5: A Public Introduction

Pikachu

Giovanni seemed no different to me than before. He still had a set and strong jaw, not a gray hair to be seen on his head and he even had his shoes polished. I wondered if those were the same shoes he had when we fought each other all those years ago. Although the heels on the shoes were small, he still towered over us yet he made no move to fight back as Red suddenly ran at him.

He had barreled past me right after the man had greeted us, took a handful of his white button-up shirt, and then roughly shoved him into the wall and pinned him there. "What are you doing here?!" he snapped, not even bothering to hide his own hatred.

He frowned at Red and grabbed his wrist to pry him off. "Lance didn't tell you? Or did you not read the letter that was sent to everyone?" he asked scathingly. I hissed some more at the tone, which he ignored.

I jumped out of the elevator as the doors closed, staying as close to Red as possible.

He finally pushed Red away when he noticed that his answer didn't satisfy either of us. "I am just a competitor in the gym leader circuit of the tournament."

Red clearly didn't believe him, going as far as scoffing at him. "How many people are you going to kill to win it?"

Giovanni brushed imaginary dust off of his jacket and then straightened his shirt. "No one. Is that so hard to believe?"

After all the things he'd done, I would say it was extremely difficult. Red narrowed his eyes in ire at the ex-mob boss.

The man sighed, almost irritated that we were even there. "If you have an issue with it, take it up with the League. They are the ones that tracked me down and gave me an invitation, I've been out on parole for a few months now." He rose a brow at our shocked faces. How in the hell did someone like him get a chance at parole? He turned around to face the elevator. "I wonder what else Lance hasn't told you."

My ears flicked with a mixture of irritation and curiosity. What did Lance have to do with this? My cheeks sparked again as Giovanni pressed the button for the elevator to come back up. "I would refrain from attacking a defenseless competitor, Red," he said, somehow noticing the snap Red was about to command. He entered the elevator and turned around his dark eyes back on us. "That would most certainly get you disqualified from the tournament. We can't have that, can we?"

Red frowned and glanced at me. He was right and hesitantly, the sparks faded but I didn't move from my spot between the two of them until Giovanni pressed a button and the elevator doors closed.

I was frozen in my spot until I couldn't hear the elevator anymore, making sure he was truly gone until I saw Red turn towards the stairs to go up a floor. I glanced at him inquisitively, smartly remaining quiet when I saw the glare still on his face and followed him. Normally I wouldn't condone his behavior, but we weren't expecting run into a murderer at a hotel far from home.

We made our way back to the room in no time and quickly Red opened the door and closed it behind us, ensuring it was locked. I felt worried about him as I watched him quietly move around the room until he disappeared into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. I wanted to go in with him but he seemed like he wanted to be alone, so I left him be.

Luckily, he left his jacket, hat and belt hanging over a dining room chair so I was able to release the rest of our team. Charizard was the first to notice how quiet I was and briefly glanced towards the closed bedroom door.

"What happened?" Blastoise finally asked and immediately, the others quieted down, looking to me for an answer.

I glanced between them. Espeon seemed concerned and Snorlax had his full attention on me while Venusaur was frowning and his face told me he was worried as well. My hesitation tipped them off that something was wrong—I wasn't exactly known to be quiet for very long, after all. Charizard's narrowed eyes made me nervous. "We saw Giovanni," I eventually replied quietly.

Espeon's eyes went wide and Venusaur sucked in a startled breath. Blastoise glanced at Charizard when the fire-type growled deep in his throat while Snorlax worriedly looked to the door.

"Is Red hurt?" Espeon asked me and I shook my head. I was glad that the first thing they were asking about was Red's safety.

An angry snarl from our resident fire-type turn caught my attention. "Why is he here? How?" Charizard demanded.

No one had an answer for that. One would think the Indigo League wouldn't allow Giovanni to compete since he'd lost his gym leader position, much less so because of his violent history. I frowned to myself, wanting to hear what Lance had to say about it since he'd been mentioned. I shook myself from my thoughts and slapped my cheeks.

