An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Three: Family and Rivals
There was a long pause in which neither Jack nor Lydia said anything. She could hear him moving and pushing a chair out, undoubtedly sitting down in it. Finally, after a long and tense moment, Lydia ventured to break the silence. "Uncle Jack?"
"Lydia," he said in a strange voice. It sounded like he was too stunned to say anything more for a minute. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. How are you doing, kiddo?"
"Not so good," Lydia admitted. "Okay, I guess, but Dad and I kind of had a fight and he told me I couldn't come home."
"What?" Jack sounded incredulous. "Why would he do something like that?" he asked her. By now, he'd turned the camera mode onto the video phone and was looking at her worriedly.
Automatically, Lydia launched into an explanation of the previous night's events. Her uncle listened without interruption, but his expression was turning more and more disgusted by the moment.
"I never should have left you with that brother of mine," he said, shaking his head. "He never did like Pokémon, even when we were kids. But because everyone else did, he didn't really have a whole lot in common with other kids, so he got left alone a lot." He looked furious. "Do you want me to talk to your dad, kiddo?"
"No." Lydia shook her head. She didn't really want to settle her differences with her father. "No, I think we pretty much made ourselves clear last night, Uncle Jack. But, uh . . . see, the thing is, I'm gonna become a Pokémon trainer—"
"Really?" Lydia nodded, a smile spreading across her face at the very thought of starting her own Pokémon journey. She'd waited for years to do this. "Should've known you'd do that sooner or later. You've got your mother's spirit and love of Pokémon."
"I do?" Lydia asked.
"Sure. She would always risk everything just to help them. Never thinking about the consequences for herself, always for them." Jack smiled wanly. "Not a day doesn't go by that I don't miss that girl. The world always seemed a little less bright without her. But I guess she left some light to continue it." He smiled at her.
Lydia smiled back. "Well, the thing is, I have to have a contact, in case something happens. And I don't see my dad too keen on wanting to hear about anything about me anytime soon. So—"
"Go ahead and put me down," Jack ordered. Lydia blinked. "I'm serious. Go ahead. I should've done this a long time ago for you. Your mom would've wanted this."
"Thanks, Uncle Jack."
"So, where are you right now?" Jack asked, leaning back in his chair. "The Pokémon Centre on Rosewaters Isle?"
"Yeah, Eevee's with Nurse Joy, finishing up the last treatment right now." Lydia glanced back to see if they were back just yet.
"All right, well, Lydia, as soon as you're done, take the ferry from Rosewaters to Cherrygrove. I'll call the ticket agent and explain the situation. We'll get you all started, all right, kiddo?" Her uncle was grinning wildly, looking as though he'd woken up from a bad dream to realise that everything was all right again.
"Okay." Lydia smiled at her uncle. "Thank you so much, Uncle Jack. I'm sorry I didn't call before—"
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm guessing that idiot brother of mine wouldn't exactly let you call me, did he?" Lydia sighed. "That's what I thought. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything with William. You just take care of that Eevee of yours." He paused. "So it was an Eevee you rescued, was it? How'd he get so injured if your dad didn't get ahold of him?"
"I'm not sure, but I think his former trainer was abusing him," Lydia admitted. "Actually, I'm sure of it." She thought back to when she'd accidentally touched Eevee's mind and his memories had flowed through her.
Obviously, her uncle must've read something on her face because he smiled knowingly. "So, you inherited the gift, did you?" Lydia stared at him. "You've got powers, don't you? Things beyond the normal?"
"How did you know?"
"Kiddo, it's a family trait. I recognised that same look on your face that I had on mine when I first started fully developing mine." He sighed. "Your mom and I were sure that you would have the gift eventually."
"You knew that I was gonna have psychic powers?" Lydia whispered, gripping the phone so tightly that she was surprised that it didn't break in her hands. "Both Mom and you knew it?"
Her uncle nodded, a small smile spreading across her face. "Just like your grandmother," he answered. "And me." Something flickered across his face so fast that Lydia half-thought that she imagined it. Still, something hovered behind his eyes.
"What about my dad?" she asked, frowning slightly. If he had "the gift," as her uncle called it, surely wouldn't she have noticed it?
