Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 78: Catching Up
Seth's POV
Days removed from our adventures in Eggseter, here we were, in a nameless small town that was to serve as our rest stop for the night. There was only a single main road for vehicles to come and go from this town. Yumi and I were on the sidewalk, looking to see if there was any Pokemon Center of sorts. Espurr was put inside it's Pokemon to sleep for the night, while Chikorita was on my shoulder, staring at the setting sun that was just about to descend behind the mountains of Mt. Mortar in the distance.
Only a matter of time before Neo Snagem tries to take over this town too...
"But why would they try a place like this? This town, there's nothing special about it..." I whispered to myself.
But what could I do? If I wasn't able to stop them before...
I put my head down in silence. Beside the footsteps of Yumi and I, the only sounds heard were the passing of a couple of vehicles and a trio of Murkrow landing of a single power line that stood above and parallel to a red roofed building right across the street from us.
"Wait." I said as I fave the red roofed building a second look, "A building with a red roof...that's the Pokemon Center."
"What was that?" Yumi asked as she turned around to face me.
"The Pokemon Center." I answered as I pointed toward the red roofed building, prompting Yumi to look as well.
"Oh! Well then, let's go!" Yumi said in her typical, cheerful fashion as she started to run with high energy, but then-
"Yumi!" I called out as I grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Whoa!" Yumi yelped as she fell to the ground. She was just inches away from the path of a speeding car that blew right past us, it's wind causing our hair and Chikorita's leaf to raise.
We waited a few seconds before Yumi turned to me with wide eyes. It was shocking and so sudden, the moment that seemed to pass by so fast. It took another moment for Yumi to recapture her breath. Chikorita hopped off to go and check on her.
"Chico?" Worry was written all over Chikorita's face. Yumi, who was still on the ground, looked at Chikorita before facing me again with those sky blue eyes.
"Honestly, have you never heard of looking both ways before crossing the street?" I scolded as I held ou tmy hand, offering to help Yumi to her feet.
"Um..." Yumi's eyes seemed to have calmed down. She was silent as our hands touched, and I had risen her to her feet. The sky was turning a purplish night color, as was Yumi's eyes as she continued to stare at me.
"I guess you've also never heard 'never just run across the street'." I said.
"Um..." Yumi repeated, "You're still holding my hand.
"So? What of it?" I asked with a curious expression.
"What of it?" Yumi said confused, her eyes widening with shock. "Seriously? How dense can a guy be?" Yumi asked herself as she chuckled and smiled, "I guess you don't even have enough emotions to feel embarrassment."
I sighed in annoyance, then abruptly released Yumi's hand as I moved closer to the edge of the sidewalk. I looked twice to my left, and twice to my right, and calmly started my walk across the street, Yumi and Chikorita right beside me. Stopping in front of the Pokemon Center once I made it across, I took one last look at the sky. Evening had arrived, and I felt a light, breeze as I faced the Pokemon Center once more and proceeded inside.
This is the end of the day, and I live to see tomorrow.
Location: Pokemon Center
The atmosphere inside the Pokemon Center was quite mellow. With the day dead, many trainers were probably in their rooms ready to go to rest, while just a few others were in the lobby. Yumi, Chikorita, and I walked past a trio of male trainers conversing about. The trainers were accompanied by their pokemon in Sneasel, Chespin, and Lopunny. Oh Lopunny...it was the first time I've seen one since...
"Flint..." I said to myself, reminding myself of the Lopunny that Flint would sometimes let me care for back in Sunnyshore City. "Flint...and Volkner..." I've kept out of touch with those two for so long. A 'hello' is probably long overdue. So I turned to Yumi and called her name, "Yumi?"
"Yes?" Yumi answered as she faced me with a bright smile.
"I have some business to take care of." I answered as I turned to the Pokemon Center's video monitors, and started walking toward them, "I'll leave you to yours."
"Well my business just so happens to be whatever your business is right now!" Yumi said, hands on her hips before she and Chikorita started to follow me. "I'm tired of you going on all these 'amazing' adventures without me, which is why I'm not going anywhere. Besides, I also made a promise to keep you close..."
I should've predicted as much from Yumi...