For now, I needed to worry more about Red instead. This unplanned meeting hadn't been good for his mental well-being. He needed us. I went to the closed door as the others talked with each other in quiet, angry voices and jumped up to the door knob to turn it. It took two tries but I eventually did get it open. Doors are difficult to open when you're as small as me.

I left it open as I entered the dark room. I could see Red lying in bed on top of the covers, wide awake and lost in thought. As soon as I was close enough, I jumped up onto the bed and immediately went right next to his head and nudged it with my own. It made me sad to see him flinch slightly, but he quickly got over it and turned to face me to lift me up onto his chest and scratched my head.

I said nothing to him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to understand me, first of all. Secondly, he never wanted to talk to anyone about what happened when we were younger, despite our growing concerns and suggestions. He was as stubborn as a tauros, constantly telling us he was fine even if he obviously wasn't. Blastoise suggested a long time ago that since he wouldn't listen to us, simply being there would help. It's worked out pretty well so far.

I smiled at him when he stopped petting me. "It'll be okay. We'll kick his ass if he comes near us again," I told him confidently.

While he had no idea what I was saying, I'm sure he understood the gist of it. He smiled slightly and patted my head one last time before we felt the bed move again. Espeon had jumped up and immediately settled herself up against Red's other side near his waist then let out a soft purr as he scratched her head as well.

A few moments later, her purring had stopped and both Red and I glanced down to see she had fallen asleep while being petted, soft snores coming from her. Red and I met each other's eyes and he let out a soft, almost relieved, laugh. I rolled my eyes and thought the next time she decided to tease me about something, I knew exactly what I would bring up.

-x-

I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until Red's shrill alarm woke us all up in the morning.

I let out a tiny whine and heard an objecting grumble coming from the floor. Startled at the noise, I opened my eyes and saw it was Blastoise, slowly poking his head out from his comfortable shell. He stared off into space for a few seconds before letting out a huge yawn. Espeon was up already with Venusaur, both of them sunbathing out in the living room in front of the open balcony doors, letting the cool morning air in while nearby the wide-awake Charizard and the still-sleeping Snorlax lay elsewhere.

I looked around with a confused face. Red was nowhere to be seen but once I picked up noises coming from the restroom, I relaxed. I soon yawned as well and sluggishly got up to my paws to walk across the bed to try and turn off Red's alarm, frowning as I tried to figure out how to turn it off. I pressed the big button in the middle, but that did nothing and it kept going. After a few more tries, I grew frustrated and slammed a paw against as many of the buttons as I could in one hit, hoping one of them would turn it off and thankfully it worked (if it turned on again ten minutes later and wouldn't turn off much to Red's confusion, that wasn't my fault).

I immediately scowled at the alarm clock. Why in the world was the alarm set for seven? We didn't have to do anything, did we? When the shower stopped running, I stretched and let out another yawn as Red came back out with a towel draped over his head and him trying to dry his hair as best as he could. As soon as he removed the towel, I frowned with concern at the dark circles under his eyes but he didn't notice the look as he started to get ready for the day. I highly doubted he had gotten much sleep last night, if any at all.

"Why are we up so early?" I asked Blastoise as he sat up.

He shrugged. "Training?" he suggested.

I watched Red some more as he started to rub the towel roughly over his head in a vain attempt to dry it quicker. Blastoise was probably right: I mean, it was the only logical thing.

About fifteen minutes later (and one broken alarm clock later), Red had recalled everyone else and we were headed down to the first floor and with me in my usual spot on his shoulder. I was surprised to see so many people up and moving around as soon as the elevator doors opened. What in the world was going on? Looking towards the cafeteria, I saw Blue talking with the silver-haired champion and Chili, then I noticed Ethan sitting at the same table as a girl with a white hat and a tall black and blue pokemon standing behind her with two plates balanced on its flat arm and the other grabbing the berries off of them with delight.

