… and then… it dived underwater.
"What?" Wallace exclaimed, leaning over the railing of his podium to see better.
"Don't tell me that none of your opponents has ever tried that, Wallace?" Erin asked casually.
"It's just that…" Wallace grit his teeth.
The bird Pokemon emerged out of the water, Luvdisc balanced perfectly on his beak.
"Up high!" Erin commanded.
Wallace was silent. There was nothing he could do, now that Luvdisc was useless. Now he understood – Erin knew how to get rid of handicaps, like the fact that Luvdisc would just simply go underwater, should she try to attack it. But he smirked. Good thing that Luvdisc was the only Pokemon he had that was bound to the sea.
"Now: Wing Attack!"
Pidgeot tossed Luvdisc slightly to the side, and waited for Luvdisc to start dropping towards the ground. Then, he sped towards Luvdisc, and, wings glowing, slammed hard into it.
There was a cloud of dust, and when it had cleared, Luvdisc was floating on the water, knocked-out.
"Luvdisc is unable to battle! Pidgeot wins this round!"
"That was fast," a stunned Topaz said. Amber nodded slowly.
"She's really gotten better…" Sam said softly.
Skye was just staring, admired, at her.
Erin smiled, and held out her arm. Pidgeot flew towards her, and bumped its' head against hers. "Truly magnificent, Pidgeot," she cooed, and held up a Pokeball. "Now you go back inside." She turned towards Wallace, who had just returned his Luvdisc. "I'm going to change Pokemon every round, okay? Just to train them up a bit. Of course, if they faint, then…" she left the statement unfinished.
Wallace nodded. "Alright." He pulled out a Pokeball, and smiled. "This time, I won't have a hard time with the water handicap…" he smirked. "Ludicolo, let's go!"
"Hmm…" Erin thought. Who was she going to use? "A-ha…" she reached for a Pokeball, and cupped it in both of her hands. "Let's play, Alakazam!"
"She has an Alakazam?" James whispered in awe. "I've been trying to catch an Abra, and Erin's already captured an Alakazam? That's probably the best Psychic Pokemon that exists!"
Wallace blinked; an Alakazam was something he hadn't gone against in a long time. "Ludicolo, Surf!"
Without hesitation, Erin cocked her head and commanded her Alakazam. "Teleport."
As the waves crashed down, Alakazam disappeared and reappeared floating above the water, in a meditation posture. "Alakazam, good!"
"Tsch." Wallace knew that trying to make anything touch Alakazam would fly back because of a Psychic attack. "Get up close, Ludicolo! Try to knock it off balance!" Ludicolo lumbered through the water, and on towards where Alakazam was floating.
"Alakazam, Confusion!"
"Kazam!"
Mind waves emitted from Alakazam's spoon. "Ludicolo, quick, underwater!"
"Colo!"
The Confusion attack made mere ripples dance across the water. Erin frowned. This was getting too frequent for her liking. She would find a way to demolish the water; if only some of her Pokemon weren't dependent on water, too. That's when she got it. "Alakazam, when Ludicolo gets up, Shadow Ball!"
Alakazam nodded.
Wallace couldn't tell Ludicolo to stay down, could he? "Ludicolo…"
"Lu!" Ludicolo popped out of the water.
"Now!" Erin, dead-set on beating Wallace today with a perfect record, was satisfied as Alakazam executed a really good Shadowball.
"I can see it now," Gary was telling Sam.
"Huh?"
"Her attacks… they're so clean. That's the only way I can describe them. They're not over the top, or anything. That's why she's a great coordinator, I bet. Because she's focused on not messing up, even when she takes a hit."
Ludicolo was dazed as he hit the bottom of Wallace's podium. "You okay, Ludicolo?"
Ludicolo nodded. "Co-lo!" he looked a bit bruised, though.
"Hydro Pump!"
"Alakazam, Light Screen!"
The force of the Hydro Pump against Light Screen was evident. Ludicolo obviously had a very strong Hydro Pump, but Light Screen was also pretty strong. Both were straining to keep their attacks strong.
Erin and Wallace stared at their Pokemon. "Come on…" Erin said softly.
"Ka… Ka-zam!" Alakazam's eyes glowed, and he pushed his arms out. The Light Screen he had been projecting flew forward, against the Hydro Pump, and made the Hydro Pump rebound and hit Ludicolo instead.
