Ch. 5 - Tomorrow is Promised to No One

When the morning comes, Heather is feeling just fine so she and I finally decide to get moving. We argue about where to go, however. I want to go to Valencia Island, mostly just to see professor Ivy's lab. Heather wants to go back to Mikan Island to train and then battle Cissy, since she's the nearest gym leader (which I find curious, since this is Heather's third attempt at training and she still has no other Pokémon, so how can she expect to fight a gym leader? Then again, if I had tried three times with no badges, I guess I would want to finally get a badge myself). I, of course, plan to save Cissy's gym for last – after all, I just left Mikan Island, I really don't want to go back already. Besides, I'm… really not ready to fight Cissy, and knowing her Pokémon, I know Heather can't either. I manage to win that argument on the basis that we both need to expand and train our teams before taking on any gyms.

Heather instead interrogates me about Cissy. Apparently, being friendly with a gym leader isn't something that happens very often, or so she says. Me, I've known Cissy for years. It's never really occurred to me that it might seem strange to someone else that I look up to her as a sister rather than a gym leader. This, of course, leads to me telling Heather about my childhood and how I met both Cissy and Kabuto. Heather still refuses to answer my questions about her past, though, which I deem unfair. She doesn't seem to care, however.

While telling my story, I remember my scrapbook, and finally remember to get those pictures of Heather and Kingsley. I grab my camera (and the knife – if we're leaving, I want all my belongings with me, right?) from the nightstand and my traveling bag from the foot of my bed. Heather picks up her own bag as well, and we head down to the lobby to retrieve our Pokémon from the nurse. I let Kabuto out instantly, and he wastes no time in crawling up my body and attaching himself to my stomach, since my bag has taken his spot on my back. This is fine with me, because even if he's visible to other people at least I can keep an eye on him.

I keep Kingsley locked away, though. Truthfully, I'm not entirely trusting of him after the last incident at the beach. Sure, he seemed to behave after he and Kabuto had their argument, but that might have been due to the sudden haste with which I ran back to the center. Oh yeah… and then there was that battle with the wartortle. I figure I should consider myself lucky that the water-type's trainer hasn't found me since and let it be.

We walk down to the beach, discussing what Pokémon we're hoping to find for our teams. As it turns out, neither of us really has a clue. I'm kind of hoping for a bit more diversity than simply water Pokémon, but seeing as how we live in an island chain, I have no delusions about the chances of that happening. It's not all bad though, I keep telling myself. I still do need at least one water Pokémon that I can ride on, so I can bring Cissy's rental boat back (okay, so maybe it is all bad… that would give me three water-types). The less time that boat spends in my care, the less chance there is of me wrecking it. And with my track record regarding injuries so far, I'm not optimistic about the boat, either. Yeah, the sooner I get a strong Pokémon, the better. I guess Kabuto technically can learn to Surf, but I doubt his endurance, not to mention the fact that I'm not really keen on the idea of being soaking wet all the time. I'd much rather have something I can ride, not something that's going to have to just drag me through the water. Kingsley probably can learn it too, but I don't even want to think about that right now. Yeah, there's really no avoiding it, I kind of need a third water Pokémon. Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible to be a specialist…

Heather is not terribly happy about the idea of pictures, which I assume is due to the scar on her arm where Kingsley tore her skin, but agrees to it anyway. She actually poses for me, hiding her arm behind her body, but otherwise enjoying the pictures a lot more than she originally made me think. When I finally let him out, Kingsley takes a little bit longer to snap because he just can't seem to sit still, but I do eventually manage to get a picture of him as well. Of course, it has to be while he's foaming at the mouth and lunging at me with his large claw, but at least the picture wasn't blurry. It was the only one I had managed to snap so far. And I was getting tired of tripping over my own feet in an attempt to back away from him and his claw. Even more, I'm pretty sure Heather is losing her sanity a little more every time I scream in fear of my own kingler. Maybe if he would stop trying to rip my arm off… Heather got off lucky, but I have no doubt that Kingsley would be successful next time. I have noticed, though, that he seems to be alright as long as we all keep our distance from him. Now if only he would keep his distance from me…

Eventually, Heather stops a boy passing us by so that he can get a picture of me and her together. I manage to tear Kabuto off my stomach (but not without tearing a hole in my shirt) and put him down on the sand. He scurries away in annoyance, but thankfully he doesn't go too far before turning around to watch. Heather puts an arm around my shoulder, my head now hiding her scar, as the boy takes the picture – and then screams, dropping my camera. I hiss as I run forward to retrieve it, hoping it wasn't damaged. I lean down for it but as I do, I see what his scream was all about and I just about faint – I was so busy trying to pose for the shot that I didn't notice Kingsley creep up from behind and clamp his large pincer on the boy's leg.