I was pleased that I couldn't see Giovanni anywhere but I also spotted Brock, stone-faced as usual, while Misty likely ranted about something to him and Ericka hiding her laughter from behind the arm of her yellow kimono. Whatever was going on, we didn't stop to talk to anyone as we headed outside quickly.

We managed to get down the steps until someone finally noticed us and shouted, "Hey, wait up!"

We turned our heads around as a boy with a white hat on jumped over the four steps and jogged to our sides. Red had stopped to wait for him and I tilted my head slightly, wondering who this was. "Thanks. There's too many people there right now," he said with a relieved sigh. "You don't mind if I come with you, do you?"

Red shook his head silently, starting to walk again.

I could see him keeping a close watch on the other teen and with those calculating eyes, I knew he was trying to gauge his strength as a trainer. He was just about my trainer's height, give or take a few millimeters and although the large hat he wore covered his head, I saw a little bit of dark brown hair poke out from underneath it. There wasn't much else that I could observe, but Red might've picked out other details that went way over my head since he looked away to pay attention to where he was walking.

"I'm Brendan, by the way. I'm one of the Hoenn champions with Steven. Have you met him yet?"

My trainer shook his head, quickly losing interest in the conversation. I rolled my eyes at him. He could at least pretend he was interested.

Brendan noticed but he didn't seem to care. "Oh, well, he told me he's seen you around. Silver hair and black suit, poofy red tie? That's him." He put his hands behind his head as we walked. There was a brief moment of silence where we could only hear the sounds of the city in the background and a few pokemon crying from far away. "A whole month before our tournament starts, huh? I mean, I'll be watching my dad battle during the Gym Leader Circuit but when I'm not, I guess I'll just wander around and explore. I mean, there's so many new pokemon I want to see!"

Now that piqued Red's interest and he glanced at him.

Brendan turned his head towards him and smiled again. "Wanna come with? Sometimes, I help May and Professor Birch with their research, I can show you what I know."

Red thought for a little and then shook his head once. Deep down, I was a little relieved. Arceus knows he gets himself into trouble and wanders away without us often enough. I didn't need another human to add to that annoyance.

Our companion pouted slightly. "Why not?"

"Training," Red answered quietly.

Brendan accepted the answer and smiled again. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know." Then his eyes glinted, a challenging look from any trainer if I'd ever seen one. "But no matter what, I won't go easy on you if we battle each other."

Red noticed the look and smirked a bit, nodding once. I wouldn't expect anyone to go easy on us. Going easy against another trainer is an insult to anyone.

As we walked, Brendan convinced Red to stop to get breakfast at a restaurant nearby. While it wasn't the same one we had been to before, the food was nothing to complain about. I was glad Brandan wasn't a constant talker like Ethan was nor as pushy as Blue. He was passionate about pokemon, even introducing us to a green pokemon with a permanent blank look on his face he called Kecleon. Unlike his trainer, Kecleon kept mostly to himself and only spoke to me when spoken to. Honestly, he was quiet a boring pokemon but when he showed off his invisible trick, my eyes went wide.

I took it back. Kecleon was awesome. When I told him so, Kecleon seemed to be embarrassed and more than happy to go back into his pokeball when we were done eating. When we got close to the stadium, we were directed straight onto the field. I looked around in awe at the empty stadium.

The view down here was vastly different than the one from the top floor and I felt we could see every seat in the area. We weren't the only ones there and Brendan led us towards a man with dark hair, who glanced at us curiously. "Hey, Dad. This is Red and Pikachu," he said and motioned towards us.

"I know who they are," he answered then smiled at us. "I'm Norman, Petalburg City gym leader." He offered a hand and Red politely shook it in a firm grip. "Nice to meet you."

I smiled at him. "Hello," I said, reaching a paw out to shake as well.

Norman chuckled and amused me by shaking my paw as well. Red glanced at me with a raised brow and I just grinned at him.

