Chapter 8: Colds
"How are things going at the gym?"
Cheren briefly eyed the young challenger taking on one of his trainers before replying, his xtransceiver in his hand.
"Just peachy."
He raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy command his Snivy to tackle the Palpitoad croaking across from it.
What are they teaching kids these days? Palpitoad is water AND ground type. He just needs to vine whip his ass and win.
He turned away and brought his attention back to his device, just in time to catch Bianca roll her eyes.
"I'll assume that means you're doing just fine."
Bianca's image wavered for a few seconds, her figure and voice distorting before returning.
A quick glance to his left confirmed that the rather boring battle was still 'raging', with a Pansear now scratching away at the toad-Pokemon and trying to break through its defenses.
"Where are you now? Have you spoken to Touya or Touko recently? I'm sure they're off causing trouble somewhere."
"I'm in the Great Chasm! Professor Juniper asked me to come here and look for some rare Pokemon DNA samples. Something about an important and groundbreaking experiment. As for your second question, I spoke to Touko a few days ago, she was doing just fine. I think she's having a great time with Ash. They're really hit-"
"Hold on" he said, cutting her off as footsteps approached him.
He met the gaze of the trainer in front of him, sizing him up before he continued.
"A youngblood has challenged me to a battle."
Bianca resisted the urge to sigh and roll her eyes again.
"You make yourself sound like an old man. Call me back later. Stoutland's being a big baby over here and wants some attention anyways."
"Will do."
A click was heard and echoed throughout the gym as Bianca ended the call.
Standing to his full height, he looked at the confident brown haired boy in front of him.
"How did you manage to lose a Snivy and then manage to drag it on long enough to brute force your way through a water-Pokemon?", Cheren questioned as he made a mental note to ask his trainers about that.
The boy shrugged.
"The new generation has style. Something you don't have... old man."
Cheren narrowed his eyes at the smirking youth in front of him.
"I accept your challenge."
Bringing back his arm, he flung a Pokeball out into the battlefield, the red and white ball spinning in the air before clattering on the ground and releasing his Haxorus. The Pokemon exploded onto the floor, eager for battle as it roared into the not-so-confident-anymore challenger's face.
He smirked. This kid was going to shit his pants before this was over.
He knew what was coming. That dreadful sound, one he had heard far too many times today. Knowing it was inevitable, he prepared himself, steeling his core against the incoming-
"ACHOOOOOO!"
sneeze.
Sighing, he closed his book and glanced over at a bed ridden Touko, covers pulled up to her very red and delicate looking nose.
"See, this is why you should wear more..." he eyed her discarded clothes in the corner of the room, "sensible clothing."
Touko glared at him feebly from the bed, her watery eyes trying their best to convey her feelings and burn a hole straight through him him. She would have retorted, if it wasn't for the terrible dryness she felt in her throat.
Sneezing again, she reached over to grab a tissue and blew her nose before tossing it into the ever growing pile of tissues in the trash.
"Food."
Sighing again, Red made a hand motion at the glass of water next to her before standing and making his way into the kitchen. Absentmindedly, he emptied a ready to eat can of 'Victreebell's Chicken and Vegetable Soup' into a bowl.
How had he been reduced to this? The almighty Red, best trainer in the world, reduced to a baby sitter. He had woken up to a message from Touko asking him to come over. He had been greeted at the door by Touya, who had politely asked him if he could watch over Touko for the day. Not having an excuse, he only had a choice to agree to watch over the grumpy brunette. He hadn't expected it to be for the entire day.
The sound of the microwave brought him out of his thoughts and he presented the bowl to the brunette on a tray.
"Be careful, it's-"
He was interrupted by Touko's cry of pain.
"Hot." He sighed again.
Touko hissed, her burnt tongue throbbing as she glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
"Logic dictates that when soup is taken out of the microwave, it should be hot. Common sense really."
"Oh fuck you."
Red merely raised an eyebrow at this before sitting back down in chair and quietly resuming his reading of Game of Pokemon.
She huffed and continued glaring at him before slowly a tentative of her soup, savoring as the warm and no-longer-scorching-hot soup spilled into her stomach.
She knew she was being a grumpy bitch, but really, it wasn't her fault! She only had a little bit of a cold, yet Touya had forced her to stay in bed, citing his responsibility as the (barely)older sibling, authority given to him by their mother and playing on her fear of possibly becoming too sick to be in the tournament. She would much rather be out training with her Pokemon, cold be damned.
She glanced over at Red. She was itching for something to do, whether it be to train or a verbal spar.
She cleared her throat loudly. "You know, The Lord of the Pokemon series is better."
"Is that so." came the bored drawl, Red flipping another page without looking up.
"Yes, it is. The Pikachu, The Fellowship of the Pokemon, The Two Gyms, and The Return of the Pokemon Master, were awesome. Besides, how can you have a more badass title than, 'The One Pokemon to rule them all? I mean re-".
"Politics."
Touko stopped mid rant, mouth still open.
"Huh?" she said stupidly.
Red sighed.
"I prefer the much more political nature of Game of Pokemon."
Touko only gaped at him. "Just how old are you Ash? You shouldn't be interested in politics! You should be interested in cool things like massive battles! Pokemon like Arceus!"
"I guess some of us mature faster than others."
Her eyebrow twitched dangerously at his words.
Carefully placing her tray down on the nightstand, she turned back to Red.
"You have 5 seconds to take that back."
"No", came his one word reply.
Lunging for him to give him a smack, she forgot that her legs were still tangled in several blankets. A collision, flailing arms, gravity and a loud thud occupied the few seconds in between Touko's lunge and the twisting of the doorknob.
It was of course at this opportune moment that two people burst into the room.
