I will be updating the story every 3 days for a bit. I may update it a day early if I'm feeling spontaneous lol. Been a little busy so I haven't had to much time to write lately.
Also, I appreciate the reviews. Keep feeling free to write em because I read every single one.
I struggled throughout the trial. I came within 4 seconds of the time limit in the first round. Disappointment in myself would be an understatement. I was beyond furious.
The 2nd round was easier but I still struggled.
I'm not going to talk about the final round. I completed it, that's all you need to know. Hmph.
Once I completed the last round this little fish came up and looked at me. It was such a cute Pokemon. My Pokedex said it was a Wishiwashi. Such an odd name.
Then a second and a third Wishiwashi came by. Then a dozen more came and before I knew it this little Pokemon turned into this giant one. I was so confused. What the hell was this monstrosity. I pointed my dex at it and it told me it was Wishiwashi. I heard Lana snicker as she stood on land.
Damn.
I sent out Rowlet for the advantage. I was handling Wishiwashi well until it bellowed like I ain't even hear a Pokemon bellow before. This thing yelled so loud I'm pretty sure they heard it back in Hoenn. Then an Alomomola appeared and attacked my Rowlet. It was 2 on 1. Okay, actually it was like 100 on 1 with all these damn Wishiwashi's. This was not fair.
Rowlet bent his back backwards so he looked at me upside down. I swear he was saying, "Da fuq is this? You tryin to have me killed." I shrugged at him. Rowlet went to bent forward but then he bent back and shook his head.
This Rowlet has way too much of a personality.
The tag team of Alomomola and the Wishiwashi begin to wear down Rowlet. Rowlet is increasingly growing annoyed. After another attack lands, Rowlet screeches. Then something begins to light up in front of him.
An Energy Ball attack.
The attack hits both Alomomola and Wishiwashi defeating them in one hit. Lana gasps for a moment but then nods.
She hands me the emblem for the amulet and congratulates me.
"Does your Rowlet usually attack without being given an order?"
"Yeah. I thought maybe he was undisciplined but I think he just gets frustrated and vengeful. he's a bit of a firecracker." As I say that Rowlet lands on my head and bends down looking at me in the eyes. Lana chuckles. "As you can tell," I say laughing. I reach into my pocket and toss him a Poke bean.
When we got back to Caleb, he was playing with Skitty and Litten. Skitty and Litten have become quite friendly since Caleb and I became friends. They are a scary duo, those two, though. The sass and attitude is just a little too much.
Not to mention they eat our damn food and act like they don't. Like this morning, we went to the Malasada shop in Heahea City and Skitty ate some of my Malasada when Caleb and I went to get a drink. Skitty just looked at me when I accused him of eating my food. When I ignored him he went into my bag and went for the biscuits I had. He ate 4 of them the friggin slob.
Anyways, it's nice seeing him with Caleb. Caleb is more friendly with his Pokemon. It's like he connects with them on a different level. I mean I care about my Pokemon and I'll pet them, but there is something different about Caleb. I think the Pokemon know that too.
He's kinda great.
When I arrived up at the starting point of the trial he spotted me, smiled, and got up off the ground.
"Told you you would do it."
"Yeah yeah yeah," is all I could say.
He looks down and spots I'm missing a shoe. Dammit.
"Where is your other shoe?"
Lana laughs. I glare at her.
"He slipped on Lapras and lost his shoe in the water." She continues to laugh hysterically. "He got scared when a Wishiwashi jumped up."
Caleb looked at me with a raised bro and started to cackle.
"You guys are just terrible. I thought it was something else, okay!" I argue.
The shoe fell on top of a ball. A ball that I needed to find. I nearly failed the damn challenge because of it.
I took off my remaining shoe and socks and tossed them in the garbage can near the trial site. I grabbed my sandals out of my bag and placed them on my feet. I hate wearing them while walking for a while. Thankfully, the minimart on Royal Avenue sells shoes so I'll go buy some there.
When we reach the minimart we run into someone unexpected.
"Splits!? How ya doin my man!?" Castor yells. His girlfriend walks next to him with her stupid pink hair.
Okay it's fabulous but she is stupid so her hair is stupid.
There is something different about Iwika and Castor. They are wearing Team Skull uniforms. Not only that they have their own group of Team Skull Grunts by their side. Oh and they aren't wearing masks or bandannas to over their faces. The only Team Skull member I've seen without a mask was Guzma.
"You're with Team Skull?"
"Damn right I am, Splits."
"Yo, who's this dope?" a random Grunt said.
"Just a loser from back home," Iwika responds.
"Loser? You're Castor's girlfriend. Who's the real loser here?" Caleb fires back surprisingly. Castor walks up to Caleb and chuckles.
"Your boyfriend got spunk, Splits."
My blood began to boil.
When I told them about the Rockruff back in Iki Town they didn't seem to care. They knew and didn't care.
None of the members of Team Skull cared.
"You're disgusting!" Caleb exclaims at Castor.
Castor looks at me with a smug look, "Tell your boyfriend to calm down."
"He ain't my boyfriend you back-alley mistake." The skin on my face felt like my head was placed right next to a large fireplace. I was fuming.
Castor, once joking and laughing was no longer doing that. His face turned very serious. When he approached me I realized just how much bigger he was compared to me. He was easily a few inches taller and his arms, well, let's just say he is Machoke and I'm Machop. uh, no I'm freakin Farfetch'd.
