Chapter Five
"So I'm thinking if we head east from Portsburg we can stop by my town, so I can give Eddie to Rosie, then we can begin the journey…" Ellis explained, pointing to the map.
They were sitting on a bench in the Pokémon Center with a table pulled up in front and the map on top. Colby thought about this great journey that they had ahead of them. This was really a huge undertaking…the Aurora region was big. But not as large as Hecate…but still, she didn't have to worry about the old life anymore.
It was a new start, and the old didn't matter anymore. She would try to stay positive, overcome the depression, and live her new life with her new Pokémon, to the fullest.
Colby was puzzled as she looked at the map. The Portsburg dot was at the edge of the docking area, but there was one problem…Route A ran northeast of them…but to the small dot that Ellis pointed as too being his town, didn't have a road connecting it to Portsburg.
"Um…Ellis. One slight problem, how are we supposed to get to Afron Village if there is not a road connection from here to there?"
Ellis laughed, "Well the cartographers couldn't put every road, historical landmark, or landscape type on there! They just got lazy. To answer your question, there actually is a small road that runs between Portsburg and there. It's just not on the map."
How absurd was that? The true purpose of a map was to show the roads and such…how does it help if some of the roads aren't labeled? "Well…that's dumb. But oh well, tell me a bit about Afron Village," Colby replied.
Ellis pointed to the little dot on the map, "It's a small, small Village just a few miles from Portsburg. I've lived there all my life, and this is actually the first time I have been out of the village, except on trips with my father to Portsburg. The majority of the homes are just little huts. You know like the ones you see on the old movies that settlers lived in? It's really neat, because on the outside, they look shabby. But, on the inside, it's just like a regular house! It's like camouflage in a way…just more advanced," Ellis said, with a silly smirk on his face.
That really was quite interesting…huts that were camouflaged. Back in Hecate, everything was older. The Region had been alive for a while, and most of the houses were getting old. Colby's parent's house had been fairly new, since they lived in the newer part of the houses. It was just a simple two-story house with green shutters…
She mentally smacked herself for even thinking about it. She didn't even realize Ellis was still talking.
"The main industry there is farming…Yeah, lame I know, but it's enough to keep the town alive. Sadly, there isn't a Pokémon Center or anything but there is a shop that one of the families owns with the essential supplies. Well, that's really about it. Sorry if I bored you to death," Ellis finished. Colby imagined the small village in her mind. It gave her a homey feeling just thinking about somewhere to call home.
"Ok, that sounds great!" Colby said, smiling at thought of getting on with their journey.
"But anyway, once we have gone to my village…are you interested in becoming…a real trainer?" Ellis asked.
Colby looked at him and thought about Nicksy…would that be what the little Pokémon would want? Of course she was interested…but Nicky's feelings on the topic were what really mattered. The look that Nicksy gave her was one of great determination and will. If he kept that, then they would have a good chance of becoming a great team together.
"Personally, yes, I would love to be a trainer. But…Nicksy…he's been through a lot and I don't know if I will want to…" Colby trailed off.
She would hope that Nicksy would want to become her Pokémon.
"He is a fighter, like the nurse said…and yeah, he's been through a lot," Ellis replied.
Colby sighed, "We will see what happens. But yes, it is my intent."
"In that case…wait, you know how being a trainer works right?"
"Sure! You travel around the different cities in Aurora and win badges. They train their Pokémon to be the best that they can be. Throughout the journey, the trainer and their Pokémon become closer, therefore creating a stronger bond and trust," Colby explained,
"Eventually, the team and the trainer take on the Elite."
Ellis gave her a thumbs up, "Great! You seem to have a pretty good idea of how it works."
Colby nodded, "Well, yes I'm not totally ignorant on the subject. After all, my dream was to become an assistant to one of the Elite in Hecate…" "Anyways," Ellis said, pointing to the first large dot on the map labeled Ft. Jonova,
"this is the first gym that we have to train and win the badge. In order for that, we will need to go on Route A."
