Chapter 18 – A Moment's Peace
Colin flew towards Alexa's home in Violet City and gently dropped Keith, Alexa and Anna down on the ground, Keith immediately recalling his arm, which Colin had grabbed and held onto for the whole flight. Nobody appeared to notice the dark grey clouds looming overhead, nor the occasional sounds of thunder booming quietly in the atmosphere. Keenan returned his exhausted Fearow back into his Poké Ball and relaxed. Everyone was almost covered in soot from the house fire.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-haaah...that hurt..." Keith said quietly. His arm was elevated for so long, pulling it back down seemed painful, and the sensation of such a sharp set of talons poking at his skin hadn't helped the pain in any way.
"Sorry," Keenan said shyly. "It was the only thing Colin could grab."
"He's got another one, don't worry," Alexa teased. Keith glared at her, giving her a sardonic smile.
"Ha ha, very amusing!"
"S-so...what happens now?" Keenan asked, changing the subject quickly. He wasn't worried about Keith and Alexa fighting again, as he knew both sides were being playful, but his concern lay with the missing poachers. Alexa took a few moments to consider today's events, and where they led her and Keith.
"Hmm...back to square one, I guess," she said regretfully. "I mean, the whole place has been cleaned out and burned down, so Jordan could be anywhere." Keith groaned in frustration.
"So we'd have to find him all over again? That sucks!"
"Yeah, but that's how it is," Alexa sighed. Keenan looked just as disappointed as Alexa.
"Aw, man..."
"Alexa!" Lily called. Alexa, Keith, Keenan and the Pokémon all looked towards the open window of the house, and saw Lily facing in their direction. "You should come in now, it could start raining any minute!" Taking his mother's advice to heart, Keenan immediately made his way into the house. Keith and Alexa looked at one another in confusion; the weather was fine when they left.
"Rain?" Alexa asked, facing her mother. "Are you sure?"
Alexa and Keith heard a loud thunderclap and looked up at the sky; they finally saw the dark rain clouds overhead, and saw a brief flash of light. Before they could react, a tremendous downpour started, soaking a disgruntled Keith and Alexa to the bone in a matter of seconds. Lily tried her hardest not to laugh, but she found the looks on their faces priceless.
"Oh dear. Quick, come in!"
"I'd feel a lot better if your mother wasn't trying not to laugh at us," Keith grumbled.
"To be honest, I'd probably be the same way in her position," Alexa sighed as she and Keith ran into the house with the soaking Mienshao and Buizel. Keenan and Lily gave each of them large towels, all of which were white. Reese, despite being a Water Pokémon, wrapped himself with the towel and huddled over to Robbie, who was resting on the carpet near a seemingly forever napping Typhlosion. Robbie chuckled as Reese sat down in front of the Sawsbuck, shivering from the cold. Anna didn't seem to be overly bothered about being dripping wet; instead, she struggled to hold onto the towel without her arm fur getting in her way, which frustrated her on occasion. Keith and Alexa forced their boots off and virtually tore their jackets off before dumping their towels over their heads, being careful not to get anything else wet in the process. Alexa noticed that the rain had washed the soot away from her uniform and Keith's uniform.
"Didn't think rain fell that hard in Johto," Keith said calmly.
"Probably came from the Lake of Rage; that place always gets pretty violent weather from time to time," Alexa huffed.
"Are you all right?" Lily asked, the temptation to laugh out loud finally having died out. Keith moved the towel from in front of his face and looked up at Lily.
"Wet, but-" Keith suddenly stopped mid sentence as a raindrop fell into his eye. He kept his eye closed and remained silent for a few seconds until he began to blink again. "We're fine," he finally concluded.
"Good for you," Hayden said grumpily. Everyone looked towards the frustrated father in confusion, who sat at the kitchen table with his angry gaze fixated on some sort of formal paperwork. Lily looked concerned, knowing all too well about why her husband was so grouchy. Alexa and Keenan were confused, but Keith felt very slightly intimidated.
"...Dad, are you okay?" Keenan asked. Hayden sighed and looked towards his son and daughter, putting on a softer demeanour.
