Well when in doubt add a chapter.
I must be honest and forgot about this thread in favour of the one on BMGf which has a much higher readership.
However as there are still people here reading i present chapter 11
Chapter 11
Stephen stared at the green hand on his shoulder; he slowly brought his own hand up letting his fingers trace along the fingers on his shoulder. For a few seconds no one moved, allowing the peaceful atmosphere of the park to synchronize with the warm, fuzzy feeling within Stephen and the Pokémon behind him. Until Alvin’s Pokédex ruined the moment.
“Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon.” The Pokédex’s voice seemed to be embarrassed for its user’s clumsiness. “Gardevoir has the psychokinetic power to distort dimensions and create a small black hole. It will try to guard its Trainer with its life.” Alvin hastily tried to shut the Pokédex off. “The bond between this Gardevoir and its trainer is at a previously unrecorded level, outside of the wild. A bond of this strength is usually seen only in mating pairs.” Alvin blushed as he yanked the batteries out of the Pokédex.
“Jessica.” Stephen gulped as he continued to stare at the hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Stephen closed his eyes and waited for Jessica’s response, fearing another punch. However all Stephen received was a soft kiss to the top of his head, followed by a soft tug on his hair pulling his head back.
Jessica looked down into Stephen’s deep pale blue eyes, with her own vibrant scarlet gemstone eyes. “I know.” Jessica’s voice was soft and sweet; Stephen couldn’t help but relax with a beaming smile. “I hope I didn’t hurt you too much.”
“No, I’m fine.” Stephen continued to stare into Jessica’s eyes. “I hope you feel better.” Jessica slowly nodded not breaking the locked gaze between the two.
“This is all nice and cute and fluffy but,” Alvin interrupted indignantly, “I think Stephen also needs to know about the Suicune who is sitting next to you.”
“Hey, you were the one who made me admit my feelings for Jessica and .... Wait what?” Stephen sat up and looked behind the bench to see a familiar Pokémon sitting next to Jessica its twin tails flapping on some unseen zephyr. “BOREALIS!!!!!!” Stephen cried out and leapt at the Suicune like a small child; the Suicune growled as Stephen tackled it before relaxing as Stephen stroked his side. “It’s good to see you as well.”
“Ah hem.” Jessica stood with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips. “Why don’t I get such a welcome?” Stephen blushed and looked up at Jessica. “Not that I mind ... that tackle looked pretty rough.” Jessica held up a Pokéball and returned her Xatu. “So what are we going to do now?”
“Well I would like to find Kei.” Alvin replied as Stephen picked himself up off the ground. “Then arrange transport to Lightvale.”
“And I want to see if Hal is in town.” Stephen added. “It would be nice to catch up with him.”
“Yeah that would be nice.” Jessica mused, “We’ll head into town then. If Hal’s anywhere it would be either at his gym or in the town centre.” Stephen nodded in reply, Alvin simply shrugged his shoulders.
“You know him so I’ll go with that,” Alvin thought of a moment, “Kei would probably try and find him.”
“Well let’s go then.” Stephen pulled Borealis’ Cherish Ball from his belt. “You want to go in Borealis?” The Suicune looked up at Stephen and gave a slow nod; a beam of red light hit the side of the Suicune pulling back into the Cherish Ball.
***
“Where did that boy go?” Sam stared into the space that was occupied by his opponent.
“Maybe he had another Pokémon who used Teleport?” Kei offered with a shrug.
“I have never seen Teleport work like that.” Hal replied. “It’s usually a flash of light, not a slow fade. It is an escape mechanism used by psychic Pokémon. It’s not for dramatic effect like that.”
“That kid’s a ghost demon weirdo.” Sam shuddered. “I saw him in the Birchwick Tower thingy, he had some weird hold on me back then.” Sam gave another shudder. “I swear that kid’s not human.” Kei just shook her head.
“Well it doesn’t matter now, he’s gone.” Kei gave Sam a push in the direction of the Pokémon Centre. “I want to find my idiot, so we are going back to the Pokémon Centre.” Kei turned to face Hal and gave him a quick wave. “Bye Mr. Hal, I’ll say hi to Stephen and Jessica and tell them you want to talk.” Hal gave a small wave back and smiled as Kei continued to shove Sam along.
***
Half an hour later Stephen, Jessica and Alvin arrived at the southern edge of Yellowcake Town Centre, with only the old Yellowcake Gym in front of them.
“Well that sucked.” Alvin moaned. “We haven’t found either: Kei, Hal or Sam.” Jessica sighed before turning to look at the Yellowcake Gym and closed her eyes, a faint blue shining through.
“Hal’s in the gym.” Jessica stated opening her eyes, the faintest shimmer of blue emanating from them.