"Kingsley, no! Bad kingler! Let him go!" I demand. Surprisingly, my kingler releases the boy's leg, mouth bubbling with his head bowed down. Then it's my turn to scream as he waddles over to me and I lunge backwards. I don't miss the boy's weird expression as I once again trip over my own feet and fall in the sand. Strange, he doesn't seem to mind his bloody leg. Even stranger, Kingsley's stopped coming towards me. I sit there on my rear in the sand, gaping at my kingler in confusion. Had he just actually listened to me? And then realized I didn't want him near me?

Oblivious to my sudden realization, Heather calls my kingler over to us (maybe she didn't notice me already trying to crawl backwards in the sand away from him, though how she could miss my screaming, I don't know – maybe she's finally just drowning me out), as well as Kabuto, saying something about a group picture, completely ignoring the boy's bleeding leg – hey, if he himself is, then why should we be concerned? I try to back away as the kingler scampers up to us again, but Heather lefts me to my feet and holds me in place, arm again around my shoulder. She also clamps her free hand over my mouth as I start to scream, Kingsley glaring up at me with glee. Kabuto is there, suddenly, clicking at him, and they both turn to the camera obediently, though now neither of them look very happy. Still, again Kingsley stopped his advance. I'd have to look into that later. I look up and find that somehow, the boy is still standing there, waiting patiently for us to be ready as his leg bleeds into the sand, before taking another picture of all of us. Heather removes her hand from my mouth and demands another picture.

She then goes over to retrieve the camera from him, thanking him for his time and offering to help him to the center to take care of his leg. "I'm fine," the boy replies, holding the camera to his eyes again. "But if you really want to make it up to me, you two could change into your swimsuits and let me take some more pictures." Typical.

Suddenly, the boy is on his back in the sand and Heather has my camera, walking over to me. She urges me forward to where I had left my motorboat docked. I beckon my Pokémon to follow us as I look at the boy over my shoulder. I find that I suddenly wish Kingsley rendered him unable to walk, and shake my head violently to clear it. Where did that come from? How morbid. Sure, he kinda turned out to be a perverted creep, but did he really deserve to lose a limb over it? He hadn't assaulted us or anything…

The docks are a lot busier than the beach was which puzzles me a bit. Paranoia sets in in full force and I return Kabuto to his pokéball. I return Kingsley also, almost as an afterthought. I know I should be just as worried about losing him as losing Kabuto. But really, I just don't trust him without Kabuto around to… well, I don't really know. Kabuto can't take him in a fight, I'm pretty sure. In fact, I don't think even Kabuto and Heather's poliwag together could take him down. I'm going to have to fix that. And what was up with him actually obeying me all of a sudden? Twice, no less. That was weird.

Heather clears her throat, bringing me out of my thoughts, and I realize we're both just standing here on the docks, with my pokéballs in my hand. "You mentioned you had a boat?"

"Oh! Right, of course. I think it was this way…" I point vaguely down the docks, realizing Heather has no idea where to go and she expects me to lead. Well, I might not remember exactly where I tied it up either, but there was only one way we could go to find it so at least I wasn't wrong. Right?

"You weren't thinking about him, were you?"

And just like that, the boat is the last thing on my mind. "What? Him who? Why gave you that idea?" Correction: grammar is the last thing on my mind.

"You were staring at his phone number."

"No!" I shout, and immediately cringe at how shrill and desperate I sound. "No, actually, I was, uh, thinking about Kingsley."

"Uh-huh. What about him?" Judging by her tone, she doesn't believe me. I'm a bit offended, but on the other hand, I can't really blame her after how I'd just reacted. I can only imagine her perspective. And, okay, I've already proven that I still have a bit of a weak spot for him.

"I'll tell you later. Let's just… get moving first, shall we?"

We find the boat pretty quickly, thankfully. I start to pull out then realize something very important – I forgot to buy a compass. I tell Heather we need to go back, but as I look back, I see she's already one step ahead of me, not only with a compass, but a map as well. She points me in the direction we need to go, telling me to circle the island, as Valencia is on the other side. I glance at the map quickly, making sure she isn't somehow tricking me into heading towards Mikan Island.

As we travel, I distract her by asking if she thought any more about plans for her team. She hasn't, of course, and she asks me in return. I think about it and realize, I suppose I have, if only because I've come to the realization that I need a third water type. I immediately feel a surge of panic that I can't really explain. I don't have any sort of time limit on my training, so I don't understand where the panic comes from. Of course, I don't mention this to her, and instead tell her no.