"Nah. He didn't inherit the powers that our mother passed down to us. People sometimes wondered why, but I think that the world's a safer place without him having it."
Lydia had to agree with him on that front. "So it skipped a generation with him?" she mused. Her uncle nodded once, but that shadow still remained in his eyes, but she ignored the intuitive feeling that he was hiding something. It wasn't like with her dad; her uncle would only keep something from her until she was ready to know.
"Well, Nurse Joy said that Eevee won't be released until this afternoon if there's nothing else wrong. So at the earliest, we should be there about tomorrow afternoon." There was only two ferries that left, one for Cherrygrove and the other for Goldenrod City, and both of the deported at eight o'clock in the morning and then eight at night. It was at least a twenty hour ride from Rosewaters to Cherrygrove. "I'll call and let you know if we're delayed, though."
"All right, I'll talk to you then, kiddo." He grinned at her just as Lydia heard Nurse Joy call her name.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw the nurse heading her way. "Oh, there's Nurse Joy, I gotta go," she said quickly.
"All right, see you soon."
"Bye, Uncle Jack." Lydia gave one last smile at her uncle and hung up the phone, disconnecting the call as she stood up, scribbling her uncle's information down on the trainer papers as she headed over towards Nurse Joy, who looked extremely relieved.
"There you are. Did you finish?" she asked, looking towards the papers. Lydia nodded. "All right, good, I'll send these over to Professor Oak right away."
"Could you ask him to send the Pokédex to my uncle's house?" Lydia asked her. "We're leaving for there as soon as Eevee's capable."
"Sure." Nurse Joy took her papers and looked at the contact information. "So, it's in Cherrygrove? Jack Talon . . . I haven't heard from him in the longest time." She shook her head. "Not since he left when your mother died, twelve years ago."
Lydia stopped, staring at Nurse Joy. "Thirteen," she corrected. "It was thirteen years ago that Mom died."
Nurse Joy frowned slightly. "Was it?" she asked slowly, looking perturbed. "Well, I suppose it's easy to get information mixed up. When your mother died, your father didn't want anything to do with his brother. They had a quarrel, finally ending with Jack leaving."
"What was it about?" Lydia asked. "I never found out what Dad and Uncle Jack fought about."
"To be honest, I really don't know," Nurse Joy answered, looking regretful. "He came here when you before you were born and then he suddenly left, after your father refused to let him have anything to do with you. He and your father had a furious quarrel about your mother and in the end, your father claimed that her death was Jack's fault."
"Uncle Jack's?!" Lydia was incredulous as she stared at him. "Why would he say that it was Uncle Jack's?" But then, she thought, he had blamed her, too, for her mother's death, his own daughter. Would he stop at blaming his brother for what he had lost?
"I don't know," Nurse Joy confessed. She sighed, moving towards the desk. "Not much is known about the Talon family your father married your mother and came here. Your mother's family grew up here; your father's didn't. You might want to ask your uncle about it when you go see him."
Lydia nodded, realising that the nurse had other things to do. Besides that, she probably didn't know very much. "All right, thanks," she said. "How's Eevee?"
"Just as good as new," Nurse Joy said, beaming. "That Eevee has a lot of spirit. He'll be a good companion for you. I'll be looking forward to seeing the two of you together in the Silver Conference."
She smiled as she walked away, leaving Lydia to ponder on her words. "The Silver Conference, huh?" Lydia muttered, considering it. "Who knows? Maybe you will. Maybe you will."
--
Lydia walked with Eevee at her feet, who jumped at practically everything, enjoying watching the groups of bystanders giggle with amusement. She couldn't help laughing herself, glad to see that Eevee wasn't permanently injured by whatever damage his previous trainer had done to him.
Her hands clenched together as she thought about the memories that she'd accidentally tripped upon. If she'd ever met the trainer that had hurt Eevee, she'd personally break his nose and report him to the police.
Nurse Joy had explained that because they didn't know the identity of his former trainer and they didn't have any solid proof, there wasn't much that they could do about him. Unless something came up, then there wasn't much point in going into it.