“Cool.” Stephen gave a slight sigh. “Alvin you go back to the Pokémon Centre. Sam and Kei are trainers nonetheless and will probably have been battling. Odds are they are at the PC resting their Pokémon.” Stephen looked across at Jessica. “We’ll go and give Hal a visit.” Jessica nodded and turned to face Alvin who was already walking off; he gave a sort of salute back to Stephen and Jessica as he walked away.
Stephen and Jessica made their way to the front of the Yellowcake Gym. Over the door was a large lit Pokéball sign with the words Yellowcake Gym below it written in a jagged font. A small sign to the side of the door caught Jessica’s eye.
The Yellowcake Town Pokémon Gym. Leader Hal. The fast thinking powerhouse. The sign was written in the same bold jagged style font as the lettering above the door. However below the sign was a piece of laminated paper which was nailed to the wood of the sign.
Closed to all challengers. NOT AN OFFICIAL GYM OF THE ACTOPON POKÉMON LEAGUE!
“Just like the sign at Birchwick.” Stephen commented as he pushed the door open. He entered the gym with Jessica following closely behind.
The gym was dark, a few shafts of light shone from underneath doors leading off from the main battlefield area. Stephen and Jessica walked onto the battlefield side by side looking around for any hint of Hal. Jessica suddenly stopped and closed her eyes, her ears twitching very slightly. Moments later she leapt into the air as a stream of electricity tore across the battlefield, harmlessly dissipating against the wall of the gym. Jessica landed and turned to face the source of the Thunderbolt, her eyes glowing blue behind their lids.
A low pitched growl filled the room, followed by the crackling of electricity. The blue glow in Jessica’s eye intensified as she focused. The growl was quickly replaced with a long howl followed by the rushing of footsteps. Stephen watched on as a Manectric charged at Jessica, its fur crackling and sparking with electricity. Jessica remained perfectly still as the Discharge Pokémon continued to hurtle towards her, rapidly closing the distance. Seconds later the Manectric leapt up at Jessica. The Gardevoir simply opened her eyes and silently stared at the dog-like Pokémon, an intense blue light glowing in her eyes. The Manectric was stopped in mid-air with a yelp, before being flung across the length of the gym, slamming heavily against the wall of the gym. The glow instantly faded from Jessica’s eyes.
Stephen flinched as Jessica launched the Manectric taking a moment to ensure she had stopped attacking. He looked up to see Jessica give a short shallow sigh, before brushing a stray hair off her face.
“Remind me never to piss you off.” Two voices rang out simultaneously. Stephen shook his head and looked around the still darkened room.
“Hal,” Stephen called out. “You here?” A red beam of light shot out of a hidden Pokéball dissolving the Manectric back into it. There was a sound of footsteps rapping against the floor of the gym as the owner of the Manectric walked towards Stephen and Jessica
“Depends on who’s asking?” A familiar voice drifted across the gym as Hal stepped into the little light that illuminated Stephen and Jessica. “Nice to see you Jessica and Stephen.” Hal extended her free hand, greeting his friends.
“How have you been keeping?” Jessica asked to which Hal shrugged.
“Well, no major problems to speak off.” Hal motioned towards one of the side rooms. “Let’s go in there; it has a nice couch to sit on.” The three walked into the lounge-like room, Stephen and Hal sat on opposite ends of the couch facing each other with Jessica choosing to sit on an adjacent armchair.
“So what brings you to Yellowcake?” Hal asked, “I heard from two children who claimed to be travelling with you.”
“So Sam and Kei where here.” Stephen nodded as he thought. “Do you know where they went?”
“Back to the PC.” Hal replied, “The Sam child had an invigorating battle with one of those stalker type of trainers outside of my gym earlier, he showed some skill, I could tell he has some ability that is still to fully develop.” Hal clapped his hands against his thighs and sat up. “Anyway, like I said what brings you to my fair town?”
“Oh yeah,” Stephen fumbled four Cherish Balls from his belt causing Hal to take notice. “I’m assuming Jordan hasn’t spoken about our visit to him a few days ago.” Hal gave a shake of his head in reply. Stephen activated the Cherish Balls and opened them filling the room with brilliant white light before filling the room with Pokémon. Hal stared in awe at the Pokémon.
“Where did you get these then?” Hal sat, mouth ajar, scanning the Pokémon with his eyes. Stephen and Jessica explained what had happened with the league and what they knew so far. Several minutes passed as Hal took in what he was told.
“Fascinating.” Was Hal’s reply, he was completely incapable of any other thought. Another couple of minutes passed with no-one in the room talking. The only sound coming from the Latias as she cooed and rubbed her cheek against Stephen’s.
“This Suicune,” Hal pointed out Borealis, “I know about him.” Stephen looked up in shock and Jessica slapped herself on the head, causing all in the room to look at her.
“CRAP!” Jessica blushed a hot shade of pink. “I forgot about that.”