Colby nodded, "Yeah, I think if we train hard enough that we will be able to make it. But, what type of gym is it? Also, do you know the leader?"
"According to what I've heard, it's a Psychic type gym. The leader is…"
Ellis stopped, and pulled out a rectangular device that looked like some type of portable phone.
"What's that?" Colby asked with curiosity.
"Oh! It's a new technology that they developed not to long ago called MID. It stands for Mobile Interaction Device. It's kind of like a moveable computer with a mobile phone built it. I can even go on the internet with it!"
Colby was awed by the little object that could do all that and still fit easily into the palm of Ellis's hand without a problem. They never had anything that advanced in Hecate.
Of course, yes they had mobile phones, but nothing that was a computer also. The technological advances of Hecate were mainly focused on Poke Ball development and medical care.
Slowly, Hecate was making bounds toward technology this advanced. In fact, just the day before Colby had left Hecate, the newscast that morning had a headline story pertaining to a new type of device that would go on sale with qualities such as the MID. It wasn't as advanced or as pulled together as MID but it was good enough for the public.
Ellis clicked on a button that seemed to be built into the clear screen and fast as lighting, typed in Ft. Jonova gym leader. The results came up almost instantly and Ellis clicked on a page.
The screen pulled up a solid black background and big white lettering for the words on the page. At the heading, it said Ft. Jonova Psychic Gym in huge white letters. As Ellis scrolled down the page, a picture of a guy with black hair wearing an awesome black and green cloak was posing with some Pokémon.
He had a smirk like smile on his face and was standing back to back with a Mr. Mime with both of their arms folded in front of their chests. Standing in front of those two, stood a Slowbro and an Abra with unblinking gazes, as if they were completely serious.
"It says that his name is Josh… he looks pretty arrogant to me," Ellis said, with a sour look on his face.
Colby shrugged and continued to stare at the picture with curiosity. Taking on this leader would be the first part of her journey to the Elite. She couldn't believe she had even gotten this far. In the process making tons of mistakes, but everyone was human after all.
"Arrogant? Yeah…I suppose a bit…but he also looks like one of those people that means business you know?" Colby added to the theory.
Ellis exited the program and put the MID back in his pocket.
"All I'm saying, is I don't think we would get along well…but, you can't judge a guy buy his picture…"
Colby snickered at this, "I thought it was 'you can't judge a book by its cover'…"
Ellis flashed a silly smile, "Yeah…I guess it is. But oh well! In this case, my improvisation works. So I'll use it!"
"Well, he's going to be our opponent, so technically you don't have to get along. You just need to be a good enough trainer to beat him."
Ellis rolled his eyes, "Why is this even important? We know that he is Ft. Jonova's gym leader and that he is Psychic type. What else matters?" "True…true. Hey! Here comes the nurse."
They stood up and greeted the nurse, who had a smile on her face. "Good news you two. Nicksy is doing wonderful, and he should be fully recuperated in an hour or so. Aurora has some of the best in medical technology, and so we can heal a Pokémon three times as fast."
Colby put a smile on her face, "That's great nurse! Thank you so much, because you don't know how much this means to me."
"It was nothing. I am glad to help you kids and your Pokémon. I'm guessing you are going to become trainers?"
Colby and Ellis exchanged a look, "Well ma'am, that's the plan if Nicksy is up to it of course," Ellis replied, with a look of anxiousness on his face.
"Smart kids, smart kids. The needs of the Pokémon are important. I'm not just talking food, shelter, and water. I am talking respect, trust, and love for the Pokémon itself. It's a proven fact, that a trainer that has a stronger bond with their Pokémon will be more successful in the long run. It's better if you learn that before you go on the journey, because the first few weeks are the most important."
Colby absorbed all that the nurse was saying like a sponge. Who knew just a simple decision like this could influence her in battles down the road?