"Well, both Pokémon you have are weak to electricity and grass," Heather says. Thankfully, it seems she's forgotten about Blake, because she then jumps right into my team planning. "If you had any ice moves, then the grass wouldn't be as big of a problem. But since Kabuto has a double weakness, I'd suggest making that your first priority." I nod, agreeing with her.

"What is grass weak to?" I ask, shouting over the boat.

Heather starts listing off types, putting up a finger with each one. "Hm… well, fire, obviously. And ice, also obviously. Flying types tend to be really good. Also bugs and poison. I think that's about it."

"Wow, grass-types have a lot of weaknesses," I say.

"Yeah, but I think you're pretty limited in your options by our location," Heather replies. "A fire Pokémon is out, I don't know where in the islands you can find any. I'd honestly be surprised if there even are any. Ice is probably out of the question as well. It's too warm. I know there are shellder around here, which evolve into cloyster, but those are also part water so that wouldn't really help your problem."

"As far as I remember," I add, "most grass-types around these parts are half poison type too, so that kind of negates that weakness." I'm not fantastic with these type matchups, but that doesn't mean I'm completely clueless. I did do some planning before I left.

"It also negates the bug weakness," Heather says.

"Really?" I groan in surprise. I hadn't known that.

"Yeah. So that leaves a flying type as your best bet. Surely there's a fair few of them around." She puts a finger to her hips and leans her head back, lost in thought. "Of course, that poses another, rather large problem." Of course it does.

"And what is that?" I ask, trying to sound casual. Heather looks as me incredulously.

"Are you serious?" I feel myself blushing and have to turn away from her, trying to focus in steering the boat. What problem could she mean? Apparently it should be obvious, but I can't figure it out. All I've gathered so far is that a bird would solve my grass problem the fastest out of the available options. "A flying type would give you three Pokémon weak to electricity." Oh.

"Ugh," is all I can muster in response. I might as well have just told her my "three water Pokémon" plan to begin with. Then, fully aware of how unhelpful I'm being, I manage to think up, "This is hard."

Heather laughs, but the tone makes me think it's not because she thinks I'm funny. "You're telling me. Electric Pokémon only have one weakness, and I don't know what kind of ground Pokémon are around here either, so those are probably going to be hard to find too."

"Maybe we should just go with the flow and catch whatever happens to cross our path."

"Trust me; it helps to plan these things out. So let's see… you need a counter to grass types, so either a flying type or probably a bug. Let's just stick with flying for now, since that's probably going to be the easiest to find. Then you'll need a ground type to cover that weakness."

"Doesn't that give me a triple weakness to grass-types also, then?" I ask, unimpressed with the direction this conversation was going, though I was impressed with myself for spotting that hiccup, even if I had missed the electricity one (let's pretend Heather didn't just mention needing a counter to grass-types).

"Hm… get a bug, then. Or both. That will help cover the excessive grass weakness." Heather shrugs. She's clearly losing her patience with me. Admittedly, I know I'm not making it any easier for her. "Anyway, ground is also weak to water and ice but you have enough water types to at least resist those, so I don't think that's such a big problem. Now, bugs are weak to fire and rock-types, which you have plenty of cover for, and flying types which you could easily counter with Kabuto once he gets some rock moves or teach your water-types some ice moves."

"Slow down a second, let me catch up," I shout, trying to follow all of this information. "I have a water and rock type, another water type, and then hypothetically, a flying type, a ground type, and a bug type."

"Sounds about right."

In all, not exactly an ideal lineup, but then, I suppose it could also be worse. "That leaves me with one free slot. Do they have any weaknesses we haven't covered? Anything I don't really have coverage against?" I'm still hoping for something to make up for the need for a third water type.

"Hm… well normal obviously, that's only weak to fighting, but I don't know where you're going to find a fighting type around here unless you get lucky and run into a mankey. Ghosts are potentially a problem too, but then, since there's really none of those around here, you should be fine."

"Drake has a gengar," I point out. "I'll have to fight that eventually, some day."

"True… there's also the possibility of you catching more dual types too, like Kabuto, so you might even get lucky and find a flying bug which would free up a team slot. But it also could completely throw this team lineup to the wind."

Aw, crap. I forgot about dual types. "So then why are we even bothering to plan it?" I shout, throwing my hands in the air.

"It's still good to get an idea of what your team should look like. At the very least, you want to try to cover your immediate weaknesses." I look back at Heather, who's frowning down at her map. Somehow I feel like that's my fault. Did I upset her?