“The story of the Suicune who guarded and protected Yellowcake Lake.” Hal added, to which Jessica rapidly nodded. “I had heard they were all gone. Poached.” Hal looked away from Borealis. “We did all we could to stop them. The poachers. But it was useless, they were relentless. The scent of money Pokémon as rare as Suicune give off to those people was too alluring. And we didn’t have enough to stop them.” Hal looked up. “Although it doesn’t look it here in Yellowcake, the entire north-east sector of Actopon is being ravaged. Ever since the environmental protection laws caused ninety percent of the factories in Lightvale to close, money around here has being getting harder and harder to find.” Hal sighed and slumped against the couch, staring at the ceiling. “Birchwick is surviving on trainers/tourists visiting the Tower of Souls. We have been surviving on tourism, using our pathetic docks to try and entice people to come here for a holiday. As for Lightvale ............” Hal trailed off leaving the room in silence, tears forming in his eyes. “Put it this way. If it wasn’t for David and his gym ... there would be no Lightvale.”
“Does the league know about this?” Jessica asked, pulling a tissue out of her bag and passing it to Hal, who dabbed at his eyes.
“Oh they know all too well about it.” Hal scoffed. “But Davenport’s monopoly is too alluring to them.” Hall threw the soiled tissue at the bin in the corner of the room, using it as a vector for his rising anger. “All they need to do is relax those damn laws, just a little, just enough to allow some of the factories of restart, and pump some money back into Lightvale.” Hal sighed and shook his head. “But no, that would make sense. We can’t have that.”
“How bad has Lightvale got?” Stephen asked a slight tinge of worry in his voice.
“Bad.” Came the simple reply from Hal. “Really bad. The Green Zone is at something like thirty square miles now. They lost three or four in the last month due to arson attacks on some of the outer buildings as an attempt to capture the territory. I’m surprised the League hasn’t ordered the gym to be moved.”
“That would be game over for the city though. That’s why.” Jessica commented. “How are trainers getting into the city?”
“A shuttle runs them from a stop halfway along the route to the city, direct to the gym.” Hal replied, his voice low. “Even then they have had problems with some of the gangs attacking the shuttles. Robbing the trainers on board for everything. And the route before the stop isn’t perfectly safe either.” Hal stopped for a moment to think. “How are you guys moving around?”
“Bicycles.” Stephen replied, returning the Pokémon back to their Cherish Balls.
“Leave them here.” Hal stood up and stretched. “I wouldn’t trust the Pokémon Centre at the cross roads; mostly because there is nothing to defend it.”
“But it will take us 4 times longer to get back there.” Stephen’s voice had a slight whine to it. “Plus we don’t want to be camping on those routes.” Hal shook his head.
“Not going to be a problem. The route from here to the cross roads is very safe, it’s the route up to Lightvale that’s the problem.”
“I would have to agree with Stephen though.” Jessica cut in. “We don’t want to waste time and energy walking from here to the shuttle stop. It would take us about a week to walk there, when we could be there in three days if we cycle from here then walk.”
Hal brought both his hands up and shrugged. “Well that’s your decision.” He led Stephen and Jessica back to the battlefield. “It’s been nice to see you like this but I have things to do today.” He shook both Stephen’s and Jessica’s hand.
“Yeah see ya at the league.” Stephen casually replied before walking out of the door.
“I hope you keep well. Goodbye Hal.” Jessica politely said before following Stephen out of the Gym.
***
Alvin brought three cans of drink to the table where Sam and Kei were sitting. Sam grabbed one and slumped against his chair.
“So Lightvale is a really scary place then.” Sam whispered while rubbing the side of his can.
“It can be yeah.” Alvin tried to improve the mood at the table, but to no avail. “It can’t be too bad at the moment; otherwise the league would have ordered the gym to be moved.”
“What do they call ‘too bad’?” Sam asked, making inverted commas with his fingers.
“I don’t know.”
Alvin lied. He knew full well what the requirement was; he just didn’t want to tell the young Sam or his sister that it involved a trainer being killed. Alvin gave a slight shudder as the thought of his sister having to go into the horrible city.
The three sat in silence, slowly drinking from the cans. Looking up only when the door to the Pokémon Centre was opened by a trainer entering the centre.
***
Half an hour later Stephen and Jessica strode into the building, walking straight to the Nurse Joy behind the desk, dropping off their Pokéballs before walking over to the table where Alvin, Kei and Sam were sitting.
“Why so glum?” Jessica asked her cheery face eliciting a faint smile from Kei.
“Oh we’ve been hearing about this Lightvale City.” Sam replied staring down into his empty can. “And how it’s full of crime and stuff.” He looked up at Stephen and Jessica. “Do we have to go there?”
“If you want to enter the Actopon League then yeah, you do.” Stephen replied, “And it’s nowhere near as bad as some people like to tell. You just have to be careful.” Stephen looked across the table as Alvin shot him a glare. “And it’s not as if you will be going alone. Six hundred other trainers will make their way up to Lightvale during the training season.” Stephen crouched down so he was at the same level as Sam. “And besides ... You have me and Jessica.” Stephen stood back and stretched. “I’ll be leaving Loki and Usain back home. So I can carry a couple of my more powerful Pokémon.”
