An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Thirty-eight: In the Midst of a Storm
It was early the next morning when Lydia climbed out of bed to go head into the shower, glancing towards the clock before she did so. It was seven in the morning and their tickets back to the mainland weren't until eleven o'clock, so they had plenty of time to go see the James' before they headed to the docks. Assuming that Jesse didn't take an hour or so to get out of bed, she thought with a humourless smile.
However, she was met with a surprise when she found Jesse out of bed and dressed by the time that she got out of the bathroom. "Is the world coming to an end?" she joked. Jesse made a face at her as he threw one of his dirty socks towards her. She ducked to avoid it. "Where's Jennie?"
"She headed down to the lobby about a half hour ago, right after you got up." Jesse grinned as he picked up his bag. "Come on, we've got to get to the docks before the ship leaves."
"Don't forget that we promised Erik and his parents we'd stop by before we left the island."
A look crossed Jesse's face that passed by so fast that Lydia half-thought that she imagined it. "Right," he mumbled, trudging out of the room.
Lydia frowned as she watched her best friend leave before turning to look at Umbreon curiously. "What's with him?" she wondered as she sat down next to Umbreon, petting him affectionately before they headed down to the lobby.
It didn't take them long to retrieve their Pokémon that they'd left with Nurse Joy for treatment and head out of the Centre, walking briskly towards the James residence. Erik was training out in the back with Vaporeon and a Bayleaf when they approached.
"Hey, guys!" he greeted them. Vaporeon stopped in mid-battle to go and greet her brother. Lydia smiled at the pair before she walked over to Erik. "You guys are headed to Olivine, right?"
"Yeah, the gym leader was out of town when we passed through there before," Jesse said, shoving his hands into his pockets, looking sour. "Shouldn't be any problem, though."
"That's what I said," Erik said wryly. "Before I found out in the middle of a battle that she's got a Steelix."
Lydia looked at him interestedly. "Really? A Steelix?" she asked, remembering what she'd read about the evolved form of Onix. "Never seen one of those before."
"Yeah, me neither until I battled Jasmine. Believe me, I wasn't looking forward to getting a beating from her. Want a piece of advice, you should try getting that Steelix nice and hot, if you catch my meaning."
"Fire Pokémon?" Lydia guessed.
"That Cyndaquil of yours should help nicely." Erik grinned before glancing towards their two Pokémon. Espeon and Jolteon had come out by this time, followed by their respective trainers. "Jess, you got any fire Pokémon that'll be able to help you out?"
Jesse looked taken aback, but he shook his head. "No. Ivysaur, Haunter, Natu, Totodile, and a Syther," he replied.
Erik winced slightly. "Man, that's gonna be rough, because fires are really good against a steel type like Steelix. But I'm sure that you'll figure it out. Because if you don't, then you're going to have to listen to me rag on you when you see me at the Silver Conference."
Lydia looked at Jennie in amusement when the two boys started firing on one another about how they were going to beat the other one. "Thanks for everything last night, Mrs. James," she said, smiling at the woman.
"It was no more than you have done for Umbreon," Mrs. James said, coming over and hugging the brunette trainer with a smile back. "Take care of yourself, Lydia."
"I will."
She let Umbreon have a tearful goodbye with his family before they had to finally leave the James home behind, waving goodbye as they walked away, heading towards where the docks were. Umbreon kept looking behind as they left, his red eyes longing.
"Don't worry, Umbreon," Lydia assured him with a smile. "You're going to see them again soon. Remember, Erik said he's going to the Silver Conference, same as us. So providing that we get the remaining badges that we need, we're going to see them there."
This thought obviously cheered Umbreon up, because he immediately started barking happily and the group hurried ahead to the docks, where they would be docking to head towards Olivine City and their next gym battles.
Lydia smiled as she walked around on the ship, watching as some of the trainers that were on board were busy training or battling with one another. And for once, it seemed that there was no sign of Alicia.
And she was relieved to see that. That girl had been nothing but trouble since they had first laid eyes on each other leaving from Rosewaters Isle and even though Lydia was feeling sorry for her because of her upbringing, she was not sorry to find the ship lacking in the Alicia Knightly department.
The day was bright and beautiful as they sailed underneath the cloudless sky, the two older trainers looking forward to their next match at the Olivine Gym while Jennie was continuing to read through the books that she'd gotten at the James' pharmacy.
". . . steel types do have some weaknesses against water types, so Totodile might be a good bet against Jasmine," Jesse was saying to Lydia just as a shadow passed over them and Lydia shielded her eyes to see who was standing next to them.
"Can I help you?" she asked the redheaded girl that was looking down at them carefully.
"Are you Lydia Talon?" she asked briskly, not bothering with introductions. She cast a glance at Jesse, who shrugged carelessly as he looked towards the newcomer.
"Depends on who's asking," she replied smoothly as Jennie glanced over at them from where she was sitting, relaxing.
"Oh, sorry, so rude of me. I'm used to everyone knowing who I am. The name's Patty Harrison." She raised her eyebrows at Jesse and Lydia's blank looks. "One of the finalists in the Hoenn League last year?" she added, as if trying to prod their memories. "Never heard of me, huh?" She sounded a bit disappointed.