"I'm still dealing with a serious work incident right now," he explained. "One of my employees has not only been accused of harassment – which was proven to be true – but has been caught with money stolen from the cash register."
"What?!" Now Alexa understood why her father was so cross.
"It does explain why the numbers haven't been adding up," Hayden added, glancing over another piece of paperwork; it was apparently a list depicting a store's sales figures, which showed a tighter profit margin when compared to the previous month.
"Want me to arrest the guy?" Keith asked. Hayden smiled, but shook his head.
"It's under control, Keith, thank you. But, no, I fired him as soon as the pilfered petty cash was brought to my attention," he explained. "The store manager seemed to have been in a hurry, though, he left to make a phone call as soon as he informed me of the stolen money."
"As long as everything's okay..."
"Yes, it's fine, Lexie," Hayden smiled. "But I don't know why he was behaving so immaturely; his CRB check was clear."
"His what?" Keenan asked.
"It's a check some businesses run to check an applicant's criminal record if they have one," Lily explained.
"To see if they've been to prison?" Keenan asked.
"Something like that, yes," Lily replied. "Undoubtedly those poachers you and Keith are trying to apprehend will have one, right, Lexie?"
"I don't know, to be honest, we'd have to catch them first," Alexa said quietly.
"Hmm, that's a good point," Lily muttered to herself. "Anyway, you two had best get changed before those clothes stick to you. And you'd best stay in for the rest of the day, you'll catch a cold otherwise.
"I've already had one, but good idea," Keith laughed as he and Alexa made their way upstairs. Suddenly noticing the soot on his clothes, Keenan laughed nervously.
"I-I think I'll change as well," he said quickly, bolting up the stairs. Lily sighed, but smiled as she watched her son running upstairs.
Alexa closed her bedroom door behind her as she and Keith entered. Keith took his shirt off and immediately felt chilly. He quickly got over it as he saw Alexa taking off her shirt. Her back was turned on him, so Keith only saw her from behind. Mavis was still sound asleep on the beanbag, but Skywing was absent from the room.
"Where should we-"
"On the stool in front of my mirror will be fine," Alexa said quickly. "I'll sling 'em on the balcony when it stops raining."
"Okay," Keith nodded as he dumped his soggy shirt onto the stool as Alexa told him to. He looked at Alexa again, but looked away almost immediately after noticing she was taking off her shorts; he chose to avert his eyes in case her underpants decided to try and escape with her soaking shorts. "Alexa?"
"Hm?"
"Who's Clair? You mentioned her last night," Keith queried. Alexa looked towards him in confusion; she hadn't expected him to take such an interest in something outside his area of expertise. She answered truthfully.
"She's the Blackthorn City Gym Leader," she replied. "Dragon type user, like the current Kanto Champion, Lance."
"Why did you hope Ian stayed away from her?" Keith asked, daring to face Alexa again. He was glad Alexa wasn't completely nude. Alexa put on a pout as she proceeded to examine her wardrobe.
"She has a foul attitude," she said bluntly, moving coat hangers from one side of the wardrobe to the other, looking at the hanging clothes in the process. "Back when I defeated her about five years ago now, she refused to give me her gym's badge. She made me go to the Dragon's Den to pass a test with the den's elders, and even then she had to be instructed to give the badge to me like she said she would!" As he tried to take his shorts off without his boxers falling at the same time, Keith struggled to understand how a gym leader of any calibre could refuse to present the challenger with a badge upon winning the battle.
"Alexa, are all gym leaders so...arrogant?" Keith asked. He had to stop mid sentence to take extra care to not let his boxers slip with his shorts as they fell to the floor.
"Not all of them, but Johto has a good chunk of them. Falkner's the only decent gym leader Johto has in my opinion," Alexa sighed.
"Come on, they can't ALL be that bad," Keith chuckled. Picking out two coat hangers, one with a pair of black trousers hanging from it, the other holding her purple hooded top, Alexa faced Keith with a raised eyebrow.
