Chapter Eleven – Sitting In
Cheryl relaxed and opened her ruby red eyes as she, Lily, Hayden, Alexa and Keenan instantaneously appeared in their hotel room in a brilliant white flash.
"I love travelling like this," Hayden laughed. Lily smiled as she took a Poké Ball in her hand.
"Thank you so much, Cheryl; you can take a nice rest now."
"Gardevoir," Cheryl smiled kindly as the Poké Ball unleashed the red energy beam from its central button, absorbing the Gardevoir inside it. With her Pokémon safe in her Poké Ball, Lily sat down on the nearest armchair and sighed contentedly as she picked up a book from the coffee table.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I think that was a very nice morning," she said as she opened the book, beginning to read its first page.
"Me too," Keenan nodded.
"I think Jollie's one step closer to achieving her sough-after evolution, so, yeah, I agree," Alexa smiled.
"She and Kyle have certainly improved since they last battled, that's for certain," Hayden grinned. "And I think the two of you handled yourselves well, too," he added, gently placing a hand on Alexa and Keenan's shoulders. "Well done."
"Thanks, Dad!" Keenan said happily.
"Especially you, Alexa; that was your first proper battle in, what, three years?"
"Y-yeah," Alexa replied rather glumly. Hayden smiled kindly at her.
"You did great," he said reassuringly. "So the Ranger Union hasn't killed the Pokémon Trainer inside of you then?" he questioned jokingly. Alexa looked at her father with a raised eyebrow. Keenan suddenly showed some slight concern.
"Is what Daniel said still bugging you?" he asked.
"A little, I suppose," Alexa admitted. "I'm trying not to think about it, though; I've enough on my mind as it is." For a fleeting moment, Hayden felt uneasy, but soon smiled.
"Nonetheless, you're still a brilliant Trainer; that's what counts." Alexa smiled warmly.
"Thanks, Dad."
"Right! Keenan. If your Poké Gear is to be replaced with a Xtransceiver, you and I need to make a note of your contacts," Hayden said suddenly. "Are you up for doing that now?"
"Yeah!" Keenan said eagerly.
"I'll check what's on my laptop while you're doing that," Alexa said as she headed to one of the bedrooms. Keenan and Hayden sat on the sofa as Keenan fished out his Poké Gear from his pocket. Hayden, meanwhile, searched around him for a notepad and a pen. Alexa chuckled to herself as she heard Hayden moaning after his mobile phone began to ring.
"For crying out loud..!"
With her laptop in her arms, Alexa sat on her bed, taking care not to sit on her Nidoqueen plush, and turned it on. Once the laptop was fully loaded, she logged into her email account and checked for any new emails. She was surprised to see one in her inbox, but quickly discovered it was one she'd already read. She opened it up and read it again regardless.
"Alexa. Keith has had a very stern talking to regarding the night of your last mission – or, rather, the aftermath of said mission. Erma and I acknowledge the stress the pair of you were under following your Johto mission, but Keith had no right to take his frustration out on you. He has been reprimanded for his behaviour towards you, but the two of you really need to sort yourselves out. I sincerely hope you are feeling better following last night's...incident. Hastings."
Alexa showed no hesitation in deleting the email and quickly logged off of her account, hoping to forget the words she saw on her monitor. She suddenly decided to open her video communication programme and began to contact someone from her list. She quickly gave the built-in webcam a wipe with the bottom of her pale orange T-shirt before Ian appeared on the screen.
"Lexie! This is a nice surprise! How are you?" he smiled happily. Alexa instantly cheered up after hearing her grandfather's kind voice, but her smile weakened as she thought of how to answer his question.
"Yeah, I think so. Dad helped me replace my Poké Gear!" She held up her right wrist and rotated it slowly, allowing Ian to see her Xtransceiver in all its glory. He whistled.
"That's a nice Xtransceiver. Here's mine." Ian held up his left wrist and showed Alexa the black and brown Xtransceiver resting snugly on his wrist.
"I didn't know you had one, Grandpa," Alexa sad in shock as she saw the plain black strap the Xtransceiver was resting on.
"It's still relatively new; I placed an order for it not too long after Jordan's arrest," Ian explained. "I'll contact you on it later and register one another, okay?"
"Sounds good to me," Alexa said cheerfully. "But, um...there's something else as well..."
"Fire away."
"I, uh...had a run-in with Keith..."
"In Unova?" Ian asked in confusion. "I take it he was on a mission?"
"I think so." Ian noticed her uncertainty.
"What do you mean, you think so?"
"When I said I had a "run-in" with him, I...we...crashed. Into one another."
