The docks of Castelia were lively as they reached them in the late morning, the sandy beaches between the piers occupied by mostly children and Pokémon playing in the cool water and soft sand. Fishing boats came and went from the farther piers, bringing in containers of fresh fish or going out to try their luck catching any. Purrloin's and Liepard's sat waiting for scraps or unaccounted for fish that the fishermen may of left behind, the felines going so far as to follow the fishermen into the city while meowing for food.
It had taken them almost an hour to return to Castelia City, and the majority of the ride back was stressful and tense. Most trainers kept some Pokémon out in fear of another attack, the ships staff making no move to object as long as they were light weights. The ride back had been uneventful however, no sign of the Plasma boat at the docks or on the water, as well as no silver suited creeps hiding about. As far as Heather was concerned, they disappeared completely. At least until she had another run in with them, which she was sure would happen sooner or later.
Looking out at the dock they were coming to, it was no surprise to find it covered in police officers with Herdiers by their sides, even multiple security guards trying to get answers from a group dressed in the ships uniform, seeming to get nowhere. The captain's voice rang out from the speakers in a serious tone, everyone on board paying close attention.
"As you can see, the police have been notified, and we would appreciate it if you could all take a second to speak to one of the officers about what has happened, any bit counts in bringing the band of hooligans into custody.
"We've also contacted our company, and there will be staff members at the end of the dock to give you a ticket refund coupon when you present to them your ticket stub, we're sorry for the inconvenience, and hope to see you on our next cruise."
The gangplank was lowered and many groups of people began talking to the officers as they left, most of the ships previous passengers leaving straight to get their coupon. Heather was one of the latter. The talk with N was still fresh on her mind, she figured she owed it to him to keep quiet about what went on for some reason. After all, she didn't get her Pokémon stolen, either.
Lost in thought, she handed two ticket stubs, Vincent's and hers, over to a woman who in return gave her two coupons, the blonde stuffing them in her bag without reading them while she made her way to the Pokécenter. It had taken far too long in her opinion to get her friends taken care of, having to wait another twenty minutes in line to get them healed. With her Pokémon and Zorua-Vincent being checked she wandered upstairs to her room, getting changed and filling her bag with bottles of water and supplies she would need for training which she had decided to do while on their way back.
Her plans were to get back around nine or ten and train for an hour or so before challenging the gym in the morning, but with the cruise returning so soon, she had hours to train, and possibly a new Pokémon. A look to the clock showed it just brushing noon, giving Heather time to come up with a training routine while she sat down for lunch, grabbing something for her Pokémon to eat once they were able to be taken.
While she ate she gave thought to what to expect at the gym, knowing for sure that it was a Bug type, but not a whole lot else. Her Servine was weak to bug, where as her Minccino was neither good nor bad, and if Vincent joined her team, that gave her another in the middle Pokemon. To her, that was too many openings.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, poking at her food with a fork while her face held a troubled expression. Training could only do so much against a type she had no ground over, she couldn't have Lark Vine Whip them to death. She needed effective moves and strength...
The blonde pulled out her X-Transceiver and punched in Juniper's number, she was surprised to see the Professor's father on the other end, only having met him a few times while working at the lab.
"Ah, Heather! It's been a long time since I've seen you! My daughter is busy in a video meeting with Professors from other regions, one of which we've just gotten in contact with, the Kalos region! So, I'm afraid I've taken over for the day." He gave her a warm smile which she returned, watching a Woobat peek out over the older man's shoulder.
"Mr. Juniper, it's good to see you again! You too, Flappy." She waved to the man and Woobat, the heart-nosed creature screeching happily. "A new region? That's awesome!"
"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Cedric? Yeah, it's great, there are a bunch of Pokémon we've never heard of there, so much to learn! Anyway, what can I help you with?" He asked her after patting the Bat's head, listening as Heather explained her predicament. He nodded and listened, paying close attention to the blonde as she went on.
"-and I'm pretty sure I remember hearing something about moves that Pokémon can learn with the help of their trainer, I'm interested in teaching my partners skills to help them take on types that would usually hurt them."
Cedric nodded slowly and rubbed his chin while looking off to the side in thought, the Woobat flying away uninterested in the topic change. It's screeching could be heard from across the room, as well as a flutter of wings. The professor gave a firm nod and held up a finger in a "one second" motion, his fingers dashing around a keyboard as he searched for something in the files of his daughter's computer.
He gazed intently at something on the screen and Heather felt a bit uncomfortable, feeling like he was staring at her since they were talking over the same computer. Finally he sat up straight with a grin, making Heather tilt her head curiously.
