Chapter Nine

I was woken up the next morning by Max, who shook me roughly until I came to my senses. Hurriedly, we made sure we had packed up everything we needed, left a note for Gaia, and left the dorm.

The corridors were eerily quiet, and our footsteps rattled around as we made our way through the school, and out of the large doors. Once we were outside, we were greeted quietly by the professor.

"Nice to see you made it boys. Do you have everything you need?" he asked, the cold morning wind whipping his hair into a frenzy.

We both nodded, certain that we had packed all the essentials. I had even double-checked my own bag about five times, just to be doubly certain.

"Good. Now, you must leave as soon as possible, the teacher's will start to wake up in a minute." He gave us a look, which seemed almost sad. "Do either of you have any questions?"

I shook my head, playing with my poke ball absent-mindedly in one hand. And that's when it struck me. "Professor?"

He raised his eyebrow, encouraging me to continue.

"During my battle with Ash, I was using my Gengar. It has obviously gone from being a Gastly all the way to its final evolution. That just isn't possible is it?"

To my surprise, the old man gave me a wry smile. "Actually, Mr Davis, it very much is. It sounds to me like the Gastly I gave to you from my machine is actually a descendant of one that has lived in the Sacred Land. You remember what we said about the mystical powers the place has? Well, pokemon are inclined to skip evolutions if they feel the need."

My mouth fell open. My brain whirred away as I struggled to understand what the professor had just explained to me. "So, if a pokemon who has relations to one that lived in that place wants to, it can just...skip to a more advanced evolution?"

He nodded at me, clearly happy at my understanding. "That is correct. And it is also very intriguing. If it is not a pain, I would like you to keep in contact with me about your pokemon as much as possible. Things like evolutions, or new moves, that will be very helpful to my personal research."

He handed us both a small slip of paper.

I looked down at it. Scrawled across it were eleven digits – a phone number.

"Should you choose to contact me on your travels, just call that number. It's my own cell phone, so any information you pass on to me won't fall into the...wrong...hands." He turned to face the winding hills and mountains ahead. The bright orange orb that was the sun was just beginning to kiss the bottom of the horizon, rising up slowly. "Now, you must leave. Be sure to do the best you can! Goodbye!"

With some hurried handshakes, Max and I left down the road, towards the entrance gates of the school. Sparing a glance over my shoulder, I saw the thin figure of the professor hurry away.

And a shadow in a top window, blatantly looking down on us. We were being watched.

Nudging Max, we sped up, and left the school grounds as quick as we could. As I checked my watch, I saw that the time was 7 o'clock, so students would start to rise up for the new day. I wondered if anyone would realise we had left. What would Gaia think? But I was also concerned about the mystery person watching us as we left the school. They didn't exactly do a good job or hiding their presence, so maybe they wanted us to notice them. It was all very suspicious, and very confusing.

We continued our journey in silence, until it reached ten, and we both realised we were hungry. Noticing a park bench, we took a seat, and Max pulled out the Kanto region map we would need to find our way round. People walked past, but seemed to take no notice of us.

"Okay, so we're on route 26." he said, pointing with his finger at our location. "This is also Victory Road, so expect lots of trainers on their way to battle the Elite Four."

I looked up at him, feeling suddenly nervous. "That means their pokemon will be more advanced than ours! We'll get trashed."

"That's true. But it's still experience, and do you see another way to get to Viridian City?"

No matter how hard I checked the map, I knew the honest answer.

"Besides, it won't just be experienced trainers. You'll have sightseers and tourists coming by this way, and they'll be easy targets if we challenge them to a battle. It'll help in the long run."

I nodded, knowing I couldn't disagree with his logic. It just seemed so...backwards. Normally, trainers got their first pokemon and worked their way up through the gyms, normally starting at Pallet Town, where I was from, and going their own way after that. We were going head on towards some of the best trainers, and then to Viridian City. There also seemed to be no Pokemon centres for a long way, apart from one where routes 26, and 22 met. It was going to be a gruelling journey.

Max prodded me, bringing me back round to the present.

"Looks like our first victims have arrived." he whispered, beckoning towards two people coming at us from around the bend. They were a man and woman, looking no older than us, but were panting and wheezing heavily.

Immediately, I spun round to Max. "We can't battle them! They look so tired!"

But he could only smile in return. He put on a fake posh voice, and feigned putting on a small pair of glasses. "Well, old chap, Pokemon League rules state that you cannot turn down a battle from another trainer, even if the question isn't asked. And as we're taking the gym challenge, we must abide by the League rules or face expulsion."

"But no-one will know!" I retorted, aghast at the thought. I knew I would rather help them; give them supplies, than battle them and annihilate whatever pokemon they might have.

"They will."

The two people had now got closer, so I could finally get a proper look at them. The man looked my age, but had stubble across his face, and was sweating profusely from his forehead.

The woman on the other hand was, and there's no other way to put this, stunningly beautiful. She was wearing a hat I had seen in Western films many times, and thick blonde hair cascaded down from it, stopping just above her chest. She had a small nose, freckles, but the perfect smile, which she flashed at me as they both came over to us.

Max and I shook hands with the man, and awkwardly greeted the woman.

"Alright, guys?" the man said, wiping his forehead. "I'm James. You are?"

We both introduced ourselves, and turned towards the woman. She smiled again, making heart jump a bit. But I was brought down to earth with a resounding bang, when memories of Gaia seared through my mind, both haunting and alluring at the same time.

"And I'm Emily." she said. Max nodded respectfully, but I kept my eyes firmly to the floor, feeling incredibly ashamed of myself.

Silence lingered in the air, but I knew what was coming. Max stood up.

"Want a battle?" he asked.

James grinned. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Max set about carving a rough battle field onto the ground with a large stick. James flopped down on the bench next to me, still breathing heavily. I raised my head slightly, aware that Emily was now helping Max.

"So, where d'you guys come from?" he asked.

"I'm from Pallet Town, but I'm not too sure where Max lives."

"What gives?" James pressed.

"Well, we both go to the same school, at Indigo Plateau, and we met there not too long ago."

"I see!" he replied, but then frowned. "So why aren't you in school still?"

I flashed him a knowing look, suddenly wishing to get the battles over and done with so I could leave as soon as possible. "It's a long story."

I got up, and helped Max finish off the ground. I went into one trainer box, pulling a coin out of my pocket.

"Whoever guesses correctly when I flip the coin will challenge me first. Call it in the air." I said to the group.

"Heads!"

"Tails!"

The coin landed on my hand, and I turned it round to show to the others. Emily had guessed correctly, so she stepped forward into the other box. The others went and sat down on the bench, watching out for any other trainers who happened to pass by.

"Okay..."I breathed, mostly to myself. "Let's do this!"