The sun rose over a new day as the duo of trainers began their trek onto route 36. The boys had spent the remainder of the following day relaxing and recovering, as well as buying a replacement for one of the few shirts that Chance had with him on his journey. Now, they walked along a small trail that led them through a rather dense forest. It was the same forest that houses the National Park, but this area was outside the protected border.
They took the day slower than usual, giving Chance more breaks to sit and rest, as his wounded shoulder was providing a rather unpleasant amount of pain. However, the more frequent breaks did give the two young trainers more time to work with their pokemon. Adrian took the opportunity to continue working with his new elekid and its ability to release electricity. The young pokemon was slowly learning how to control thundershock, which made Adrian happy to see the progress. He was also working with his quilava's flame wheel, trying to get it to increase the size and power of the attack. Nidoran continued to work on its speed, while tentacool remained largely in its pokeball due to the lack of bodies of water.
Chance had taken the time to try and get scyther more used to his team, which was going better than the redhead had expected. Snivy and scyther seemed to get along just fine, scyther having spent more time with her than any of the other pokemon. The rest of the team seemed alright with scyther as well. However, scyther did always keep a close eye on the giant onix whenever he was around.
During their time spent training, Chance had scyther and staryu, his two newest pokemon, keep working on the moves they already knew. This training helped their trainer better understand their limitations and how best to use them in their coming battles. Staryu primarily trained with its water gun and swift attacks, both of which proved to be fast and powerful techniques. Scyther was able to show off its quick attack and fury cutter attacks to its new trainer, both of which came with very impressive speed, but lacked the raw power of a full grown scyther.
Hoothoot, in preparation for the gym that Adrian had said was a ghost-type gym, was working on a new attack – confusion. Chance was hoping that the psychic attack would help give him an edge against this next challenge… But it was not coming along well at all. The small owl pokemon seemed to be having trouble focusing the attack, and when it did show progress it was unable to control whatever object it was picking up for more than a few seconds.
The last two, and arguably strongest members of his team, snivy and onix, were both working hard as well. Onix couldn't train during every break, due to not always having room, but Chance had set about having it learn rock tomb, which it was already starting to master with ease. Snivy, however, continued to work on what she already knew. Back in Goldenrod City she had revealed that she had learned energy ball, but the orbs of energy that she created were still small and took far too long to create. The target for her training was primarily charging speed and power of the attack. Overall, her training was going well, which pleased both her and her trainer.
The first two days of their renewed journey progressed smoothly. The forest was mostly quiet during their travels, and the occasional breaks for rest and training kept the day rather interesting. Their pokemon were making decent enough progress with their training, but the boys made sure that they weren't pushing themselves too hard, as they were still a few days out from Ecruteak City and the nearest pokemon center.
The third day was progressing just as well, when the boys came across a fork in the road. The path continued further north, but there was another path that led further east. Chance stopped once they reached this path and turned to his companion.
"I thought you said there weren't any other towns around here?" He questioned his blonde friend. "Any idea where that road leads?" He asked, pointing to the east.
"That is actually the road to Violet City." Adrian explained. "If we were to take that it would lead us out of the forest and to Violet City. It's the natural route that people from Ecruteak City take, rather than going all the way south to Azalea Town like we did."
"Oh wow… I guess I thought we would be a lot further north than Violet City by now." The redhead mused while scratching snivy's head from her perch, laying across the top of his backpack and resting her head on his right shoulder.
"Well, the route eventually turns south, but yaknow…" He trailed off. "It's only about another three days until we reach Ecruteak City. The forest will start to become less overgrown by tomorrow evening, and the next route is much shorter." The blonde explained.
"I hope the days go fast. I am ready for my next gym badge, and I know snivy here is ready for a good battle." The grass snake pokemon gave a quick nod and a small squeak to confirm her trainer's words. Both were unhappy about the absence of the previous gym leader, causing a large gap between their gym battles.
"Agreed. It doesn't feel like we have been making much progress at all, but we will get there as long as we just keep moving." The blonde began to walk north once more as he spoke, quickly followed by his companion.