So I made my way just passed the Lopunny that stood by it's trainer. I gave it just one passing glance. I giggled slightly before returning it's attention to the Sneasel and Chespin it was conversing with.
"Some pokemon, isn't she?" Yumi asked rhetorically as she, Chikorita, and I all reached the Pokemon Center's video monitors.
I took a seat just two seats away from a female trainer who was using a video monitor herself.
"It's been so long since I last used one of theses." I said to myself as I turned the video monitor on.
Seconds later, while the monitor was still loading, Chikorita hopped on my shoulder and gave me a single nuzzle. I gave her just a single look before refocusing on the screen that was in front of me.
"So who are you calling?" Yumi asked as she sat at the video monitor right next to me.
As I was dialing the number to Sunnyshore's gym, I gave Yumi an answer without even looking at her, "I'm calling a person who once saved my life..."
Location: Sunnyshore City
POV: There is no POV at this time
They were vivid and beautiful, the night lit shores of Sunnyshore City, a city that prides itself on it's revolutionary technology.
Many people, locals, and tourists alike walked about throughout the eastern edge of the Sinnoh Region. And from within the thousands of people, were two men on their way to Sunnyshore's gymnasium.
"So then he challenged me to a battle. He wanted to see how much he and his pokemon have grown over the course of their second Sinnoh journey. He told me that he originally came to Sunnyshore to challenge Dahlia. The Battle Arcade was the last facility to he had beat before challenging the Battle Pyramid in Snowpoint. That Paul...Maybe he'll be in the Champion League someday..." Flint finished.
It was Flint and Volkner, both arriving in front of Sunnyshore Gym as the sun went down, and the day was finally over, as well as Flint's story of how his day went.
It was peaceful outside. People were all heading inside for the night, and the sounds that remained were those of distant wave. The lighthouse was brightly lit, giving Volkner and Flint a view of Sunnyshore's edge...and the house that was once lived in by one of their closest friends and his family. It's been five years since he last lived there.
Volkner sighed as he kept his gaze on the villa.
"Volkner," Flint started as he too stared at the beach side villa, "So you've fixed his old house back up. But why?"
"Ever since he left for Johto, we've been out of touch completely." Volkner replied as he placed his hands in his pockets. "But I never lose hope that he'll one day return to Sunnyshore with his mother AND with the entire Neo Snagem organization defeated."
"Well that's Seth for ya," Flint said as he started into the Sunnyshore Gym, hand sin his pockets, "Always so quiet and mysterious. You never know what he's feeling with that same, indifferent expression of his."
Volkner's eyes narrowed as he gave the beach side villa one last look for the day. "I couldn't agree with you more," he said as he followed Flint inside.
The automatic doors closing as Volkner and Flint came inside, the gym was empty, which didn't happen too often. Whenever trainers weren't challenging the gym, Electric type pokemon and Water type Pokemon from the coast would come here to rest and converse with each other.
"Shoot, even Jasmine isn't here right now." Flint said as he walked past the lobby and into the empty arena.
Volkner's POV
I stayed at the entrance of the gym, thinking about why Jasmine wasn't here, but not for too long, "Guess it can't be helped..." I said as I was about to start following Flint. But before I could make the first step, before the heel of my foot even tapped the floor, I heard the video monitor ringing from within the break room that was located quite a few feet away from where I was standing. "Who could it be at this hour? Jasmine?" I asked myself as I walked casually into the break room. Inside the break room, was a dining table that stood just in front of a black, leather sofa that stared at an average sized flat screen television on the edge of the room. Behind and separate from the entertainment section was a refrigerator and a counter that stood on a white tiled floor. And at the very corner, was a desk with the ringing video monitor on it.
"Do you think it's Jasmine?" Flint asked as he entered the room.
"Well we'll just have to find out," I answered with my eyes still on the video monitor as I approached it and turned it on. The person that appeared on screen wasn't Jasmine... "What the?" I said as my eyes widened.
"It's been quite some time, hasn't it?" Flint asked with a smile on his face.
"Yes, it has, Seth." I said as I looked at him, the black haired, aqua blue banged girl, AND that Chikorita.
