Disclaimer: I do not own anything, I make no money or profit from this.
Chapter 32: Getting Ready to Hit the Road
[Vermilion City]
The trio of trainers were back in Vermilion and eager to continue their journey. Clyde and Ronnie Anne were in their booked room at the pokecenter, while Lynn was off to make a call. While alone the two talked about their Christmas and how they felt returning home.
"So you felt like that too?!" Ronnie Anne asked in surprise.
"Yep," Clyde replied, nodding his head. "Lynn felt the same way and said it was normal. It's something that you'll get used to if you continue to do this. She believes that's how Lincoln felt coming home the first time."
The young girl's face suddenly became crestfallen. "And we didn't help him when he was feeling like this," she said sadly. "We just up and abandon him, letting him suffer alone."
"At least you two made up before he left again" Clyde said to her, his expression and voice matching hers. "I haven't seen him in person since I ended our friendship. I'm the worst of us two."
"That's enough of that talk!" Lynn said entering the room, with an annoyed expression. "I already told you McBride, he didn't want to make you uncomfortable by seeing you." She then focused on the other teen. "Yes you did abandon him and he suffered worse than what we felt. However he forgave all of us and we can't dwell on our past mistakes." Both teens gave her a weak smile as thanks for trying to cheer them up, but the depression and sadness still showed.
Lynn then let out a frustrated growl. "Alright, fine!" She growled, walking to her bag and started looking through it. "If you need proof he forgave you and let go of the past…" she then pulled out 2 boxes. "...Here, these are Christmas gifts from him!" Giving them the boxes. Clyde had a small box, while Ronnie Anne had a large box. Both were tied with an orange ribbon. Both teens looked at her with shocked and surprised expressions. "Well what are you waiting for? Open them" she said with a grin.
They looked at each other before undoing the ribbon and opening them. Ronnie Anne's face lit up with happiness, while Clyde's gained a confused expression. "This is awesome!" Ronnie Anne shouted, pulling out a familiar device from the box. "I got my own TM Machine!"
"It should also come with a TM" Lynn told her. The young checked and sure enough, there was one inside it.
"Shadow Ball?" The young trainer said, reading the disc. The move sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember from where.
"What is this?" Clyde asked their mentor. He held up a Clover Sweet.
"That's a Clover Sweet," the older girl replied. "That thing came from the Galar Region and is hard to find anywhere else. I'm surprised you don't remember what it's used for."
Clyde stared at her confused, before his eyes widened in recognition. "That's right! With this I can evolve Milcery" he shouted in excitement.
"Now does that tell you Lincoln forgives you?" Lynn asked her students. Both nodded with smiles on their faces, a happy aura now surrounding the two. "Good, now I guess I should give you these as well." She went back to her bag and pulled out 2 more boxes with red ribbons. "I was going to give all these after we decided where we're going, but you two needed cheering up." She handed the boxes to the now stunned teens. "Merry Christmas."
The shocked trainers weren't expecting this, as they took the gifts. This time Clyde had the large box, and Ronnie Anne had the small box. When opening them, their expressions had switched from the last gifts.
"No way," Clyde said happily, pulling out his own TM Machine. "I also got the Magical Leaf TM!"
"Okay I know this is more than a rock" Ronnie Anne said looking at her gift. "So someone tell me what exactly this is," she said, holding the stone to show everyone.
Clyde's eyes widened in disbelief, while Lynn just smiled at her. "Ronnie Anne, that's a Moon Stone!" He exclaimed. Seeing his companion's confused look, he started to explain. "Moon Stones are rare evolution stones, they are used to evolve certain Pokemon. One of the Pokemon that needs it to evolve is the Nidoran line." Now Ronnie Anne widened realizing what this stone was.
"You have Clyde and Milcery to thank for getting that," Lynn said, getting their attention. "Do you remember where we saved Milcery in Mt. Moon?" Both nodded remembering that moment. "Well that's where I found it. I knew you would need that stone to fully evolve your Nidoran, so I've been hanging on to it."
"So now I can evolve Nidorina…" the younger girl muttered to herself looking at the stone. Clyde was just in shock at the place they found Milcery, there was a Moon Stone there.
"Now you both have your own TM Machines and can buy your own TMs" the athletic girl told them. "If you want to borrow mine, then just ask." What happened next took Lynn by surprise. Both of her students leapt up and hugged her, while thanking her. She awkwardly patted their backs and told them to let her go. They did and gave her a larger smile. "Well, now we should discuss where we're going," she said awkwardly. While she still didn't forgive them for hurting Lincoln back then, they had started to grow on her. So a lot of her negative feelings towards them had dispersed.
"What are our options?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"We have three options," the older trainer said, regaining her composure. "We could go back north to Saffron City, head northeast to Celadon City, or south to Fuchsia City. Now I know what you're going to ask, Lincoln will be heading to Fuchsia City next for his badge."
Both younger trainers' eyes lit up with excitement and hope. They both opened their mouths to say something, before they stopped. The two looked at one another and had a silent conversation. They both nodded after that and looked at the mentor. "We want to go back to Saffron to retry Sabrina," Clyde told the older girl.
Lynn looked at them stunned and shocked, she was sure they were going to say Fuchsia City. "Really?! You sure?" She asked them dumbfounded.
"Yeah we're sure" Ronnie Anne answered, with both younger trainers chuckling at Lynn's expression. "We need to eventually go back to face her, plus we both have a new stronger team member. Beside…"
[Boat, Middle of the Ocean]
Lincoln Loud was standing on the deck of a boat. He was looking at the scenery with Wolfsbane by his side. He then looked to the sky and started smiling.
"...it's not the right time to see him. He's waiting to see us at the end of season tournament. When we see him, we want to be at the same level as him."
[Vermilion city]
"That's why we want our rematch against Sabrina," the young female trainer continued. "Don't get us wrong, we want to see him. But he's avoiding us for a reason, we know that. So we'll wait till we get to the place he can run from, The Kanto League Seasonal Tournament!"
Lynn smiled at her students, happy they weren't going to chase her brother. "Alright then, we decided then!" She said with excitement. "We're going back to Saffron for your rematch against Sabrina!" Both younger trainers let out a cheer of agreement. "However we're going to be taking a small detour" she said, stopping their cheering. "Lucy wants me to go to Lavender Town to get pictures of Lavender Tower."
"Why?" Clyde asked, extremely confused. His companion was in the same boat.
"Lucy learned of Lavender Tower from one of the books me and Linc gave her" the athletic Loud started answering. "The tower used to be a monument and burial ground for people's deceased Pokemon. However I heard it's been renovated into an office building, and they moved the monuments elsewhere. I promised her, so I need to go there."
"Is it a big detour?" Ronnie Anne asked, not sure where it was.
"No, not that big" Lynn replied, showing them the map on her poketch. "A couple of days, maybe a week longer. You can use that time to train your team and maybe evolve some of your Pokemon." Both teens nodded, agreeing and understanding. "Now that we know where we're going, we should go get supplies."
"Hey!" The young female trainer suddenly said to the only male trainer, scaring him. "We can now get TMs, now that we have our own machine!"
"You're right!" Clyde replied excitedly. They haven't bothered looking at them before because they didn't have a machine for them.
"Just know some of them are very expensive," Lynn warned the two. "Don't go spending all your money on TMs. Now let's go and stock up." With that, they left to get some shopping done.