Chapter 3

Quitter

September 16th, 1988

Luke was in the middle of trying to get two trainers and two Pokémon in frame without over-busying the composition of the shot. The trainers in question were Aaron and an older kid who, by his own admission, spent most of his time in this very corner of Azalea Town's greenhouse Gym, where his Venonat and Aaron's Hoothoot were now having it out.

Even preoccupied with the camera as he was, Luke could tell the older kid had reams of experience with the sort of trainers who came into the Bug-type Gym thinking any old Fire-type plus any old bird would be enough to steamroll the entire place. Ace was already done, having succumbed to confusion and poisoning before Luke could blink, much less get a decent picture.

He'd just gotten an adequate shot of the Venonat slipping away from the still-unnamed Hoothoot's talons when he noticed Wendy was sitting next to him. She clearly meant to ask him a question, but seemed reluctant to break his concentration. Since little was worse for his concentration than having an unanswered question looming over his shoulder, he said, "Go ahead," while putting his eyes back on the fight.

"Sorry," she said, "didn't mean to distract you. I was just wondering how many pictures you can take with one roll of film. You went through the last one real quick."

"Oh," said Luke, "I didn't actually shoot most of it. I switched to a higher speed for the battles in here."

Wendy stared at him in rapt attention, apparently expecting further explanation. "Um, basically, if the speed of the film is too low, fast movement like in a Pokémon battle comes out blurry in the picture."

"Why don't you just always use the fast film, then?" asked Wendy.

"It's grainier. Also costs more." It was dawning on Luke just how much of what he thought was common knowledge about photography might, in reality, be a tad specialized.

"I see…" Wendy nodded slowly. "I never even heard of that before."

Luke was about to proceed to explain that the cloud cover outside, while helpful for even lighting, limited the absolute amount of light in the space and further necessitated fast film when Wendy returned her attention to the bout, cheering, "Come on, Hoothoot!" before whispering to Luke, "You think Aaron can come back, here?"

"Hmmm…" muttered Luke, involuntarily trying to give the impression that he had more of an idea than he did. The Venonat was clearly stronger, and the Gym-trainer knew what he was doing, but Aaron was adjusting. He had Hoothoot reacting quickly to disrupt the Venonat's attempts at readying a debilitating move, rather than over-committing to an attack early and opening the door for the Venonat to dodge and counter. Luke could see it going either way. More than guessing the outcome, though, he wished he could just tell what each Pokémon was going to try in the coming seconds. That'd make it much easier to get good shots.

"Oh…" Wendy soon whispered in disappointment, "…He's lost."

Luke didn't admit out loud that he had no idea of which development she'd noticed to declare this, but sure enough, Hoothoot's quickness flagged long enough for Venonat to wrestle him down and coat him in at least two kinds of unpleasant powder. The owl Pokémon put up a brave show from there, but it wasn't in the cards. Aaron, too, kept up his coaching to the end, but it probably wasn't within any trainer's ability to think or will a way to win this one.

Nadine rejoined Luke and Wendy as Aaron shook hands and conversed with the victor. "I got beat too," she said, frowning. "Wasn't close."

Wendy smiled, though. "Looks like me and Luke got our work cut out for us!"

Luke froze when he heard "we." It raised a few intimidating questions. First, did they expect him to actually take on one of these trainers? He had been planning to observe the fights and then decide whether Zoe was up to the task, especially since he had still neglected to catch another Pokémon. Second, was he already "one of them" to the degree it was just assumed he'd be doing whatever they did, including taking on Gyms he was months away from being prepared to clear?

Wendy spotted an unoccupied regular in the next clearing over. "Well, wish me luck!"

Nadine said, "You got this."

After Wendy jogged off, Luke asked Nadine, "Does she got this?"

Nadine shrugged. "Probably not if Aaron lost? But I never count her out."

Aaron, having wrapped up pleasantries with the opponent, walked over to them. "Okay! Who's up next?"

"I'm already done," said Nadine, staring at the grass.

"Your guys get outmatched, or didja freeze up again?"

Nadine mumbled something inaudible. Luke was thinking Aaron might have phrased it less bluntly when Aaron caught him off guard by asking, "Okay then, Luke, you ready?"

"Uh… I've got to put the camera away."

As he pulled the lens cap out of his pocket, it occurred to him that since he didn't say, "No thanks, I'm just watching today," he had already in essence volunteered to fight the trainer with the Venonat. He knew it should have been an easy matter to stow the lens cap again and say, "Actually, I'm going to take pictures of Wendy's battle," but the thought of backing out embarrassed him too much. Despite every better instinct screaming at him that his one Psychic-type Pokémon wasn't up to taking on any regulars at a Bug-type Gym, he capped the lens, then the camera back in its bag.

