"I still can't believe that they were closed!" Heather ranted from under her umbrella quite frustrated, walking along a strip of soaking pavement that turned into sand in about twenty feet. Off to both sides were currently unoccupied construction sites that didn't exactly make sense to her, figuring that there would always be sand in whatever the structures became. Not to mention, who would want to live or open a shop where sand storms were so frequent?
The paved road stretched out until the construction ended, the sand and temperature thankfully kept down by the rain. Beside her walked her Servine while her other two Pokémon rested in their balls, the Grass-type covered by the large umbrella she had gotten earlier after discovering that the gym was closed for a while, the gym leader going out on one of his apparently usual adventures, making battling him hard.
Heather had been quite upset at first when the referee who was cleaning up had told her when she walked through the doors, having "just missed him". She decided that waiting around the city was no use and returned to her room to gather her things and sign out, getting an early start on Route Four. When she woke up, the city had already been soaked by rain, buying an umbrella at the center which Lark and her now used while crossing the usually sand storming terrain.
The path was almost straight through except for some construction she had to walk around, the two companions making better time than she had expected through the wet sticky sand. Pokémon were minimal which she guessed was from the active construction and weather, seeing a Sandile scuttling away and nothing else. The group's previous discussion of trainers proved wrong so early in the morning, the sun having just begun to rise into the first quarter of the sky. Heather guessed it to be about eight in the morning, almost laughing at how in the past two weeks she had changed so much. Going from a late riser to waking up at five or six in the morning was a real feat, and for a second she wondered what her mother would say if she knew.
"Hey mom, I woke up at five AM today to leave to the next city, thought I'd call you." "Are you sick Heather? I think you should come back home!"
She assumed it would turn into her mother coming and dragging her home, openly laughing at the thought. Lark looked up to her confused, finding nothing amusing about walking in wet sand and getting blown in the face occasionally by rain. The blonde looked down to him and smiled, confusing the snake further.
The two reached the gate that connected Route Four to Nimbasa in no time, Lark more than happy to be out of the dark skies and the rain for even a short period of time while his trainer gravitated toward the main desk, picking up papers and booklets while talking to the woman behind it. Eventually Heather finished chatting and headed over to where Lark stood at the door leading to Nimbasa, smiling down to the snake as she popped back open the umbrella. She took a second to look at the map of the city she had grabbed to hunt out the Pokécenter, leaving the building once she was sure she could find it.
Nimbasa was beautiful to walk into even on a rainy, cloudy day. The path from the gate to the city was lined in sparkling fountains that managed to keep going in the heavy rain, the city ahead of them not as big as Castelia, but big none the less. Using the map, Heather guided herself down the lane to find the Pokécenter, Lark clinging to her side while not wanting to get any wetter then he already was. In the distance behind them the clouds were brighter and showed signs of clearing up, the breeze hardly blowing them though. It would make sense that the storm was quick, deserts didn't see much rain after all. Sighing, Heather and Lark entered the center and got a room, spending time drying off and warming up in it while she released her other two Pokémon.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." She began while using a towel to dry off Lark, the Servine having gotten quite soaked on their adventure. Claire sat cleaning her tail while Vincent lounged on the bed in his human-illusion, watching as Lark was cleaned up by their trainer.
"Looks like we may not be training until quite a bit later, I don't want us getting sick from the weather." She dug in her bag for the steadily growing stack of papers, taking them all out to browse through and to check the map while they waited out the rain. Vincent moved to sit up on the bed as Heather went to sit beside him, handing the man a few booklets for him to look through while Claire and Lark began to play.
"There is apparently a lot to do in this city, the map shows several places we could check out. I'd like to see the amusement park, but..." She trailed off with a frown, Vincent looking over curiously.
"But it's pouring rain, right? I'm sure we'll have a chance to see it before we leave, don't worry. It might clear up enough by the afternoon to open it." His voice was cheerful and uplifting, trying to improve Heather's mood. She looked to him and nodded slowly, smiling.
"Yeah, you're right, it's supposed to clear up later! Well, that leaves us with... Two sports domes, and a Pokémon music hall. I'm not really interested in sports... But I'm pretty sure Lark and you wouldn't be thrilled about seeing a Musical, huh?" She chuckled dryly and Vincent nodded to her question, the two looking to each other blankly.
"Well... I don't know what to do then." Heather grumbled and sighed, moving the map from her lap to look at the papers that were left over. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she lifted one up, Vincent peering over her shoulder.
"Is that the coupon from the cruise?"
