Neil stepped in front of Heather, their Pokémon doing the same, Lark jumping from her arms. She peeked over his shoulder fearfully as a figure burst out from the trees, a yapping following at its heels. Confused more than frightened when the figure started laughing, the two teens and their Pokémon frowned, Otty shooting a spurt of water at the person.
"Hey, Water Gun! Good job Otty!" Neil praised his Pokémon as the now dripping figure stepped out from the darkness the trees provided. About ten years old and dressed in a wet navy blue polo shirt and shorts, the young boy was laughing, pointing to Neil while a Lillipup yapped at his feet.
"Your faces! Hahaha!" The boy doubled over before catching his breath, straightening up. "Ah... I challenge you to a battle!" He shouted, scaring a few Pokémon who were in the bushes that Heather's scream hadn't scared off already. Lark returned to Heather's side who picked him up, the girl looking to Neil and Otty.
"This kid is crazy... Lark is still hurt, I don't want him to be pushed. I'd like to get him to the center as quick as we can... This kid can't go unpunished though!" She explained, a frown crossing her lips as she looked at the Snivy in her arms and the scratches on his side. Neil nodded and looked down to Otty, the Water-type looking to him with big eyes.
"Hm... Alright, up for a battle Otty?" Excitedly the Otter nodded his head, puffing out his cheeks and letting out another squirt of water.
"Alright, I'll ref!~" Chirped Heather in a sing song voice, glaring at the smirking boy while carrying Lark and herself out of the way as they two walked away from each other to make room. She stood with Lark cradled in an arm and her other up, speaking loudly so both sides could hear.
"This will be a one-on-one battle. Neither sides are allowed to heal; first side unable to battle looses. League rules are effective for both parties, begin!"
"Lillipup, Tackle!" The boy shouted to start off, the pup jumping a bit from its trainers loud voice before racing across the field to attack Otty. Neil pointed across the dark field to the pup, his voice much quieter and more calm.
"Otty, show him our own tackle."
The Sea Otter ran at the Lillipup on short legs, the two connecting with a thunk of bodies. Otty was hardly rattled where as the pup flew back due to the critical hit, Otty unaffected due to his Shell Armor ability. The Oshawott, almost untouched, and the rattled Lillipup exchanged glares, their trainers doing the same.
"This punk needs to be taught a lesson for scaring us, he's lucky we weren't the kind of people to beat the crap out of him." Neil thought as Otty puffed out his cheeks, readying a spray of water.
"Otty, Water Gun!" "Tackle it!" Both trainers exclaimed at the same time, both focused on winning. Otty, who had been prepared, let loose a strong Water Gun in the Lillipup's face while it ran in for a Tackle, sending it head over heels back to its trainers side.
"Lillipup!" The young boy cried as his Pokémon was tossed, watching as the pup got back up and shook itself. "Good! Lets try a Leer, chained with Tackle!" Then pup gave the Water-type a fierce Leer which made Otty think twice, Neil quick to respond to the incoming Tackle.
"Hey Otty, use your water to have it run in place and then when it's tired, let him run into your Tackle." He spoke just loud enough for Otty to hear, the Sea Otter puffing up again. As the Lillipup got closer he fired a stream of water, keeping it at bay.
"Lets go Lillipup, finish this! Put all your power into the Tackle!" The boy yelled, jumping around and pointing.
"This kid doesn't understand battling, or Pokémon very well... He's just tiring out his Lillipup..." Heather thought, looking down to check on Lark in her arms. He looked to her before turning his eyes back to the battle, happy to lounge in his trainers arms. Meanwhile, Otty had let his water stop, barreling into the Pokémon, KOing it with the hit. The young trainer ran to his sopping wet pup and returned it to its Pokéball, glaring daggers at Neil.
"Lillipup is unable to battle, Otty is the winner!" Heather announced, a smile on her lips while the boy grumpily walked over to Neil, following the League rules and giving him a few bills. One quarter of pocketed money always went to the winner, where as League rules stated that Gyms had to pay a set amount. Sometimes people battled for fun without the winnings, but this kid needed some kind of punishment.
After paying, he took off in a jog, presumably to get his Pokémon checked. Neil and Heather regrouped and Neil checked Otty for and major wounds, the two setting off back down Route Two.
Entering the city, the two trainers immediately made their way to the center, the street lights illuminating the way. The bright doors and lit up sign welcomed the tired out trainers, both of them looking around before going inside. Nurse Joy was behind the counter like usual, chatting with a dark haired girl who was receiving her Pidove back. When she noticed the other two come up, the girl excused herself, heading out the door.
"Ah, what can I do for you two?" The pink haired woman asked, Heather handing over her Snivy, and Neil recalling Otty, handing Nurse Joy the ball.
"Our Pokémon were injured battling, Lark has some bad scratches from a Purrloin on his side that I'm worried about. I dressed it best I could." Heather explained, the nurse nodding with a smile, taking the two Pokémon to the back room. Heather grabbed a colourful looking pamphlet before they headed upstairs, ordering dinner for them and their Pokémon.
The two chatted while they waited for their food, Neil going up to get it when it was ready while Heather went downstairs to retrieve their partners, and get the two rooms for the night. When she returned, dinner was laid out, Otty and Lark digging in.
"Wow, someone is hungry." Neil teased his Pokémon, the Sea Otter flushing, and looking down to the floor.
"Aw, Neil! Lark and Otty have done lots today, they aren't used to battling or walking around do much. Eat up Otty, you deserve it!" Heather smiled and began to eat, Neil laughing and following suite. Heather browsed through the sort of brochure of the city she had picked up at the counter, reading over the gym. Her heart sunk as she read, frowning.
"We're going to need more Pokémon." She answered to Neil's curious look, continuing on when it didn't change.
"It says here that there are three gym leaders, a Fire one, Chili, Water, Cress, and Grass, Cilan. Depending on if you got a Pokémon from Juniper or not, the rules change. We did, so we have to battle what we're weak against... We're going to need some new partners, and some training.
"It also says that there are idea places to explore, that we could benefit from. So, if we plan on facing the gym, we need help." She finished, Neil absorbing it all.
"Huh..." He muttered, thinking. "So, You face a fire type then. They are weak against Rock, Water, and Ground, we could find something to help. Mine would be grass... Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug... We'll have to hunt around I guess. We can look tomorrow in those places it says, okay?"
She nodded and smiled, finishing up dinner quietly. When they were all done, Neil took a room key from Heather and they made their way into the hall of rooms, theirs right across from each other. Heather returned her Snivy to its ball for the time being, and leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door with a sigh, closing her eyes briefly. In the darkness of her mind, stared two smoky blue eyes, a pale soft face who was against everything she'd grown up knowing, and like he said, Heather figured they'd meet again.
She left the door, using the light of the moon from the open window to navigate her way to the bed side table, flicking on the lamp beside it. The light did little to illuminate the room, but gave enough light to see by, which was exactly what she needed as she closed the blinds to give herself privacy. Stripping down and digging in to her bag for clothes, she sat on the edge of the bed thinking, getting changed moments after and curling up in bed.
The sheets and blankets were cold as she got under them, making the girl pull her legs up to her bum, letting her body heat do its job making the blankets warmer. By the time it had, Heather was fast asleep, those same blue eyes haunting her sleep with words of separation from her new, but closest partner.