The center was the same as when she'd left it, a few trainers sitting around discussing travelling plans at a table while Heather walked up to the counter to get her Pokémon healed. After handing the Pokéballs to Nurse Joy her X-transceiver rang, digging it out of her bag after rushing to a nearby table. She answered the video call after seeing the professors name, smiling to see the bubbly woman on the screen.
"Professor! I just won my first badge!" She all but squealed excitedly, the woman laughing and nodding. The look on her face was serious and stopped Heather from going on, the girl tilting her head.
"That's great, really. But I have something important for you to do. When you walk in to town, the first two buildings to your right, the second one, closest to the center. I need you to go there with Neil now and pick something up."
"But Neil's battling the gym, I was on my way to watch." She explained, the Professor giving a 'tsk'.
"Well, then I need you to go alone, and pick up his too. The person you're getting it from won't be there very long. Congratulations on the badge, Heather."
The screen went black as the Professor ended the call, leaving Heather to rub her temples.
Lovely. Guess I need to hurry, maybe I can catch the end of Neil's battle, mind you, mine wasn't that long...
Leaving her Pokémon with the nurse she ran out the doors and headed to the first house on the right; her left. She knocked politely and was ushered in by a young boy who nearly pushed her up the stairs, leaving her at a room labelled "Fennel" with a cursive font. The child knocked and the door was swung open, a young woman in a lab coat tugging Heather within.
"Great! Take these, I guess your partner couldn't come." Instantly she was shoving two black devices at Heather who took them hesitantly.
"These are PSD's - Portable Storage Devices. They can carry just about anything, and weigh the same. Saves bag room, and your back. One's for your friend. Take out some stuff from your bag, like potions."
She directed while gathering things up, Heather assuming that Fennel would be going out soon, like the Professor had said. The young boy sat on a stool in the room kicking his legs, looking genuinely bored, like he'd heard this several times before. With a sigh, she opened her bag and removed all but a few potions, setting them on a table and catching the woman's attention.
"Good, now scan them with that. The blue button."
Nodding, Heather did so and watched in amazement as the potions were sucked up in bits of data, leaving nothing behind.
"And when you want something back, use the green button, and the screen. Show your friend, we need to go."
Rushed out like she was rushed in, Heather hardly had time to take in how the devices worked. Fennel waved goodbye and released a strange bird Pokémon Heather had never seen, flying away on its back before she could get her Pokédex out.
x—x—x—x—x—x
"Otty, watch out!"
"Now use Bite!"
As she walked in she saw Cilan confidently standing on one side of the platform with a Lillipup battling while a stressed looking Neil and battered Otty stood on the other. The Oshawott was hardly able to fend off the attack using his scallop, unable to do much but squirt a sprits of water in the pups face before taking a Bite to his side. Unable to go on, the poor Otter collapsed, being returned in a red beam.
"Challenger Neil's Oshawott is unable to battle, victory goes to Cilan and his Lillipup." Chili declared while walking up to Cilan, Cress following at his heels. The boys congratulated the others victory while Neil slunk off the platform, passing Heather completely. She frowned and followed after him a few paces behind, both teens entering the Pokécenter.
Neil handed his Pokémon to Nurse Joy who took them to be cared for while signalling Heather to go to the back room, the awkward feeling girl doing just that to escape her friend. She made her way to where the Minccino was, opening the door and slipping inside with a heavy sigh. The creature tilted its head and sat up, ears flopped adorably.
"Gah, you don't want to know." She mumbled, moving to sit on a stool beside the bed. The Pokémon shrugged her shoulders and crawled into Heather's lap, getting its head rubbed affectionately.
"Neil, my travelling partner, didn't beat the gym... He's acting pretty cold now, I don't know what to say, either. I won my challenge, anything that I do say, he might take it wrong. But if I don't say anything..." She sighed, mentally exhausted from the day.
"Oh! But I do have something for him. I could break the ice that way, what do you think?"
Heather looked down to find her new partner asleep in her lap, continuing to stroke the head and cheeks of the Normal-type. A few minutes later Nurse Joy entered the room with a small bag of supplies, smiling once she saw the Pokémon asleep.
"She really likes you, she gave me a hard time when I was trying to clean her up earlier. This is everything you should need, I've gone ahead and contacted the center in Nacrene, they'll have more supplies if you need it."
"Thank you so much Nurse Joy! I promise I'll take great care of her. I can't believe someone hurt her so bad..." She gave a hard glare at nothing in particular while Nurse Joy placed the medical bag inside Heather's, the girl thanking her again, and moving the Minccino up to her chest to hold her as she slept while making her way out to the lobby. She trekked up the stairs and found Neil at a table, sitting across from him.
His face softened as he saw Heather sit with the sleeping Pokémon in her arms, a faint smile tugging his lips up briefly before scowling again. Heather set her bag on the table and dug through it with a hand, pulling out one of the black boxes, conveniently labelled with a "Neil" sticker.
"This is why I missed most of your battle. Professor Juniper rang me and made me get them immediately. It's a Portable Storage Device." She went on to explain how it worked and took hers out, the Minccino stretching and moving to curl up around Heather's neck. She stored most of the things in her bag which lightened it dramatically, pleased with how it turned out. Neil unpacked his bag and did the same, in a bit better of a mood.
The two ordered food and Heather ran down to collect their Pokémon while her companion waited at the table, the Minccino awake now and resting on her shoulder. With the Pokéballs in her pocket, she jogged carefully up the stairs, finding their food served. She rolled the balls across the table to Neil and released her Pokémon, letting them meet and eat.
"Heather," Neil started, his voice quiet and unsure while she set out his Pokémons food. She looked up from her plate to him, head tilted curiously.
"Yeah?"
"I want you to keep going, make it to Nacrene today. I'm going to stay and train, take on the gym again. It's early enough that you can make it there before dark."
"Neil!"
"No, Heather." He interrupted her, giving her a hard stare. "I want you to keep going. I'll catch up. If I hadn't of lost, we would of moved on. Here, in case I don't make it in time."
He dug into his wallet and pulled out the ferry ticket he'd gotten from the couple at the day-care, sliding it across the table to Heather.
"I'll contact you the day before. If I can't make it, find someone to go with."
She looked at him coldly and he returned the glare, not budging one bit. Upset and flustered she recalled her Snivy and Panpour and packed up all of their food, stuffing everything in her bag. Neil stuck the ticket out at her and she snatched it angrily from him, stomping down the stairs and out the door with Claire back on her shoulder.