"Wanna bet?" Alexa took her chosen attire to her bed before she spoke again. "Bugsy in Azalea has gender issues, Whitney in Goldenrod is...a whiny teenager, to put it kindly," Alexa began, shuddering at the thought of her last encounter with the pink haired gym leader. "Morty in Ecruteak thinks he'll meet Ho-Oh, Chuck in Cianwood spends most of his time under a waterfall, consequently resulting in marital problems, Jasmine in Olivine is a huge wimp, Pryce in Mahogany is unnecessarily bitter and Clair's got an inferiority complex."
"...Wow."
"Yeah. How come you asked?" Alexa questioned.
"Curious," Keith shrugged as he looked through his clothes in Alexa's wardrobe. Alexa pulled her trousers and top off of their hangers.
"I didn't think you'd be interested in that sort of stuff," she admitted.
"Are you? Keith asked, randomly pulling out his green t-shirt and jeans.
"Not since three years ago, no," Alexa replied as she pulled her top over her damp head. Keith laughed as he pulled his jeans over his legs.
"By the way, day off tomorrow," he said suddenly. Alexa almost dropped her trousers when she heard the statement, facing Keith in shock and near-frustration.
"Again?!"
"Yep, for both of us," Keith said calmly, pulling the t-shirt over his head.
"Keith, throughout this whole mission, I've had more off-days than on-days!" Alexa complained. Keith couldn't help but laugh.
"So?"
"I'm getting fed up of days off," Alexa pouted as she returned to trying to put her trousers on without dropping them.
"If it makes you feel better, you can have as many double shifts as you see fit when we go back to Almia," Keith said kindly.
"Fantastic," Alexa smiled a little. Her smile died when she saw Keith smirking.
"IF!" he said quickly. "We have that promised date beforehand." Alexa paused for a few moments before laughing; she'd almost forgotten about the date she accidentally agreed to.
"Deal," she smiled sweetly. She picked up her and Keith's soggy uniforms and placed them on her vacant hangers, where she proceeded to create an empty space in her wardrobe and hung them up, away from the dry clothes and with the towel her mother lent her underneath them to catch the dripping water. "There."
"By the way, what's Cianwood City like?" Keith asked. Alexa closed one of the wardrobe doors while leaving the other open.
"It's a coastline city. Other than the gym, it's really quiet. Plus you can get to the Cliffside Preserve on foot from there. It's a big trek, though." Keith looked back at the sleeping Staraptor, frowning a little.
"I was going to ask if we could go there tomorrow, but Mavis is still hurt," he sighed.
"She's not the only flyer I have," Alexa laughed. "I can either ask Phoenix, Falcon, Chaser or my Aerodactyl if they can fly us or I can ask if my Lapras, Cassie, can ferry us across the ocean." Keith looked at her wide-eyed.
"Aerodactyl?! You have an Aerodactyl?!"
"Yeah, some guy in Pewter City gave me an Old Amber seven years ago," Alexa said casually. "Why?"
"...n-no reason." Keith cleared his throat before Alexa could understand his uneasiness. "Anyway, after the whole Union Cave matter, I'm curious about your own Lapras. You said you met your Lapras there, right?"
"Yep, I did," Alexa confirmed. "Preferring the scenic route, huh? That can be arranged."
"Sweet. Hope she won't mind."
"I don't think she will, she loves swimming. Anyway, I'll report today's incident to Professor Hastings, you can do what you like," Alexa said kindly.
"Okay." Keith suddenly noticed Alexa's television set and video game console; it was identical to the one in Keenan's bedroom, but Alexa's console and the controllers plugged into it were silver instead of black. Next to where the games console was placed was a shelf that housed Alexa's video games and accessories for the console. "You play video games?"
"You've seen me, haven't you?" Keith watched Alexa in shock as she instinctively set up the games console.
"H-how did y-?!"
"Heard you leaving after your shower," Alexa said quickly. "You stopped on your way here." The events from that day ran in Keith's mind; finding the corpses, arguing rather viciously with his own girlfriend, fearing the end of their relationship...he remembered everything.
"...ah." Keith smiled again when he remembered how happy Alexa looked playing a co-op game with Keenan on Ruby Groudon.
"There you go," Alexa smiled. "You can choose which game you want to play on now."
"Is there a disc in the console?" Keith asked.