"You know, you're really good with remembering all these type weaknesses and all that," I say awkwardly. "I don't know how you do it. I can only remember the obvious ones. Fire beats grass, electricity beats water, water beats fire… yeah, I don't know."

"Thanks," Heather replies, smiling up at me again. "It comes with practice. You'll learn in time."

"I think I'm going to just focus on one Pokémon at a time," I tell her. "My immediate worry is grass and electric Pokémon. I think I'll go for a bird first. It sounds like an easier thing to find, and it could be really useful on the chance we get lost at sea or something."

"Suit yourself," Heather sighed, giving up on trying to help me. "I think I'll do the same. I have a water type too, so I have the same weakness problem, though at least it isn't a double weakness. And a bird is probably an easier find than a ground type… but then what?"

I stop listening as Heather begins planning out her own team. I hadn't really ever thought about planning anything so detailed for my Grand Adventure. I just thought I'd kind of go with it as it happened. It bothered me a little bit that Heather thought to consider all of this and I hadn't. Now feeling grumpy, I reach for my backpack and dig around for my mini Oreos, and find only one full packet left, along with shreds of another couple of bags. I don't think Kabuto could have torn them this badly, so I decide it must have been Kingsley, although when he had the chance I can't remember. I pick at the single pack, though, hoping the little snack will be enough until we get to Valencia.

"Are you even listening?" Heather shouts, suddenly very loud over the boat. I blush, turning to her. My face is all the admission she needs.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" I lie anyway, just in case. Well, technically, it isn't a lie… is it? After all, I really didn't hear her. Sure, it's because I wasn't paying attention, but it's still true that I didn't hear her, right?

"I asked what kind of bird you were hoping to get."

"Um…" More planning. I don't even know what kind of birds are around here. Maybe if I tell her that, she'll fill me in. And maybe, if I'm really lucky, I'll even recognize one. "I don't even know what kind of birds are around here," I say.

"Well, there's… pidgey…" she trails off. At least it is a name I recognize.

We make it to Valencia just after nightfall. I'm a little disheartened at how long it took, but then again, I wasn't in the greatest of moods anyway after that… could that be considered an argument? Maybe I just don't like planning. Maybe traveling with another trainer wasn't a great idea after all. What I had known, though, was that it would take a while to travel; it was actually something I was looking forward to, spending days out on the ocean. Oh well. I'll have to just make sure I enjoy the next trip.

Heather kindly offers to pay for the boat docking, which I don't hesitate to agree to. I feel terrible for it, and I hope she doesn't think I'm taking advantage of her – even if I really am, I force myself to admit – but the last docking just about wiped out my money, and almost everything left was spent on supplies. So I guess that means we have no choice now; we're both stuck here until we train up our Pokémon and start winning some battles.

Speaking of supplies, somehow I forgot to pack sunscreen when I left home, and now my cheeks are paying the price for that, burning uncomfortably. Thankfully (or well, that's probably the exact opposite word I need to use here, if the peeling skin on my face is any indication), Heather doesn't have any either, so I feel a little better about not having remembered. So the first thing we do is find an open store and pick some up, literally draining the last cent of our cash in the process, then head to the Pokémon center for the night. I consider that money well spent, anyway, and at least trainers can stay at the center and get meals for free. Apparently there is a time limit, though, so that just means we'll have to win some battles fast.

I'm awoken in the morning to an odd cooing sound, which I discover is coming from Heather, babying her poliwag. She's lying on the bed opposite me, cuddling her Pokémon. I feel a little sad at the sight, and look down to my Kabuto, sleeping on the floor. I feel a little bad that I can't cuddle with him the way Heather cuddles with her poliwag – I mean, I love him, but he's not exactly what you would call soft. I mean, he's basically a rock. Sure, I can still cuddle him a bit, but not when I'm trying to sleep. He's a little too heavy for that. And rough. And don't even get me started on Kingsley. On the spot, I decide that my next Pokémon, whatever it may be, will be something I can let sleep with me.

And then, I realize I know about as much about Heather's poliwag as I know about Heather herself – which is next to nothing. If I'm going to give her another chance (or, ask her to give me one?), then maybe I should take the time to get to know her Pokémon too. Never mind the fact that I haven't yet bothered to get to know my own kingler.

Of course, I'm immediately feeling guilty about that, too. He is technically my Pokémon now, whether I wanted him at first or not. And that last thought was now the third time in the last twenty-four hours that I've shoved him to the back of my mind. I guess – no, I know – it wouldn't be fair to try to get to know poliwag without first at least making an honest attempt to get to know Kingsley. Who, despite the fact that he's suddenly obeying me, still terrifies me. Which means it's going to be a while before I get to know either of them, short of some intervention.

