Author's note: I do not own Pokemon or related trademarks. Nintendo does. I just own the original characters. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblances to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER TWO
Micah set his luggage down and began digging in his pockets.
"Now, let's see, I know I got the room key here somewhere," he muttered as Gardevoir stared blankly at the door. "Damn it. Gardevoir, did I give you the key?"
Gardevoir opened her suitcase and rummaged through her gowns, then looked up. "Nope. It's not here."
"Oh, great," huffed Micah.
"Did you check your wallet?"
He went back into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "I usually avoid doing stuff like that because I tend to forget about it and I walk off with the room key by mistake and yet I do it anyway," he said, finding the card as he finished his sentence. He looked at Gardevoir, smiled sheepishly, and slid the key through the slot. The click of the lock prompted him to turn the handle and enter the room.
A few hours later, after getting things sorted out and having dinner , the two were preparing to settle in for the night. Micah was in the bathroom brushing his teeth while Gardevoir sat on the edge of the bed.
"So, uh, what exactly IS this expedition about, anyway?" she asked him.
"Basically, we're going to be doing further studies of all the native Pokemon in this part of Johto. We don't know as much as we'd like to about them, and so we're studying the habitat and the diet and the like. It's a bit more complicated than it sounds."
"Do I get involved in any way, shape, or form?"
"Well, we're instructed to bring our allotted six Pokemon with us, so yeah, you'll be coming with."
"Yay!"
Micah finished brushing his teeth, shut the light off in the bathroom, and walked over to the bed. "I hope it doesn't end up boring you, Gardevoir. I'd hate to do that to you."
"Nothing you do ever bores me, master," she replied as she crawled under the covers.
"I suppose you're right," sighed Micah as he got in the bed and turned the lamp off.
In the moonlight, Gardevoir could see the shadows cast dramatically on the walls of the room. It was rather haunting, in a beautiful sort of way. The quietness of the evening lent its own enchantment.
She turned on her side and gazed upon her trainer. His shirtless torso was partially exposed by her disturbing the covers in turning, and she mentally traced the musculature from point to point, drinking in every little angle and every exquisitely uneven sinew. Micah, to her, was truly a stirring sight to behold.
And then he snored loudly, jarring Gardevoir back to reality. She fell back on her pillow and allowed sleep to come over her.
She felt herself back in Hoenn.
Taillows fluttered past over her head as she walked through wind-swept fields of grass. She felt the soft tops of the grass brush against her legs as the breeze swept her gown behind her. The warmth of the sun illuminated her snow white skin and her short yet lustrous green hair.
She turned her head to see Micah walking a few yards to one side, his T-shirt tight against his muscled body, his pale blond hair shining like gold in the noonday sun.
Somehow, it felt like the wind was blowing them closer to each other. The distance between them narrowed ever so quickly, and yet it felt like they were walking forever. Every footstep, while it was only a second or two long, seemed like a minute or longer. And yet steadily, steadily, they became closer.
Soon, the two were together, and Micah took her in his arms and drew her as close as her horn would allow. They stood motionless in the field, her head on his chest, as the wind blew around them, the whole thing feeling so much like a dream….
The first rays of sunlight came coursing through the window, lighting her eyelids like fire. She started to sit up and noticed that Micah was gone. Half-awake, she started looking around in a mild panic before she saw him leaning on the wall, eating a muffin and staring at her,
"Morning, beautiful," he said, a slight smirk touching one corner of his face. "How are you feeling this fine day?"
"I think I'd feel a lot more fine if I didn't have to panic so much when I wake up alone," she replied, half-irritated and half-groggy.
"I heard muffins calling me and I couldn't resist," he slyly remarked, tossing the last bite and catching it in mid-air with his mouth.
After the two had had breakfast, Micah gathered his supplies together before he and Gardevoir set out for the meeting place for the expedition. They were to meet near the opening of the Ice Path, where they would split into pairs or trios and commence searching for native Pokemon to study and, perhaps, capture. It was to be a ten day expedition, covering plenty of ground as they went along.
Micah and Gardevoir had barely gotten started in the direction of the Ice Path when his cell phone rang.
"Sorry, Gardevoir, I gotta answer this," he said, hitting a button. "Hello?"
There was a pause, then: "Oh, hi, Mrs. Pikenzi. What's going on?"
There was another pause, during which Micah's face grew more and more shocked and saddened. Gardevoir immediately sensed that something was truly wrong.
"How long does he have?" he asked, sounding like he had a very big lump in his throat.
There was another pause, and Gardevoir could hear a woman's voice weeping over the phone. Micah swallowed hard, then said, "I'll see if I can make it out there, but I can't promise that my boss would be so understanding. But look, I'll try to come as soon as I can, OK?"
There was one more pause, and then: "All right, well, you take care of yourself too, OK? I'll try to be there as soon as I can, OK? OK, bye."
Micah hung up, and it was clear to Gardevoir that it was serious.
"What's wrong, master?" she asked, concern unconcealed in her voice.
"Remember Karl, your first trainer?"
"Yes. Why? Is something wrong with him?"
"Yes, Gardevoir, there is." Micah swallowed hard again and it was plain to see that he was choking back tears. "He has a disease called leukemia for the past year. Well, the doctors just told his parents that he's taken a turn for the worst. He-he's dying, Gardevoir."