"My thoughts exactly," Seth said with that typical straight face, "Listen, I now have more than six Pokemon on me, so I'll need to send a few to you to watch."
"Getting straight to business, are we?" Flint said, "Let's not skip any formalities first."
"Who's the Chikorita? And who's the girl?" I asked. But before Seth could answer, Flint rushed to the screen and looked directly at the girl.
"Wait a minute. You're that girl everyone's been talking about. The girl who defeated Champion Marina. Yeah, Yumi. You've been all over television." Flint said to the girl who gave him a very curios expression.
"They have?" asked the girl called Yumi.
"So her name is Yumi." I answered to myself before looking back at the Chikorita that was on Seth's shoulder. Although I already knew it was a Chikorita, I had to ask Seth, "So who's that Pokemon?"
The Chikorita blinked.
"My first Pokemon." Seth answered.
"Seth took her in after she was released by her original trainer." Yumi added.
And that was only the beginning of what Yumi told Flint and I. She told us almost everything that's happened from her point of view ,about Seth, Zero, and the growing state of the same Neo Sngem that once tried to take over Sunnyshore City a year ago.
There was a long pause following Yumi's rambling. I thought to myself about how I didn't know what was going on in Johto, and how one on my closest friends in Seth was fighting on the front lines while I remained in Sunnyshore, doing absolutely nothing.
"...I saw my brother..." Seth uttered, "And I should've died..." With Seth typical indifferent expression, nobody was able to see the subtle depression he had.
Flint and I remained silent, as well as Chikorita. However, there was at least one person present to brighten the mood.
"You almost died, so what?" Yumi asked as she got in Seth's face.
Seth's POV
Yumi was looking me right in the eye, and shifted my attention away from Volkner and Flint for the moment. Her face was serious, and her words were passionate, even though they only came out as whispers.
"Ever since we left Ecruteak, you've done nothing but mope around. You think about the past way too much, and forget about the present and future." Yumi said, hands on her hips, "For now, let's just forget about yesterday, because right now you live to fight another day. Come on! Lighten up! At least smile!" Her voice slowly went from a whisper to her normal, above average volume, and she gave me a big smile, encouraging me to do the same.
"I looked back at Flint and Volkner, who were both smiling at me as well. Inside the gym, I saw a light brown haired woman walked through the automatic doors in the lobby. Only briefly was she seen on screen, but I paid her no mind.
"Hey!" Yumi said as she turned my face bakc to her, forcefully recapturing my attention, "I'm not done with you yet! Smile, pleeeaaase?" On her face, were very big, sparkling, sky blue eyes.
"Yeeaaahhh. Good luck trying to get that to happen." Flint chuckled, "The dude smiles even less often than Volkner here."
"Seth smiles?" I asked Flint with a chuckle, "Five years, and I've never seen him with that frown upside down."
"Um, hello?" Called the voice of a woman who entered the break room. It was the brown haired girl from before. Of course, back when I worked at the gym, she would pass by every now and then. I believed her name was...
"Jasmine?" I wasn't the only one to say that name...Yumi called Jasmine's name as well. Yumi and I both looked at each other with confused expressions as we asked, "You know her?"
"Seth, Yumi?" Jasmine was a bit hesitant to speak, bu that was before she seemed to recognize who the both of us were. "It's been a while since I've seen either of you." The formalities between jasmine, Yumi, and I were brief as Jasmine immediately shifted her attention to Volkner and Flint. "You guys, I've got something to show you."
"And that's our cue to go now..." Flint said as he turned around and started outside the break room. "Be sure to call more often, Seth." Flint then waved the back of his hand to me.
"So this is goodbye for now..." Volkner said, his eyes never looking back to acknowledge Jasmine's presence.
"But first, my pokemon," I said to Volkner as I took out the Pokeballs that contained Gabite and Elekid.
"Right," Volkner said.
And within minutes, I had sent both Gabite and Elekid to Volkner in order to make room for my new additions in Chandelure and Klefki, both of whom were Shadow Pokemon. The process was swift, and Volkner and I were about to say our final goodbyes for the night.
"You have our best wishes for the rest of your journey." Volkner said with a face just as serious as mine, "And like Flint said: Be sure to call more often."