“Why do you only carry five Pokémon?” Kei asked in a quiet voice. “I’ve only ever seen you carrying five Pokémon.”
“Erm ... I err ... I just do.” Stephen was slightly flustered by the question. “It’s just how I prefer to train.”
“I would advise you get some of your stronger Pokémon out too Sam.” Jessica returned the conversation to the topic at hand. “I’ll be doing the same.” Sam looked up and nodded at Jessica. “Good, now we will be leaving tomorrow to cycle back to the crossroad. We will then have to walk to a shuttle stop halfway along the route to Lightvale. From there we will get transported directly to the gym.”
The three at the table nodded and stood up to prepare for the journey.
***
After a phone call to their house in Redux City, Stephen and Jessica walked around to the bike shed behind the Pokémon Centre to check the bicycles.
“So who have you now got on you?” Jessica asked as she and Stephen got to their bicycles.
“Forseti, Gary and Premier.” Stephen replied as he dropped into a crouch to take a look at Jessica’s bicycle.
“Not bad. Lucario, Dragonite and Mothim.” Jessica stood back and let Stephen inspect the bicycle. “I put everyone but Ray and Hakha back and brought: Magik, Nova, Lokoko and Deep-Blue.” Stephen pulled back with a quizzical look on his face.
“I understand the Breloom and even Flygon but Ninetales and Metagross?” Stephen shook his head and looked back at Jessica’s bicycle, checking the brake cables. “I wouldn’t take Metagross to Lightvale. Or Ninetales for that matter.”
“Why not?” Jessica stood with her arms folded across her chest. “Ninetales is perceived to be a psychic Pokémon but isn’t meaning any dark type attacks will only be normally effective and Metagross’ steel typing does the same thing.” Stephen looked up at Jessica and smiled. “Ya dope.” Jessica ruffled Stephen's hair.
“I knew that.” Stephen blushed slightly as he finished his checks. “I just ... forgot at that moment.” Stephen stood up and stretched before moving along to his bicycle. “Anyway Lightvale won’t be too bad. There hasn’t been a trainer death for three years.”
“ONLY three years!” Jessica threw her arms into the air as she shouted. “Those bureaucrats at Davenport won’t do anything to improve the city. All it needs is those ridiculous laws relaxed.”
“And what let Lightvale go back to the smoggy poison infested slum it was?” Stephen rubbed his temples as stifled a yawn. “Those laws will never be relaxed. What they need to do is improve the docks at Yellowcake and Lightvale and encourage cleaner industry to use the miles and miles of available space. Rather than cramping Davenport, Glassacre and home.”
“That would work if they could find the money.” Jessica sighed and walked over to Stephen. “Davenport bureaucrats would still be a problem though.” Jessica wrapped her arms around Stephen's chest pulling him into a hug. “Sorry for shouting at you.”
“Don’t be, you were expressing opinion.” Stephen stroked Jessica’s hair with his clean hand. “Anyway we might want to avoid publicly displaying affection until we choose to reveal our relationship. Otherwise paparazzi will blow it for us.”
“Yeah I suppose.” Jessica sighed as she let go. “It’ll be best if we ‘go public’ after you tell your parents.” Stephen froze and shuddered. “Yeah, you forgot didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Stephen sheepishly replied. “But it won’t be a problem. Hopefully.” Jessica shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Let’s not dwell on it and just focus on Lightvale for now.” Stephen finished checking the bicycles before heading back to the overnight room.
***
Jessica lay awake on the bunk underneath Kei; the young girl’s breathing trying its hardest to sooth Jessica’s troubled mind.
Something very, very bad is going to happen in Lightvale. Jessica thought as she stared at the bed above her.
Totem said that he saw a horrific event but could not determine much else. He saw a violent confrontation, but it was clouded by darkness. He couldn’t even tell if it was past or future.
Jessica rolled onto her side and looked across the darkened room, illuminated only by the faint moonlight filtering through the blinds.
Even my pre-cognitive abilities are picking something up though. Is it enough of a reason not to go to Lightvale though? Jessica closed her eyes and sighed.
No. Lightvale has more than its fair share of problems but it is still more than safe enough. We shouldn’t spend more than one day there though. Well I can worry about it tomorrow. Jessica snuggled into the blanket and fell asleep.
***
Sam opened his eyes with a yawn, the first rays of sunlight were just about to trickle though the curtains giving the room an odd glow; he sat up and looked, bleary eyed, across the room at the small digital clock on the central table.
It’s only 5:30. Sam moaned to himself as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.
I just want to curl up and go back to sleep. Sam snuggled down into the blankets and closed his eyes with a contented sigh. Moments later he forced his eyes back open.
