Mark.
Inside the Room.
"Lee, you go on and take a nap. I'm going to go back to that department store, get ready to travel..."
Lee closed the room door behind him, staring at me as if I were stupid. "What? No. I'm fine," He argued. "And, what d'ya mean, 'get ready'?"
I shook my head. "All I have is a backpack with a couple changes of clothes," I explained. "My Pokenav says Celestic Town is a long ways from here. Even with those kids, we should be stocked on medicine, food, water, and pokeballs, if the need be."
Leave it to me to be the one to plan ahead. Lee pouted unhappily, and sat on the bed; very mature for an 18 year old.
"But why do I need to take a nap? We're leaving tomorrow. I should help you stock up, if anything!"
I rolled my eyes. "You're nursing a hangover." I picked his bag up, sifting through it for his wallet. "Mind if I use your money? I'm short."
"Yeah, sure." Lee hopped off the bed, pulling his duct tape wallet from his back jeans pocket. "You sure you wanna go by yourself?"
I pocketed his wallet, sighing. "One of us here is a grown man, Leon."
"I am, too!"
"Then act like it!" I left the room, taking his room key with me, because I didn't intend on taking long.
Even after I was out of the hotel room, something kept me standing there, the doorknob in my hand. I gently pressed my ear to the door.
Lee sat back on the bed, I assumed, or laid down. He groaned, "Overprotective bastard." I heard the unmistakable sound of him getting under the covers, getting ready to sleep.
Surely enough, when I returned two hours later, that's exactly where I found him. Still asleep, still as a board.
Amber.
The Next Morning.
The next morning, my friends and I left my house before anyone else woke up. No note, no explanation, nothing.
Honestly, I felt bad about it, but my father would have had a cow if I told him I wasn't going to stay home. Max had been so upset over Daddy the time he'd called me, and I didn't want him or Michelle put through that again.
Lee and Mark were at the Pokemon Center, Lee sitting at the video phone talking to a boy. Shift sat next to Lee's leg. The boy looked like Riley, with blue eyes and shaggy black hair under a baseball cap.
"Hey, um, Lee?" Riley tapped his shoulder. "It's us."
Lee jumped. "Shit, kids, don't sneak up on a guy like that." He turned to the boy on the screen. "See you, Mike, good luck!" He hung up on the call, just as the boy opened his mouth to speak again.
Immediately, we left. Lee hefted his backpack over his shoulder, already wearing his laptop case, and we headed back towards Route 215.
"Up and at 'em, kids! We've got a lot of ground to cover in 20 days!"
Riley.
On Route 215.
"Who was that boy on the phone with you, Lee?"
As we walked down the path on Route 215, I asked Lee about the boy he had been talking to.
From what I could see of the back of his head, Lee grinned. "My baby brother, Mikey," He answered. "He just turned ten and left home a few months ago. Gonna challenge his fourth gym leader today, a blonde little son of a bitch named Morty, and wanted to talk to me first. God, am I proud of that kid! Three gym badges in four months, isn't that something? He's not a contest star, like his big bro, but Mikey's Totodile is just the cutest thing, with his-"
Mark, walking in front of us with Lee, covered his mouth with his wide hand. Jesus God, Lee could rant.
"Save the pride speech, would you?" He complained. "My God. Daisy'll probably get your voice box removed if Mikey wins at the Indigo Plateau."
Lee pushed Mark's hand off, and I laughed. I glanced at Amber, and she rolled her eyes with a smile.
"What's the Indigo Plateau?" Dee asked them.
Mark sighed. "Mind if I answer?"
"Go for it."
As we walked, Mark stretched his arms over his head. "The Indigo Plateau is where Johto and Kanto hold their Pokemon League tournaments," He explained. "I assume you have those in Sinnoh?"
"We have the Lily of the Valley Conference," I offered shyly. I still couldn't tell if Mark hated me or not. "I'm planning on making it there, once I earn my eight gym badges.
Mark nodded. "Well, best of luck, then," He offered. "Usually, only the toughest of the tough make it there. Some trainers even go and challenge Elite Four members."
"If only 'the toughest of the tough' participate in these conferences," Lee muttered dryly, making air quotes, "how did your sorry ass make it?"
Mark shoved Lee's shoulder. "Quiet, you! Not everyone has two professors behind their ass!"
Behind me, Astro piped up, "That's what she said."
Awkward silence. Mark groaned, jerking his thumb behind him.
"Why does that one talk?" He complained. "The other one doesn't talk."
"Shut up! I ain't gotta tell you why I can talk, you friggin' ginger!"
Later.
"Here you go...we don't have much, but it's enough to eat."
We settled down to make lunch around noon. Dee dished out food to the pokemon first, then made us bologna and cheese sandwiches.
Mark made a face as he saw what she handed him. "Bologna's not gonna last long on the road, kid..." He warned her.
Dee sat in the ground between Amber and I, pouting angrily. She glared at Mark.
"It's fine," She snarled at him, taking a bite of her sandwich. "You see the cooler I was carrying? A friend of ours rigged it, so it's battery powered. Keeps all our food cold, 'til I cook it."
I swallowed through a bite of bologna and cheese. "Dee really is a great cook," I assured Mark.
"Don't worry about food," Amber continued, helping me stick up for Dee. "'Cause Dee went yesterday and restocked the cooler."
"Hmm." Green eyes glared at Lee. "You see? Even these kids thought ahead to get ready before we left."
Dee sat there, with a smug smirk on her face.
"Well...uh, Dee?" Dee nodded at Mark's question. "Mind if I help with dinner, tonight? My dad has a resturant, so I can cook, and I don't wanna just be tagging along and sucking food."
"No problem with that," Dee answered. "Soup alright?"
"Yeah."
From the side, near our pokemon, Astro's voice chimed in. "Guys, don't plan dinner when we're still eating lunch."