Hunter sat a steaming mug down in front of Maylene, holding his own and wrapping his fingers around it. He looked at the rain that had started to fall again soon after they had gotten inside. He sat down on the other side of the table, listening to Buizel play with Riolu on the floor. Lucario was in the living room, meditating. Hunter sighed to himself. It should have been like this if Lucario had lived.
He looked up at Maylene. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
She looked sheepish again. "I…I lost the will to battle a few weeks ago."
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"There was this kid. His name was Paul. He was really good. He beat me and Lucario, and my other Pokémon easy. It wasn't losing that was so bad though. It's what he said afterwards."
Hunter closed his eyes, looking into Maylene's memories discreetly. He saw a boy about Maylene's size, with gray hair and a mean face, smirking and holding the Veilstone gym badge.
"You're pathetic," he was saying. "The weakest trainer I've ever seen."
Hunter opened his eyes, keeping them half shut. "He sounds arrogant."
"I didn't even tell you what he said yet."
Hunter resisted the temptation to slap a hand over his mouth. Shouldn't have said that. "So…what got you back into battling?"
"Ash had this friend. A girl named Dawn. She offered to battle me. She put up a real fight, too. The moves she used were in a style I wasn't familiar with."
Hunter raised an eyebrow again. "How so?"
"Her moves were like the kind you'd see in a contest. They didn't come at me directly, like people normally do."
"Interesting. So you battled Ash after this?"
She nodded.
Hunter merely nodded back and took a sip of his drink.
The rain cleared up a short while later. Maylene and Lucario said goodbye, and left.
Hunter looked at Riolu and Buizel, still rolling around on the floor. He smiled. An innocence that he no longer had the luxury of possessing.
That night, with Riolu in his arms and Buizel at his heels, Hunter went to bed. As Riolu slept soundly beside him, Hunter stared out the window, his eyes slowly drifting shut.
Flashes of red and green. Energy balls. Explosions.
Hunter's eyes snapped open. They quickly shut again.
A shape darting past the moon. It banked, and flew right at him.
Hunter woke again, sitting bolt upright. Upset by the sudden motion, Riolu jerked awake and began to cry.
Hunter gently picked the little one up and rocked it. "Shhh. Shh. It's alright. It was nothing."
He hugged it and played with it until it stopped crying. It sat in his lap, its eyes a bit red and its nose running slightly. Hunter wiped its nose with his finger and patted it on the head. "Go back to sleep. It was nothing."
Riolu sniffled, but went back to sleep. Buizel jumped up on the bed and looked at Hunter. Hunter shook his head. "I don't know, Buizel. But something is coming. Something worse than Dialga and Palkia."
He looked at Riolu. I don't want him getting mixed up in this. Hopefully this time I'll be able to tackle whatever's coming on my own.
He doubted it. But he had to try.
Sorry if this is a bit short. I'm not really good on social scenes. Anyways, the action's going to pick up soon, so don't worry!