Disclaimer: I own neither Pokémon nor its characters
Chapter 8: making up for lost time
I woke up to the sound of worried voices, and soon found Leaf and Red in Aqua's room.
"It must be terrible getting hit by a Pokémon's move, especially one that inflicts status conditions!" Leaf said. I rubbed my cheek, thinking about how Grey had hit me with Vine whip, though it was an accident.
"The pain is going away, though Nurse Joy refuses to let me go yet" Aqua said. Her skin was still red in several places, but I could tell she was healing.
"This might help" Red said, spraying something onto Aqua's burns
"Ow! That stings!" she cried, pushing Red's hand away.
"It's not exactly meant for humans, but it should work none the less" he said
I could definitely see the red marks fading, though it was slowly. "You guys didn't come back her just for that, did you?" I asked
"Actually, we were training in Mount Moon, since there was no way out of the city" Leaf said
"Oh" I said
"Come on, let's see if Nurse Joy will let you challenge the gym now" Red said, helping Aqua out of bed. It was a bit weird to see reds caring side, considering all he seemed to think about was being the best trainer ever, but it was nice to know he had one. It was probably why Leaf traveled with him.
"Come on Alex, let's go watch them" Leaf said, pulling me after them.
Nurse Joy let us go after she saw Aqua wasn't in a lot of pain, then we went to the gym. Misty was waiting just like last time "feeling better Aqua?" she asked, concern in her voice. At first I was confused as to why a gym leader would care, but then I remembered she's the one who accidentally hurt Aqua in the first place.
"Much better, thanks for asking" Aqua said
"Ready to battle?" Misty asked, taking out a poke ball
"Yep" Aqua said
"Go Staryu!" misty said, throwing a poke ball
"Staryu!"
"Go Clefairy!" Aqua said, throwing a poke ball of her own.
"Clefairy!"
That's when I realized why Charmander didn't listen to Aqua, she never battled with him. Then again, she rarely battled at all.
"Staryu, use swift!" Misty called. Clefairy was knocked back, but got back up.
"Clefairy, use, uh…Tackle!" Aqua called. I could tell she didn't know all of its moves. Clefairy obliged, knocking out Staryu.
"Go Starmie!" Misty said, throwing a different poke ball.
"Starmie!"
"Use double slap!" Aqua called. Clefairy obliged
"Use water pulse Starmie!" Misty said. Clefairy dodged, and followed with another Double slap, knocking out the Staryu.
"Great job Aqua" I said
"Thanks" she said, smiling.
"Here, this is for you" Misty said, handing Aqua the Cascade badge, she gave one to me as well "I forgot to give this to you last time. Oh, and this is an apology for burning you" she gave Aqua a disk. "That's water pulse, my favorite move. I only have one to give, so you guys will have to share"
"Ok" we said together, and then we headed out.
Leaf and Red were waiting for us "did you get it?" Leaf asked. Aqua showed her the badge "yay! Now we're even again!"
"Yea, but I still can't keep going" Aqua said, looking at her feet
"Well, we can still find a way into the rout" Red said
"I guess so" I said, not entirely sure about it
"Don't worry, we won't abandon you" Leaf said
"I guess not…" Red said hesitantly. Then Leaf elbowed him "fine, we won't leave you"
After looking for a bit, I noticed the guard had left the house "maybe there's a way through here" I suggested.
Red opened the building slowly "hello?" he called
"Huh, doesn't seem-" I was cut off
"Don't come any further!" a man said. Looking closer, I saw he was wearing the grey team rocket suit "you have no proof!"
"What are you talking about?" Leaf asked "all we want is to get to the route"
"You guys are Liars! You know, forget this." He said. He threw a poke ball "go Machop!"
"Machop!"
"I got this" I said, reaching for a poke ball
"No, I'm going to show you how I really battle" red said. He threw a poke ball "go Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!"
Whoa, red had a Pikachu! "Pikachu, Thunder bolt!" he called. We all shielded our eyes as the Pikachu hit the Machop, knocking it out
"Go Drowzee!" the man said, throwing another poke ball
"Drowzee!"
"Drowzee, use hypnosis!" he called.
"Use thunder Pikachu!" Red called. The two moves were used simultaneously, and it looked like both Pokémon were knocked out. After a few seconds, I realized Pikachu was only asleep.
Both trainers returned their Pokémon "dang it! How are you guys so good?" the man asked
"We just want to get to the rout" Leaf repeated
"You'll never catch me!" he said, taking off
"We should go after him" red said, obviously ready to give chase
"No, there's no need. Besides, Aqua can't come" Leaf replied
"We should just head back, it'll be better" I said
"We should at least figure out what's next" Aqua said, finally speaking up
"You see? Even she agrees with me!" Red said "come on"
Before either me or Leaf could stop him, he went through the hole in the back, the same one the man had escaped through. We followed shortly, and found red looking around.
"Red, you don't have to be the hero every time" Leaf said
"I still wanted to catch him. What's up with this Team Rocket anyways?" Red said
"Come on, let's just go back" I suggested. With a little convincing, Red finally came back with us.
"We'll stay in the Pokémon center with you, ok?" Leaf said
"Ok" I said, then I talked to Nurse Joy about the arrangements.
After a little bit, I was able to get to bed. My thoughts were swirling as I drifted off to sleep.
Another chapter done! This one took longer than I expected, but I should have the next one uploaded later today to make up for it. Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!