The result was golden sparkles (the Light Screen, smashing) and water falling from the sky.
"She would've gotten points for that one," Amber said. "That was really creative."
"Nice one, Alakazam!" Erin said, smiling. "You did that all on your own!" I didn't even teach him how to do that… she thought, amazed.
"Ludicolo?" Wallace asked. Hydro Pump wasn't that effective against Ludicolo, but still, he had been hit pretty hard.
Ludicolo struggled to get up, but fainted.
"Ludicolo is unable to battle! Alakazam is the winner!" Erin grinned.
"You rest now, Alakazam, okay? That was pretty super," she beamed, and returned Alakazam to its' ball.
"Alright," Wallace said, a bit grumpy, now that he was losing to a girl – that was about ten years younger than him. "No more nice guy. Gyarados!"
A Gyarados that was obvious huger than the normal ones appeared in the water, in all its might. Erin gasped.
"You've obviously been taking good care of it," Erin quipped.
Wallace smiled. "Let's see you top that, Erin."
"I've trained this tough guy for battles in the water," Erin said. "Have you ever seen a Pokemon other than a water type that can fight in the water?"
"Let me see what you've got," Wallace snapped back.
"The stage is yours! Machamp!"
"Ma… Machamp?" Amber squeaked. "She uses those for contests?"
"She's known for using unusually strong Pokemon for contests. Believe it or not, that Machamp won her two ribbons in Johto."
They turned around to see who had spoken. "Glacia!" Sam cried out. It had been a while since she had seen Glacia.
The older woman smiled at them. "Agatha told us you'd be here for a while. I think that this battle between Wallace and Erin is really fascinating, don't you? I'm surprised that Wallace hasn't been able to win yet…"
"So have we," Gary said. "Wallace was always pretty good – I mean, he was supposed to be the champion… but now…"
Wallace, on his podium, opened his mouth at the fighting Pokemon flexing its muscles on the beach. "Well, shit," he muttered underneath his breath. "Gyarados, let's start off with Dragonbreath!"
Erin smiled. "Machamp, dive underwater."
Murmurs and whispers echoed throughout the grandstand; so, she taught her Pokemon how to swim, hm?
Machamp took a running start and dived into the water, surprising graceful despite his muscled form, and resurfaced, using two hands to keep him a float, the other two above the water. Gyarados stared at Machamp angrily and snorted.
"Machamp, cross chop." Machamp grinned, and started to close in on Gyarados, using strong strokes to get closer. He leaped up in the water, and…
"Now, another Dragonbreath!" Wallace commanded all of a sudden.
"Champ?" Machamp froze a bit as Gyarados opened it's mouth… and the Dragonbreath hit it's mark. "Chaaaamp!"
Machamp went flying.
"Machamp!" Erin cried out. She didn't expect that last move. She grit her teeth. "You okay?"
Machamp shook its' head, as if to clear his head, and gave Erin four thumbs up. She grinned. "Good. Now… let's show them we mean business." She smiled sweetly.
(-)
"You have to admit, Steven…" Phoebe said, looking out the window. "Zoey's Pokemon are a big help in the garden."
"Don't go on their side!" Steven narrowed his eyes. "They're going to abduct our daughter."
"You have gone insane, Steven," Phoebe sighed. "They're a Budew, Igglybuff, Pichu, Beldum, Vulpix, Zigzagoon and Teddiursa. At the lowest level they've ever been at."
"Well, when they evolve they'll be a Roserade, Wigglytuff, Raichu, Metagross, Ninetales, Linoone and…" he shuddered. "Ursaring."
"The Ursaring is a little scary," Phoebe agreed, "But I mean, she'll probably be like twelve when it's had enough experience to evolve."
"You're right…" Steven said wearily. "I wonder how Sam's doing?"
"She's probably having a bit of fun," his wife answered. "Knowing her."
"Yes, she probably would…" he sighed. "Hey, I wonder if Roarke's vacationing there? In Palm Tree Island, I mean." The Sinnoh Gym Leader had a little tiny crush on Erin, and even though the crush was tiny, it was really obvious.
"He might be," Phoebe said. "The Leaders have been called back a bit, to Palm Tree Island, because there's apparently a big announcement. No one's in their posts for the next few weeks."