"It's worth five hundred dollars in a shopping gift card!" She explained rather shocked, Vincent taking it from her to look over. He blinked and continued reading, relaying what it said to Heather and the now interested Pokémon.
"This coupon is good for... A five-hundred dollar gift card to 'Shopping Mall Nine' on Route Nine, a free cruise from the same ship that we were on, or a five-hundred dollar voucher for three different restaurant choices across Unova. I guess those tickets were worth a lot, and you have two of them. Well, had before they were traded for these." Vincent mused aloud and Heather nodded, a bit stunned at the amount of money it was worth. She checked the second voucher quickly, making sure it was the same thing before taking the one back from Vincent and putting them securely in a bag pocket along with the rest of the papers and booklets.
"I can't believe they're worth so much, the only problem is that most of it is pretty far away, we'll have to travel pretty far before it comes in handy. Now... We need something to do. I'm going to call the day-care and thank them, even if it was a bust." Heather decided, pulling out her X-Transceiver and calling them. She stayed on the phone for several minutes before Jean had to go, thanking them once more before hanging up.
She leaned back and thought about what they could do after putting her device away, the rain pattering against the side of the building quietly, the window looking more like a waterfall as it came down steadily. Lark and Claire continued to play while Vincent stared out at the rain, a thought suddenly coming to him.
"Hey, you want to see a Musical right?"
"What? Oh, uh, yeah, I'd like to, but you and Lark probably aren't interested, right?"
"Yeah, but here's an idea. What if you take Claire to the Musical, and I take Lark to the domes? Then we can both have some fun that the others wouldn't enjoy. Otherwise we'll just be stuck in here until the skies clear."
Heather thought about it for a second before nodding excitedly, looking to her other two Pokémon who were playing an odd game of tag around the room.
"Hey, you two want to do that? Lark, you go with Vincent, and Claire, you come with me?" The two Pokémon looked at each other before nodding, looking excited as they both went to their respective person. Heather picked up Claire after standing and grabbing her bag, Vincent walking over to the door with the Servine trailing after him. They made plans for a spot to meet up after they headed out, walking the same way for a short while chatting before splitting up. Heather took Claire to the Musical while Vincent and Lark walked along further to the Small Court, both groups happy with what they were going to see.
•—•—•—•—•—•
"Welcome to the Small Court, where you can watch our local teams of Tennis or Basketball practice or play! Today the Basketball team is practicing, we hope you enjoy!" A brunette at the front desk rang out the same speech to everyone who walked in, a lot of people having the same rainy day idea that Heather and Vincent had had. The human-Zorua and Servine sauntered along through the small crowd to the viewing seats, the two managing to find something relatively close to the front to watch the Basketball team practice.
After about half an hour of practice they left to the Big Stadium, watching the Football team play against a team from across Unova. Lark and Vincent chatted and cheered while the game went on, the two enjoying the sports far more than they would of the Musical.
x—x—x—x—x—x
The atmosphere was cheery and light when Heather and Claire walked into the Pokémon Musical building, many fancily dressed people and Pokémon standing around talking. She shook off her umbrella before closing it and kept it close to her side, trying to keep it out of the way as she walked. An electric clock on the wall counted down from ten minutes, a sign under it in cursive writing saying it was until the next show. Heather walked through the chatting groups to the stairs where seating was located, sauntering up them with Claire when her X-Transceiver started going off. She frowned and dug into her bag, pulling out the device and answering it before it was too late while moving out of the way.
"Hello?"
"Heather! Hey, it's Neil."
"Neil! I forgot to call you, I'm sorry! The cruise was really hectic, have you heard about it?"
"No, but I've heard some stuff about Plasma on the news the past few days. That Ghetsis guy has been doing more rally's trying to convince people to release their Pokémon... He's bad news. What happened on the cruise though?"
Heather explained most of the ordeal while leaving out some parts to him - like meeting N again or finding out that her traveling companion was a Zorua - until a buzzer went off signalling that the Musical was about to start. Heather quickly explained that she had to go before saying good bye and hanging up with the promise to call him back in a few hours, Neil holding her to it unlike last time. She rushed into the theatre like area and found a seat near the middle, sitting with Claire on her shoulder just as the lights went out.
Spot lights came on and hovered toward the side of the stage where the Pokémon began coming out, an Audino leading dressed in a fedora off to the side of her head with a red ribbon around her neck, a red cape trailing behind her and a pink clip on her ear. Her face was excited while she held onto a parasol crossing the stage, the audience clapping excitedly. Coming up after her was a cranky looking Sewaddle dressed in a top hat while dragging a cane along with him in his little hands, a bow tie tied neatly around his neck. Despite looking quite dashing his irritation at being dressed up was apparent, the crowd not as enthusiastic.