After picking up the ticket from the ticket master, Lydia and Eevee boarded onto the ferry, which would take them directly to Cherrygrove City. Her uncle's house was located on the edge of town, so far out that most people forgot that it was actually part of town.
The ferry was full of trainers that were either heading towards Violet City or Route 45, which would take them to Blackthorn City, home of the Dragon Pokémon trainers. Quite a few of them were looking at Lydia curiously as they passed by her and Eevee as they watched the waves splash upon the sea, the Goldeen jumping with them.
As she watched the ferry pass by Cianwood Island, Eevee snuggled underneath her arm, watching it pass by longingly. "Hey, don't worry, little buddy, we'll be back again one day. What is it about this place? Do you have family here?"
"Vee!" Eevee nodded vigorously and Lydia smiled, glancing back towards the island. If she could've, then she would've dived off of the boat to help Eevee find his family, but they were already sailing away from it.
"Well, we'll come back one day, okay? I promise." She stroked Eevee's forehead gently and he purred slightly, relaxing against her touch, snuggling against her. Why he was able to trust her so fast, Lydia hadn't the faintest idea. Maybe it was because she was the one who rescued him that had something to do with it.
Lydia glanced up as dusk started to fall upon the horizon, taking day away and replacing it with night, and heard her stomach rumble. She blushed slightly and Eevee giggled at his trainer. "How about we go get something to eat, all right?" she asked. "You hungry, little buddy?"
Eevee jumped down off of the boat's railing and started walking towards the ferry's dining hall, Lydia right behind her. Pushing the door open, she inhaled the scent of various foods as she picked up Eevee and headed through the line.
"What'll you have, sweetheart?" the lady at the counter asked. She smiled at Eevee. "Hi, there. Aren't you a sweetheart?"
Eevee was hesitant, but allowed the woman to pet her. "Bit shy, isn't she?" the woman asked, glancing at Lydia.
Lydia smiled. "Eevee's a him," she corrected. "And he has been having a tough time lately." Allowing Eevee to jump down to go talk with a Flareon and a Chikorita who were nearby, Lydia glanced at the woman. "Apparently, his previous trainer wasn't the kindest of trainers."
Instantly, the woman understood. "Well, you've got a good heart, then," she told Lydia. "What can I get for you?"
"Uh, I'll take a fried chicken, Macaroni and cheese, and corn," Lydia said, scanning down the menu to see what was available. "And some Pokémon food for Eevee, please."
"No problem," the woman said with a smile, scribbling all of this down and handing a ticket to Lydia. "You're number 38, just come and get it when we call your number, all right?" Lydia nodded. "And take care of that Eevee of yours. He was lucky to find a trainer like you."
Lydia smiled faintly. "Thanks," she said softly, heading over to where Eevee was still talking with the two Pokémon. "Hey, buddy, who are you friends?" she asked, squatting down to greet them. "Hi, there. I'm Lydia." They both surveyed her critically for a minute before allowing her to pet them.
"Those are my Pokémon," a haughty voice remarked. Lydia glanced around as a girl approached them, looking annoyed at Lydia. "What do you think you're doing to them?"
"Just saying hello," Lydia said, standing up. "Eevee was talking to them, so I thought I should introduce myself."
"Whatever." The girl scoffed, tossing a sheet of blonde hair over her shoulder. "Just keep your Pokémon away from mine, okay? I don't need you messing up my team. Especially since we just got here and I want to get off here with a fresh start. Don't tell me that you're just starting out."
"So what if I am?"
"Then stay away from me," the girl said coldly. "I don't need you getting your freakiness over me. Jeez, you must not be a good trainer, if you're just starting out. What are you, eleven? Twelve?"
"Thirteen," she retorted. She already didn't like this girl and she was liking her less and less every second. "And who do you think you are, anyway? You don't know me."
"Thank goodness for that," the girl said. "And for your information, I happen to be the great Alicia Knightly. I've been in the top eight of the Indigo League and now I'm going to be the best here in Johto. So do yourself a favour and stay out of my way. Otherwise, it'll be worse. Come on, let's go, you two."
Without another word, Alicia turned and left. Flareon and Chikorita followed her. Lydia sighed and looked down at Eevee. "Well," she said, "I think we just made our first rival."