I swear he was going to punch me, but then Skitty bit him in the leg causing him to kick his leg out as he roared in pain. Skitty was sent flying and my heart nearly skipped a beat. But when Skitty landed on his paws, I was able to breath.
A grunt sent out his Yungoos, but Skitty wasn't playing. Skitty quickly charged and headbutted Yungoos. Then as Yungoos went to recover, Skitty grabbed onto it's tail with his teeth.
Caleb sent forth his Jangmo-o and Litten. I sent out Rowlet.
Yungoos quickly hid behind his trainer after Skitty let it go.
"Woah. The homo's Skitty has some spunk too. How cute."
"You Team Skull thugs just don't stop, huh?" a voice says calmly.
Gladion stands nearby with a strange Pokemon right by his side. I was too incensed by Castor to whip out my dex and find out what Pokemon Gladion had. Gladion looked at me and nodded.
"After all this time you are still causing problems. Still bullying and being a band of idiots."
"And who the hell are you?" Castor asked.
"That isn't important. Now leave." Gladion looked annoyed as if he was doing a job he has done for years and hated the monotony of it.
Castor laughed almost uncontrollably. He waved his finger at Gladion. Then he reached back and threw a Pokeball.
"Araquinid," Caleb muttered.
Gladion just smirked.
"Silvally, Tri Attack!" Silvally attacks Araquinid with a large three-beam attack. Shockingly, Araquinid faints by just that one attack.
"You're a scrub. You're no match for my Silvally. Now leave before I drag your ass back to Guzma myself."
Castor groans as he returns Araquinid back to its ball. He looks to Iwika who motions her head back.
"We're not done, Splits. I'll get you back for running that mouth of yours. You and your boyfriend."
He looks over at Caleb, scoffs and leaves with his Skull friends. I just glare at them as they walk away. The disdain and hatred in my body is raging.
Caleb turns around and looks at me. He looks down and then back up. I look down and see that a small dribble of blood is falling out of my very closed fist. When I opened my hand it exposed the wounds caused by my nails. I had been so angry that I didn't feel my fingernails digging into my hand. It wasn't a lot of blood but it was still dripping down.
Gladion walked over to me and grabbed my hand.
"Damn. You really don't like the kid, huh? Bad blood I guess."
"He's an ass. Been giving me problems since I moved here," I responded still looking at my hand.
He looked at Caleb and then back at me. "Hmm I see." He let go of my hand but grabbed my other hand and placed some cash in it. "Go get a cream and bandage for this. And buy yourself some shoes. Those sandals won't feel comfortable when you walk up the mountain."
"Thanks Gladion."
"Don't sweat it, kid."
He tapped my shoulder and walked away with his Silvally. I watched as he left. He walked on the ground as if he owned it.
"Come on, Cam," he said looking at me. Even after I nodded and started walking he kept an eye on me. He looked pretty concerned but he didn't pry.
In the minimart we got an anti-bacterial cream, to make sure I don't get an infection, along with a roll of gauze. I also got a couple bottle of water, a towel and a nice pair of red and black shoes.
Outside Caleb poured the water on my cuts and cleaned my hand of the dry blood with the towel. Then he wrapped the gauze around my hand and taped it down with the tape he had in his backpack. He handled my hand with care, almost as if he caused it, like there was guilt in the fact that I hurt myself.
The cuts didn't even hurt. Maybe it was the adrenaline that was still pumping through my veins.
Before heading up to the Volcano, Caleb wanted to take a break near the fountain in the middle of the avenue. He seemed a little sullen when he suggested it, but I assumed he was just tired.
There was an awkward silence between us as our Pokemon played in front of us.
"You okay?" I asked.
His eyes peered towards me but he didn't turn his head. He kept his head down and then looked straight down.
He didn't say anything for a few moments leaving me feeling distant from him. Then he responded quietly. "Why do people bully others?"
"Because they are miserable. They need to make people more miserable than themselves to feel better."
I watched as his eyes suddenly became transfixed on Jangmo-o, who was playing around with Skitty. "I don't get it."
My eyes watched his face looking for any contortion, but he didn't. He was completely rigged. Only his eyes moved and they moved with each movement Jangmo-o made.
"That's because you are a nice person," I say as I look away. "I've only known you for like 2 weeks and you've been nothing but great to me. You befriended me for no friggin reason. You could've just forgotten me after our battle, but you didn't."
In my peripheral vision I saw Caleb look towards me. I didn't look back. I focused on my Skitty in front of me and watch as Rowlet trips him and seems to laugh.
"I don't know why you befriended me. I don't know if I really care. What I do know is that I'm incredibly grateful." I took a deep breath as I thought about what I was going to say next. I was nervous to say but I felt like I had to. "Between moving to Alola and your friendship, I've been able to do in these last couple weeks what I tried to do the last year."
I look over at him, looking into his crystal blue eyes and said, "And that was to move on. Move on from the pain of my Dad's death. Moving on from the bad memories and being able to look back at the good ones without being filled with sadness."
He didn't say anything. He just looked back at me as he took in the words I said to him. I looked away because I could feel myself getting emotional.
Don't you hate when you get emotional and you really just don't want to? That's me right now.
As I watched Skitty chase Litten around I felt something touch my hand. I looked down and watched as Caleb slipped his hand into mine and hold it.
"I needed to befriend you," he said to me as he looked straight ahead at the sea of trees.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I was alone."
He tried to slip his hand out but I gripped it tighter not allowing it out of my hand. He looked down at our hands and relaxed a little bit.
"I'm not alone now," he said with his voice trailing off.