After he stood up, locked eyes with the older trainer, and raised his hand in confirmation, Aaron gave him some rapid advice. "Even if he sticks with that Venonat, don't let your guard down. I didn't weaken him as much as I thought I would. Keep up the attack and hope for a lucky hit. If he dictates the pace or gets any status moves in, you're toast. Remember, the only way he's going easy on us is by using his weakest Pokémon. He'll still be coaching to win."

"...Uh-huh," said Luke, feeling sick to his stomach.

"Good luck!" said Aaron, clapping him on the back and sending him off to his doom.

When he was in position across the clearing from the regular and his Venonat, he made the customary nod, which the regular reciprocated.

"I'm sticking with this guy," said the regular of his Venonat, suggesting that to surrender this foreknowledge was no handicap whatsoever against a trainer like Luke. "Whenever you're ready."

Luke unclipped the lone ball from his belt, swallowed, and threw it, forgetting to put the requisite verve into his voice as he called, "Go, Zoe."

Zoe came out flat-footed and aloof, whereas the Venonat was off and running as soon as the regular barked, "Tackle!"

The little fuzzball of a bug was by no means a champion sprinter, but with Zoe so slow to realize there was a fight happening, and Luke so slow to think of what order he was supposed to give, it had no trouble making contact. The combatants tumbled a bit, but Zoe had a significant mass advantage and wasn't too fazed, unlike Luke.

As they settled, the regular ordered, "Poison Powder!" which finally clued Luke into the fact that, at least on offense, he had a type-advantage.

"Confusion!"

It was a bad trade-off. Zoe's face was downright caked with the poisonous dust by the time she was focused enough to attune to the Venonat's brain. By then, the regular had already called in another Tackle. The blow to the gut threw Zoe off balance again, and though it didn't stop her from getting off the attack, the Venonat barely whined and squirmed when the telltale hum filled the air.

Aaron yelled at Luke, "Come on, hit back or get some distance!"

Luke was at a loss for which half of the advice to follow. When the Venonat charged again, he fell back on the strategy that hadn't worked the first time. "Confusion!"

All this resulted in was Zoe getting knocked down two more times before an even feebler hum kicked in, scarcely bothering the Venonat. Luke was aware he was calling for a distance move in close quarters, moreover one that Zoe wasn't skilled enough with to execute quickly yet. But calling for Pound or telling her to fall back for positioning didn't feel like they would work either. He also saw Zoe panting and coughing now. She didn't look hurt-hurt, but he knew the Tackles couldn't feel like nothing either, also that the poison was surely setting in.

Just then, an option came to mind which his brain didn't immediately reject, so he went with it. He waved his arms and held out Zoe's Poké Ball.

The regular was taken aback for a moment, but then he said, "Venonat, return!"

The little bug hopped back to its trainer. On the other side, Zoe slumped her shoulders, snorted, and wiped some dust from her face. Luke jogged up to her, whispered, "Sorry. We'll go right to the Pokécenter," before letting the ball zap her back in.

He walked to the regular and stuck out his hand. At least he wasn't forgetting the formalities. The older trainer shook his hand and asked, "Your only Pokémon?"

"...Yeah," said Luke, disappointed in himself.

"Hey, don't sweat it. She's pretty tough—gonna be a real team-ace with practice."

"Mm-hm."

"What I'd do in your shoes is catch a Pidgey outside town to back her up. They're a breeze to train once they warm up to you."

"Mm-hm." His voice didn't show it, but it was some comfort to Luke that the Gym-trainer talked to him like he hadn't put up an embarrassing display. Gym-trainers must get plenty of practice being nice to hopeless cases, he figured.

"Hope to see you back soon!"

"Thanks."

Luke turned around to walk back to his bag. Nadine, it seemed, had gone to watch Wendy's battle—which, by the sound of it, was ongoing—leaving Aaron as the only spectator. He wasn't smiling.

"Uh, hey," he said in a low voice when Luke came near. "You know you quit early, right? Your Drowzee had a lot of fight left in her."

Luke's stomach hurt again. And there he'd thought he might get off easy. "I, uh… didn't like how it looked. There was the poison, and, uh, she…"

"Look," said Aaron, pulling him farther aside. "I'll give you the BOTD, but you gotta know it ain't cool to forfeit when it's still anyone's battle. It's cheating your Pokémon and your opponent out of a real fight. Nobody grows, and it's… pretty disrespectful."