"Oh, look, Red's socializing. Unheard of!" We turned to see Blue, who grinned at Red's instantly annoyed face as he walked over. "Don't act like it isn't true!"

He had a point.

I got a good look around at the people that were still coming in. A few of them wore extravagant outfits, one lady even wore a black pair of leggings and a dress with pink and yellow sleeves so long, I couldn't even see her fingers. Surprisingly enough, I didn't see Chili nor the other two brothers anywhere around as the doors closed.

I did notice Giovanni off to the side, though he wore a trench coat and hat to hide himself as best he could. If Red saw him, he didn't show or he was just pointedly ignoring him. Eventually, the director came out to address us and I was prepared for another long speech. Thankfully it wasn't and he and a few other people with black shirts and in big bold letters on the back the word "STAFF" began separating champions and gym leaders.

The director watched with a hand playing with his mustache as he watched everything and then nodded to himself as he turned to the gym leaders standing with their respective regions. "Gym leaders will be standing in the front, each region will be introduced one by one! Once gym leader introductions have concluded, your champions will be introduced by region as well."

He then turned towards us. "Champions, you will be walking out by region as well, named and titled. When you come out, stand in front of your region, and we will bring out the Trainer's Circuit winner, where they will pick which one of you they want to battle."

He then ushered everyone out to do a quick practice run and I was quickly bored of it. I had flopped on Red's shoulder by the time we were finally done, wanting to do anything but this. Even night training sounded better than this!

When we were finally released an hour later, we were made to wait inside while spectators were finally allowed inside the stadium. We stayed inside the conference room we had been in before and I felt my ears twitch when I heard footsteps beside us. Blue sat down in a chair next to Red, eyeing him with a frown. "You look like shit," he told him after a moment.

Red didn't answer, just scratching my chest fur as he held me.

Blue sighed and then said quietly to make sure no one else heard, "You know you can tell me if you have bad nights."

"Did you know?" Red finally asked, glancing back at him with narrowed eyes.

It seemed like he knew what he meant and shook his head. "Not until last night. That's why Lance wanted to talk to me. I was going to tell you this morning." Blue leaned back in his chair, propping one foot on the back of the chair in front of him. "He told me Giovanni's participation was out of his hands, so whoever invited him is way above him." He stared up at the fluorescent lights above us in a brief silence, furrowing his brows together in thought.

I sat up but remained seated in Red's lap, watching the two keenly as I tried to figure out what that meant. Why did the League invite Giovanni? Why not a gym trainer from Blue's gym, like Salma, she was the strongest one Blue had! Lastly, why didn't Lance tell us himself?

Blue grunted as he sat up and we both looked back at him, torn from our thoughts. "Maybe that's why Lance bought extra tickets for us." He snorted. "Whatever, at least we didn't have to pay for it. Wanna go see what Ethan and them are up to?"

Red tilted his head slightly and glanced down at me as I wondered who 'and them' were. I jumped up to his shoulder when Blue pulled him up to his feet anyway.

"No use in moping about something you can't control anyway."

Red quirked a brow once he was up. "I wish you knew that when you were ten," he answered simply and walked past him as Blue looked shocked.

I laughed, then turned around and stuck my tongue out at Blue for old times sake.

"What—hey! Pikachu! Red!"

We left the conference room and briefly waited for Blue to catch up so he could lead us to wherever Ethan 'and them' were.

'And them' turned out to be Black, White, Nate and Rosa, all five of them sitting on bar stools at a snack bar in a large waiting room of sorts with various foods and drinks in front of them. Ethan was the first to see us, smiling as he took another bite of his chips and cheese.

When offered if he wanted anything, Red shook his head, instead choosing to sit on an empty couch nearby that faced a television playing a live feed of the stadium. There were a few announcers talking to each other and playing recaps of the final match that had happened, constantly showing a shy boy with green hair but I soon grew bored decided to explore the room.

