Chapter 11
"Africa… Mega Man… I'm going to be a Trainer?"
"Mag!"
"Tur!"
"I can't believe it…"
Rebecca approached him quizzically.
"Are you going to be ok?"
"Yeah… This is just incredible…" At last, I can leave Jubilife and try to find him… He looked around confused. "What should I do now?"
"Well…" John answered. "You should head to the Center nearby. They'll have the Trainer Card that Prof. Rowan is setting up for you right now."
"Ok, but what about Africa here? Having them both walking around with me would get tricky…"
"You just return him back to his Ball."
"Oh." His face turned red. "Yeah, I just do that." He took the Turtwig's Poke Ball in his hand and pointed it at the Pokémon. "Uh…Africa, return!" Nothing happened.
"Uh," John remarked. "You're supposed to push the button when you do that…"
"Wha… Oh, duh!" He did the same thing again, except he pushed the button this time, and the familiar beam of light engulfed the little Turtwig, Returning it to inside the Poke Ball. "Woah… I always wanted to know what that's like…" He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Never mind, that's not important…" He glanced at his weakened Magby. "So, I just go to the Pokémon Center to heal my Pokémon?"
"That's right," was John's reply. "The nurse is usually very kind. She'll help you out."
"How about that…" He looked towards the north gate. "Ok, you guys can wait for me, right? I kinda want to talk to my friends in private for a bit while I'm there…"
Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
"Ok… That's fine. We'll wait for you here."
"Thanks. Let's go, Mega Man!" As he took off towards the center of town, another man and woman roughly their age approached them.
"Excuse me, you two!" The man adjusted his black and gold cap to see them better. "Can you help us out with something?"
"What seems to be the problem?" asked John.
"Well," the woman started, biting her lower lip slightly. "We're tourists, you see, from Hoenn. We just got here a few minutes ago."
"Ooh, I've heard about Hoenn!" Rebecca's eyes lit up. "It's really pretty there, right?"
"Some places…" the man mused, grinning. "Anyway, we've heard that a group called Team Galactic is beginning to gain prominence around Sinnoh. Is this true?"
"Well…" John cast a nervous glance at Rebecca next to him. "It depends on who you ask. They haven't done anything much, so I don't think anyone should treat them as anything extreme."
"Hm…" The man's gaze lowered for a bit. "Well, I guess we don't need to worry about them all that much, then." He extended a hand. "Pleased to meet you, then. My name is Mark."
"And I'm Catherine," the woman replied, shaking Rebecca's hand.
"Well, we're John and Rebecca. It's great to meet you." Wait, did his eyes just go weird? A second later it was gone. No, I must have imagined it… "We're travelling as requested by Prof. Rowan of Sandgem."
"Oh? Well, best of luck to you two." Mark motioned to his friend. "We should get going, Katie. We have friends waiting for us."
"Oh, ok… We'll see you later, then?"
"Definitely," Rebecca responded. The duo walked off towards the southern end of town, before disappearing into the crowd. "Hm… I wonder how Luke's doing…?"
Amidst the sea of commuters, Mark raised a hand to his right ear, which concealed a small headset.
"Well, here's the deal…"
Luke was the happiest person in the world right now.
He had taken his two Pokémon to the nurse, who had very kindly taken his two Poke Balls and put them in the large machine behind her.
"Now, your Pokémon are pretty battered up, so they might take a while…"
"That's fine. I'll wait here." As he turned around, though, he spotted a young woman sitting on one of the nearby couches He instantly recognized the long, light brown hair and hazel eyes, and had to blink several times to keep his emotions in check.
I don't believe my luck. I had completely forgotten why I was still in Jubilife in the first place, but I just found her right before I leave! Casually, he walked over to the couch and sat next to the petite woman. She turned to glance at the new arrival.
"Hello, you," he said, face expressionless.
"Do I…know you?"
"No, but I know you, don't I? You're that spokesperson for Galactic Corp, aren't you?"
"Yes… My sisters and I have been tasked with inspecting each of Sinnoh's three lakes. We hope to develop new energy methods without harming the region. We are hoping that the lakes may provide the answers." She raised her head a little higher. "I'm Tara, tasked with Lake Verity."