"They closed all the gyms?" Steven asked.
"Mm-hm…"
"Why do you know all of this when I don't?" Steven rolled his eyes.
(-)
Erin smiled. So good, so far. Her Machamp had won against Wallace's Gyarados, Dewgong had gone head to head against Whiscash and won, and her Dragonair had pounded Wallace's pride and joy (his Milotic) into the dust. Now… for the last battle.
Wallace was starting to lose hope. If he couldn't win the past battles, why could he win this last one? He sighed; now for his newest addition to his gang. "I'm not going to use a Water Pokemon," he announced. "I thought it would be great training if she dealt with not just one type."
She cocked her head at Wallace's announcement. A new type, hm? This was going to be interesting.
"Alright, up in the sky, Salamance!"
Erin actually took a step back. She'd been expecting anything else but that. She didn't imagine Wallace actually going through all the trouble of raising something as violent as this one.
"Surprised?" Wallace looked pleased. "Now you have a handicap! My Pokemon can fly, and it's not in the water! I might just win one battle!"
In the audience, Sam snickered. "Gullible Wallace…" she muttered.
"Why, Sam?" Gary asked. The others looked at her, interested.
"Knowing Erin, she's brought her first – and most powerful Pokemon. Her starter Pokemon that she raised on her sweat, blood and tears." Sam smiled, knowing exactly who was coming up next. "You'll be seeing her soon, I'm sure."
Erin started laughing. "You've given me a handicap? Oh, I don't think so," she said, and watched Wallace pale. "Let's show them what you're made of…" she pulled out a Pokeball, and threw it up in the air. Flames erupted from the Pokeball. Another co-ordinator ball. "Charizard… I choose you."
Erin's Charizard landed on the ground with a thump, and a little smile. Charizard flapped her wings enthusiastically, while Salamance eyed her warily.
Sam grinned. "Knew it."
"Sam, how did you know…?" Amber asked, eyes on Charizard.
"I've been taking care of Chari when she was training her other Pokemon. Erin didn't like leaving Chari with Professor Oak… she wanted her favorite to have star treatment."
"Salamance, Flamethrower," Wallace said, unusually calm.
"You too, Chari!" Erin smiled hugely. "Flamethrower! Torch him!"
With a roar, both Pokemon opened their mouths and let out a jet of fire that met in the middle of the battlefield. Everyone gasped. Erin smiled.
Erin's Charizard could make blue fire.
"Is that even possible?" Even Glacia was shocked. "I didn't think you could teach a Pokemon something like that… no Pokemon I've ever seen has been able to breathe out – or create blue fire!"
Sam was shocked, too. "She's really trained Chari well."
"Blue fire…" Skye said softly.
The two attacks meeting in the center of the battlefield resulted in an explosion, and everyone had to momentarily close their eyes as smoke covered the area. Then, they heard Wallace and Erin shout: "Out of the smoke, guys, and into the sky!"
Chari and Salamance popped out of the smoke, and eyed each other, hungry for a battle. "Flamethrower again!" Wallace commanded.
"Dodge it, Chari!" Erin said, and watched as Chari swooped down, and started racing towards the blue and red beast. "Now, Dragon Claw!"
Salamance let out a roar as it got hit. Chari swooped back, and out of distance, watching her opponent writhe in pain.
"Salamance, get in there!" Wallace said. "Headbutt that Charizard!"
"Chari, you dive in too," Erin encouraged her Pokemon. The two met in mid-air, and they each tried to push against each other; kind of like those dinosaurs that used to do that.
Chari roared. Not so tough, are ya, big boy?
Salamance roared back as he tried to push back the female Charizard. I'll finish you, you oversized lizard!
Look who's talking! Chari gave a loud grunt and pushed even harder.
"In her face, Salamance, Flamethrower!"
"Chari!"
Chari flew back at the impact, and caught herself by flapping her wings a bit, hovering above the island. Erin clenched her fists. She didn't like it when a battle went on for a long time. And this, by her standards, was long enough.
Erin was a one-hit-KO kind of girl.
"Overheat!" she commanded. "And torch 'em, will you?" she smiled up at her Charizard.