Several hours went by in relative silence before the group made camp for the evening. The boys made a small campfire to prepare their dinner on. While their food cooked the boys mostly watched hoothoot using its confusion to slowly pick up berries and spin them in the air before they would inevitably fall when it lost its focus. Each time the berries fell the owl pokemon would puff up and let out a hoot of frustration, causing both boys to chuckle softly.
"So…" The redhead began after a small gap of silence. "You haven't really told me about your home life before. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I just thought it would help to get to know you more. You do know all about my family. About how my mom won the Unova league and my sister came close, and is a favorite for this year's competition."
The blonde laughed a little in response. "Ya know, I never meant to hide anything, really. My life just isn't nearly as interesting as yours. I didn't grow up being the son of a champion or anything."
"It really isn't as glamorous as you think it was." The redhead half smiled. "So, what about your parents? What do they do?"
"Well… I grew up with my four older brothers, who basically raised me, really. My parents used to be trainers. They didn't do anything as impressive as your mom, but they taught my brothers and me to love pokemon. My mom eventually gave up being a trainer to work at the pokemon center, and my dad worked at the docks in Cherrygrove." He scratched behind nidoran's large ears as he spoke.
"Worked? What does he do now?" The redhead asked, standing up to stir the pot over the fire once more. Behind him, Adrian's eyes fell to the ground.
"Nothing. He is gone… They both are…" He murmured quietly. Chance immediately turned to his friend.
"Wha- I mean… I didn't mean…" The redhead sputtered.
"No." The blonde gave a small smile as he looked up into his friend's eyes. "You're fine. It's fine. It was a long time ago." Chance sat down beside the blonde, resting his right shoulder against his friend's left shoulder. "I've been able to talk about it for a few years. It isn't easy… But they wouldn't want me to always be sad."
"You're a lot stronger than you let on, ya know?"
"I guess." The blonde laughed lightly. "It was an accident years ago. They went on a cruise, their first vacation in years. There was an accident and the ship went down. Most of the passengers survived. There were enough water pokemon and life rafts that most people made it out just fine. Even my parents' pokemon came back… My mom's mantine arrived to the shore with their pokeballs and three passengers. The people on mantine said my parents sent mantine away with them to save them. They stayed behind to save others…" The boy looked up at the evening sky as he finished his story, a look of sad pride spread across his face.
Suddenly, the blonde felt a tight arm around his shoulders. He was pulled tight to the side of his shorter friend, who leaned his head into him. The stray red strands tickled his nose slightly.
"Your parents are heroes. You should be very proud." Adrian turned to his friend, who pulled his head away and met the eyes of the blonde.
"Were… but yeah, I know…"
"No, they still are. They may not be here anymore, but their actions still are. Others are still here because of them, so they are still heroes to those people, and to you, and now to me." The blonde nodded to his friend, their eyes still focused on each other.
"I really do appreciate that. I may be able to talk about them, but it will always be hard, I think. Somehow, you seem to make it a bit easier though."
"I'm glad." A wide grin grew across Chance's face before he stood to check their cooking soup, unknowingly leaving his friend a bit confused to the sudden sadness from the loss of the warm arm. "I am sorry I made you bring up sad emotions though…"
"It was an innocent question, and thanks to you, I'm not sad, so don't mention it." The blonde's words were shockingly true to him. He missed his parents dearly, but they didn't feel so far away in that moment. He pulled nidoran up from the ground beside him and gave the small pokemon a hug.
"Looks like dinner is ready, although, you left me to finish making it so who knows if it's actually edible." The redhead laughed lightly, earning a smile from his friend.
"Don't worry, you have been improving… slowly." The blonde stood up to get his own bowl of soup. "Although, if you and I never would have started traveling together I am guessing you would have starved to death." Adrian's statement earned him a playful look of annoyance.
The boys filled their bowls and called out their pokemon to feed them as well. The small group of trainers and pokemon gathered in a circle to enjoy their meal. However, moments into their meal the relative silence was broken by a new, loud voice.
"Oh my god. Something smells so good!" The voice called out, causing both boys and the majority of their pokemon to glance around into the trees around them. "Hurry up! We have to find where that smell is coming from!" The cheery voice rang out once more.