There wasn't much here save for a few magazines sitting on a shelf nearby, a vending machine, and the snack bar. I watched as Red looked interested in the match that was playing then turned my eyes towards the Unova twins plus two. Blue and Ethan were starting to argue again and already White looked annoyed with them and voiced it to them loudly. Black tried to get her to quiet down as Rosa turned around in her seat. "Red! You should try this! It's a Unovan snack that everyone should try at least once!" she said and Nate nodded in agreement.

Red turned his head around and hesitated before he got up and went over. I was amazed, really. My trainer never willingly went to people he barely knew even if it was with Blue and Ethan, or one of them. He was usually the one to hide in the back and away from people, especially if he didn't know anyone in the immediate vicinity.

I looked at White, noticing her trying not to stare at him but failing every few moments and forcing herself to look away. I had no idea what I wanted to happen anymore. Part of me wanted to say dating wasn't such a bad idea, but the other side wanted nothing to do with her or anyone else. It was out of my hands, though. Red was old enough to make his own choices.

We all looked up when everyone was called to a gate and Red glanced at me, holding his arm towards me. I shot a grin at him when I jumped up to his shoulder. We walked out of the room last and I noticed the other trainers in the area go quiet at the sheer sound of the cheering on the upper floors. When we got to the gate we would all exit out of, it was nearly deafening even with the doors closed.

I looked up towards the concrete ceiling with an awed look when I listened to the cheering and then grinned as I glanced at Red. Unlike my trainer, I actually enjoyed battling in front of thousands of people, I loved having the spotlight and all eyes on me. I loved to show off my skills and let everyone know that we were the strongest while Red would much rather have a battle somewhere outside of the public eye.

A woman with long blue hair tied into a loose bun and wearing the staff shirt and black jeans was shouting something at all of us, making sure the Sinnoh gym leaders were first and that everyone else was away from the doors so people on the other side of the stadium couldn't see us. I rolled my eyes. I highly doubted people could see anything through the long hallway between the stands, especially through a closed metal door.

Then I heard the echoed voice of an announcer suddenly saying through an intercom, "Welcome everyone! Welcome to our final day of the Trainer's Circuit! We want to thank everyone for joining us thus far and congratulate our winner!"

The cheers grew louder and Red glanced at Blue when he nudged him.

"Betcha any one of us could squash 'em," he said with a grin.

"Don't say that so quickly, Blue." I looked over to see Lance right behind us, smirking a little at us. He pretended not to see Red's irritated glance at him, as if he already knew what he was upset about. "You never know who will be more powerful than yourself, and this is coming from experience," he said. "I did not imagine three children would defeat me, after all."

Ethan jumped up from beside him, looking excited all over again. "That's why you changed your team, right? To counter all of us?" I flicked my ears. He changed his team to counter us? I grinned to myself. Lance could try all he wanted but if he used the same old strategies as before, he shouldn't be difficult to take down.

Lance let out a soft hmph noise. "Of course. I will not be so easy to defeat this time, and I'm sure I could beat one of you, at least."

Ethan held up a finger and wagged it back and forth. "You're still defeatable, trust me."

"That isn't a word," Blue told him.

"It is now!"

All of us glanced towards the door as it opened, letting in an explosion of cheers surround us. I was glad I wasn't the only one who winced at the sudden noise. "We welcome to our great Driftveil City Stadium, the gym leaders of Sinnoh!"

The blue-haired lady ushered the gym leaders forward and if I thought the cheers couldn't get any louder, they did. As soon as the leaders of Sinnoh were gone, I watched as Johto's leaders stepped forward where they had once stood.

It went on until Kanto was last and I glowered at Giovanni, who ignored our look as he stayed near the back. Once they had gone out, the doors closed again and the woman shout at everyone, "Same order! Sinnoh, Johto, Hoenn, Unova, Kalos, Kanto!"