"Thanks for that great wisdom nurse. If you don't mind, I wanted to show Colby the rest of Portsburg before we get started on our journey. This way, we can give Nicksy the time he needs to heal," Ellis said.
The nurse nodded, "Surely! I won't keep you from sightseeing! After all, Portsburg does have some nice ocean views."
"We will be back shortly to check on Nicksy. Goodbye nurse," Ellis called as they exited the Pokémon center.
Now it was dusk, and a whole day had almost flew by in what seemed like a matter of hours. Colby breathed in the brisk Portsburg air and gazed at the big disk of the sun slowly start to crash for the night on its bed of the horizon. Colby and Ellis came back onto the main road, which they had followed when the Nighthawk first docked. Salt spray whisked over Colby's face and kept her cool. She couldn't believe so much had happened in one day.
Docking in Aurora, seeing some sights, and even finding a Pokémon of her own. If this was an average day in Aurora, she wondered why everyone wasn't here! This place was just simply amazing so far!
"Crazy day, huh?" Ellis said, interrupting her thoughts.
Colby snapped back into reality, "Huh...oh! Yes! Defiantly one of the most…interesting I've had in a while."
Ellis smiled, "So I'm guessing you're starting to like it here?"
Colby nodded furiously, "Yeah…It's so much better than my old life in Hecate…that was just…"
She stopped and instinctively put up her Human Barriers again.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Colby shook her head firmly, "No," She said with a bit of a snap behind it. The natural thing was for her to be hostile…because that was all she had known for this past year. Yes, she had made some huge leaps and bounds with Ellis. As in not being so mean…but things weren't exactly all better. She was still partially in the depressed mindset, but it wasn't showing as much anymore, at least toward Ellis.
"I'm sorry…but I just don't like to talk about it…" Colby trailed off.
"Hey, it's ok. No big deal," Ellis assured her.
Colby looked up at the huge buildings again and scanned the skyline. "Wait…what is that?" Colby asked.
Ellis followed her gaze to the top of a rather short line of buildings that seemed to be the older side of Portsburg. What looked like a girl…and a Pokémon of some type seemed to fly over the tops of the buildings.
With some squinting, Colby could tell that she was actually running along side this Pokémon and jumping over the breaks between the buildings. Then, something made here jaw drop, the Pokémon (which Colby had identified as a Scyther) seemed to morph into a Dragonite right in front of her eyes.
Ellis sputtered with confusion, "Wait…wasn't that just a Scyther?"
Colby had a derp moment and just kept watching the girl run with the Dragonite. Then, just as quickly as Dragonite had appeared, the Pokémon morphed again and transformed into a Blaziken.
"What the hel-"
"Oh!"
Colby interrupted Ellis as the girl and the Blaziken tripped.
Colby and Ellis quickly sprint to the neighboring alley and find the girl and the Pokémon dazed in the middle of the alley.
Now the Pokémon had changed again. This time, it was a Zorua, one of her favorite Pokémon. The girl's green eyes were wide and her long brown hair was wild around her face. Her small, wire glasses were crooked on her face which made her look fairly amusing, but only for a moment. The Zorua seemed to be fine, and sneezed.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Colby asked, running over to the dazed girl. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Colby.
"Oh! You guys…you guys saw that…?" She asked with a look of horror on her face.
Colby was confused, "Yeah…but are you ok?"
The girl sprung up and paced in front of the Zorua.
"Yeah, I'm fine…but that's…so humiliating…we had almost mastered the routine."
The little Zorua whined, "Oh, its alright Zero! Don't worry about it, because you did your best, and that's all I will ever ask for!"
She assured the Pokémon, picking it up and giving it a hug. "Uh…what were you doing that for anyway? Jumping buildings…is a bit dangerous," Ellis asked, also rather confused at the moment.
The girl's green eyes were wide with surprise as she glanced between the two.
"You mean, you really don't know? Then you mustn't be from around here…" Ellis and Colby shook their heads.
"Ah, that explains it. I was Free Running!"
A/N: Review and let me know what you think! :)