NO! I need to get up and do something. I need to prove to Stephen that I’m committed to training. Sam kicked the blanket off the bed and quietly clambered out. Jeez it’s cold. Sam shivered as he tip-toed into the bathroom to get dressed.
Right. It’s now 5:45; I had better go and sort out my team for the trip to Lightvale. Sam slowly opened the door wincing as the mechanism creaked. Sam edged out of the room and padded down the hall, taking care not to disturb anyone.
Sam made his way to the lobby of the Pokémon Centre, it was deathly quiet, the only sounds the faint whirring of the computers on the far side of the centre coupled with a distant beeping coming from the wards. Even so there were a couple of trainers in the lobby; one was slumped on one of the couches hidden behind a copy of the Davenport Times; the other was a girl, with jet black hair and slightly tanned skin, at one of the computers.
Looks like I won’t have to worry about getting a computer then. Sam smiled as he walked over to the computers sitting next to the girl already there.
“Hey.” The girl, who appear to be in her late teens, whispered to Sam as he sat down, to his slight surprise. “Nice to see that we’re not the only ones awake at this hour.” The girl pointed to the boy sat on the couch. “I’m Alice and that’s my friend Zia.” The boy, also in his late teens looked up and nodded before looking back down at his newspaper. “Pah, ignore him. He’s just a loner.” Alice smiled at Sam. “So are you from around here?”
“No I’m from Pallet Town in Kanto.” Sam sheepishly replied as he logged onto the computer. “And my name is Sam, nice to meet you Alice.”
“No way you’re from Pallet?” Alice grabbed Sam’s hand a shook it. “Do you know Professor Oak?”
“Yeah, I received a Charmander from him when I started.” Sam mumbled a reply as he connected to his storage system. “I was just about to send a request to his lab for some Pokémon. He stores all of Pallet Town’s trainers Pokémon.” Sam looked over at Alice, “So where did you come from?”
“Pacifidlog Town in Hoenn.” Alice looked down at Sam’s belt. “Hey are you up for a little battle, one on one?” Alice asked a little hope in her eyes. “Zia’s being a jerk and won’t battle me.”
“Sure let me just finish and we’ll go outside.” Sam replied before sorting out the Pokéballs he received.
Outside of the Pokémon Centre, Alice and Sam found an open space where they could battle away from the town. They were overlooking the lake which was glittering with the low morning sun glowing above the horizon. Zia stood with his back to the sun as he took the role of referee.
“This is a one on one battle between Alice and Sam.” Zia yawned as he spoke. “Release your Pokémon.”
“Go Meryl.” Sam threw his Ultra Ball forward releasing his Scyther. “Come on girl, let’s get some practice in.”
“Nice Pokémon Sam. Nicknamed I see.” Alice twirled around as she threw a Great Ball forward. “Go Swalot.” The Great Ball burst open to reveal the large purple blob Pokémon; it had two short yellow strands coming from either side of its mouth.
“Meryl use Focus Energy.” Sam called out to Meryl who flexed her muscles and glared at the Swalot picking out targets on the purple bag Pokémon.
“Swalot use Stockpile.” Alice commanded to her Pokémon who started to gulp the air around itself, inflating its body.
“Meryl use Aerial Ace.” Sam smiled as he congratulated himself on his choice of move. Meryl charged at the Swalot before leaping into the air and diving at the inflated Swalot, slashing with her twin scythes.
“Swalot use Swallow.” Alice’s expression didn’t change as her Pokémon deflated and recovered it the damage. “You’ll need to be careful Sam.” Alice taunted across the battlefield. “Swalot seems to have fully recovered from that attack.”
“Meryl use Aerial Ace again.” Sam commanded and once again Meryl charged at the, now smaller, purple bag Pokémon.
“Swalot, Gunk Shot.” Alice waited until Meryl had leapt into the air to give her command. The Swalot opened its mouth as Meryl dove towards it. Meryl closed her eyes as she sliced into the Swalot, which groaned in pain before gurgling and blasting Meryl with a stream of filth.
“Meryl!” Sam shouted as he ran forward to catch his injured Scyther, the Pokémon fell into Sam’s outstretched arms knocking him to the ground. “You battled well, have a rest.” Sam returned Meryl to her Ultra Ball before seeing Alice’s outstretched hand.
“Well done Sam.” Alice cheerfully said as she helped Sam to his feet. “That was a good battle. See you sometime.” Alice returned her Swalot to its Great Ball and began to walk off.
“I thought for someone with five badges you sucked.” Zia bitterly commented as he followed Alice. Sam sulked and walked back to the Pokémon Centre.
***
It was 6:15 when Sam got back to the Pokémon Centre, which was slowly waking up for the day ahead. A Nurse Joy stood behind the desk talking to a trainer who was dropping off their Pokémon, a couple of worn out trainers were slumped together on a couch, half asleep. A familiar face was sitting at one of the tables with small tan-winged bug flittering around his head.
