And I'm back again!
I've decided I'm going to do Gyms, but they won't be freakishly hard. There'll be some risk of death in Pokemon battles (hehe...you'll see), but it's not necessarily life-and-death situations all the time. Gym leaders will be exceedingly hard, though, something I hope not to mess up ;)
Disclaimer: If I owned Pokemon, Riolu would totally be a starter...
x.X.x
I barreled straight through Sandgem Town, sparing the professor a brief wave as I raced up Route 201 and 202. Had I been in less of a hurry, I might have stopped to admire the beach or let my Pokemon out, but I knew that the right trainer to trade with could be walking away from the Trading Center right now. There was no time to waste.
I burst into Jubilife, stopping to rest, bending over with my hands on my knees and standing there for a few minutes, getting my breath back. I had never been a track star-in fact, though I had the energy, I just couldn't run very far. I was kind of fast, but only just enough not to be considered slow.
After I'd recovered, I stopped, getting ready to take off again for the Trading Center, but then I saw Jubilife. I had no choice but to look up in awe: the people walking on the sidewalks, the towering buildings, the fountain in the center of it all. It was too much, and now I walked woodenly forward to sit down on a bench, craning my neck to see the tops of the buildings. I shrugged off my backpack and set it on the planks next to me, leaning back to admire everything.
"Wow," I whispered. It was all so…big. Huge.
Shaking myself and reminding myself why I'd run all the way here (despite resting a few times on the way), I got to my feet and took my sweater off, tying it around my waist and then taking off for the Pokemon Trading Center.
"Hello!" a woman said cheerfully, beginning almost immediately to teach me how to trade after the usual introductions. I took it all in, looking around as I did, my gaze perpetually drawn to the huge globe in the center of the room: the world was that big?
I nodded, shifting and ready to begin trading when she was done, already entertaining ideas of my new Vulpix or Eevee, and looked up when the woman said, "Now, where are your Pokemon?"
"Oh, they're in my…" I trailed off, realizing that there was nothing on my back. Stupidly, I looked over my shoulder as if thinking that it would be there anyway. "My back…pack…" I finished softly. The woman raised her eyebrows.
"Your backpack?" she asked, and I jumped up.
"I've got to go!" I practically screamed, drawing way too many stares as I raced out the doors and skidded around the sidewalk and other people, sprinting back to the bench.
My backpack, the one with my Pokeballs and ID and clothes and pancakes…it was gone. "No!" I screamed, looking wildly around. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" That was where my trading Pokemon was! My Riolu, the one that would get me an Eevee!
That was when I saw the sign. "WANTED," it screamed in big, bold letters. There was a picture below, a shadowy representation of a man with a big nose and shaved head. On an impulse, I stuck my tongue out in disgust, and then read the caption at the bottom. "Pokemon Thief. Reward: one thousand."
"Darn it!" I exclaimed, wishing I knew more colorful curse words. "Darn it, darn it, darn it!" I must have looked crazy, hopping up and down in front of the poster, but I was past caring.
"Excuse me…" I looked up at a low voice, and jumped back at the young man standing in front of me, glasses perched on his nose and hat tilted down over his face. He was holding a notepad, and I felt my brow crease as I scrutinized him. He looked really old to me, but mom always said that I had a wacky perception of age. She would have said that he looked twenty or something, but I thought he looked at least a hundred. "Would you like some help?" I wasn't allowed to talk to strangers, but I figured this was an exception. After all, I lived for finding the loopholes and exceptions in rules that were laid down before me.
"My Pokemon was stolen," I explained, pointing at the picture. "My whole backpack!" I remembered leaving Riolu's Pokeball peeking out in the mesh water bottle holder, and I internally cursed-again wishing I knew words other than "darn it" and "poopie!"
"Well, maybe I can help you. Have you gone to the police station yet?" he asked, and I shook my head. "What kind of Pokemon was it?"
"A Riolu, but he was in his ball!"
"Okay. Come on, I'll take you to the police station." He started to walk off, and I followed miserably: my trading material! It was gone! Now I'd never get an Eevee or a Vulpix or a Ponyta or anything! Not only that, but I was even worried for Riolu! What if the Pokemon thief turned out to be a big, bad man who killed Pokemon and ate their bones? Then it was all my fault, and I'd never be a Pokemon Trainer!