"Sorry."
Patty looked severely disappointed, but she overlooked it. "No matter, I was just working my way through the Johto region and heard at the Cianwood that if I was looking for a good battle, then I should talk to you. Said you dealt out some pretty serious stuff for a newbie." She grinned. "Would you mind having a battle with me?"
"What . . . here? Now?" Lydia stared at her incredulously, hardly able to believe it. Most of the trainers here were giving their Pokémon a bit of a break after their matches at Cianwood. She'd seen a few of them battling, of course, but none of them had approached any of them as of yet.
"Sure. Why not?" Patty shrugged. "So what do you say? You interested?" she asked, watching as Lydia looked at Jesse.
"Wanna watch?" she asked and he nodded, standing up. "Jennie, you coming?"
"No, thanks," the blonde breeder said without looking up from her book. "I'm going to stay here and enjoy the sun a bit more. It's been far too long since we've had a chance to relax and I'm going to enjoy every second of it that I can."
"Crazy girl," Jesse mumbled as they walked away with Patty. "Sometimes I wonder how we're supposed to be related. I don't understand her at all sometimes."
"She's a woman, Jess," Lydia said calmly. "You're not supposed to understand us." Patty burst out laughing at the look on Jesse's face. After a moment, Lydia joined in and it took several minutes for both of them to regain their composure as they entered the battle arena on the ship.
"Glad to be the source of amusement," Jesse muttered darkly as they took their places on the arena. "I'll judge, all right?"
"Fine with me," Patty agreed, "so long as you don't play favourites with your girlfriend there." This particular comment caused both Lydia and Jesse to turn an interesting shade of red before both of them started sputtering objections to this accusation. "Relax, I was just joking," she said, laughing, but Lydia could feel her cheeks burning.
"Tasteful joke," Lydia grumbled. "How's three on three? That all right with you?"
"Sounds good," Patty agreed as she pulled out a Pokéball and threw it out into the air. "Gloom, time for a battle!" She released the grass-type Pokémon onto the arena.
Lydia smiled as she released her own Pokémon. "Cyndaquil, time to get in some practice!" she announced as the fire Pokémon appeared on the arena, looking at her opponent.
"Begin!" Jesse yelled once both Pokémon were on the arena and ready to battle. And with their trainers' command, both Pokémon began to charge onto one another.
--
"How'd it go?" Jennie asked when they turned up more than an hour later. She was still in the same position that she'd been in when they left, though she'd gotten much further along in her book.
"Tied," Lydia said with a grin. It had been fun to just battle another trainer without having to worry about losing the battle and the badge. Too long had gone by without doing that, she thought with a smile as she sat in the chair, blinking up at the sky, frowning slightly. "Hey, guys? Is it just me or has the sky gotten a lot darker since we left?"
Jennie and Jesse both looked up at the sky when she mentioned that. Instead of the bright, cloudless sky that they'd left Jennie with, the day had grown cloudy and dark. Stormy clouds roamed overhead, threatening to drown the trainers in its wrath.
"Storm's coming," Jesse observed. "Weather can change just like that in the middle of the ocean here. Come on, let's get inside before it starts pouring. Come on, Jen," he said when his sister protested, half-dragging her through the ship to the cafeteria, where most of the trainers had gathered to avoid the storm passing overhead. Lydia, smiling at their antics, followed them.
With nothing else to do to pass the time, they had an early dinner and talked about the battle with Patty while the cafeteria started getting fuller and fuller. The storm had to be even worse than she'd originally presumed, Lydia thought as she stood up to go talk to one of the sailors.
"The waves keep knocking the ship off course," he explained to Lydia when she asked. "The captain's trying to get her back where we're supposed to be, but it's gonna take a little bit before we're able to steer to Olivine. Nobody's to leave the dining hall until we're able to."
Lydia bit her lip in worry as she headed back to her friends, telling them what she'd learned. Jennie's green eyes were wide by the time that she'd finished. "So . . . how long before the storm's over?" she wanted to know, her voice soft and fearful.
"They don't know," Lydia replied, glancing towards the door, where lightning flashed and thunder rumbled threateningly towards them. A small gasp escaped from her and she wished they were on shore. Even though she'd lived on an island for her entire childhood, she didn't like the fact that they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no way to get off in the middle of a storm wasn't exactly a comforting thought. Jesse squeezed her hand reassuringly as another wave rocked by the boat, causing a few trainers nearby to scream just as the lights went out.
Lydia couldn't see anything in the pitch black of the dining hall, so she slipped her hand inside of her jacket pocket, retrieving her Pokéball as Umbreon curled up onto her lap. Cyndaquil appeared next to them, the flame on her back causing just enough light for them to see by.
"Good idea, Lydia!" Jesse congratulated her. "Hope you don't mind be a lantern for a little while," he teased the fire Pokémon as she joined Umbreon on Lydia's lap. Cyndaquil didn't seem to mind, however, and kept her flame lit so they could see.
A few other people had hopped on Lydia's thinking train and released a few other fire Pokémon, lighting up the room. With the dining hall lit, Lydia leaned her head on Jesse's shoulder. Judging from his expression, he didn't seem to mind at all as they waited for the storm to pass them over and they could be on their way to Olivine.