This shook Luke. He knew he'd done a bad job, but to think he'd been rude on top of it. The Gym-trainer must have been putting on even more of a tolerant face than he'd thought. "I didn't know, honest. I didn't mean to—"

"I read you," said Aaron in an almost-reassuring voice. "It's cool. And don't worry, I won't tell the girls. Especially not Wendy. She can't stand quitters."

The relief of having dodged a bullet didn't quite outweigh the stress of having learned the bullet was there to begin with. "Good to know."

With that, they walked over to see how Wendy's battle was going. They saw little more than Feldspar, Wendy's Geodude, almost but not quite managing to outlast the opposing Ledyba, and then it was finished.

Contra Luke, Wendy was all smiles when she was done with her post-battle chat with the victor. That was what came with putting up a respectable effort, Luke supposed.

"Ooh, if we hadn't taken that first String Shot from the Metapod, I think we might've had that!" she said, bouncing on her toes.

Nadine nodded. "The strength gap wasn't that big in your case. Speed might have made the difference."

Then Wendy asked Luke, "How'd yours go?"

Luke was surprised she hadn't already guessed the outcome. To his relief, Aaron answered for him. "Good showing, but you've seen what we're up against."

"Well," said Wendy with a deep breath. "Guess we got our work cut out for us."

"Yup," said Aaron, "but these Gym-rats better be ready next time. I'm gonna have Ace in shape to sweep! And that includes the Leader!"

Wendy clapped her hands. "Now we're talking!" Then she stuck her right hand into the space between the four of them, pulling Nadine's in as well with her left. "Let's call it here: When we come back, we all get the badge. And then all eight!"

Nadine took in a sharp breath, but kept her hand in the center. Aaron put his in as well. "I'm up for it!"

Then, all eyes were on Luke. Nadine's were hesitant, while Aaron's were stern, even penetrating. It was like he was telling Luke that if he put his hand in, he'd better mean it.

But Wendy's eyes?

Hope. Pure, exuberant hope. A full vote of confidence. It was the sense she couldn't wait for his answer, even though she didn't doubt for a second that he'd say yes.

In that moment, Luke lost the crushing awareness of just how unprepared he was, of how unrealistic he thought this goal to be, and of just how little he cared to subject Zoe to a beating like that again. It was buried underneath the new, bewildering sensation of knowing that someone, for whatever reason, wanted to have him around.

The exact words said after he put his hand in to seal the pact didn't stick with him, but he always remembered this as the exact moment they became, unambiguously, a group of four.

July 25th, 1993

Luke wasn't sure about the exact spot, but he was standing near where he'd made a miserable two-fold mistake about five years prior. The primary aspect of the mistake was that he had cast his lot in with people he didn't really know yet, but perhaps less excusable was that they'd centered their relationship on the Gym Challenge. With the gift of hindsight, the right decision would obviously have been to endure one awkward refusal, then take up a different trail after developing the photos he owed them. Any silver linings to his actual, incorrect decision were just that: linings on a very heavy cloud.

But he wasn't here today to re-live screwups, even if he was here to do what he should have done the first time: deliver some photos and leave. Old Pendergast, the Gym Leader, had commissioned a color print for use in a poster.

"Yeah…" said Pendergast, taking a long look at an action shot. "I think this is the one. Good poses on the Pokémon—makes you feel the blood pumping. And how do you get the light coming through the roof like that?"

Luke shrugged. "Lucky timing," he said, which was only mostly true. In photography, "luck" virtually always meant having the knowledge to tell what was lucky when you saw it, and the persistence to get enough opportunities to encounter it. But luck was still luck, so Luke left it at that.

A younger boy Luke didn't recognize popped in on their conversation. "Oh, it's here? Want me to run it to the copy place?"

"Sure," said the old man, carefully covering the photo with the wax paper again before giving it to the kid. "Just keep it flat, right?"

"Yessir!" In the blink of an eye, the kid was off on his errand.

"I hope you're paying him," said Luke, who was unused to seeing Gym-trainers who were quite that eager to play the role of gofer.

"Who, Bugsy? I could get away with charging him rent—he'd never leave if I didn't have to lock up at night. I'll probably pay him with the keys to this place when I retire."

"He's good, then?"

"Damn good. You just take some pictures of his Scyther at work next time you're in town."

Luke promised he would, pleased as he always was when a young trainer found his niche early instead of following the crowd. Then, after accepting his payment—most of which would go toward film and photo paper—and a little conversation about current events, he said goodbye. When he was back on the streets of Azalea Town, he decided to let Zoe out of her ball while he considered his immediate itinerary.