"Are you all right?"
"I think so; I'm going back to the hospital the day after the Contest, so I'll find out then." She sighed. "I just...can't remember what happened..."
"Can't remember? Did you hit your head, by any chance?" Ian asked.
"Twice, Troy reckons," Alexa replied. "I suffered from concussion."
"That's not surprising, considering what you just said," Ian said calmly. "Chin up, Lexie, you'll be right as rain in no time flat! I'm sure of it!"
"Physically speaking, at least..."
"Oi. Less of the pessimism."
"But..." Alexa sighed silently. "What if-"
"Look, it's going to be all right," Ian said nicely. "The two of you were as thick as thieves from what your father told me; if that holds water, then there's no doubt in my mind that you and Keith are going to end up reconciling."
"What makes you so sure?" Alexa asked, surprise written all over her face regarding Ian's confidence.
"Let's just call it a hunch," Ian winked. "Seriously, though, Alexa, you two will work things out when the time is right."
"I-I hope so..."
"...forgiveness is a wonderful thing, Alexa."
"Huh?" Alexa looked directly at Ian in confusion; she immediately noticed his warm smile.
"It can repair even the most damaged of hearts. If you can find it in yours to forgive Lupin for his disrespect towards you, you can find it in you to forgive Keith for this. I'm sure of it." Alexa shed a single tear as she smiled lovingly at her grandfather.
"T-thanks, Grandpa..." She wiped the tear from her eye.
"My pleasure, Lexie. Oh! Before I forget..."
"Yes?"
"Tell your parents to get a Xtransceiver," Ian smirked. "If I have one, so should they." Alexa laughed.
"I'll pass the message on. Thanks for talking to me, Grandpa, I really appreciate it."
"The feeling's mutual, sweet pea," Ian smiled happily. "Catch you later, Alexa."
"Bye, Grandpa." The two of them ended their communication at very nearly the exact same time. Alexa then shut down her laptop and closed it up before standing up from the bed.
"So we're seeing the Charity Pokémon Tournament this evening?" Keenan asked excitedly as Hayden wrote down a string of eight numbers on the notepad; 02738284.
"Seems like it, yeah," he replied. "Hailey's going to be busy with Eric's rehearsal and Harvey's going to be relaxing at home on Samphire Island, so it's just us this evening."
"Sounds good," Alexa said suddenly. Hayden, Keenan and Lily looked up at her as she entered the room, closing the bedroom door behind her.
"Everything all right with your laptop?" Hayden asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. I spoke to Grandpa just now."
"How's he doing?" Lily asked.
"He's fine. He asked me to pass on a message; Mum, Dad, you should get Xtransceivers too." Hayden and Lily looked at one another in bewilderment at the sudden proposal. "That was his message in a nutshell."
"What made him say that, sweetie?" Lily asked curiously.
"I showed him mine and he showed me his," Alexa replied, holding up her Xtransceiver.
"Grandpa has one?! That's so cool!" Keenan grinned gleefully.
"What do you think, Hayden?" Lily asked. Hayden smiled at his wife.
"To be honest, after what I heard yesterday, getting a Xtransceiver sounds like a great idea! And I can save a lot of time if I'm able to talk to both my brother AND sister at the same time. Besides, I saw one or two strap designs that caught my interest while I was waiting for the store manager to get to me...I can at least get one of my own tomorrow while Keenan and I are there. What about you, Lily?"
"You can choose mine, Hayden; Alexa and I will be at the spa with Hailey tomorrow," Lily smiled kindly.
"You're sure about that?"
"I'll help you with it, Dad!" Keenan offered willingly. Hayden smiled and patted his son on his shoulder.
"Thanks, kiddo." Hayden suddenly moaned again when his mobile phone began to ring again. He looked at the caller ID, but didn't recognise the number. He picked up the incoming call and held the phone to his ear. "Thorndyke speaking. Hm? Mr Howard!" Hayden suddenly stood up from the sofa and walked into the second bedroom; Alexa moved aside slightly to allow her father full access to the room, but he briefly ruffled her hair as he walked passed her. "No, I just didn't expect you to get back to me so soon." Hayden closed the door behind him.
"What was that all about?" Keenan asked in confusion as Lily proceeded to move from the armchair to the sofa. Alexa approached him and Lily and sat next to him on the sofa's armrest.
"I think that's the manager for the XCommunications store here in Castelia," she replied. "I saw him with Dad after I bought my Xtransceiver." Lily looked at the notepad Hayden left behind.
"Shall we finish this off while your father's occupied?"
