Well, I've been busy recently, but I have been writing on and off, so here's the new chapter!
Character Competition will end when I have more entries, because two is hardly a fair choice for me to make. I may need more than one, so don't be disappointed if your character doesn't show up at first, they might be in another chapter. Oh and girls; come on! I need another female trainer too, so it'd be nice to have a few entries into that. I can't have seven out of eight all male- whoops, almost let it slip there….
--
"Good as new!" declared Joy as Kerensa's pokemon skipped around her feet. Ralts and Poocheana seemed to avoid one-another though; as though they thought that they might fight again if they played.
"Come on guys" she sighed, picking up Poocheana in one hand and Ralts in the other, and setting them down on the table "if we're going to be a team, you guys need to be comfortable around each-other."
The Poocheana gave a haughty sniff and turned his stubby snout up at Ralts. Then, much to Kerensa's surprise, Ralts marched up to the larger dog pokemon, grabbed it by one of the ears and slapped it across the face. Poocheana gave a surprised bark and cowered away from the smaller pokemon.
"Behave!" Kerensa hissed "Look at Mudkip and Wingull; you don't see them fighting, do you?"
Mudkip and Wingull both attempted to look responsible and cool (a tricky feat if you're a frog and a seagull), and both of the new party members hung their heads.
"Whatever differences you had in the past, forget them. You're my pokemon now, and you'll do as I say, got it?"
"Ralts!"
"Pooch!"
"Good. Now come back to your Pokeballs." Kerensa returned them in a flicker of red light then called back Wingull, too. She hesitated at Mudkip, and smiled.
"You did well today, Mudkip" she congratulated "Thank you. Because of you, we have two new friends."
"Mud…" Mudkip grunted, modestly.
Affixing the pokeballs to her belt, Kerensa turned to leave. As the door opened, Rohan and a strange guy burst in.
"Watch it!" Kerensa barked, as her twin almost knocked her over.
"Geez, what're you so worked up about?" Rohan laughed, his elation annoying her further.
"Hmm…I don't know…maybe the fact that you ran off and left me in the woods!"
"Point…" he muttered, guiltily. Kerensa's eyes bored into his, and then she glanced over at his companion.
"And who's-" she began, before she caught his own, blue-eyed gaze and stopped.
"This is Laurie" Rohan introduced, unaware of the almost electric connection that had passed between them "He wants to get a Pokemon, and I said we'd help him out, right sis?"
"Yeah" Kerensa managed to say "Sure we'll help you..."
She realised she was staring, and quickly averted her eyes.
"You must be Kerensa" Laurie asked. Kerensa nodded.
"What sort of Pokemon are you after?" she asked, hoping it would distract from the fact she had been staring at him.
"I'll go book us a room…" Rohan muttered realising what was happening, and backing towards the desk "It's too late to go outside now."
"Anything will do" the tall youth sighed, running a slender-fingered hand through his rain-sodden blonde hair "I don't care how powerful they are, I've just always wanted to be a pokemon trainer…"
"Really?" Kerensa exclaimed "That's been my dream, but my mum didn't let me until a few days ago?"
"It sucks being a kid; no-one takes you seriously…" Laurie sighed
"Yeah" Kerensa laughed, lightly. Rohan returned with a key.
"There's a room with three separate beds, if that's okay with you Kerensa?" He asked in an irritating voice. Kerensa was about to slap him, but controlled herself.
"That will be fine…" she said, through gritted teeth.
"Are you cool with sharing a room with us?" Rohan asked Laurie, all trace of irony gone.
"Yeah, that's fine!" he laughed "We'll all get up early tomorrow and go out to hunt for my first pokemon: It's going to be great!"
They approached the stairs and headed up to the upper landing, then to bed.
--
Laurie sat in his bed, unable to sleep. He was feeling a mixture of anticipation and fear in his stomach. Though he was always an outgoing guy, he had never faced any sort of journey like the one he would face after he received a pokemon, but as well as that: he felt excited. New friends, a Pokemon of his very own and adventure lay ahead of him. Speaking of friends…
He turned his head to look over at Kerensa, who lay with the sheets twisted about her slim form. He smiled, slightly, and then got up and wandered to the window. Rain drummed against it, as though it were beckoning him outside. From its view, he could see over the low buildings on the outskirts of town and a little way into the forest. It was morning (albeit very early) and the first rays of dawn were edging their way over the horizon.
--
I know this is a bit of a jump: but here's Dan's P.O.V….
The briefing room was in chaos. Dan was sitting at one end of the table, his trenchcoat hanging from the back of his battered office chair. A whiteboard with unreadable scrawls of text and complicated diagrams hung nearby, but Dan got the gist of it.