I decided that putting on a show just to introduce us all to everyone was too much work. Sure, it was exciting and it may look good on camera, but behind stage felt rushed and all I wanted to take a nap. I yawned to let Red know but he simply ignored me, staying at Blue's side in the back of the line. I huffed at him. I didn't enjoy being ignored.

"Please join us in welcoming all gym leaders participating in the tournament!" There was barely a pause when I heard cheering again. "Now we meet our next competitors for the Champion's Tournament!"

I made a tiny whining noise of discomfort as the cheers grew impossibly louder and Red glanced at me with concern, but I shook my head. I didn't want to go back into my pokeball, I'd just suck it up and enjoy the moment.

The crowds were screeching and chanting various champions and their names and kept cheering as the doors opened up again. "The dazzling ladies of Sinnoh! Current title holder of World Champion Cynthia and Tamer of Giratina, Champion Dawn!" Giratina? Well, if she could tame a legendary, I'm sure she would be a powerful opponent. I kind of hoped we would fight her, she sounded like she would be a challenge we needed.

I looked at Red, starting to get excited again and he smiled, nodding as he scratched my head and I could sense a bite of calm coming from him, setting his face to his blank expression again.

I looked at Ethan as he turned to us, smiling. "See you on the field!" he said cheerfully as the doors in front of he and Lance opened up.

"Home of the Bell Tower in Johto, Champion Ethan and Dragon Master Lance!"

The cheers grew louder, and I could hear so many of the younger ladies screaming Ethan's name as if he'd even be able to determine which voice belonged to whom. I rolled my eyes. Fangirls were something else.

"All the way from the Isles of Hoenn, we have Champion Brendan, geologist extraordinaire Steven and the water-type enthusiast, Wallace!"

I watched as Nate glanced back at us and grinned, giving us a thumbs-up before he walked with the other Unova champions through the doors. "Next up: Our very own Unova Champions all in attendance! The Four Twins: Black and White, Rosa and Nate! Also in attendance is veteran Alder and our current champion, Iris!"

I noticed Blue glance towards us when the Kalos trio started to walk forward, leaving us alone. "You ready for your ears to bleed?" he teased and chuckled as Red rolled his eyes. "Not my fault you avoid the public, you got that famous title yourself." And I was sure we would be introduced using our 'famous' title.

"From the starry region of Kalos, Champion Calem, Champion Serena and our favorite movie star, Diantha!" The screeches were loud as soon as Diantha was announced, and I watched the stylish champions walk out onto the field. I briefly wondered who wore what better: Diantha and her dazzling white coat or Lance and his extravagant cape.

Shortly the doors in front of us were opened and the cheers suddenly grew even louder than before as Red and Blue walked towards the other champions. I distinctly heard Red and Blue's names being chanted by several different trainers before we had even been announced and I looked up, seeing many people on the sides leaning over to get a good look at us. I couldn't help but grin at them, even offered them a thumbs-up as Red kept walking forward onto the field.

"And last but not least, the two youngest trainers to have ever earned the title of Champion in the world, all the way from Kanto, final gym leader, Champion Blue and the elusive Champion of the Mountain, Red!" Blue and I happily waved to the crowd, Red remained stoic through the entire introductions, the intimidating frown replacing any emotion on his face.

We made our way towards the Kanto gym leaders and once we were in our spots, we turned around to face the large crowds in front of us. It really was amazing to see how many people were here to just look at us, if only for a few minutes.

"The Gym Leader Circuit will begin on Monday, while the Champion's Tournament will begin on the first of next month!"

Among the cheering, I noticed the gym leaders turn around and exit the arena and I watched as a young man with a shy and nervous smile plastered on his face was walked forward with a man in a blue suit as he waved at the crowds.

The man took a microphone and held it up to his mouth. "Trainer Wally! You have won the Trainer's Circuit and now you have the chance to battle any champion you see on the field. Have you made your decision yet?" So this was the announcer? His high-pitched voice didn't match up with his face.