“Hey Stephen,” Sam said as he sat opposite him. “What the hell is that thing?”
“Hey! This is Premier, my Mothim.” Stephen patted the top of his head, causing the Mothim to land where he patted. “I’m taking him to Lightvale. Speaking of which, what Pokémon do you have on you?”
“Well I still have Raichu, Scyther and Heracross.” Sam yawned; he was starting to regret the early start. “And I got Forretress and Arcanine out.”
“Sounds good.” Stephen replied, he pulled a jar of honey out of his bag and dipped a spoon into it before giving it to the Mothim, who promptly devoured it. “Want to go for a walk down to the lake?” Stephen asked as Premier dropped the spoon on the table.
“Sure,” Sam stood up with a yawn as Stephen put the honey away, with Premier trying to steal it. “Let me just get Meryl healed and we’ll go.” Stephen nodded in reply, causing Premier to fall off his head. Sam walked over to the Nurse Joy and handed over Meryl’s Ultra Ball, he looked back to see Stephen and Premier fighting over the small jar of honey. A fight Stephen eventually won be returning Premier to his Premier Ball.
Sam thanked the Nurse Joy as she gave the Ultra Ball back and caught up to the slightly dishevelled Stephen as he left the Pokémon Centre.
“Damn Mothim.” Stephen moaned to himself as he walked down to the lake. “Smelt that tiny drop that landed on my finger then tried to take the whole damn thing off.” Sam laughed as Stephen nursed his bitten finger. “Don’t you laugh or I’ll empty this jar on you and get your Heracross out.” Sam immediately stopped laughing and motioned zipping his mouth shut.
Stephen and Sam walked along the lake front, enjoying the cool breeze coming off the lake. The two stumbled upon a felled tree trunk that had been worn down by innumerous people and Pokémon into a seat of sorts. The two sat on the log and stared at the sparking Yellowcake Lake. After several minutes of contemplating Sam turned to look at Stephen.
“Stephen can I ask you a question?” Sam asked his gaze falling to the ground between his legs.
“Sure what’s up?” Stephen replied looking at the young trainer next to him.
“Do you think I’m a good Pokémon trainer?” Sam sheepishly asked keeping his eyes focused on the ground.
“I think you have ... limitless potential.” Stephen replied, bending slight to try and catch Sam’s attention. “You have to work and work ... then work some more.” Sam turned and stared into Stephen’s eyes. “I’m impressed that you were out training at this time in the morning.” Stephen broke the gaze between him and Sam, nodding in the direction of the lake. “I’m sure that girl you battled is out there somewhere training.” Sam jumped slightly and turned to hide is slightly blushing face. “Ah don’t worry, I saw your battle; you weren’t as quiet as you thought when you woke up.” Stephen smiled and pointed to some small specks across the lake. “There are six trainers over there battling each other.” Stephen pulled out his PokéNav and checked the time. “It’s coming up to quarter to seven now. I shouldn’t take us more than half an hour to get over there. Do you want to go and battle them?” Stephen stood up off the log and turned to face Sam.
Sam shook his head. “No, not really.” Sam looked up at Stephen who was frowning slightly. Sam sighed. “Fine, I could use the training.” Sam stood up and turned to walk around the lake. However he was barely able to walk a step before he fell flat on his face.
“Poooooooke.” Came a deep, low moan from underneath Sam. Sam quickly scrambled up and looked at what he tripped over.
“Hey a Slowpoke.” Stephen smiled and took a step back while motioning at the Pokémon with his hand. “Go on Sam.” Sam nodded and grabbed a Great Ball from his belt, throwing it forward.
“Forretress I need you.” Sam called out as the Great Ball opened up with a brilliant white light which faded to reveal the steel Bagworm Pokémon. “Use Gyro Ball.” The Forretress retracted its red tube-like spikes and clamped itself shut before beginning to rotate. The Slowpoke slowly opened it mouth, with a stream of water tumbling out and splashing against the spinning Forretress.
“Now Forretress.” Sam shouted his command while pointing at the Slowpoke. Forretress gave off an odd shade of sliver as he charged at the hapless Slowpoke. The spinning Forretress bounced off the Slowpoke who just yawned and shuddered.
“Sam, Gyro Ball will be useless against something as slow as Slowpoke.” Stephen quietly aided from the sideline. “Also consider that water type Pokémon resist Steel type moves.” As Stephen was speaking the Slowpoke began to glow blue. Forretress was lifted into the air, surrounded by a blue aura, before being released and dropped back to the ground with a bump.
“Forretress Payback.” Sam commanded before turning to Stephen. “Dark beats psychic so it should weaken the Slowpoke significantly.”
“And?” Stephen asked hoping Sam would know why he was using the move other than type advantage.
