Chapter 8: A Spry New Friend

"Yawnnn."

I blinked my eyes a few times as I sat in my bed at the Pokémon Center. Outside, Violet City was dark. The sun just barely peeked over the horizon. The alarm clock in the room said 5:57 AM. Glancing around, I noticed that my Pokémon were all still asleep: Pidgey was perched on a bedpost of the top bunk of the bunk bed across the room, but awake━he normally doesn't sleep very much; Chikorita was sprawled out on the bottom bunk, directly across from me; looking up, I saw the tip of Espeon's still tail laying over the end of the top bunk above me; and across the room, on the same bunk that Pidgey was currently perched on, was Cyndaquil, snoring.

One of the advantages of traveling alone (and having unevolved, smaller Pokémon) is that everyone can sleep outside of their Poké Balls and still be comfortable.

Getting up from bed, I reached above me and woke up Espeon; then I walked over to wake up Chikorita. When I nudged her on the side, instead of waking up, she reactively kicked out one of her back legs━catching me right in the gut.

Instantly, I hunched over, clutching my stomach and gasping for air. Stumbling backwards, I landed on my own bed. Espeon peeked at me from above, his eyes full of concern.

"Espee?"

I struggled to vocalize the words "I'll be fine, I only got the wind knocked out of me, just give me a minute," so instead I gave him a thumbs up. He didn't seem persuaded though, probably because I was still gasping for breath, struggling to breathe. Finally, after about a minute or so of labored breathing, I managed to recover to a somewhat normalness of breathing.

"I'm fine, Espeon, don't worry," I said, explaining the situation to him, now that I could talk again. "I just got the wind knocked out of me. I don't know all the science behind it, but basically what just happened is what happens when you get a hard force to the stomach or back."

He stared at me, still confused. I figured I'd put it in terms that were a little easier to understand. "I'm fine," I said, faking a laugh in order to show him I was fine and ease his concern. "So don't worry about it."

Espeon still stared at me as I attempted to wake up Chikorita again, a little worried about his trainer. He'll figure out that I'm OK sooner or later, I thought to myself.

This time, I was smarter in waking up Chikorita; I kept my distance, gingerly tapping her on the shoulder to wake her up. The moment I touched her, I jumped back, ready to avoid another kick. Fortunately, none came.

"Cheeka?" Chikorita asked me, looking a little angry at being woken up this early. Her eyes were only half-open. She stretched, before repeating her question again.

"Cheeka?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Chikorita, you know I can't understand you," I said as I leaned over to pet her, hoping to calm her down. I heard Espeon call out from behind me.

"Espee! Espeon!"

I turned, and saw him pointing at the alarm clock, which now read 6:01 AM.

"Oh," I said, realizing what Chikorita had asked me. "I don't know why I got up this early, to tell you the truth. I just woke up and figured we could start the day a little earlier than usual. Is that OK with you?"

Chikorita muttered something disapproving under her breath. But when I called her out on it, she simply acted like she didn't say anything. I waved her off. It's too early for your sass, I thought to myself. So I'll let this one slide.

Cyndaquil was rather difficult to wake up. I had to nudge him several times before he finally woke up.

"You were snoring again," I joked to him. His head dropped and he looked crestfallen, and I instantly felt bad that I had mentioned it.

"Chikorita was snoring even louder than you were, though," I lied, hoping to make him feel better. Cyndaquil raised his head, and his face lit up with laughter. Chikorita, on the other hand, looked appalled. She turned her head away from us, defiantly, and lifted her chin as Cyndaquil continued to chuckle; her signature whatever look.

I left the two to calm down as I looked up at Pidgey, who was trying to catch some sleep again. I've gotten used to his rather odd sleeping patterns; he sleeps for a few minutes, then wakes up for a few more, then he goes back to sleep.

"Wake up, Pidgey," I said gently. His eyes instantly perked open; Pidgey, along with many other aviary Pokémon, slept with half of their brain still active, enabling them to be prepared for a predator to attack. With mountainous Pidgey, I know this is especially crucial to protecting their unborn hatchlings from wild Sneasel.

With everyone now awake, I took the time to get myself ready. "Espeon, I'm jumping into the shower," I said, grabbing a towel and my usual clothes, fresh from the Center's laundry room. "Hold down the fort while I'm gone."

"Espee," he said, acknowledging my command. As I walked into the bathroom, I could hear faint sounds of Espeon trying to calm down Cyndaquil and Chikorita, who were starting to argue very loudly due to the fact that I had brought up Chikorita snoring.