"Hello!" I was yanked from my reverie by a polite voice, belonging to a police officer standing in front of me and the man that was helping me. "How can I help you?" Despite sounding nice, she was definitely serious.
"Hello, Officer. This girl has had her backpack stolen, with her Pokeballs inside," the young man explained. Her brow creased, and she put her hands on her hips.
"Hmm…a new trainer, are you?" she asked me, and I nodded fearfully. I had heard that big-city policemen and women weren't very nice. That's what Lucy said, anyway. She also said that there were tiny Caterpie that followed her around because she was destined for greatness, but it was a moot point. "You think it was the Pokemon thief?"
"Y-yes," I squeaked. "It was a Riolu…and some other stuff inside."
"Alright, well, there's not much we can do now. Everyone has already been told to search for the man, but I'll put up a notice about your backpack. What color was it?"
"Blue and green…?" My voice made it sound like a question, and she nodded, taking a pen and jotting everything down on her hand.
"Good. Your name?"
"C-Celeste Fare."
"Alright, Ms. Celeste. You have a phone?"
"Yes." I was gaining confidence, and she dipped her head, asking what my number was. I gave it to her, along with anything else she asked, and then she sent me off. The young man stayed with me for a little while, saying, "The Pokecenter lets trainers stay in rooms for free, but you might have a bit of a problem persuading them you're a trainer." I nodded miserably.
"I have money," I mumbled. That, unfortunately, was in my backpack.
"I'll help you prove it to them, if you like. They'll probably believe you anyway, though. Nurse Joy is very kind."
I shrugged and followed him to the Pokecenter, where he made short work of convincing Nurse Joy. She already looked sympathetic at the sight of poor, pitiful, downtrodden me, and made sure to usher me to a huge, exceedingly nice room in the back, thanking the young man that had brought me.
"Good luck, Celeste," he said, smiling for the first time. "If you find Riolu, see if you can contact Connor and tell me." I nodded, waving glumly, and he smiled and dipped his head politely to Nurse Joy.
"All right, sweetie, you just tell me if you need anything, okay?" she told me as she was leaving. I nodded, sighing and dropping onto the bed, and rested my chin in my hands as I stared out the window.
For the next couple of days, there was nothing. I began to get worried: not just for my trading material, the thing that would get me my Eevee, but Riolu himself. He had been put in my care, and if there was one thing I had learned from my parents, it was that it was my job to take care of him.
The only good thing that I could see would come from this was that Riolu wouldn't trust me or like me as much after all this-he might even hate me-which would make it much easier to trade him.
Finally, right when I was about to either go crazy or die from waiting, Nurse Joy knocked on my door, beaming when I opened it.
"We found your Riolu!" she exclaimed, and I felt my face light up.
"Really?" I was at breaking point: she could have told me that they had found my pancake batter and I would have still thrown a party.
"Come with me!" I bounced after her down the hall, and into the town square. There was a cluster of people around the fountain, where a man was being held down by another passerby, and the thief's Nidorino was snorting and pawing the ground beside them. "The police are on their way," Nurse Joy whispered in my ear. "But that Nidorino is pretty angry. Your backpack is in his coat, and your Riolu's Pokeball is right…there." She pointed at a red sphere that was rolling away, and the man that was being held down made a mad grab for it. His opponent shoved him back onto the ground and took it, holding it up.
"Whose is this?" he called, looking around. I shoved through the crowd and held my arms up, calling, "That's mine!"
"Celeste!" Nurse Joy's voice echoed behind me, and, too late, I realized that I had just drawn the Nidorino's attention to me. It snorted, lowering its head and getting ready to charge, and I screamed, trying to scramble backwards but-of course-tripping over my own feet and falling. Suddenly I regretted watching so many scary movies: this was what happened to people right before they got their heads eaten by a big, scary Dusknoir.
In a moment of confusion, I saw Riolu's Pokeball dropped by the man that had caught the Pokemon thief. A flash of red light, and then my Pokemon stood up, almost immediately jumping into the air and landing right in front of me.