"No," Alexa replied bluntly. "I put them all back in their boxes."
"Cool." Keith walked over to the shelf of games as Alexa sat in front of her laptop and turned it on. Keith examined the titles of the games, occasionally taking one out to look at the synopsis for the game on the back of the box. Most of Alexa's games were standard adventure games, with the odd RPG here and there. "Hey, Alexa. Maybe you and I can play a game together sometime," he suggested, looking up at Alexa.
"Some of my games have two-player modes, I can join in whenever," Alexa smiled as she glanced back at Keith. She faced her laptop again and opened up her email program and logged in after typing her usual password; she looked at her keyboard as she pressed certain letters on her keyboard, being careful not to make an error. Keith finally took a game titled 'Scarlet Flame' and inserted the disc into the console after turning it on. Keith sat on the floor and proceeded to start a new file – not wanting to erase Alexa's current and only file on her red memory card – and began to play through the game as Alexa typed away on her laptop. Occasionally, Keith looked over at Alexa without her knowing and vice versa.
The sun was rising in Olivine City as a speedboat moored at the harbour. Jordan jumped out of the boat and consulted a notebook he dug out of his pocket; the page he was on looked like a harmless shopping list. Returning the notebook to his pocket and taking a dark grey luggage back from the boat, Jordan made his way into Olivine City.
Lily had just finished clearing up breakfast by the time Keith and Alexa bid her, Hayden, Ian and Keenan 'see you later'. Alexa quickly pocketed a lumpy blue and black Poké Ball before leaving the house with Keith. Keenan removed the last of Iara's bandages and examined her wounds; they were still visible, but were now extremely superficial and were almost non-existent altogether. Keenan, dressed in his blue t-shirt and shorts because his other clothes were dirty, looked towards his grandfather.
"Does she look okay to you?" he asked. Ian laughed, as it was impossible to see Iara from where he was sitting.
"Let's see," he said as he approached the little Vaporeon. He took a close look at the wounds, particularly at the healed cuts on her face. Iara didn't seem bothered by any possible itchiness from the wounds. "Yep, they're healing beautifully," Ian smiled. "Especially her face, it's almost like she wasn't even attacked!" Iara sighed, but with a smile; she knew as well as Keenan that the scars were still present.
"She heals quickly, I'll give her that," Hayden said nicely. Satisfied, Keenan petted his dear friend, who greatly appreciated his touch.
"I still won't let her battle for another week," Keenan said. Iara began licking Keenan's arm affectionately.
"Good idea, let her take things easy," Lily smiled. Robbie and Reese sighed with relief, knowing Iara was healing brilliantly. They recalled the brutality of her attack, so they were pleased to hear her wounds wouldn't last much longer. Robbie seemed to be worried about leaving Keith without a Pokémon with him, but Reese set his mind at ease, informing him of what he had heard from Ryder.
Alexa looked at her Net Ball one more time before returning it to her pocket. Alexa wore her purple hooded top with her dark navy blue jeans, while Keith was casually dressed in a white shirt with black jeans. The pair walked passed the National Park; while it was Alexa's favourite place in the entire Johto region, she and Keith mutually agreed to not go there until their date. The pair walked into Ecruteak City and paused for a few moments to take in the serenity of the place. The tall Bell Tower could be seen just outside the city, with the Burned Tower at the far end of the city.
"So how come Morty wants to see Ho-Oh?" Keith asked.
"Ho-Oh will supposedly appear before truly powerful trainers," Alexa explained, one again demonstration her knowledge on Pokémon legends to Keith.
"Have you seen it then?" he asked curiously. Alexa laughed.
"Oh, stop it! No, I don't make it a habit to seek out legendary Pokémon, I'd very much rather leave them in peace," she explained.
"And this Morty guy wants to see it?"
"Yep," Alexa nodded.
"...okay... Weirdo." Alexa laughed as she and Keith headed towards the eastern exit of the city.
"Don't let him hear you say that!"
Iara lay on Keenan's bed and watched him playing one of his video games, the box for a game called 'Azure Waters' lying on top of the games console. Keenan played as a warrior Dewott battling against a titanic sized Dragonite in a boss battle. Keenan was enjoying his game, but Iara seemed to enjoy looking at Keenan more than at the game he was playing.
