A.N. Well, let's kick this off, shall we? Don't worry, there isn't much exposition to go – the story will start getting exciting soon.
Disclaimer: If "you are what you eat," would L be a cake, Light a potato chip, Mello a chocolate bar, and Near a Transformer?
(I don't own anything except for what I own).
To a tourist, Unova had two sides. There was the side that was bustling city life, with surprises bursting at every turn, and a high likelihood of getting lost. And, there was the side that was, quote-on-quote "boring" country life, with no surprise, no panash, no razzmatazz in the slightest. After all…it was the country.
And, this is why most tourist tended to avoid places like Nuvema Town and Accumula Town – because it was, well, boring. However, to the inhabitants of Nuvema and Accumula Town, life was a far cry from boring. Well, maybe not a far cry, but a cry nonetheless.
One such person who did find country life a tad monotonous was Trip. Being of Nuvema Downs, a small, relatively unknown part of Nuvema Town where people lived in slightly smaller houses. In fact, very few people lived there at all – the last time Trip had been there, he only counted about ten people overall. Which, was still slightly more than how many people had lived there when he was younger, but it wasn't very much. And, most happened to be adults. Because of that, Trip's childhood had been more downing that it was uplifting – especially with the presence of some of the more unusual people that Unova had to offer. Needless to say, he was well acquainted with most of the residents.
Some residents more than others.
But Nuvema Downs was home to another spot that Trip had the fortune of discovering when he was young enough to still be scared by things such as ghosts, and still curious enough to keep going back to the frightful place. And, to be quite honest, it still scared him a bit to venture near the place, considering the high population of Ghost Pokémon within its iron-wrought gates. It was really the only thing that spiced up Nuvema Downs, after all.
"The Downs Graveyard." Trip muttered under his breath. He stood in front of the gates with a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand, teal camera in the other. "Just great." With a sigh, he pushed open the rusted gates and began to walk through the graveyard. A light purple mist wafted through the air, giving the cemetery an ethereal feel, which was further pronounced by the trees, gently shaking in the light breeze. Numerous Ghost Pokémon drifted amongst the tombstones, and Trip noticed a few Golett walking around.
The Pokémon were gravitating to one place in particular, a small stone structure with an iron gate over a stone door. Usually a place where a body would be put in this graveyard, but considering the lack of people that lived in Nuvema Downs, this resulted in a lack of dead bodies to put in the cemetery.
In fact, this particular "house" of sorts was completely devoid of any dead bodies.
Trip gently pushed open the door to the small house, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. The inside of the house was lit up with a few small candles, and had a stone bench pushed up against the farthest wall. Leaning up against this stone bench was a Trainer about Trip's age with a Mismagius floating at her side, and a Banette sitting on her other. She was drawing intently in a sketchbook, chestnut-brown hair obscuring her face. Upon hearing the door open, she looked up and smiled.
"Trip Shooti."
"Alex Cheshire." Trip responded, sitting down in front of her. "I'm quite surprised to see you here." In retaliation, Alex lowered her sketchbook and narrowed her eyes at Trip.
"You're not surprised in the slightest," she grinned. "In fact, Trip, I'm the one who's surprised to see you here. You've never really shown any enjoyment upon coming over for a visit. Of course, the question now is what exactly do you want?"
"And the other one would be how soon can I leave so you can get back to drawing, isn't it?"
"Possibly," Alex shrugged. "Depends on what you have to say. Maybe I will care, and, then again, maybe I won't care. But…" She tucked her legs underneath so that she was kneeling on paint-splattered hiking boots. "Considering the fact that you have something in your hand, and you're holding you're camera in your other hand, either the reason that you're here is because of the thing in your hand, or the camera."
Trip rolled his eyes. "Alex…"
"What, am I annoying you?" Alex leered as the Banette climbed onto her lap. "My bad, Shooti. I'll stop and let you talk."
"I guess I don't give your brother enough credit for putting up with the likes of you." Trip muttered as he unrolled the paper in his hand. The paper, given to him by Professor Juniper, was a small poster for a place called Baliar Island. The professor had said that she wanted Trip to at least try out for a position as Gym Leader, and after a bit of consideration, Trip had accepted. After that, Professor Juniper asked him to convince some of the Trainers he had met on his journey to give it a try as well, saying that "it would be a good experience for all of you." While Cameron, Burgundy, Virgil, Luke, and Bianca (though they had all said that they would visit the island) declined the offer, Stephan and Georgia had accepted. Truthfully, two out of seven wasn't bad, but Trip was determined to convince at least three Trainers. Three was a nice, round number after all.
But since two out of seven had accepted, and Trip having in mind eight Trainers that he thought could do fairly well in the tryouts, it left him with no choice to go and talk to Alex.
"What is that?" the female Trainer asked, looking quizzically at the paper in Trip's hand.
"It's a poster." Trip replied, handing the paper over. "Basic stuff." Alex spared a moment to give the grey-eyed Trainer a withering glare, but began to scan over the poster, along with the Mismagius and the Banette, and a minute hadn't even passed when Alex thrust the paper back at Trip and said: "Sounds like fun."
"You couldn't have read that thing in under a minute." Trip shot back, taking the paper out of Alex's hands.
"I didn't have to read all of it – and besides, I would like to give it a try." Alex defended, standing up and tucking her sketchbook under her arm. "And I'm assuming that you're going to the tryouts as well."
"Stephan and Georgia too." Trip said, standing up. "And they're in two months. Which means you'd better get ready." He turned around and walked towards the door, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Can't I just use my regular team?"
"You didn't even read that poster, did you?" Trip sighed, not turning around. "Alex, you're trying out for the position of 'Gym Leader.' Gym Leaders specialize in one type of Pokémon. It's basic stuff."
"Don't say that!" Alex fumed. "Fine, Obnoxious Boy, I'll get a team ready."
"Good." Trip replied, putting one hand on the door. "Oh, and it had better not be as weak as that team that you used in-"
"In the Junior Cup this year, brat?!" Alex retorted. "If you've forgotten already, I WON this year! And I beat YOU in the final round!"
Trip merely shrugged and walked out the door. "Well, you lost our battle last week. Having a team that's strong all the time is basic stuff, Cheshire." With that final remark, he waltzed out the door, shutting it gently behind him.
"I told you not to SAY that anymore!" Alex yelled after him. "Trip Shooti, you're such an obnoxious little BRAT!"
With a grin on his usually neutral face as he walked out of the graveyard, Trip looked down at the Baliar Island poster.
He would be a Gym Leader.
The strongest Gym Leader out of all eighteen!
Yes, he was definitely going to be a force to reckon with at the tryouts.
A.N. Honestly, Trip is one of my favorite characters, but he annoys me at the same time. Pull it together, Trip. Anyway, until next time!