"Why did I get those two started?" I asked myself as I closed the bathroom door. Then I waved myself off. "Whatever. It's Espeon's problem for now."

When I came out of the bathroom, fully-dressed and ready to start the day, I expected to find the room in shambles, with Cyndaquil and Chikorita fighting and Espeon trying to calm them both down, Pidgey trying in vain to back him up and get things calmed down.

Instead, I found Espeon leading Cyndaquil, Chikorita, and Pidgey through some sort of a training session. They were all jogging in place, apparently being run through some kind of cardio workout.

"Wow," I said, impressed. Espeon turned and noticed me, and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing upon seeing me. Espeon looked up at me, unsure if I was going to compliment him or reprimand him.

"Great job, Espeon," I said, causing him to smile. "I should leave you in charge more often."

"Cheeka!"

I adjusted my gaze until it settled on Chikorita. She stomped her foot down and began sulking, apparently not happy that she hadn't been praised for participating in the unsanctioned training session.

"Come on, Chikorita," I said, scolding her. "You can't be so jealous of everyone. Next time, if you come up with a great idea like Espeon did, then you can get all the praise. Until then, there's no praise for you."

That shut her up.

I stood in the doorway to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria; not a soul was to be found, except for a lone worker. Outside, the sun was barely visible over the horizon, its rays shining through the empty streets. The wall clock said 6:45 AM.

No wonder no one's here, I thought. It's only 6:45 in the morning.

"Man, I got up early today," I commented aloud.

Chikorita, who, along with all of my other Pokémon, was at my side, looked up at me and huffed, still a little cranky both at being woken up early and at being reprimanded before 7 AM. I think she set a new record this morning, for the earliest time that she's ever been reprimanded.

I waved her off, and continued over to the breakfast counter. That's the one thing that I like about urban Pokémon Centers: the breakfast buffet! They have everything you could hope for: waffle makers, Moo-Moo milk, eggs, cereals, berry smoothies, and tons of other things. I took a fair share of waffles, eggs, and some Moo-Moo milk.

I carried my tray of food over to a small table by the windows, and was immediately pestered by my Pokémon; they hadn't been fed yet.

"Oops!" I said to myself, realizing my mistake. "One moment, guys!"

I hurried back to the breakfast counter, and bought a small bag of food. Sadly, the food at Pokémon Centers isn't free, so I have to use my trainer card to pay for it; but at least the rooms are free! I filled up two of the bowls on the ground at my table: each table in Pokémon Center cafeterias is complemented by food bowls bolted into the ground, perfect for trainers to use to feed their Pokémon.

I broke my Pokémon up into groups of two, and made sure not to put Cyndaquil and Chikorita together. Not that I need to explain why.

As my Pokémon and I ate, fellow trainers began to drift into the cafeteria; a few at first, and then more and more. I hadn't beaten the rush hour by too much time.

I sized most of them up to be novices like me, but occasionally some rather grizzled-looking veterans came in. What they were doing around Violet City, and not up near Mt. Silver (or pretty much anywhere but this part of Johto), I didn't know.

Back to the food, though: the Violet City Pokémon Center has the best food that I've eaten so far; it's not great, but for Pokémon Center food it's good.

Just as I started on the last waffle of my stack, a young boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen at most, sat down across from me. A little surprised, I stopped eating and looked up. The boy had short but curly brown hair, along with glasses and a couple of freckles. The most defining feature of him was his height; I estimated him to be only about 5'3" or 5'4", which, compared to my 6' frame, is very short.

"What's up?" I asked. After I said it, I realized it had come out kind of rude. Thankfully, the boy didn't seem to notice.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I just couldn't help but notice your Espeon there. That's pretty cool━you two must be really close," the boy said as he began to go to work on his own breakfast. "I'm Nick, by the way."

He stuck out his hand for a handshake, and I returned it. "I'm Chris. Yeah, Espeon and I are really close. I had him for years as an Eevee. He evolved pretty early on in my travels; we were just that close that after only a few battles he evolved. Of course, I haven't been on the road that long anyways, but yeah━we're really close."

"So how many badges do you have? I mean, you are a trainer, right? Or are you just traveling around?" Nick asked, on the edge of his seat, excited to hear my story.

Boy, I thought to myself. This kid definitely needs to calm down; pestering me with all these questions and stuff. I barely even know him. Then again, though, I don't want to be rude; after all, look what happened with Falkner. Just be nice to him.

"Nah, I'm a trainer," I said, pulling out my badge case and showing the boy my Zephyr Badge. His eyes widened at the gleaming piece of metal.

"That's so cool!" he cried out, causing several trainers around to look over disapprovingly at the racket. I noticed this, and quickly shushed Nick.