Both boys slowly got to their feet as a girl with bright pink, shoulder length hair burst through the tree line with wide smile across her face. The pink-haired girl wore what appeared to be a softball jersey and very short blue shorts. Behind her she pulled a girl with long curly blonde hair. The second girl wore a white tank top and a blue skirt, as well as several large rings and a flashy belt around her waist.
The two girls stopped for a moment when they entered the clearing that they boys had made camp in. The first girl scanned over the group, her eyes lingering a moment on the steaming pot that sat over the fire.
"Are you guys the source of that amazing smell?" She asked in a bubbly voice.
"Uh… Yeah, I guess." Chance said slowly, his eyes drifting from her, to the soup, and back. "Why..?"
"Because we were wondering if you would be kind enough to share!" The pink-haired girl stated loudly. The blonde rolled her eyes behind her friend.
"I am so totally sorry for her." She said in a voice that conveyed her annoyance. "She forgets her manners when she gets excited like this."
"No, it's fine." Adrian said after sharing a glance with his friend. "We would be happy to share." His own smile was met with a small one from the blonde and a huge one from the pink-haired girl who immediately ran up and wrapped the blonde boy in a hug.
"You are the best, sweetest person ever!" She said in a much louder voice than the boy would have appreciated, given that her mouth was so closed to his ear.
Chance quickly provided the two girls with bowls from his backpack, which the pink-haired girl promptly filled and began eating ravenously. The blonde girl sat down beside her, giving her an annoyed look once more. The two boys gave each other curious looks once more before sitting down with the two newcomers and starting their own meals once again.
"So, my name is Adrian, by the way." The blonde smiled warmly to the girls. "And this is Chance. What about you two?"
"Oh gosh. We totally forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we?" The blonde girl stated, smacking her forehead lightly. "I am totally sorry about that. My name is Samantha. It's totally nice to meet you two. And thanks again for the food." She flashed a genuine smile to the boys this time before turning and elbowing her friend.
"Oh! Right!" The pink-haired girl laughed, finally taking a break from shoveling the soup into her mouth. "My name is Whitney! And we really do appreciate your kindness!" The girl's voice was still very loud and excited, but the boys were thankful it was at least slightly more subdued now due to the food.
"Well, it's nice to meet you two, and don't mention it. We will be in Ecruteak City soon so we will be able to replenish our supplies pretty easily. We are just glad we could help out." The redhead smiled.
"Oh? Ecruteak, huh? What are you guys doing there?" Whitney asked in a more human level voice.
"We are headed there to challenge Morty for our third gym badges, actually." Chance said with a grin. "Ghost pokemon are tricky, but we have been training hard and I think we can handle it."
"Oh, well that is very interesting." Whitney sat forward now, clearly much more interested in the strange boys than she was previously. "So you two are both out and challenging gyms then?" A strange grin spread across her face.
"Uh… Yeah?" The redhead replied with a confused look. "Are you alright? You are acting differently…"
"That would be because she is the Goldenrod City gym leader…" Adrian replied in an annoyed tone with a hand on his face. This revelation earned a look of shock from his friend and a huge grin from Whitney.
"That's right!" She shouted with a huge smile. "The one and only!" Her companion rolled her eyes at the boisterous announcement.
"Are you for real?!" The redhead asked, still trying to process the information.
"Of course!" Whitney said happily. "I am actually on my way back home right now. Sam and I just spent some time in Ecruteak City for a bit of a vacation."
"We are aware, actually." The blonde boy replied dryly. "We waited for days in Goldenrod hoping that you would return so we could challenge you"
"Oh really?" The pink-haired girl replied with a devilish smile. "Well, in repayment for the dinner, how about I take both of your challenges before we part ways? Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, I will battle both of you!" She declared firmly.
So, this chapter was harder to right than I thought it would be. I am glad that Adrian is finally showing a bit of his history, and the friendship between the two boys is definitely deepening. Next Chapter will be one that has had a decent amount of buildup and will be played a bit differently than most gym battles, as I am trying to find ways to make this story different than every other fic that follows more "canonical" gym battles. I don't plan to do anything too crazy with it, but enough to make it interesting.
Also, I would like some input. I have expressed displeasure with the current title of the fic and a friend suggested I change it to "Heir to the Crown" or "Heir to the Champion's Crown" I am liking both better than the current title, but would love some input from my readers. I greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy 3.