The boy—Wally—looked between all of us with star-struck, nervous eyes, before he nodded up at the man. "I have," he answered when the microphone was in his face.

His eyes immediately darted toward Brendan and he smiled a bit more confidently. "Brendan, you and I were rivals all through Hoenn. How about one more match?"

From the side, Brendan stepped forward with a determined grin as he slapped on a thick, dark bracelet with a strange stone embedded in it. I blinked at it curiously and heard him say, "You and Gardevoir better be ready, then."

The rest of us turned around and walked back through the gates we came through and I felt slightly disappointed. I wanted to see what would happen but when I felt Red's shoulder relax as soon as we were out of the public view, I glanced at him. I wondered what was going through his mind as we walked through the hall to head outside. He seemed to be distracted and didn't even respond to Blue when he called his name and if I had to guess what he was thinking about, it was Giovanni.

Blue finally caught up to us and put a hand on his shoulder. "Red, I called you like a thousand times," he said as Red glanced back at him, slightly startled. "Come on, let's go to the beach. Ethan, White, and I are all going there for training."

I snorted, not believing that any training would get done. "Ethan" and "training" don't usually go together in a sentence.

We met White and Ethan outside, the latter smiling the instant he saw us. It was much quieter outside of the arena, though the echoes of the cheers were still loud in the sky. I was happy that the suffocation of the thousands of people watching us finally dissipated and Blue greeted them back and we all started walking together. "I can't wait for our battles to start," he said.

"I'll take you down to fight Red first!" Ethan objected.

"Why are you still going on about that?!"

White looked amused as she watched them, looking at Red. "Are they always like this?" she asked curiously and Red nodded once, looking annoyed at the two of them. She leaned forward to make sure Ethan and Blue could see her while we walked away from the stadium. "Why are you fighting over Red? It's not like it'll be up to you who you fight first."

Ethan looked at her as if she had said something wrong. "Are you out of your mind? I have a bet with Blue that I'll fight him first!"

"You do not!" Blue retorted.

"Now I do!"

"Ugh!"

"What if neither of you fought him then? What if it's me who has to fight him first?" White asked, egging them on. Red shot her a pleading look for her to stop which she ignored, grinning ear to ear.

"Then I'll fight him during training!" Ethan exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, what training would get done? All I could foresee is a bunch of teens arguing with each other instead of training.

Blue rolled his eyes at the younger trainer and looked at White and Red. "I say we should do a double battle, then: me and Red versus you and Ethan."

White grinned and nodded. "You're on, spiky hair man," she said and I smiled as Blue narrowed his eyes.

"Doesn't his hair defy gravity?" Ethan added and laughed.

Blue's annoyance rose more, shooting his glare at him. "Cut it out already, Ethan!"

Red watched them with the slightest smile on his face, saying nothing as he listened.

Ethan shook his head rapidly. "Not until you tell me your secrets! When your hair is wet, does it all fall down like those shampoo commercials you see on T.V. with the women with the super long, thick hair?" He flicked his bangs dramatically. "'Maybe it's me; maybe it's Combee,'" he quoted and laughed as Blue tried to smack him and he dodged it.

"I'll bet if he straightens it and puts on a little bit of foundation, he could pass for a chick," White added and laughed. I snickered and could see that Red wasn't bothering to hide his smile either.

"I'll have you know that my hair isn't that long, and when it gets wet, it stays like this, thank you very much!" Blue snapped.

"How much hair product do you use then? I need to find a new style for my hair, tell me your secrets!"

Blue shot a pleading look at Red and I. "Come on, Red, help a friend out!"

Red threw his hands up in defense, silently saying he wasn't going to get involved in any of this. That only invited Ethan and White to keep ganging up on poor Blue for the rest of the walk toward the secret beach spot.

As I watched from my spot on my trainer's shoulder, I finally decided that this wouldn't be so bad. I could get used to having more friends. So long as no other feelings would develop between anyone.