"Okay," Keenan said as he looked at his Poké Gear; the number 02738284 was displayed on the top screen.
"How do I...?" Alexa stood up from the armrest and looked at the idle Poké Gear. She pressed the down button on the touch screen, changing the top screen's display from 02738284 to 71649274.
"Like that," she smiled. "It's all on the touch screen."
"Oh, right. Thanks, sweetie." Noticing Hayden hadn't written down the new number, Lily took the pen in her left hand and wrote the number down herself. Lily pressed down on the Poké Gear's touch screen and was about to write down the new number displayed.
"Uh, I don't think I need that one now," Keenan said suddenly.
"Really? Okay then, um...how do I delete it?"
"Like this," Alexa smiled as she pressed the icon that resembled a trash can on the touch screen; the displayed number instantly disappeared and was replaced with a new one entirely.
"Thank you, Alexa," Lily smiled. Hayden suddenly returned to the room, trying very hard to hide his excitement. Lily, Alexa and Keenan looked up at him in confusion.
"Is everything all right, Hayden?" Alexa and Keenan smiled.
"It's good news, I take it?" Alexa asked. Hayden took a deep breath.
"Let me put it like this; the prospect of having XCommunications in the Department Stores is close to being a reality!"
"Oh, Hayden, that's wonderful!" Lily said ecstatically.
"Howard said the company's owner – Jonathan Gulliver – will contact me and arrange a meeting with me sometime next week," Hayden explained.
"Next week?" Alexa questioned, showing very slight concern.
"Don't worry about it, Lexie, we'll all be home by the time I get the call. Assuming the rest of the week goes well, at least," Hayden said assuringly.
"Well, I think that's fantastic news," Lily said joyfully. "And the fact that you're getting a Xtransceiver tomorrow will show Mr Gulliver that you support his business!" Hayden looked at his wife with a perplexed look on his face.
"...I never thought of that."
Keith watched rather anxiously as the doctor examined the egg with her stethoscope. They were in a modestly sized medical examination room with numerous medical-related posters and leaflets pinned to the nearby cork board with many different coloured pins; some were about flu vaccinations, some about alcohol abuse and others about giving up smoking. A laptop sat on the desk opposite the examination bed the egg was resting on. An Audino was sitting patiently at the chair in front of the laptop, smiling at her partner and Keith.
"Is it all right?" Keith asked worriedly.
"In my experience...yep, the egg's perfectly fine," the doctor smiled as she looked directly at Keith. "In fact, it's almost ready to hatch!"
"Hatch?" Keith gulped.
"Pokémon don't stay as eggs forever, you know," the doctor giggled as she placed the stethoscope around her neck. "But you're doing really well with this little gem!"
"What if I do something wrong and it doesn't hatch properly?!" Keith panicked.
"This is your first egg, isn't it?" the doctor asked kindly.
"Y-yeah," Keith confirmed. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing..."
"Well, whatever you ARE doing, keep it up; like I said, you're doing really well with it," the doctor smiled kindly as she carefully returned the egg to Keith. Keith felt the egg moving slightly as soon as the doctor removed her hands from it. "Just keep doing what you're doing and the little gem will hatch with no problem! Just..."
"What?"
"Take the egg out when it DOES want to hatch, okay, sweetie?" Keith laughed nervously.
"Okay, I can do that. Thank you, Doctor!"
"My pleasure, hun; come and find me if you have any other concerns."
Night loomed over the open roof arena, but its silvery radiance was outclassed by the very many floodlights beaming their artificial glow down on the enormous field beneath them. Cheering and applause roared from thousands of excited spectators in the audience.
"Welcome back, folks! We're here live at the Indigo Plateau in Kanto for the second half of this Charity Pokémon Tournament!" declared a male announcer from the commentators box as he pushed his squared spectacles further up his face. "It's very simple; it's a Pokémon League style tournament, minus the stakes! All profit made from tonight will go towards Second Chance, the charity dedicated to finding a cure for cancer in Pokémon!"
Two individuals walked onto the arena from opposite entrances; the girl was accompanied by a Charizard with a yellow scarf around his neck, while the boy walked alongside a Rhyperior with a small upper horn.
"As this is a charity tournament, there are no real stakes; all of the participants will be battling against one another, regardless of any victories or defeats! Everyone will be battling the other Trainers, so we're not short of any entertainment here tonight!"
Four jumbotrons, one on each wall of the arena, suddenly displayed other battles consecutively taking place; one displayed a Garchomp battling a Milotic, another displayed a Seviper biting an Arcanine's shoulder, the third showcased a Flareon masterfully dodging a Skuntank's Sludge Bomb attack and the final one showed a Mienshao getting hit by a Skarmory's drilling peck attack.