"I will, and I'll see you..." And those were the last words exchanged between Volkner and I before the video monitor was powered off. It was quiet now...It was the perfect opportunity to face a Yumi who smiled at me, "How do you and Jasmine know each other?"
Before Yumi could answer, she let out a big yawn, stretching her arms out as well. She ended up making Chikorita yawn...And me...
"I guess we're all tired right now." Yumi said in a low volume. And as she cheerfully got up out of her chair ,"-Well, your questions are going to have to wait until tomorrow. I need my beauty sleep, see?" And without a word, Yumi grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat. She started to drag me, "Come on! Let's get a room!"
I expected myself to become annoyed by Yumi's hyper attitude at the moment, but I guess her energy is just something I've gotten used to. That attitude, and the smile...How can a person be excited all the time?
Location: Pokemon Center Guest Room
Yumi's POV
Outside the opened window was the quiet night being lit by an almost full moon. It was quite chili, even in here, and I was all wrapped up by a blanket, on a bed that stood across from another bed that Chikorita and Seth were resting on. Chikorita's eyes were closed, while Seth's were fixed on a dim lit ceiling. My eyes were on Seth...
Seth is just a person I don't seem to get. One moment he says he doesn't do 'cuddly', and before I know, he's holding my hand...just as he saved my life. He's smart, yet he's very oblivious. And those are just a few of the things I've learned about Seth since reuniting with him. Perhaps even after all this time on our journey, this is only the beginning, and we're STILL 'just getting to know each other.
Me, and the person I promised to take good care of.
I blushed.
"...But by saving me, I guess you're taking good care of me as well..." I whispered.
"What was that?" Seth asked as he turned to me while half asleep.
"Nothing worth mentioning." I answered, trying not to make it obvious that I was talking about him.
I sighed.
Thinking about Seth really left myself with a few question marks to end my day. Since that mess with the speeding car, I think that...no...I'm trying not to like him. but THAT'S becoming harder, all of a sudden. No, I don't like him, do I? I guess only time will tell.
The next day...
It was only, Seth, Chikorita, and I as we continued on our way to Mahogany Town. It was the middle of the day, and based on what I red on my light blue Pokegear, we were passing through the final mountain valley before Mahogany.
It was a quiet day, with little interaction between the three of us. Chikorita looked bored and tired, while Seth had his head down. my thoughts for him still heavily clouding my mind. Are there any hints that he may finally like me back? That question clouded my mind about as much as the dark clouds clouding the valley sky.
"Seth?" And that was it. After thinking about it for so long, I just couldn't wait anymore. My mind didn't want to say anything, but it was as if my heart made my lips move on their own.
"What is it?" Seth asked sternly as he picked his gaze off the dark dirt as he and Chikorita both looked at me.
Looking into his eyes, I froze. What was I doing? My eyes narrowed as there would be no turning back the next time I opened my mouth. "Seth, am I your best friend?" I asked, "Do you like me?"
The question was swift, but the moment was slow. Seth slowly slowly turned around to face me with a very bewildered expression. The dingy sky and Seth's usual gloomy face complimented those deep blue eyes of his.
"What's that?" Seth asked while still confused.
Perhaps he needed time to let the question sink in... "Do you like me?" I repeated.
"No, not that," Seth answered as he pointed right behind me, "What's THAT? That thing following you?"
"Wha?" Why now of all times? Why does it have to be now that an uncomfortable predicament was on it's way. I WASN'T going to forget my question to Seth. Right now, I had to turn around to see what was behind me, because I had no idea I was being followed.
What I saw, was something described as 'already dead', although it's spirit still remains attached to this world, "A ghost?"
To Be Continued...
Labor Day's second chapter. But to be honest, this chapter has been completed since January, and at last, after adding numerous arcs like Azalea Town and Eggseter, it has been posted. Volkner and Flint have made their first present day appearances in the story. And even though Seth has six Pokeballs on him, he still has only five Pokemon. We need for Mawile to return to the party, and I'm considering making her a permanent member like Chikorita, because she's my favorite Pokemon (Next to Hydreigon). Anyways, hints of a ship is FINALLY starting to resurface. I'm pretty sure most of you will be really caught off with what's going to happen these next few chapters though...