"Toukoooo, I haven't seen you in so lo-, my what do we have here?"
Elesa blinked in amusement, a slow grin spreading across her face at the sight of Touko's hunched, blanket covered form straddling Red in front of her. She nudged Touya in the ribs.
"You didn't tell me they had moved onto the next stage yet."
"What are you talking abou-"
He stuck his heard over her shoulder, his eyes widening as he took in the sight, a matching grin starting to form across his face as well.
"Wait until mother hears about this."
Touko's form became a blur as the words came out of his mouth. A second later, she was in his face, sickness completely forgotten.
"Don't you dare" she hissed, eyes wide in panic. If her mom ever found out... Touko shuddered. She didn't even want to think about the amount of questions and information she'd be asked for.
His grin got wider. "What are you willing to do to keep this private?"
Touko groaned.
In the end, it took some pleading from Touko and a good smack to the back of his head from Elesa before Touya relented and promised multiple times not to let their mother know.
Touko sighed in relief, curled up under her sheets at the thought. While she had escaped future questioning from her mother, she had been forced to make a promise to Elesa to give her all the juicy details when she got better.
I can tell her about all the juicy details that don't exist.
She snorted. Of course they didn't exist. That jerk had just dusted and brushed himself off before gathering his stuff. A quick nod at Touya, a nice-to-meet-you to Elesa and he had left without so much of a warm good bye to her. No hug, no kiss, no "I hope you feel better tomorrow".
She sighed, pulling up her covers to her chin, her blue eyes and toes twitching as she thought of today's events.
Still, it was nice of him to take watch over her for a few hours, she mused. She'd have to thank him and kick his ass at the same time when she got better.
Outside the room, Elesa peeked inside, a sliver of light sliding into the room. Satisfied that Touko was asleep, she closed the door again before turning back to Touya, a delighted smile playing on her lips.
"She's asleep. She looks really cute when she's not being so energetic."
"She drools sometimes too", Touya said offhandedly. One secret for another, he thought wickedly.
"Oh that is SO cute."
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Anyways, what did you think of Ash?"
Elesa reached up to his shirt and fiddled with his collar, fixing, straightening and undoing the damage Touko had just recently caused.
"He seemed like the strong silent type. A little rude or anti-social, but it seems like he's very knowledgeable and a fairly good guy. He's definitely worth keeping around."
Her eyes glittered with mischief.
"Plus, he's got some smoldering good lucks and I wouldn't mind tak-".
A pair of lips were quickly and gently pressed against hers, cutting her off, before being pulled away.
"Ok, maybe not."
She grinned as Touya smirked back at her.
Finished with fixing his collar, she brought a delicate hand up below her chin, rubbing it as a frown graced her face.
"I'm sure it's nothing, but I feel like I've seen Ash somewhere. He looks really familiar."
Touya leaned back against the wall, his arms tucked behind his head.
"You too? I felt the same way. I'm sure he's not someone terrible as I would have definitely would have remembered him but still... "
Elesa's brows furrowed even more and turned to stare down the hallway, some of her hair falling down to cover one eye.
"I know what you mean. I'm certain I've seen him somewhere."
Their concentration was disrupted as the beep of Touya's watch broke the silence.
"It's getting late. I'll walk you back."
A hand latched onto his wrist before he could take a step.
"You're already here, no need to walk me back. I can handle myself without your manly presence beside me" Elesa said with a wink.
"Be safe then. I'll see you tomorrow."
A quick peck from the black haired girl and Touya was left watching Elesa sway her hips as she walked down the hall, a grin on his face.
Life was good.
In his room, Red cracked open his book before flipping to where he stopped.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
As he read further down the page, a line caught his eye from the text.
"Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word. This hole in this chest of mine is one such wound."
A sudden thought struck him about the speaker. This certain Pokemon happened to be a Roggenrola, a Pokemon he knew nothing about. Grabbing his bag from his bedside and rooting through it, he eventually found the device he was looking for. Flipping open his now scarcely used Pokedex, a wave of nostalgia overcame him before he shook it and off and remembered what he was trying to do.
Fortunately for him, he had updated it with from Professor Oak's database at a PC before he had departed on his journey and had some information on several Pokemon from the region.
Navigating his way through its index, he found the Pokemon entry and brought it up.
"Roggenrola, a rock Pokemon. The hexagonal-shaped hole is its ear. It has a tendency to walk in the direction the sound is coming from", came the announcement from the Pokedex. He peered at the image, looking for the Pokemon that he couldn't find.
He frowned. He couldn't see a thing. All there was were a bunch of rocks, some hole that looked like it had wrinkles that looked like an...oh.
Throwing both the items onto his bag, he looked up at the ceiling.
A candle Pokemon, a ice cream Pokemon and now a rock Pokemon that looks like someone's anal cavity. What. the. fuck.
Maybe he would take Touko's advice and read something else instead.
He sat in his chair, hands together and tucked under his chin.
"It has been found?"
"Yes. It seems the rumors were true sir."
"Good. Then we can start our plan."
"And then what sir?"
"Patience, for you will see in due time. Get a team ready. We have a few visits to make."
Author's Note: I realized that its been months since I've posted and you probably ALL hate me, but here's the next chapter. I never realized how tiring a full time job with a 2 hour round trip is.. but when i get home and there's no A/C? I lose all motivation. No excuse but still!
In any case, thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story and has reviewed. You are almost literally the...2%? People like you help us out.
Also, if any of you actually remember, Cheren's trainers in the gym don't have Palpitoad. But I made one of them have one anyways. And of course, credits to Mr. George Martin for that little quote I borrowed, or at least part of it.
This chapter is a little short as well, but hopefully they'll get longer. I hope for big things to come.
Thank you again to all my reviewers!
And again, please review!