"Coming up next is what looks like Charizard versus Rhyperior!" the announcer declared. "Unless I'm mistaken again... Regardless, this looks like it will be another must-see battle, and that's no mistake!"
"Ready, Jimmy?" the girl asked, looking somewhat confident in herself. The boy smirked at his opponent as his Rhyperior stepped onto the arena.
"Bring it on, Sarah," he retorted jokingly. "Let's go, Missy!"
"RHEEEEEEEEEEERGH!" the Rhyperior roared in a slightly effeminate voice.
"Go for it, Alexander!"
"RHRRRRRRRGH!" the Charizard roared loudly in a deep voice as he flew onto the arena. The referee looked between the two Pokémon carefully.
"Begin!" he yelled loudly, holding up the red and green flag in his hands.
"Missy, Stone Edge!" Jimmy instructed quickly. Two crossing rings of blinding white energy began to circle around Missy as they soon formed large jagged stones.
"Alexander, take flight!" Sarah retaliated. Alexander snorted, spitting a small ember from his mouth in the process, as he flapped his wings and flew into the air.
"RHEEEEEEEEEEERGH!" Missy unleashed the sharp stones, firing them at the airborne Flame Pokémon. However, Alexander managed to fly over the rocky onslaught.
"Dammit," Jimmy cussed under his breath.
"Now, Alexander, use Hidden Power!" Sarah directed firmly. Alexander growled deeply as his body – mainly his wings - began shining in a deep green aura. The Charizard quickly flapped his wings at the Rhyperior, sending a large wave of artificial leaves at the Drill Pokémon. Missy held her incredibly thick arm in front of her face as the fake leaves sliced across her tremendously thick skin, slicing it in some places; blood started to ooze from the lacerations.
"Despite the clear type advantage against it, Charizard retaliates with a powerful Hidden Power attack!" the announcer exclaimed. "Hidden Power...it's quite the enigmatic attack, even among professionals like Professor Oak!"
"Missy, are you all right?!" Jimmy yelled with concern. Missy lowered her arm and grunted; she started to bleed, but she was far from defeated. "Good. Now, use Rock Slide!"
"RHEEEEEEERGH!" Missy complied as her entire body shone in a red light, causing large grey boulders to fall on top of Alexander, who failed to react in time.
"Alexander!"
"Ouch! That had to hurt!" the announcer recoiled. The Charizard fell to the ground with a grunt; he struggled to stand up, but the final boulder crashed into his back, knocking him down again.
"Alexander! Are you okay!?" Sarah asked loudly. Alexander grunted and growled as he struggled onto his feet.
"Looks like this battle is over before it's even begun, folks!" the announcer said excitedly. "Then again, the last time I said that, the battle kept going anyway..."
"Try a Dragon Pulse attack!" Sarah yelled. Alexander inhaled deeply and breathed out a string of green flames from his mouth.
"Rock Wrecker!" Jimmy commanded. Missy cupped her hands together, forming a boulder that grew in size as more smaller shards were pressed against it with the aid of a pretty red aura. Eventually, Missy fired the massive rock directly into the Dragon Pulse attack; Rock Wrecker flew across the pulse attack effortlessly, neutralising it in the process.
"Iron Tail!" Sarah cried quickly. Alexander quickly flew into the air and slammed his tail, shining in a metallic light, down on the large rock, halting its trajectory instantly.
"Clever move!" Hayden complimented. He, Lily, Alexa and Keenan sat on the sofa in their hotel room, watching the entire battle on the flat-screen television opposite them. "Isn't that what Phoenix tends to do, Lexie?"
"Using offensive moves defensively? Yeah," Alexa nodded. "But he mostly does that with Steel Wing; he hasn't once used it as an actual attack."
"Really?" Lily questioned with intrigue.
"He mainly learned Steel Wing to help with the Fuchsia Gym," Alexa explained further. "It protected him from the Poison attacks. Since then, Steel Wing's been Phoenix's special defensive attack rather than an offensive one."
"Very clever," Hayden smiled.
"I guess she took a leaf out of your book," Lily laughed.
"Either that or it's an amazing coincidence," Alexa said quietly.
"Looks like Charizard's fire is still burning, folks; it's not ready to admit defeat just yet, so things could get even more interesting yet!" the announcer said keenly.
"Not bad, Sarachi," Jimmy smiled. "But you're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve! Missy! Surf's up, girl!"
"RHEEEEEEERGH!" A violent roar from the Rhyperior miraculously conjured up a large wave from underneath her feet; she then rode on the huge wave that threatened to crash down on the awestruck Charizard.