A Cinccino elegantly walked on stage after the Sewaddle, her fur shining in the spot light. She wore bright flowing ribbons on each of her ears that were tied in neat bows, a red bow tied around her neck like the Audino. She carried a colourful parasol in her paws and waved to the crowd, getting loud applause and a few whistles. A Meinshao followed dressed in a black cape, bat wings and a trident in its hand, the crowd giving its applause. Behind them a backdrop fell of a stormy castle fading into a sunset beach, music starting to play from all around.
The Pokémon began to dance and act as the spotlights followed them, some having the light focus on them while they did their own thing. The crowd - including Heather - cheered them on and enjoyed their act, the Pokémon basking in the attention. The Sewaddle eventually got more into it and began acting more, its dance moves nearly flawless. The whole thing took almost half an hour to finish, the Pokémon bowing and the announcer telling the Pokémons names and trainers. Everyone left once the Pokémon went off stage including Heather, hugging Claire close as she navigated through the crowd of people and Pokémon.
"That was amazing, how would you feel about doing one of those?" She asked the Minccino, the chinchilla Pokémon squeaking and nodding its head. Heather made it to the front doors and looked outside, the sky still dark with rain clouds. She frowned and opened her umbrella while stepping out, dialling Neil's number as she walked back to the center in the rain.
"Hello, Heather. I wasn't expecting you to call so quick! How was the show?"
"It was really awesome, I'd love to enter one of my Pokémon in one. I don't think anyone but my Minccino would be interested though.."
"How many Pokémon do you have so far? I have Otty, Elvis, and my egg still. It will probably be hatching in a few days, I'm super excited! I hope I can catch up with you so you can see it" She smiled at his thrilled tone and paused a moment, unsure exactly what to say. Did she tell him about Vincent or leave him out of it? She bit her cheek and shrugged, Claire curling around her neck.
"I have Lark and Claire still, I've got one more, too. It's a surprise for the next time we meet, as for watching it hatch, that would be great!" She replied slyly, smirking proudly to herself. This way Neil didn't have to know exactly what Vincent was, though she knew she would have to cross that bridge later. Eventually Neil would catch up and they would travel together again, and Vincent wouldn't be able to hide forever... She sighed inwardly, deciding to discuss that fact later with the Zorua.
"-you know? Heather?"
"Sorry, I kind of zoned out for a second. What was that?"
"I said, we'll have to have a battle when we meet up to see how we've progressed. Where are you now, Nimbasa right? There's a really awesome amusement park, you know?"
"I'd love to battle you... And win!" She teased happily, glad that they could be friendly rivals. "Yeah, I'm in Nimbasa, it's raining pretty good here. We got lucky on Route Four, the sand was kept down by the rain."
Heather held the X-transceiver between her ear and shoulder as she got to the center, closing the umbrella and shaking it off before she walked into the doors. Claire jumped down and nearly took the X-Tran with her, Heather catching it last minute before bringing it back to her ear.
"I'm almost to Castelia, the gym is closed though from what I've heard. The rain on Route Four turned into a heavy storm, it's probably headed your way so be careful."
"Yeah, Burgh went on some dumb art adventure... I had just missed him apparently. I'm going to skip that gym, maybe go there last so I can camp out waiting for him. I don't think I would of held up very well against him anyway with it being a bug gym.." She grumbled as she headed up the stairs after Claire, taking a seat and welcoming the chinchilla up into her lap.
"I don't think it's going to turn worse, it looks like it's clearing up. I really hope it ends soon, there isn't anything to do in the rain unless I want to watch more musicals..."
"Yeah, I understand. I'm going to hang around Castelia for a day or so because I want to try their ice cream which they only sell early in the day. I'm on my way there now, did you get any?"
"Ice cream? No, I didn't... That almost makes me want to go back!"
They both laughed and talked for a while longer before Heather saw Vincent walk in through the center doors, promising Neil that she would call him again soon before saying good bye and ending the call. She waved to Vincent and the two Pokémon headed up stairs to where she was seated, the two exchanging how much they enjoyed what they went to see.
"They said that since the game is over, trainers can train in the big dome. I figured you'd be interested in that since there isn't much else to do. We could train alone, or battle the other trainers, I also heard something about the gym leader being there, but I don't know what they look like." Vincent told Heather while they sat watching sopping wet people walk in to the center, Heather interested in all the types of Pokémon she saw. She thought about it for a while before confirming that she'd like to go, heading to her room so Vincent could drop his illusion without being seen.