An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Fifteen: Lost in Ilex Forest
"You have got to be kidding me," Lydia sighed. She and Jesse were sitting in the middle of a clearing within Ilex Forest, with Jesse pouring over the map. At least, he had been. Now, he was looking up at Lydia with an apologetic look on his face. "Again? Jess, this is the third time that you've gotten us lost through here!"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Jesse actually did look apologetic. "But it's not like there's a set path in here. It's all . . . twisted and . . . doesn't make a whole lot of sense," he finished up. Lydia couldn't help it; she started laughing at his description of the woods. Even he grinned. "Okay, well, this map is really hard to read, especially in this light."
Lydia handed over a flashlight and he thumbed in on. "Oh, wow, that's better," he said, grinning. "Thank you."
She rolled her eyes as Eevee walked up next to her, rubbing her leg comfortingly. Lydia reached down and stroked Eevee as she watched Jesse pour over the map, his eyebrows narrowed. "What is it about men and directions?" she mumbled.
"I heard that!" Jesse said, looking annoyed. Lydia shrugged carelessly as she cast a careful look around them, sensing something in the trees. Of course, there were plenty of Pokémon roaming around here, but somehow, she wasn't sure that they were the presence she was sensing.
"Jess," she said quietly. When he didn't look up or even acknowledge her, she said louder, "Jesse." He glanced up, a questioning look on his face and she turned her eyes back towards the woods. "There's something out there," Lydia told him quietly.
"It's a forest, Lydia, there's probably thousands upon thousands of Pokémon in here, probably some trainers too," Jesse pointed out, looking back down at the map.
Lydia wanted to smack him, but restrained herself as she stood up, walking away carefully. She could still sense someone in the forest and she wasn't sure if they were an ally or not. After two run-ins with that Alicia Knightly girl, she wasn't going to take any chances.
"I'm telling you, there's somebody out there," Lydia insisted. Jesse sighed, glancing up at her and frowned slightly towards the woods. "I can sense somebody out there, Jess."
He stood up, folding the map up and slipping it into his pocket as he pointed her towards the—hopefully—right path. "Well, then, let's keep moving," he said quietly. "I'm positive that it's this way."
"That's what you said last time," Lydia replied, rolling her eyes. "And the time before that . . . and the time before that."
"Uh-huh. And what about the time before that?" Jesse was smirking now while Eevee watched his trainer and Jesse with amusement.
"Um . . . I think your words then were 'let's try this way. Should be the right way'." Lydia grinned as she heard rustling in the bushes and she whirled around, blue eyes flashing as she searched the surroundings. "All right, we know that somebody's there, so just come on out!"
A hooting emerged from the bushes and both Lydia and Jesse stared at each other as a bird came floating out of the bushes, landing before them. "What the—" Jesse said incredulously. "A Hoothoot! I forgot about those! They're good for getting you through forests and stuff 'cause they can see through the dark and stuff."
"Okay, that's great," Lydia said thankfully. She bent down to the bird so that they were at eye level. "Can you lead us out of here?"
"Hoot-hoot," he hooted and flew up into the air, leading the two trainers out of the forest. Lydia couldn't believe their luck; they had managed to find a guide that would lead them out of the dark forest.
It wasn't long before they were looking at the gates to Goldenrod City and approaching a house that had an old man gardening in it. He looked around as they approached and grinned. "Well, well, Tooter," he remarked. "Where have you been? And you brought friends with you, too? Hello, there," he said to Lydia and Jesse. "I apologise for any mischief that he's caused."
"Oh, no, he was no trouble at all," Lydia assured him. "Actually, he was the one who got us out of Ilex Forest. We were kind of lost."
"Hmm, so that's where he took off too. Not too surprising, though, because that's his home. That's where I caught him, near thirty years ago." Lydia and Jesse stared at the Hoothoot; he didn't appear to be that old. "Well, you two trainers? Heading for Goldenrod?"
"Yes, sir," Lydia answered.
"Well, good luck to you," he said. "Whitney's no easy victory. She fights hard, even though all of her Pokémon are normal. You'd better work hard if you want a chance to beat her."
They thanked him and were just about to head on their way when a car came barrelling out of nowhere, narrowly avoiding the two young trainers. Lydia pushed Jesse out of the way before diving out of the way herself. She cried out as she landed on her wrist, pain surging through it. The car paid no mind as it continued on its way, ignoring them.
"Lydia!" Jesse exclaimed, hurrying towards her. "Are you okay?" He helped her to her feet.
"No," she muttered, gingerly flexing her fingers back and forth, testing her wrist carefully. Excruciating pain emerged from this gesture and held her injured wrist painfully as she looked at her friend. "I don't think so. I think I twisted my wrist."
The old man had dropped his spade and was hurrying over to them, muttering about teenagers and driving as he inspected her wrist carefully. "I don't think it's broken," he said kindly. "All the same, let's get you inside. No sense going to Goldenrod with that wrist in the rain," he added, glancing up at the sky. "My wife will take care of that wrist of yours."
