Author's note: This is a continuation of the previous chapter, which ended with Gardevoir about to tell Lucario the story behind her trade to Micah.
Language warning:
As Gardevoir began to reminisce about her days as a Kirlia, it seemed like she could drift back in her mind and smell the ocean breezes floating into Slateport City….
Karl carefully set the Great Balls in the Ball Pocket of his pack as he and Kirlia walked away from the Pokemart. After all the battling he had done on the way from the beach, he had amassed a good sum of money and was able to spend it on supplies and balls. Such things would be vital to his future success, he knew.
Kirlia was happily drinking a soda that Karl had earned by defeating several trainers in a house on the beach. The fizziness was pleasant on her tongue as she and Karl headed for the beach. It had been a long day, and they looked likely to stay there for the night.
"Didn't save any for me, did ya?"
Karl stopped suddenly and started looking for the direction the voice came from. Kirlia failed to notice this, being as absorbed as she was with the soda, and blissfully kept walking along.
A tall young man walked up from the beach towards Karl. His light blond hair was almost made white by the sun. He wore no shirt, which exposed his well-formed musculature to the sun.
"Figured you would have been halfway on the other side of the country by now," Karl replied.
"Nah, still got me a ways to go. Figured I'd walk back here and take some time to catch my breath."
"Oh," said Karl disappointedly. "Well, how far did you get?"
"Lavaridge," the young man replied. "Their gym leader is smokin' hot, man. And not just because of her looks. That gym's got a shitpot of Fire-types. Hope ya got-"
"I have a Marshstomp. Hopefully he'll be a Swampert when I get there."
"Great. Get another Water-type anyway. There, you'll need it."
Kirlia had wandered halfway to the water when she finished her soda and realized that Karl was nowhere to be found. She quickly turned around and ran back the way that she came, kicking sand in every direction behind her-
"I suppose I'm boring you," Gardevoir said, interrupting herself.
"Naw, not at all," the Lucario replied. "I thought it was pretty interesting, myself."
Wigglytuff emerged from the kitchen with the berry burger and set it in front of Gardevoir. It was a seemingly insurmountable cooked mass situated between two halves of a Kaiser roll and slathered with ketchup, pickles, mustard, and chopped onions. She took one look at it and suddenly felt a very unsettling feeling in her stomach.
Well, he WAS nice enough to get this made for me, she thought, so I might as well eat it.
She picked up the burger, and after a moment's hesitation, opened her mouth as wide as she could and began moving the massive sandwich towards her. Halfway there, though, she paused, and, mouth still agape, glanced at Lucario.
Lucario was nonchalantly sipping from a coffee mug and not noticing her at the moment, so she finally took a bite from the burger. As she chewed, it occurred to her that she used to be able to describe the various foods she had eaten. On this occasion, however, she drew a blank. The only thing that came to mind was "different."
She swallowed the chunk, then asked, "Do you want me to continue?"
"Oh, yeah, go right ahead," said Lucario.
Gardevoir continued the story inbetween bites….
By the time she had caught up to Karl, he and the young man had walked back towards the PokeCenter, with Karl seemingly oblivious to her absence. She ran until she was right beside him, then tugged on a pant leg. "Kir?"
Karl looked down, a bit taken by surprise, then chuckled. "I wondered where you went."
"Nice, you got a Kirlia," the young man remarked. "I couldn't even find a damned Ralts anywhere."
"Yeah, she was one of the first ones I caught when I got here."
The conversation drifted to other things as they walked into the PokeCenter together, but after a short while, the young man, having put on a flower print shirt but leaving it open, pointed at Kirlia.
"Ya know, I hate to ask you this," he began, "but what would you say if I told you I'd trade you anything for your Kirlia?"
"I'd say you lost a few screws," Karl replied.
The young man gave him a very serious stare.
"No, c'mon, man, I couldn't do that to her. She trusts me way too much, I couldn't live with myself."
"Anything, Karl."
"Dude, fuck no."
The young man sat up straight in his chair.
"Karl, how long have we known each other for? Seven, eight years? Longer? Have you ever known me to NOT be good with Pokemon? If you're worried that I won't take care of her, then you're wrong. I would love nothing more than to have a Psychic-type on my team here, but goddamnit, you need to actually trust me for a change. I care for my Pokemon, whether I catch them myself or whether I get them via trade."
"I don't know, Micah, it's just-"
"It's just what? That she'll forget you ever existed? Dude, you may have saved her life before when you caught her. No way in hell she'll forget something like that. No way in hell she'll forget YOU for that."
Karl sat there, silent, head bowed. Kirlia was unsettled by the feeling she got from all of this.
Finally, he quietly asked, in a near-whisper, "What do you have?"
"Got Bellossom yet?" Micah asked back. "Last time we talked, you hadn't evolved one."
"No."
"Will that work?"
"I-I guess so…."
"Great!" Micah stood up. "Let me go over to the PC and get things arranged and we'll be all set."
As Micah walked away, Karl picked Kirlia up and set her on his lap.
"Kirlia, I know you're not going to like this, but I'm going to give you to Micah."
"Kir?"
"He's really a much nicer person than he seems, and I know he'll take care of-"
Karl broke down crying. Kirlia rubbed his head, but it only served to make matters worse.
Micah, standing off to the side, looked very uncomfortable.
"Are you sure you still want to do this?" he asked. "I mean, I can understand if you don't-"
Karl stood up. "Let's get this over with before I DO change my mind."
"That's it?" Lucario asked. "He just trades you away and leaves?"
"Well, not exactly," Gardevoir replied over the last mouthful of burger. "Last time I saw him, he was crying as he left the building. It really hurt to see him go like that."
"Had to have been tough for you to acclimate to a new trainer, too."
"It took some time before I got used to being around Micah. Except he usually kept me out of my ball, just like Karl did."
"So now let me get this straight," Lucario said. "He just trades you away even though he didn't really want to, and yet you're willing to forgive all that and go see him before he's dead?"
"Man saved my life. It's the least I can do for him."
She began to open her luggage to find her money, but Lucario stopped her.
"It's on me. Least I could do for ya."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. And good luck."
Gardevoir picked up her bags and walked out.
Lucario watched her go, then sat back down. Wigglytuff came over to him. "You really believe that story?" she asked him.
"Yeah." He drained his mug. "Yeah I do. And I hope she makes it there safe and sound before it's too late."