"Damn…" he muttered "another one…"
Someone ran past his position, and he recognised it as one of the young recruits he was meant to be babysitting whilst the rest of the force dealt with the sudden surge of attacks in the cities of Hoenn.
"Hey: Jules!" he called. The young man stopped and turned, inquisitively.
"Yes Detective?" he asked. The poor guy looked exhausted; bloodshot eyes with bags under them and morning stubble dotting his chin. Dan sighed and put his head in his hands.
"Get me a sandwich, then take a break." He muttered through his fingers.
"Sir?" Jules asked; surprised.
"You're no good to me when you're about to collapse with exhaustion." He grumbled "now where's my sandwich?"
"Right away sir…" the relief in the man's voice spoke of hours of work with no sleep.
"Philippa" Dan called. The other 'on-call' detective that had been left behind to mind the station with him approached.
"Yeah?" she asked, fiddling with her long, red hair.
"Can we take the other Gym leaders into protective custody?" he asked.
"No, they've done nothing wrong, and if they refuse police guards on the doors of their gyms, that's their concern."
"Damn it…" he sighed.
"Worried about Kiran?" she asked, sitting down beside him and regarding him with azure eyes. He nodded and took a swig of tea from the stained mug beside him. He winced as he realised it was stone-cold.
"He'll be fine. You've seen him battle. He can handle himself." She comforted.
"Well Wallace was supposed to be able to handle himself and he's dead, too."
"If it makes you feel better, we could go visit him."
"I already did" the young Detective muttered "but I didn't get a chance to talk to him alone."
To his surprise, she put an arm round his shoulders.
"We're all stressed…" she told him "just keep with it until this gets sorted out."
"I guess that's all we can do."
--
Rohan stretched, kicked Zombi off the end of his bed by accident and then got up. The room was empty except for him, because Kerensa and Laurie were already downstairs.
"Sorry about that, Zombi…" he muttered.
"Wuuurgh…"
"Yeah, come on: Downstairs."
The teenager shrugged on his shirt and bag, picked up Zombi and headed downstairs. There was a small café area adjacent to the pokemon center entrance and they grabbed toast and spreads here. Zombie happily munched on Rohan's food as he drank a mug of coffee. Kerensa looked fresh and rested, but Laurie was dishevelled and exhausted looking.
"Not get much sleep?" Rohan asked. Laurie shook his head.
"Excited, I guess." He sighed, running a hand through his tangled blonde hair. Kerensa smiled at this, secretly, and went back to her plate of toast, which had disappeared suddenly.
"Mudkip!" she barked. Her little blue pokemon looked up guiltily from the last crust he was eating "You have your own food!"
"Mud!"
"Fine, eat that. I'll just go and get some more." She sighed, shrugging hopelessly at her happy starter.
--
Ten minutes and lots of breakfast later, they all left the center and wandered out into the town.
"Where do we look first?" Laurie asked
"Well" Rohan began, thoughtfully "…there's the route we used to get here; the pokemon there are probably weaker than those most other places around here."
"It sounds like a plan!" Laurie nodded.
They headed east, to the way they had reached Petalberg, originally. Kerensa looked out across the woods, which were alive with the chirrup of Wurmple and barking of Poocheana. Something made her reach into her pocket and release Ralts. As they walked, Ralts suddenly paused and put both hands to her head. The red horn there pulsed softly, once.
"What's she doing?" Rohan asked.
"Using foresight." Kerensa muttered. Ralts straightened, tugged on Kerensa's ankle and pointed through the trees.
"That way?" she asked. The little psychic pokemon nodded.
They wandered the indicated route, and found nothing for about two minutes.
"Look!" Laurie gasped "a wild Ralts!"
It was indeed a wild Ralts, but was male according to the scans run by the trainers' Pokenavs.
"You want him?" Kerensa asked.
"Yeah" he said "I know how this is done, but I need a pokeball."
"Shouldn't we weaken him first?" Rohan asked, confused.
"No, he's communicating with me, telepathically!" Laurie said. They were all silent and a whispering voice could be heard over the background noise. Laurie repeated each word.
"Capture me, and allow me to travel with you…I am your weapon, armour and shield. I fight for you, Laurie." It whispered.
"Why would it want you to own it?" Kerensa asked, handing over an empty pokeball.
"No idea, but we shouldn't turn this offer down!" Rohan grinned, slapping his new friend on the back "good luck!"
Laurie took the offered Pokeball and stepped towards the little psychic pokemon.
"Pokeball; go!" he cried out, throwing the capture device.
What does the Ralts want? Why is it so willing to be captured? What is happening to the gym leaders and is Kiran in danger? What will happen to Dan, Kerensa and co? When will anyone else review this story?
Thanks for reading; please review!