Her Pokemon gave something that look kind of like a nod, and flew up, so she could be level with Salamance, and breathed out a jet of blue flame, only this flame was thicker than the Flamethrower attack, and much more powerful.
"You know what to do, Chari!" Erin threw up her fist. "Double Strike!"
"Wait, what is she talking about?" James asked Sam.
"I don't know," she replied thoughtfully.
Chari's blue flames sped right towards Salamance, and then – she flew right into her own flames. Now, covered in blue fire, she charged towards Salamance and slammed herself into it.
(-)
"Hn."
"What is it, master?" a young guy asked, bowing low before a figure sitting in a chair before a TV screen, which was displaying the current activities of Sam and her friends.
"It's… nothing."
The battle raged on before their eyes, and the guy gasped. "Erin…"
The figure turned around in a snapping motion. "You know this girl?"
"I know her by face," he replied quickly. "I… she's the knew member of the Elite Four in Hoenn…"
"I see." No words were spoken. "Get me more info on this 'Erin'. It might be nice to have her on our side."
"Yes… master."
(-)
"YES!" Erin grinned, as she saw Salamance on the ground, knocked up pretty badly. "Way to burn, Chari!" she smiled, and shot a thumbs up at the Charizard, who had been doing spirals in the air.
"Losing… all my battles…" Wallace muttered. "There's a first for everything," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, Wallace!" Erin called to him from the other podium. "Nice battle. Thanks!"
Wallace could only smile. "Back to you, Erin."
Both of them descended the stairs.
Erin went immediately over to the gang (Glacia had disappeared) and smiled. "How was it?"
"That was incredible!" Topaz exclaimed.
"How did you teach Charizard that Blue Fire thing?" James asked.
"Hmmm…" Erin looked thoughtful. "When Chari evolved into a Charizard, it was just something she could do. Even I was surprised," she said, smiling.
"You were great, though," Sam smiled and gave Erin a little hug.
"Yeah, you were… awesome," Skye said softly, and smiled at her.
Erin blushed, and Amber elbowed Topaz in the ribs, smiling.
"E… Erin!" They turned around to see the leader of Orebugh, Roarke, standing behind her, looking a little flustered. "Hey…" he said, almost awkwardly.
"Oh, hi, Roarke," Erin gave him a genuine smile. "How are you?"
"I… I'm fine," Roarke said, grinning.
"He's not acting like the Roarke I defeated before," Sam said, narrowing her eyes.
"You're right," Mason said. "He's acting… kinda… different."
"Well," Winona appeared, Wallace beside her. "Roarke does have a little crush on Erin," she whispered.
Skye's ears practically perked up at that.
"He does?" Topaz asked, surprised. "Well, she is very pretty. I wouldn't be surprised… but how old is he?"
"Twenty-six," Wallace replied.
"A five… year… age… gap?" Skye said slowly, piercing the words together. It didn't make any sense.
Wallace shrugged. "Five years seems like a lot when people are like, fifteen and twenty. But it doesn't seem like a lot when they're seventy and sixty-five, right?"
Skye muttered some phrases that couldn't be heard.
"Someone's jealous," Amber teased, just loud enough for Skye to hear.
"I am not," he scowled. "I'm just concerned for her future."
"Yeah right," Topaz said, smirking.
"Actually… the leaders were all called on vacation for a few weeks, here in Palm Tree…" he scratched the back of his head. "A-and well… I'm kinda surprised to see you here, Erin…"
"That makes two of us," Erin said. "I didn't expect this whole bunch of leaders to be here…"
"Well…" Roarke seemed to struggle for words. "Will you join that dinner tomorrow evening?"
"Yeah," she replied.
"Do you want to… er…" Roarke turned away, so as she couldn't see the blush on his face, "Sit with… me?"
"Oh, uh, I'm actually with my friends, Roarke, and they might want me to…" she turned to them.
Amber got a quick idea, and turned to Topaz and Sam. "Just go along with me. This, I'm sure, is going to force Skye to make a move." She grinned at them, and turned to Erin. "Oh, it's alright, Erin," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "You obviously have some catching up to do with Roarke, so…"
"We'll just let you!" Sam said brightly.
They're up to something, Gary thought wearily, recognizing the look on Sam's face.
"Are you sure?" Erin asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Quite," Topaz said, flashing a quick smile. "We'd want you to keep in touch with some old friends."