As he usually found himself doing when he walked around here, he led them in the direction of Slowpoke's Well. Zoe gave the Slowpoke they passed the side-eye, but otherwise left them alone. Despite what deep sleepers Slowpoke were, it seemed their heads were better "insulated" against dream-eating than most, which Luke guessed was a source of frustration and indignation to Zoe.

When they reached the well, he sat down on one of the benches. The sun was getting low over Ilex Forest to the west, so he felt less inclined to stick to his original plan of setting out for said forest that same day—the print had taken a little longer than expected to get the contrast just right. Since he wanted some pictures of the eaves of the forest in full daylight, anyway, it only made sense to stay at the Pokémon Center again tonight instead of going straight on.

He meandered about town for the next few hours, taking a few sunset shots when the composition struck him. When he did return to the Center, he was about to head to the boys' sleeping quarters when he remembered he'd skipped Zoe's checkup in favor of making the print earlier. He briefly scolded himself, then went to the front desk.

He was almost through listening to the formalities on autopilot when, for the second time that month, he heard the nurse behind the counter say, "Oh."

Notwithstanding the last time this happened, Luke's first thought was that something might be wrong with his trainer ID. He was only marginally less surprised when the nurse said, "There's a letter here for you."

Luke couldn't believe it. Sure, Wendy had said in her first letter that she would probably be back in Violet by mid-July, but for him to get a reply in Azalea Town this quickly? What were the odds of that? Maybe she'd left copies of the first letter in multiple places.

He thanked the nurse when she gave him the envelope, then took it to a corner-chair to open it. He immediately saw by the letter's length that his guess was wrong: This wasn't the first one again.

July 16th, 1993

Dear Luke,

Thank you, that was all wonderful news. I'm especially glad to hear Zoe's doing great. I can only imagine how much more of a handful she is now! I can also only imagine how good your latest pictures are—I thought you could have gone pro when we were eleven (in my super-informed opinion, heh).

I said hi to Sharpy, but I'm afraid Feldspar will have to wait. I'm down to just the one partner now, too—gave Feldspar to a good friend last year. Lately I've been spending most of my time doing field work for the Johto Conservation Society. Lots of water testing, herd-tagging, and community outreach stuff. It's a lot of fun (whenever they don't have us working the phones to solicit donations, bleh), and Sharpy was getting tired of battling anyway. She's not tired of walking, though, which is great cause we go all over the place. Earlier this year we hiked Mt. Silver for the first time (!), and even tagged a whole nest of Larvitar (!).

Next up for me is Ilex Forest, too. I'm guessing you're still at the Ruins of Alph right now—I think they're creepy, but I hope you're having fun. Also, just so you know, I wrote to Aaron too. Haven't heard back, but I'm hoping he's also willing to write. If none of us have any hard feelings—I know I don't—I think it'd be good if we could all bury the hatchet. You don't have to respond to that if you don't want to, just wanted you to know.

Say hi to Zoe,
Wendy

Up to the last paragraph, this had been as pleasant a letter as he could wish. There was more of her voice in this one, especially in the emotive asides.

But then… the last paragraph. There, the letter took two turns which made Luke want to scream. Obviously, there was the matter of Aaron, which: No. No and hell no. He had to shut his eyes and breathe at regular intervals for a solid minute to get the idea of seeing Aaron again off of his mind.

The second matter of concern was the lesser in degree but the more pressing:

She's following me.

It only took a moment to decide that this wasn't necessarily the case. After all, if she was coming from Tohjo Falls, there were only two directions around the Loop to go, and one of them went through Ilex Forest. But that didn't get the thought altogether out of his head, nor did it lessen the likelihood of running into her in the forest if she had a long errand there.

Which wouldn't be the end of the world, of course. It might even be nice. But the letter made it clear: Even if she didn't talk about Aaron should they happen to meet up, she'd want to. No matter if he said he didn't want to talk about him, it would still be hanging in the air. He did not need that.

And just like that, he reached his decision. Tomorrow, he was turning around. Back through Union Cave, then on to some other destination. It didn't matter which—he had a lot of places he wanted to get to this year, and any of them would do.

No sooner did he pull out his map to brainstorm did he realize the bigger problem: He wanted to write back. Moreover, he didn't want to lie by omission and let her think he'd stuck to his original plan, and that if they'd missed each other in the woods, it was merely luck of the draw. But it would be worse to say that Ilex Forest suddenly felt too crowded now that she was there.

He needed an excuse. That felt gross to think about, so he decided it would have to be a true excuse. If he couldn't think of one, he would just have to risk the forest. With that decided, he left the Center in search of a newsstand and, hopefully, inspiration.