In the lounge, meanwhile, Ryder and Layla sat next to one another on the three seater sofa. Layla was looking at Ryder worriedly as he showed how concerned he looked.
"I kinda feel bad about avoiding everyone lately," he confessed.
"Nyah?" Layla asked.
"Yeah, I mean I feel bad that we've pretty much been here, there and everywhere without Alex knowing where in Johto we were," Ryder explained.
"Nyah..." Layla felt just as concerned as Ryder did.
"I know she trusts us an' all, but it's been eating away at my gut for a while now." He suddenly looked at Layla, blushing. "N-not that I'm not enjoying hanging out with you, I-I just-"
"Nyah, nyah-yah," Layla smiled. Ryder smiled in return.
"Heh, thanks. You're fun to be with, too," he said earnestly.
Ryder suddenly felt Layla's paw holding onto his own and blushed even heavier than before. He looked at the sparkling Zangoose and noticed her smiling beautifully at him. Ryder's shock faded as he returned the smile just as kindly. This must be how Keith felt not long after having won Alexa's heart, Ryder thought to himself. He felt a certain warmth inside his heart as he stared almost lovingly at the Car Ferret Pokémon. Was this what it felt like to be in love? Subconsciously, Ryder and Layla moved closer to one another, very nearly touching noses with each other. That was until Xavier suddenly jumped up from behind the armrest farthest away from the lounge door.
"HOLD IT!" he yelled frantically. Startled, Layla and Ryder crashed their heads into one another and faced the terrified Zoroark.
"What, what is it?!" Ryder roared.
"...nothing!" Xavier smiled as he ran out of the room, laughing hysterically. Ryder, seething with rage and humiliation, roared at the mischievous Illiusion Fox while Layla sat there, blushing intensely as she held onto her forehead.
"Dammit, Xavier, you suck sometimes!"
Hayden, Ian and Lily saw a hysterical Xavier racing up the stairs and looked among themselves in confusion.
"Xavier...quite the mischievous one, he is. Obviously hasn't changed since he evolved," Ian chuckled.
"I'm just glad it's harmless, myself," Lily sighed.
"He knows better than to hurt anyone," Hayden smiled. "He's Alexa's Pokémon, after all."
Alexa walked away from Ecruteak City, hand in hand. They were happy and content until they suddenly saw Jordan leaving a farmyard at the far end of the path ahead of them, luggage bag in hand. The teens were stunned and almost speechless, but it seemed Jordan hadn't noticed either of them.
"I-isn't that..?"
"Should we follow him?" Keith asked.
"Risky," Alexa replied. "Cassie's the only Pokémon we have on hand, and she's pretty much a sitting Psyduck on land."
"Maybe, but we can't let this opportunity slip!"
"...you're right, let's go," Alexa reluctantly agreed. Keith nodded and set off after Jordan with her.
After a short trek, Jordan tossed his luggage bag onto the boat and walked back towards Olivine City. While he was gone, Alexa and Keith snuck onto Jordan's boat, concealing themselves underneath a blue boat cover. After a few minutes of tense silence, Jordan returned to the speedboat and drove out of the harbour, unaware of his stowaways. Hiding under the boat cover, Keith and Alexa began to regret their decision, remembering how Keenan's infiltration attempt ended.
Jordan finally moored the speedboat at a pier on what appeared to be a desolate island with nothing but a large hill on it. Jordan quickly got out of the boat, tied the boat to the pier, pulled his luggage bag out of the boat and proceeded to cover the boat. But when he pulled out the boat cover, he spotted Keith and Alexa, who, having realised their cover was blown, looked up at Jordan silently. Jordan, at first, showed little reaction, but he soon smirked.
"Well, well...this is a surprise."
"Uh..." Keith and Alexa looked at one another, hoping to find an excuse. "T-this isn't what it looks like...?" Keith laughed nervously. Seeing the smile on Jordan's face growing sent chills down Keith and Alexa's spines.
"To me, it looks like the pair of you got caught out by your own plan. Speaking of caught..."
To be continued...