"Rio-lu!" he said angrily, though not at me. He was turned toward the Nidorino, and stubbornly standing in between me and the angry Pokemon.
"No! Riolu!" I hissed, but really didn't want to get in between them. Besides, I wouldn't stand a chance against that thing: Riolu might. Of course, there could have also been a year and twenty levels difference between the two, but I had no way of knowing that.
The Nidorino let out a roar, beginning to charge, and in a blindingly fast move Riolu darted forward and lashed out with a kick before zipping back to his original position. It didn't deter the rampaging Pokemon for long, and soon it was running again, building speed. There was no way my Riolu had time for another attack, but still he stood stubbornly between me and the thief's Pokemon. I saw his crimson eyes squeeze shut, his little hands balling into fists as he tensed, and finally his shoulders hunching as he prepared to meet the Nidorino's attack.
I scuttled backwards, eyes wide in horror, and shielded my face with my arms as the two Pokemon collided. Riolu, stiff as a statue, tumbled backward, and finally I heard someone call, "Nidorino, return!"
A couple of moments passed, filled with unrecognizable sounds. Then, warily, I peeked out from behind my hands, covering my face, and the first thing I saw was Nurse Joy leaning over me.
"Celeste!" she exclaimed. "Celeste, are you okay? Can you hear me?" I nodded mutely, eyes wide, and nearby saw a police officer handcuffing the Pokemon thief. His Nidorino was inside its Pokeball, held by another officer. I kept looking, my gaze circling around the crowd of people held back by the caution tape, and saw what I was looking for.
"Riolu!" I shrieked, pushing Nurse Joy away and scrambling up, running over to my Pokemon. He was crumpled in a heap, and I got down on my hands and knees next to him, looking up desperately as Nurse Joy half-jogged, half-walked over, her heels clicking against the pavement and her blue eyes wide.
"Oh, my," she whispered, kneeling by me. "Oh, my…"
I felt tears in my eyes, and I crouched over Riolu, all thoughts of trading him gone. This was my Pokemon, my birthday present, and my protector. I'd be smashed into a pulp right now if he hadn't stood in front of me, and even after I'd let him get stolen.
"Riolu?" I asked, and saw two tiny eyes flicker open, twin half-lidded rubies staring back at me.
"Rio," was the feeble reply. I looked up at Nurse Joy, who was pursing her lips.
"I'll be back," she told me, and then straightened and walked over purposefully to exchange a few words with the policeman. He looked at me, beginning to make his way over, and then she turned and set off at a brisk walk back toward the PokeCenter.
"Hey, kid." Despite the words, the officer's voice was surprisingly gentle. "Is that your Pokemon?"
"Mm-hmm," I sniffled, wiping my nose on my shirtsleeve and looking back down at Riolu. My Riolu.
"The one that was stolen?"
"Yes. Along with my backpack." I gestured toward the thief, and the officer nodded.
"Let me go and get that for you." He walked over, grabbing my dark blue-and-green pack with everything I needed inside, and then came back to me and put it in my hands. "You're a brave kid, you know that? First time away from home?"
"Yes-yes sir." I remembered the respectful replies my parents were always trying to get me to say, and I figured that now was the appropriate time for them.
"Well, you're going to be a good trainer. I can tell just by looking at you, and you've got the most loyal Pokemon I think I've ever seen." He looked up at a crowd of Chansey coming toward us with a stretcher, and nodded politely at Nurse Joy. "Well, good luck on your journey." With that he turned and walked back toward the thief, and Riolu was lifted carefully onto the stretcher.
I followed the Chansey back to the Pokemon Center, and then sat down in front of the row of phones, waiting for my Pokemon.
x.X.x
OMG O_o
Annnd the chapters just get longer...hehe...
Riolu used Quick Attack and Endure, in case anyone wanted to know.
Oh, and I would be more descriptive (like using words other than "nice" to describe things), but this is from a ten-year-old's perspective, so it just sounds weird when I read it.
Sooo...yeah. Read and review, if you please! (and updates will probably start to slow down around chapter ten. That's what usually happens to me, anyway: that's around the time I start getting writer's block every five pages XD)
Thanks!