"When you're done gawking, Seismic Toss!" Sarah exclaimed, sounding fairly annoyed. Alexander flew towards Missy and somehow managed to push her off of the tidal wave. He then tossed her towards the ground, over his head, before the Rhyperior could react, causing her to crash into the arena. The tidal wave ceased, but the water spilled almost all over Sarah's side of the arena as the water ended up passing her feet.
"And a Seismic Toss saved Charizard from a watery defeat!" the announcer stated, almost laughing at his own joke. "I wonder how much longer these two Pokémon will be able to hold out for..."
"Missy, Stone Edge once more!" Jimmy called.
"Hidden Power, Alexander!" Sarah instructed. Simultaneously, Alexander shone in his bright green aura as Missy's crossing rings of light circled her to form sharp shards of rock. Both attacks fired at precisely the same time, both Alexander and Missy roaring as they released their techniques. Stone Edge and Hidden Power passed one another and struck their targets at the exact same moment, causing them both to roar in agony.
"OH! It's a double whammy, folks! We don't see many of those; savour this moment, you may never see anything like it again!"
Missy and Alexander fell onto the ground on their backs and struggled to even sit up. However, eventually, both Pokémon slumped onto their backs, unconscious.
"Both Charizard and Rhyperior are unable to battle!" the referee declared as he held up both flags again. "This battle is a tie!"
"Good effort on both parts," Keenan smiled. "But does the commentator have to be so obnoxious?"
"He's a commentator, kiddo; they're ALL obnoxious," Hayden replied. Keenan laughed while Alexa huddled slightly closer to Hayden, who placed his arm around his daughter.
Alexander and Missy were recalled into their Poké Balls before both Jimmy and Sarah met in the middle of the half-soaked arena.
"Good game," Jimmy said kindly. Sarah nodded.
"Yeah, you too. So...Missy knows Surf, huh?"
"Got the idea from you and your Rhyperior," Jimmy smirked.
"Wanna get a drink or something?" Sarah asked suddenly.
"Sure," Jimmy nodded as he and Sarah walked out of the arena together.
"It's always nice to see both Trainers being civil to each other after a battle, no matter which one loses or wins," the announcer smiled. "Then again, there's technically neither a loser nor a winner this time...but, hey, it's a charity tournament, so who cares?!"
"Case in point," Keenan sighed. Lily laughed as she began to stroke her annoyed son's hair.
"Just ignore him, sweetie."
"He's so loud; it's hard to ignore him," Keenan complained. "Alex, were the commentators at your Pokémon League matches this annoying?"
"To be honest, Keenan, I think they've gotten more annoying since my battles in the Sinnoh League," Alexa lamented.
"That doesn't surprise me," Hayden said, gently and slowly rubbing his arm up and down Alexa's arm.
"Right, don't go away yet, folks, because there's still more battles to you to enjoy! And I think..." the announcer stopped mid-sentence as two more Trainers walked onto the arena from the opposing entrances; the girl wearing what looked like a purple hooded jumper was accompanied by a a very cheerful and optimistic Stoutland, while the pale skinned boy with a tuft of navy blue hair poking out from his gold and silver cap was accompanied by a content-looking Slowking. "Yep, we have another one on the way right now!"
"All annoying announcers aside, I think this was a very good idea," Lily said sweetly. "Especially after such a busy morning."
"This morning you saw a battle then and there...this evening we're watching a series of them on live television..."
"And?" Hayden asked as he smiled towards Alexa.
"It's just an observation, that's all," Alexa shrugged. "Today's been battle-heavy, that's all. I'm not complaining, but, like I said, it's just an observation."
"That's true. But at least these battles are for a good cause," Lily smiled.
"And it's interesting to see other people's Pokémon in action!" Keenan added. "At least I think so." Alexa smiled.
"I like seeing the different strategies. I'd pick up a few for myself if mine weren't improvised."
"Improvised strategies are the best ones," Hayden stated. "The opponent won't be able to counter them unless they themselves improvise."
"Yeah." Hayden briefly looked at Alexa with mild worry.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm a little tired, that's all," Alexa answered. "Like I said, today's been battle-heavy."
"I think seeing these battles is wearing you out at this point!" Keenan laughed.
"You battled too, remember?" Alexa asked with a smirk on her face. Hayden and Lily laughed as Keenan chuckled nervously.
"So, Alexa, how do you feel about battling again after today?" Hayden asked curiously. Alexa's smirk grew into a much warmer smile.
"Better," she replied simply.
To be continued...