"Wait-" Skye blurted out. Everyone looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Er… it's just that… maybe Winona had the seating… uh, planned or something…" Sam, Topaz and Amber gave each other knowing looks.
Totally oblivious to what was happening, Winona just shook her head. "It's a sit down wherever you want to kind of thing," she said simply. Skye frowned.
"Oh, okay," Erin said. She turned to Roarke. "Well, I guess it's okay, then," she smiled at him.
"That's good," Roarke said, breathing a sigh of relief. Skye shot him a Look that everybody except for Erin and Roarke saw.
"If you really want her to spend time with you," Sam whispered, "Then ask her to do something with you. Don't just stand there and act jealous."
"Shut. Up," Skye muttered.
"Hey, Erin?" Roarke tried to get her attention.
"Hm?"
"You know they have like this new exhibit in the museum… it's about different fossils and origins of Pokemon," Roarke said.
Everyone thought that Erin would probably turn him down at that, but they were surprised when an excited grin spread across her face. "Oh, really?" she looked genuinely interested in the same things Roarke was in. "I've always wanted to know what kind of new fossils have been newly discovered! This is great! Maybe I'll go see it…"
"How about now?" Roarke asked.
Skye grit his teeth. "Bathroom," he muttered to James, and stalked away, furious.
"It's fun seeing him this jealous," Topaz whispered to Sam, "But I mean, you have to feel sorry for the guy, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Now?" Erin turned to the gang, a pleading expression on her face. "Are you guys gonna…?" she left the statement unfinished.
"Go!" Amber said. "If you're really interested, I mean. We'll probably just be hanging out in our rooms all day."
"Okay, then," Erin smiled. She turned to Roarke. "Where's the museum?"
"Right over this way…" he started walking, and the two started talking animatedly about things.
"Is it just me, or is Skye jealous?" Wallace put a finger to his chin.
"He's jealous," Gary, Sam, Topaz, Amber, James and Mason replied at the same time.
"Oh, poor guy," Winona said. "When it gets right down to it, Erin and Roarke have a lot in common."
"Which reminds me," Amber said, eyebrows creasing. "Sam, was Erin always a fossil nerd?"
James grinned. "Nice terms."
"I never asked," Sam replied. "She seems pretty interested, though."
"In who," Gary asked, raising an eyebrow. "The fossil exhibit or Roarke?"
(-)
The girls went to the lobby and excitedly read through the brochure that described the facilities on the island.
"Look, Topaz!" Amber's eyes lit up. "They have tennis courts!"
"Awesome," Topaz smiled.
"And there's the museum that Roarke was going to take Erin to," Sam pointed out. "Ooh, a contest hall!"
"I've always wanted to try my hand at contests," Amber said thoughtfully. "I mean, battling is hard, but when you're battling with style… and graded on points, not when the Pokemon gets KO'd… and with a time limit? It's challenging… and sounds fun!"
"Hey, I've always wanted to try, too," Sam agreed. "At least we'd have experience in something other than battles, at least."
Topaz read on. "Hey, this is really cool! Look at this: 'Pokemon Keepers:'," she read it aloud. "Tired of only carrying around your six Pokemon? Pokemon Keepers is licensed to take care of all your Pokemon during your stay in Palm Tree Island Hotel, entirely free! All you have to do is sign your name, have the Professor who keeps your Pokemon send as many as you want over here, and we'll watch them for you! You can even visit them any time you like, be it ten in the evening, or four in the morning! What's more, you can take any of them to enjoy the Pokemon Perks available, which you'll find on page twenty-two…" she looked up from reading. "That's actually pretty decent. All our Pokemon will be ready and on call, three floors below us!"
"I'm gonna visit soon," Sam decided. She was missing her Pokemon. "I'll tell Gary about it. It's probably been a long time since he's seen his other Pokemon."
"Yeah," Amber said. "Oh, hey, they have pools! With water slides!" she grinned. "I don't know about you guys, but it's been ages since I've been on a water slide."
Sam grinned right back at her. "When you're going, call me!"
"Sam, look," Topaz said, turning the page. "A library-slash-bookstore! With the latest books!"