"Thank you," Lydia said, relieved as she bent down to pick up her backpack, which she had dropped. Jesse beat her to it, though, and swung it over his shoulder with his own. She shook her head, but smiled at him as she followed the old man into his house.
--
The old man's name was Maurice Lecher and his wife was a jolly, good-natured woman named Alice. She immediately wrapped Lydia's hand up in ice, letting it return to its former size before she bandaged it up. "Don't take this off until you can move it on your own," she warned her. Lydia nodded reassuringly and thanked her. Satisfied, Alice stood up and headed into the kitchen. "Anyone hungry?" she asked just as thunder started to rumble outside and rain splattered on the windows. "Oh, Jesse, be a dear and go help Maurice bring in the Pokémon, will you?"
"How many do you have?" Lydia asked as she tried to help Alice with the cooking, unsuccessfully.
"Not with that wrist, you're not going to be helping out," she said sternly, then smiled. "And they're not all ours, not all of them. A lot of them were abandoned or their trainers were killed. So, we bring in as many as we can and try and help them find good homes." Eevee looked happy about this as he scampered away into the next room, where the Pokémon were appearing.
"Eevee!" Lydia said, laughing, but she didn't stop him. There were at least thirty of them, all of them soaking wet from the storm that raged outside. Eevee seemed to enjoy talking with them and after permission from the Lechers, Lydia and Jesse sent their Pokémon out to get acquainted with them.
After the Pokémon had been fed, the four humans sat down at the dinner table for a meal of Alice's fine cooking. "This is delicious, Mrs. Lecher," Lydia told her as she finished. Her arm wasn't as swollen as it had been a couple of hours ago, but it still hurt a little bit.
"Yeah, it's too bad we can't get great cooking like this on the road," Jesse added with a smirk at Lydia. She did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him, to which Maurice and Alice laughed.
"Hey, I cook it just fine," she told him, crossing her arms across her chest. "And I can't help but notice that I'm the one who always gets stuck with the cooking."
"That's because I can't cook," Jesse responded just as Lydia felt someone climbing up onto her chair and settling themselves into her lap. She stopped arguing with Jesse as she looked down and saw a Cubone sitting contently in her lap.
"Well, hello there," she said with a smile while the Lechers looked at the Cubone in surprise, startled that he was sitting there. Cubone, however, was perfectly happy sitting there.
"That's shocking," Maurice said, shaking his head. "Cubone hasn't opened up to anyone ever since he came here. Not even to Alice and me," he added, looking towards his wife sadly.
"Why?" Lydia wanted to know, looking towards them as she pat Cubone on the head. He seemed to genuinely like her, she thought as he snuggled closer into her lap. "What happened?"
"Not a happy story, that one," Maurice murmured, glancing towards Alice. She gave a small nod at him and he looked back at the trainers. "You see, I was out with Tooter one day in the woods. He'd run off again, that pesky little Hoothoot," he grumbled.
Alice placed her hand on her husband's shoulder as she picked up the story. "There was a Marowak under attack in the woods," she explained, looking sadly at Cubone. "Some Beedrill were threatened by her presence and decided to drive her out of the forest. But she was too badly injured as she crawled to her hiding place . . . and died there." She paused as Lydia clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. "Cubone was there as his mother died and we promise his mother that we would find a good trainer to take care of him and until then, we would take good care of her."
"That's so sad," Lydia whispered as she cradled Cubone in her arms. He seemed delighted by this. Maurice nodded as he continued to watch Lydia hold Cubone. "You poor thing," she told him. "It's all right, Cubone, I know just how you feel. I lost my mother, too."
"Cu-Cubone! Bone!" Cubone was looking up at her with the sad eyes and she felt her heart break as she looked down at him.
"Lydia," Maurice said slowly as he watched them. She looked around at him curiously. "You're the first person that Cubone has actually responded to and genuinely liked. Would you mind terribly taking him with you? I think he would be happy with you."
"That's a great idea!" Jesse said with a grin. "I saw him with Eevee and the others earlier and they seemed right at home with each other. They're already getting along."
Looking towards the Lechers, Lydia asked slowly, "Are you sure that it's okay? I mean . . . this is his home."
"We have these Pokémon here so that we can find them good homes," Alice told her. "It is a wonderful day when one of the Pokémon here finds a good and caring trainer. And the both of you have portrayed that. I'm sure that we have some Pokémon here that might interest you, Jesse . . ." she added, glancing over her shoulder. "Let's see . . . what about Totodile? You don't have a water type yet and you seemed to connect with her earlier."
"Yeah, she seems great," Jesse said, looking thrilled. "But . . . I mean, I can really have her?"
"Of course," Maurice said gruffly. "Alice is right; it's a great day when these Pokémon find homes. And those two would be happy going with you on your journey. Just promise us you'll take care of them."
"Oh, we will!" Lydia assured him. Jesse nodded. "We promise."
AN: Okay, guys, I've only been getting one review on the past couple chapters and I really need more than that to keep me inspired enough to keep going. If you guys can please just put at least three reviews, I will be inspired enough to continue the story. So please, please, please review!