Little did I know that intervention would come a lot sooner than I would have ever predicted.

We got lost on the way to professor Ivy's lab. Heather may be just fine reading maps at sea, but her sense of navigation on land is terrible (I'd have guessed the other way around). On the bright side, there were plenty of wild Pokémon around, so we were able to do some training. On the down side, a lot of them were evolved grass-types, so we spent just as much time running back in the direction we came from. I'm not sure exactly what level Kingsley is, but I still don't want to send him up against a jungle full of things he's weak against (and it's still up in the air whether he's actually listening to me or not). And there's a better chance of finding an articuno in Cinnabar Island's volcano than there is of me subjecting Kabuto to that, either.

It was after maybe the fifth or sixth grass type to scare us that things got bad (and considering I'd already thought things were bad, that's saying something). We had just escaped a swarm of paras. I hate running from these things too; they're almost laughably weak, especially in comparison to the weepinbell and vileplume we've been finding, but they're still grass types and I don't want Kabuto anywhere near them. The problem is that they seem to know they have an advantage and had started attacking in groups. So I had to actually let Kabuto out just to clear the air of the spores with his water.

I told Heather we need to stop by Cinnabar Island at some point.

She's busy panting, trying to catch her breath – I get the feeling that running isn't on her list of daily activities. She still manages to give me a curious look, which I ignore by turning away from her. Instead, I look around the new area we've stopped at, trying to see anything that might indicate a path. I take two steps forward, thinking I can hear the ocean better in this direction.

What I get instead is a vine latched around my wrist, pulling me upwards towards the mouth of a salivating victreebel.

I'm starting to see why new trainers don't come to the Orange Islands and instead start with the Kanto gyms.

Kabuto gratefully gets the plant to shut it's mouth after literally shooting a glob of mud down it's throat, and it drops me back to the ground. It didn't lift me too far and I land on my feet. I don't get to be too thankful for that, though, because the victreebel is mad now. It wraps it's vine around my waist this time and actually tosses me upwards, where I'm caught by a second victreebel I never even saw. This one catches be by my ankle and suddenly I'm hanging awkwardly upside down in the treetops above Heather and Kabuto. I can already feel myself getting dizzy as the blood rushes to my head, and that's when I start to really lose it, screaming for her to do something.

Interestingly enough, it looks as if she's actually ordering my Kabuto around, fighting with the first victreebel. I admit I feel a little angry about that; she knows Kabuto has a huge weakness to grass, and yeah, maybe her poliwag does too, but at least that isn't a double weakness. I'm too panicked to decide whether I want her to take Kabuto and just run or to stay and try to save me. I don't get to think about that much either, though, as suddenly I'm feeling very, very sleepy. I can't keep my eyes open despite rubbing at them and rapid blinking. I only just notice a swirl of green pollen before wondering how many other trainers go through some sort of Pokemon attack like this. I only vaguely wonder how they get out of them alive before everything goes black.

Then suddenly, I'm jarred harshly awake by a deep, masculine cry of "COOKIE!" just in time to feel rather than hear the branch beneath me snap, followed by a free-fall back to the dirt and leaves below.

A/N: Previous chapter: Nov 2, 2013. Current chapter: Jan. 26, 2015.

Whoops. Anyway, that's more or less for my own reference since, because I take so long in between chapters, when I go back to re-read my stuff I find myself wishing how long it was in between individual chapters. So I'll hopefully remember to do that to everything I post from now on.

So... I've written three chapters (11-13) of SS in the last two weeks. Right now I'm waiting for 12 to get back from my beta before I send over 13. I hope to do two more also before I start posting them, so as to build a stockpile and hopefully get on a proper schedule (once a month or something simple, for starters). But I've been writing so much of that recently that I wanted a break, and since I'm only having her beta that one, I figured I'd write something else instead and this was my story of choice.

I'm not entirely sure I'm fond of it; It doesn't feel as funny as my previous chapters in this story, which I blame on two things. The first being that I'm in the middle of re-reading Pedestal, and the second is from writing so much of Sweet Sacrifice in so little time, both of which are quite a bit darker than this one (well, to a degree though I'm planning SS to get darker as it goes on). Still, it's something and it's keeping me writing. I do have a bit of a darker plot for this one as well, but not quite as bad as the other two, since I kind of want this one to be, in general, more lighthearted and fun overall.

This is getting long, as my notes usually do, so I'd better put an end to it. Next chapter, in theory, is Rhonda and her team (well, one of them) working their way back to sane country and training up a little. So yeah. Until next time.