My Great Big Adventure
Hugh had stormed off angrily before, but somehow this time was different. And he had never looked at me with such eyes, eyes reserved for Team Plasma. It was if he was saying I was betraying him by not screaming at them too. For a fleeting moment, I actually considering chasing after him…
Rood cleared his throat loudly. I had forgotten about him! He was giving the other ex-members a look that clearly said 'nothing to see here.'
"I'm sorry about your friend," he said, turning to me. "Team Plasma made trainers like him suffer. I feel terrible about it. How foolish we were…"
Not really sure what to say to that, I merely nodded and tried to look understanding.
"I have a favor to ask of you," Rood said suddenly. A favor…?
He hurried out of the room and down a small hallway, disappearing around a corner. I rocked on the balls of my feet and twiddled my thumbs, ignoring the curious stares of the other people in the house. After almost a full minute, Rood returned. He was carrying a black fuzzball.
"Could you please look after this Pokemon?" he asked, holding it out to me.
A black… furry rat…
"What is it?"
"This is a Zorua," he explained, prodding the small Pokemon. It lifted its head and looked around lazily. "Zorua is one of the Pokemon my lord N relied on during his journey."
"Lord… N…?!"
Lord N! N! As in the previous leader of Team Plasma?! That N? I'd only heard rumors from Hugh, who's always been keeping close tabs on Team Plasma. Supposedly the Champion defeated N in a battle, and then N flew off on a legendary dragon Pokemon. The bigger rumor though, was that N and the Champion were now traveling the world together.
"I see you've heard of him," Rood said, watching my reaction. "My lord N is a wonderful person who has the power to understand Pokemon. However, he still has much to learn about understanding people… That girl, perhaps she can help guide him now…"
"What?" Was he talking about the Champion?
"Sorry, old man's ramblings! Anyway, what do you say? Will you look after Zorua?" he asked, holding the Pokemon out pointedly.
"Uh, that is… I really don't have any room in my party…" And Hugh would friggin KILL me if he saw me with N's Zorua.
"Not to worry, Zorua actually has no Pokeball. He technically won't count as part of your 6 Pokeball limit, and he won't battle either."
Damn loopholes.
"But… but…" I was grasping at straws. "But I'm not fit to look after a Zorua! They're rare and… and… I only have four badges!"
Rood laughed. "Please, Rosa, Zorua isn't so bad. He's… cute, right?"
Sure he is. But I'm not one of those cutsy-type-girls.
Rood ignored my silence and proceeded to drop Zorua into my hands. The Pokemon looked extremely uncomfortable, and he twitched around in my arms. Finally he crawled up my shoulder and onto my head…
"Hey! My head is not a pillow," I grumbled up at him, poking his side. Zorua merely curled into a ball and ignored me.
"Brat," I muttered.
"OWW-WTF?!" He …bit my head! That little…!
"I can see the two of you will get along just fine," Rood exclaimed, clapping his hands together.
Rubbing my temples and trying NOT to think about the slight weight on my head, I glared at the old man. "If he poops on my head, he gets the boot!"
Still laughing, Rood drew a scroll of paper from inside his robe… (weird) and handed it to me.
It was a list of things to do to take good care of Zorua:
1. let him do as he pleases
2. feed him 3 times a day
3. feed him gormet Pokefood…not that cruddy stuff
4. scratch between his ears every hour
5. he needs a bath at least once a week
6. he is allergic to roosters, chickens, and eggs
7. …etc
…WHAT?!
Gritting my teeth, I rolled the scroll up and threw it in my bag, never to be seen again.
Time to blow the popsicle stand!
I thanked Rood (even though I didn't need to) and stepped outside, closing the door behind me. Finally, alone at last…
And then the xtransceiver rang.