"You know…" he mused, smiling knowingly. "It IS a bit odd that your company didn't send anyone to defend someone like you, especially with all the dangerous Pokémon between here and Veilstone…"
"You mean the Bidoof?"
They both chuckled lightly.
"Fair enough," he admitted.
"You sound like you wish to pick a fight with me…" she reasoned quietly, so that only he could hear.
"Normally I would, but I don't think that's really necessary," he assured, matching her tone. "Look, I have nothing against you three, I really don't. I just don't trust your employer, that's all."
"And you're telling me this, why?"
"Just in case you and your people are obligated to care. Just know that I trust you, but if you prove to be no better than them, well, you'll see…"
"I'll take note of that. Now, if you'll excuse me…" She rose from the couch, slung her pink purse over her shoulder, and walked out the entrance of the Center. He stood up to stretch, but the nurse interrupted him.
"Excuse me, sir, but your Pokémon are ready for you!"
"Ah, thank you!" His mood brightened as he took the two Poke Balls from the woman. Walking to the nearby computer room, he summoned his two Pokémon.
"Tur!"
"Magby!"
"Hey, guys!" He knelt down on his knee. "We need to talk about something.
"Yep, we're finally going to be able to explore Sinnoh for real. It was such a long tiem ago, though…" His head fell as his voice grew quieter, his dirty blond bangs covering his left eye. "Do you think we'll actually find him…?"
"Tur…?"
"Hmph, I guess Mega Man will have to explain things to you on the trail…" His gaze rose to face his Pokémon's. "We need to at least try, though, right? Maybe we WILL find him, and I can finally come to terms with my past… Maybe I can finally get revenge on that damned Team Galactic and all their nonsense." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you ready for this, Mega Man?"
"Magby!"
He grinned knowingly.
"That's what I thought." He rose to his feet. "Let's head back to the others. We need to get moving."
John saw Luke walking over to them.
"Hey, there he is! We have something for you." He handed the confused teen ten Poke Balls.
"Wha… Why are you giving me these?"
"Because. If you're going to take on the Gyms around here, you'll need to catch more Pokémon than just Africa and Mega Man."
"Oh… Thanks, John. I appreciate it." He motioned towards the path before them. "Shall we start?"
They spent the first hour or two walking up the inclining hill, Luke taking the occasional break to train Africa against the occasional wild Pokémon.
"Ok, Africa, pay attention to how Mega Man charges the opponent."
"Be careful on that footwork, little guy…"
"…That's a rock, not a Starly…"
"Twi?"
"Don't worry about it," John reassured him. "You're doing really well so far."
"Turtwig…"
Rebecca glanced at the darkening sky.
"I think we should set up camp for the night. I have some granola bars left that we can pass around."
After a few minutes, John had set up the sleeping bags that he brought. Rebecca, sensing that Luek didn't have one, had bought an extra one. As the three of them sat in their bags, people and Pokémon gazing up at the doted sky, they started talking.
"Do you ever wonder what else is out there?"
"What do you mean, Luke?"
"I mean, the world contains so many secrets, and not even the brightest of minds in this world have been able to crack them. Not even the two assistants of Prof. Oak in Kanto have been able to unlock the mysteries of Pokémon." He glanced at his sleeping Magby. "It's humbling how little we really know about the things tha exist right next to us every day of our lives…" He blinked for a bit. "I should get some sleep. Good night, you two…" As he rolled back to his original position, Rebecca turned to talk to John quietly.
"Hey, I know you're probably hurting about…earlier…"
"No, not really…" he whispered.
"What? You weren't?"
He sighed.
"If I HAD been there, I would have helped you, no doubt about it. However, I wasn't, and that wasn't anybody's fault. I'll just have to try harder to be there for you next time."
Huh…
"Well, good night, Rebecca…"
"Hey…John…"
"…Yeah…?"
"…Call me Becca."
"Uh, ok. Good night…Becca."
She couldn't see, but John's face showed a small smile. Crazily enough, so was Becca's.
Ok, praise God! I can finally call her Becca now! Having everyone trat her formally all this time was surprisingly straining for me. Anyway, keep those votes coming. Even better, though, keep commenting! Let me know how I'm doing, tell me how I can improve. And as always, thanks for reading!