"Oh, wow," Sam said, grabbing the brochure. "Darn it, I just better stop reading it," she laughed. "I won't know where to start once I'm done reading all of this!"
"That makes two of us," Amber said, shutting the brochure and putting it back on the shelf. "Why don't we just rest a little in our rooms and then before the dinner we can walk around and explore? We can go with the guys, too, if they're up for it."
(-)
"It says here that before, Cranidos used to live in the sea," a surprised Erin read from a plaque. "Well, that's surprising."
"No, it actually says that Cranidos's ancestors used to live in the sea," Roarke corrected her, reading the same plaque. "But that's pretty cool, anyway. Cranidos is a rock Pokemon. I had expected its ancestors to live on land."
"That makes two of us," Erin said, charming him without ever meaning to.
She moved on to the next exhibit, a fossil of an Kabuto, and studied it carefully. Behind her, Roarke smiled absentmindedly… this girl was just perfect. She loved fossils, she was genuine, she was a great coordinator and trainer, she was really nice, she was so pretty, and they had so much in common.
For the past twenty five years, my only love was fossils, and the Pokemon I own. Now I've met you, and I just can't stop thinking about you! I'm twenty six, and I've finally found the right one for me… but why can't I tell you that? Roarke sighed. I feel like a fifteen year old who doesn't know how to express his feelings.
(-)
Sam walked around the room that she and Erin shared, and sighed. It was a little too quiet for her taste. She sighed. She could always go into the next room with Amber and Topaz… but something was bugging her.
Gary.
Was it just her imagination, or was her boyfriend just too quiet today? He was only this quiet when he was thinking. Even during the battle, she had expected him to drill Erin into telling him what her 'battle style' was. But not a word. She sighed again, and walked out the door, then went two doors to the left.
Knock knock.
"It's open!" Gary's voiced called out. She smirked. Typical Gary.
She opened the door and saw Gary watching some televised battle of some trainer against Steven. She walked over to the couch, and sat down next to him. "How's it going?"
"It's pretty boring," Gary sighed, and lay down so his head was resting on Sam's lap. "Skye hasn't come back from his sulking fest, and Mason and James are in the girls' room."
Sam ran her fingers through his hair almost absentmindedly as she watched her brother fight someone who strangely looked like that guy, Ash Ketchum. "I hope he's alright. I didn't think that knowing that Roarke was interested in Erin would upset him that much."
"Guys are like that," Gary said, with a wise look in his eyes. Sam laughed.
"Hey," she said gently, looking into his eyes. "You were pretty quiet today."
"You noticed," he said, surprised. "Well, I shouldn't be shocked. You would notice."
"Wanna tell me what's wrong?"
"It's nothing to make a big deal out of," he said dismissively.
"Come on," she begged. "I want to know what's wrong."
"Before the battle… I saw Tate with Liza in the lobby."
Wondering why that would bug him so much, she rose her eyebrows. "I saw them, too… but why is that bothering you so much?"
"After Steven and Phoebe got back from that meeting, you and Skye were supposed to go that day, right? Then you spoke up and we ended up leaving a week after that… and you know I went to Mossdeep during that one week, right?"
"Yeah…" Sam said slowly. "Come to think of it, you never told me why you went there…"
"Liza got into an accident."
"Huh?" Sam gasped. "What kind of accident?"
"Tate and Liza were training their new Psychic Pokemon, a pair of Natu, by the cliffs," he said. "And they forgot that those cliffs were eroding pretty badly. An area of rock crumbled under Liza, she slipped, hit her head a few times, and fell into the water. Tate couldn't get his Pokemon down there in time…" he sighed. "Tate called me, and told me not to tell anyone that she was hurt this badly. He didn't want a lot of people crowding the two of them."
"Is she okay?" Sam asked, her expression worried.
"She's in the hospital." Gary's unusual poker face was on. "She's in a coma, Sam. And Tate told me he wouldn't leave her if his life depended on it."
Sam understood. "So… both of them shouldn't be here… and walking around, at the least."
"Unless something miraculous happened, Liza shouldn't be here at all. So what's going on?"
(-)
CHAPTER THREE DONE!
Oooh. Mysterious-ness on a perfect island. Creepy.
I just LOVED this island I made up. It seems perfect. Oh, if only there was a place like this in real life… with real live Pokemon, too! :D
Ja~