“Payback’s power is double if the opponent moves first. But Forretress is faster so it will be less powerful.” Sam replied as Forretress glowed a dark purple and charged at the Slowpoke knocking it onto its back. Sam grabbed a Pokéball from his bag and threw it at the Slowpoke. The Pokémon was instantly dissolved into the ball. After a few shakes the ball clicked shut.
“Well done Sam.” Stephen clapped his hands as he congratulated Sam. “Slowpoke can be very friendly Pokémon.” Stephen smiled as he thought to himself. “My Slowking will attest to that.” Sam looked up at Stephen before looking back at the Pokéball.
“What’s your Slowking called?” Sam asked as Stephen led the two back to the Pokémon Centre. “And aren’t we going to battle the trainers across the la ...... ” Sam trailed off as he looked across the lake to find the battling specks nowhere to be seen.
“Yeah, they finished while you were battling.” Stephen replied rubbing the back of his head. “And my Slowking is called Stephanos.” Sam looked up at Stephen and rolled his eyes. “Yeah I know it’s the root of my name but it means crown in an ancient language so it fits.”
“I’ll call mine ... something after I find out what gender this Slowpoke is.” Sam mused as he walked back to the Pokémon Centre.
***
It was 7:10 when Stephen and Sam returned to the Pokémon Centre. Sitting at one of the tables was Jessica, Alvin and Kei who waved and beckoned them over.
As soon as Sam got to the table he grabbed Alvin’s bag.
“Hey ask first.” Alvin retorted as he took the bag off Sam. “What did you catch?”
“How did you know?” Sam replied, his face slightly screwed up in confusion.
“Well the only thing in my bag you could possibly want is my Pokédex, so you must have caught a new Pokémon.” Alvin replied as he pulled the Pokédex out of his bag. “So get it out then.” Sam threw a Pokéball into the table releasing his newly captured Slowpoke who yawned and rolled onto its back.
“Hey a Slowpoke.” Jessica reached forward and scratched the Pokémon’s belly. “How cute.”
“Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokémon.” Alvin’s Pokémon chirped in its electronic voice. “Although incredibly slow and dopey, it is always vacantly lost in thought. Slowpoke uses its tail to catch prey by dipping it in water at the side of a river.”
“Interesting,” Alvin murmured as he scrolled through pages of information on Sam’s new Slowpoke. “And it’s a female.”
“What are you going to call her?” Jessica asked, stroking the Slowpoke’s belly.
“How about Ginny?” Sam replied. Jessica shrugged and looked down at the Slowpoke who had fallen asleep.
“I don’t think she minds.” Jessica sighed and stopped stroking the Slowpoke. “Reminds me of my Slowbro.” Sam returned his newly named Slowpoke to its Pokéball.
“What time are we leaving?” Kei piped up. “I want to get back out on the road so I can battle some trainers.”
“Well if we leave in an hour we should be back at the crossroad Pokémon Centre by 6 pm.” Stephen replied with a stretch. “That allows for a few stops for battles and lunch.” The group nodded in agreement. “Right so let’s go get a bite to eat then shoot off.” Alvin, Sam, Jessica and Kei stood up clearing the table of their stuff and heading for the door.
***
20 minutes later the group was at the gateway arch ready to leave. Only Sam was late.
“What is the hold up?” Kei moaned slouching over her handle bars. “I just want to get going.” Moments later Sam appeared around a corner and cycled up to the group. “My moaning has magical powers. COOL!” Kei sat up of her bicycle and turned to leave.
“Sorry I’m late I wanted to put Ginny back.” Sam panted slightly as he caught his breath. “I retrieved Cloyster from storage.” Sam indicated to his belt despite the fact the both his Slowpoke and Cloyster were both held in Pokéballs.
“Okay, cool, going now.” Kei's voice was as rushed as her desire to get going. Sam simply smiled and rode up next to Kei and leant over.
“Race ya.” Sam whispered much to Kei’s delight as she slammed on her pedals and shot off closely followed by Sam.
“Damn kids!” Alvin exclaimed and too slammed on his pedals to give chase. “SAM, KEI GET BACK HERE!” Stephen and Jessica chuckled at the sight of the three racing away. Jessica leant over and gave Stephen a quick kiss on the cheek.
“I think we should go too.” Jessica smiled and slowly pedalled away with Stephen closely following.
***
The sun was beginning to set as the weary group arrived at the Crossroads Pokémon Centre. It had been a long day of travelling, made longer by Sam and Kei challenging every trainer they spotted along the route as well as Alvin demanding to stop every few miles to scan the Pokémon in the area.
Sam and Kei sleepily stumbled into the Pokémon Centre, left their Pokémon with the Nurse Joy and went off to the overnight room. Leaving Stephen, Jessica and Alvin to sort everything out for the trip up to Lightvale City. Stephen and Alvin went round the back of the Pokémon Centre to secure the bicycles while Jessica went to the few nearby Pokémarts to buy supplies for the walk.