"Thanks," I said after Nick had quieted down, finishing up the last of my food. "Be back in a second."

I took my tray over to the trash, and when I returned, Nick was sitting on the ground, petting Espeon. Nick saw me approaching and quickly jumped back up, hoping I hadn't seen him.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "Espeon loves being petted. See?"

I gestured towards Espeon, who was nudging Nick's hand with his nose. "He wants you to pet him. Go ahead."

A huge grin came over Nick's face. He nearly fell, he got out of his chair so quickly to sit back down next to Espeon. Soon enough, Chikorita was also nudging Nick's hand. Before he knew what was happening, he was surrounded by all of my Pokémon, each vying for attention from the boy.

"They're all so cool!" he cried, again causing people to stare. For some reason, I found that I didn't care that half the room was looking at us. In fact, I even started laughing, as Chikorita managed to knock Nick over, she had been pushing him so much.

"I think they like you, too," I said, smiling.

Nick continued to play with my Pokémon for a little bit, as I worked on finishing drinking my Moo-Moo milk. His face makes him look like he's fourteen or fifteen, but with his small size and the way he acts, he comes across as only twelve or so. I was tempted to ask Nick how old he was, but I felt a little awkward asking him that after we'd only just met.

I felt a feathered wing rub up against my leg. "Oh, hi Pidgey," I said, looking down as he sat on the floor next to me.

"Don't you want to play with Nick?" I asked.

Pidgey shook his head. Apparently Nick has too much energy for him. Even Espeon was starting to distance himself from Nick, who was currently making faces with Chikorita. Cyndaquil was jumping around in the background, trying to get Nick to play with him, but his attention was solely on Chikorita; and she was loving every second of it.

I took another sip of my Moo-Moo milk, and realized it was all gone. Sadly, looking outside, I figured it was time to start to wrap things up here; I didn't want to spend too much time at the Pokémon Center today. Getting on the road towards your second Gym battle is just too alluring to keep you in one place, I'll tell you.

"So, Nick," I said, hoping to draw him away from playtime without actually playing 'bad cop' and asking him to stop. "You're a trainer, just like me, right?"

"Well, yeah, technically," Nick answered, suddenly avoiding my gaze, as if he was embarrassed. "But, well, I don't have a Pokémon yet…"

"You'll get one soon, though, right?" I asked. Nick nodded. "So are you going to get a Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile?" I asked, unable to resist the urge to pry.

"Actually, I'm not going to get a starter Pokémon," Nick said sadly, dropping his head to stare at the floor. "My parents said we couldn't afford to get one."

He looked like he was about to cry, and I instantly felt terrible for bringing it up. Of course not everyone can get a starter from Professor Elm. They cost money. Why hadn't I thought of that?

I found myself at a loss for words, and a long and obvious silence fell between us. I'm not very good at this kind of stuff━people being sad and me having to make them feel better, I mean. This is really Frank's forte. I found myself wishing he were here.

As the silence drew on, I found myself searching for something━anything━to say to Nick.

"So, you said you're getting a Pokémon. From who?" I ventured.

"I'm getting a Pokémon from my uncle," Nick said, still staring at the floor.

Finally, I found an opportunity to make Nick feel better. "So, which Pokémon is he going to give you?"

"I don't know, he said it's a surprise," said Nick.

"Well, what do you think it'll be?" I asked. Nick looked up, feeling a little better, now that I was showing interest in him.

"Probably a Water-type. My uncle's a fisherman."

I wish I had a Water-type, I thought to myself, a little jealous of Nick.

"Well, that's cool, right?" I said, trying to mask my jealousy; thankfully Nick is rather...oblivious.

He shrugged half-heartedly, his head still down. "I guess so."

"Dude, I wish I could get my hands on a Water-type," I said. "It'd really round out my team."

"Really?" Nick asked. He stared up at me, his eyes desperate for approval. "You think Water Pokémon are that cool?"

I found myself having to reassure the boy, which made uncomfortable again.

"Sure," I said. "I think Water-type Pokémon are really cool, as well as very powerful."

The biggest smile I've ever seen formed on Nick's face. This kid really looks up to me, I thought. Figuratively and literally.

"My uncle has a ton of Water-types!" Nick cried out, visibly excited. "Since he's a fisherman, and all. Plus, he has a ton from when he was a trainer!"

"Your uncle was a trainer?" I asked, unable to withhold my curiosity. "So he challenged the Gyms?"