"I've got it! I knew it would be here somewhere, I worked on this years ago. Now, it's not finished, which is why it wasn't implemented, but it's an app for your X-Transceiver, it has a good chunk of TM's on it. The way it works, you can either search through the moves, or search by Pokémon. Searching by Pokémon will be easier for you, but may not wield the results you're looking for. The program has every TM name and description, but unless it's highlighted, the move isn't available.
"At the time, I didn't have access to every TM, and I still don't, but what's there should be enough to help you. Now, I want you to use the transporter in the centre to send your X-Transceiver to me so I can install it, alright? It will only take a minute, then call me back, and I'll explain more."
He explained to her the way the whole thing worked before she sent him her X-T to get it downloaded, the thought of having a training video program with new moves very exciting to her. When he returned her device she called him back, the professor explaining more.
"I don't have a lot more to say besides the fact that you won't be able to teach your Pokémon everything that is there. Some moves are far too strong for your partners to handle right now, for example... Your Servine can learn Solar Beam by TM, it's a very powerful move, and requires a powerful Pokémon to use it, understand?"
The blonde nodded and Cedric smiled, the professor looking away for a moment as Flappy began to screech. He turned back to the screen and stood, waving to Heather.
"Someone is here, I've got to go. If you have any problems, feel free to call. I hope you get good use out of that, see you later."
With that the screen went black and she sat thinking. Heather drank in the professor's words and thought them over, her blue eyes determined. She didn't want her Pokémon to blow away opponents with a super strong move anyhow, she wanted to battle fairly. A few extra moves up her sleeves wouldn't hurt though, especially to cover type disadvantages.
Eventually Heather decided to go pick up her Pokémon and get training, the girl walking over to pick up the extra packed up lunches before leaving to retrieve her partners. The nurse greeted her cheerily as Heather came up to the counter, the center still packed from everyone who had been on the ship getting their Pokémon checked. She requested her Pokémon and the pink haired woman brought them, two Pokéballs and a tail wagging Vincent. She took all three with a thanks to the nurse, heading outside before releasing them from their balls. She did a minor introduction of Vincent to her Servine and Minccino, the three seeming to get along great.
The group left the center and Heather led them down one of the streets to the middle of the city, having a seat on one of the benches facing the fountain. The small breeze blew a mist of water their way every now and then, cooling them down in the hot sun while she took the containers of food out of her bag and let her Pokémon eat. Heather meanwhile fiddled with the program, browsing through what her team could learn and what the moves did.
"Heather?"
"Yeah, Vincent?" She questioned while turning her attention to the grey and red fox who was still eating, making her wonder for a moment if it had been his voice after all. She relaxed as the fox replied, going back to looking through the list of moves.
"I was serious about wanting you to be my trainer, I'm willing to battle for you if you'll let me." He looked up from his lunch at her, his bi-coloured eyes watching her as she poked at the screen of her device.
"Of course, I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. It slipped my mind though. I'm fine with that, actually, I'd love you on my team, it's just that I don't want you to regret letting me capture you." Her blues slid up to meet his round eyes, showing how serious she was by giving him a look. The canine nodded and thought for a moment, his reply coming slow.
"Yes, I understand. You're a very good trainer though, you take good care of your Pokémon. I know you won't keep me in my ball too often and you'll make sure I'm well, I want to be stronger, and see the world more. I can do both with you."
The blonde smiled and took out a Pokéball, rolling it over across the bench to the fox. He nosed it and was absorbed in a red beam, Lark and Claire watching with interest as they finished their lunch. She grabbed the ball and released the fox back onto the bench, clipping the ball onto her belt with her other two.
"Well, I hope you're all ready for some serious training, we're challenging the gym and moving on tomorrow as much as I'd love to stay here longer. Tomorrow brings rain, and that will help us get through Route Four, I don't know how we'd manage otherwise."
"There will probably be a lot of trainers from the cruise sharing that same idea, it's best we leave early to avoid the rush."
Both Claire and Lark nodded and Heather suddenly realized they could hear him too, thrilled at the prospect of being able to communicate to her Pokémon better. Knowing she was side-tracked she thought back on the topic of leaving, sighing and rubbing her temples.
"Yeah, you're right. Do you three think that after some move training, you'll feel comfortable facing the gym today? We can't face it and leave early all tomorrow... There might be a line up, too. Ugh. Ideas..?" She frowned and waited for her Pokémon to come up with something, trying to come up with a plan herself.
"How about... We go see when it's open until? Or how early, we can go from there." She posed the question and was delighted to see all three nod, the girl standing and dusting herself off while taking their garbage to a trash bin. Vincent led the way and the group followed, Heather still thinking of what to do.