Nick's grin drooped into a frown. Guess I brought up a sore subject. "He tried. But, he only got 4 badges, then it got too difficult for him, and he struggled to get any more. He never finished his journey. He says it doesn't matter to him, and that he's happy he got to at least live some of his dream, but, I can tell that he's lying. He's sad he never got to the Silver Conference."

That really struck a chord with me. What if that happens to me? What if I'm doomed to that fate? To live out half of my dream━4 badges━only to stall out and fail. Then what? How will I be able to live with myself then? My whole life, my dream, my goal, my motivation, has been to get to the Silver Conference, and win. But what life is there for me if I fail? It's very likely; so many start out like me, right now: happy, go-lucky, feeling invincible. Then they get to the tougher Gyms, and they can't take it. Only so many make it to the Silver Conference; and only one trainer wins it all. I struggled with the first Gym━against a rookie Leader of what is widely-considered to be the weakest of all the Gyms, next to Azalea Town. How can I keep up with the best of the best; like Clair? Or Jasmine? Or Pryce?

Nick snapped his fingers, jarring me from my thoughts. "What?" I asked.

"I said," Nick began. I noticed he was looking better; apparently he had recovered from his gloom while I was lost in thought. "Where are you heading next? You have the Violet City Gym badge already. So what's next? Azalea? Goldenrod? Ecruteak?"

Still a little confused, I managed to get together an answer. "I don't know. Either Goldenrod or Azalea; definitely not Ecruteak yet."

Nick pulled out a small, folded up piece of paper from his pocket. He opened it up, revealing a slightly worn, but up-to-date, map of the Johto region.

"My uncle told me that Azalea Town would be my best bet after Violet City," Nick said, pointing towards it on the map, tracing a route from Violet City. "Since it's located pretty far south, and it's kind of out of the way from the other Gyms. Than I could head north again to Goldenrod. Get what I'm saying?"

I took a moment to think. "Yeah, yeah, I understand. Because if I head to Goldenrod first, then I have to go to Azalea Town anyways, and it's down then back up again, which kind of feels like a waste. Not going to Azalea━but covering the same ground twice. You know? Plus, it'd be good practice to go to the easier Gym first, right?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I feel the same way. I'd rather head south from here━Route 32 and such━and then from Azalea Town up north through Ilex Forest and Route 34, instead of going down Route 34 and Ilex Forest only to return through them again. I guess we're similar in that way," Nick added, laughing.

"Yeah, I guess we━" I was cut short by a ring from Nick's Pokégear.

He looked down at his Pokégear, confused. "Who would be calling me at this hour━oh," he said, presumably seeing the caller ID. "Give me a second."

Nick walked away, talking into his Pokégear. Left alone with the map, I began to study the route to Azalea Town.

It's longer than I thought. That'll take me, what: two or three weeks? If I travel quickly? I guess I should stock up on food and supplies, then, and━

"Hey, Chris?" I heard Nick ask. I looked up, and saw him holding the Pokégear into his chest. "I have to go meet my uncle. To get my first Pokémon!" He grinned as he said the last part.

I waved him off. "That's fine! Go and get it. I hope it's a nice one, too!"

Nick grinned even louder, still holding the Pokégear to his chest. I tried to fold up the map for him━and found myself failing miserably. Nick took over, and folded it up quickly and smoothly on his first try, tucking it into a pocket on his backpack.

"My, uh, uncle taught me," he said sheepishly. We stood there for a moment, neither of us ready to say good-bye, when we heard an electronic voice yelling.

"Nick? Nick? You still there?!"

Nick looked down at his Pokégear, which was still flat against his chest. "Shoot! Sorry uncle!" he said, putting it back to his ear. "I got busy for a moment. But I'm back now."

I waved good-bye to my newfound friend, returning my Pokémon to their Poké Balls and leaving the cafeteria for my room. Once in my room, the clock showed 7:27 AM.

"I made good time," I commented to myself. "I've got plenty of time to pack and get resupplied, now! Next stop, Azalea Town!"

AN: Sorry for the long hiatus in between chapters; I had a bit of writer's block. But, I have some very good news! I've rewritten Chapter 1, and I'm working on rewriting Chapters 2 and 3! To be honest, they were pretty poor works, and I've wanted to rewrite them basically ever since I first posted them and got some pointers from the community. Plus, I also changed some things around (nothing that has a major effect on the story thus far, but down the road it might), but nonetheless if you will be following this story I suggest that you go back and read over Chapter 1 (as well as 2 and 3, when they're posted). Chapter 1 is the only one that I've managed to rewrite so far, but Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 should be rewritten and reposted within the next few days (hopefully), or whenever Chapter 8 is posted.