After a couple of hours everything as ready and Stephen, Jessica and Alvin sat around one of the tables in the Cross-Road Pokémon Centre lobby, some late night snacks scattered around the table, slowly being eaten.
“I still can’t believe Sam offered a race to Kei.” Alvin moaned as he slumped in his chair. “Stupid boy.”
“Lay off him.” Jessica rolled her eyes as she spoke. “He and Kei are kids, they’re supposed to play around and have fun.” Jessica looked Alvin in the eyes and smiled. “Even if her older brother is too old to keep up.” Alvin playfully pushed Jessica away.
“Whatever.” Alvin yawned and looked up at the ceiling of the Pokémon Centre. “I’m worried about tomorrow guys.”
“Don’t be.” Jessica spoke in a re-assuring voice. “Everything will be fine.”
“Don’t worry.” Stephen replied before taking a sip of his drink. “Lightvale isn’t too bad even if there have been arson attacks.” Stephen sighed and relaxed in his chair
“How can you say that?” Alvin retorted. “And why are you two acting so casual about it?”
“Well, firstly, the Shadow Gym is practically holy ground within the city.” Stephen explained. “Even the gangs and such revere it as one of the shrines to dark type Pokémon. And as a result wouldn’t want to risk the ‘divine retribution’ from attacking it.”
“Secondly, No gym means no trainers coming into the city with their money.” Jessica continued. “There are still a large number of legitimate businesses there and they are the mortar, if crumbling, that holds the city together and give the gangs something worth fighting for.”
“I see what you mean.” Alvin rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his hands. “It’s a disgusting state of affairs but I do understand. But you still haven’t explained why you two are so casual about it?”
“I’m ...” Jessica smirked as she received a killer glare from Stephen. “We’re ... excited ... yeah ... to see David again.” Jessica let forth a burst of giggles.
“Yeah.” Stephen poked Jessica’s shoulder and continued the explanation. “Me and David are friends.”
“Very good friends.” Jessica cut in suppressing around round of giggles.
“Seriously ... shut up.” Stephen folded his arms across his chest and huffed.
“Aww come on. It’s not like Alvin doesn’t know.” Jessica smiled at Stephen while stroking his hair.
“Know what?” Alvin sat up straight and smile returning to his face. Stephen sighed and relaxed, releasing his arms before pulling his chair up to the table and beckoning Alvin to lean in.
“I don’t like telling people this but Jessica is forcing me now.” Stephen whispered to Alvin as Jessica nuzzled up against Stephen, listening intently to his every word. “Me and David have a ... history ... together.”
“A cute history.” Jessica butted in.
“Remember that meteor shower we had sixteen years ago?” Stephen asked.
“Very vaguely.” Alvin looked away as he tried to remember. “All I can think of is hiding in our basement as loud explosions happened.”
“Yeah, well Jessica and me were in Lightvale when the main shower hit Actopon. We were with David at the time as he was showing us around. We were caught out by the abruptness of the shower reaching Actopon so we rushed back to his house to hide in his family’s basement. Only the rest of his family were out of the region, leaving only us in there.” Stephen sighed as the memories came back to him. “We were trapped in there for a few hours as one of the smaller meteors hit the ground about 5 miles from the house.” Alvin stared back in horror. “Yeah it was pretty close.” Stephen closed his eyes and shuddered. “I can still feel the impact now.”
“As a result we decided to sleep there and try to leave come morning.” Jessica continued as Stephen rubbed his eyes. “I had evolved a few months prior but felt completely useless as I was unable to detect any of the incoming meteors. Mostly due to fear.” Jessica sighed and wrapped an arm around Stephen’s shoulder.
“Anyway we were getting ready to sleep when another meteor hit Lightvale.” Stephen sighed as he continued. “I was scared and felt alone so I ...” Stephen trailed off as his cheeks began to go pink.
“What did you do?” Alvin tried to keep the excitement out of his voice as he pressed to know more. “I thought Jessica was sound asleep and didn't want to disturb here so I ...” Jessica sighed and gave Stephen a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You went over to David, got in bed with him and snuggled up didn’t you?” Jessica smiled and stuck her tongue out. Stephen’s face flushed pink as he glared up at Jessica, before looking down at the floor and smiling. Alvin simply sat his mouth ajar, taking in what he just heard; after a few moments he spoke up.
“Was that all?” Alvin whispered trying to avoid further embarrassment to Stephen.
“Well we kind of ...” Stephen didn’t look up as he spoke. “‘Made out’” he weakly made air quotes as he spoke.
Jessica smiled as she ran her slender green fingers through Stephen’s hair. “I wasn’t sleeping so I watched the whole thing ... it was really cute.”
“So that would explain why you and David are so close then.” Alvin covered his mouth and pretended to cough in an attempt to stifle his laughter.
“Yeah pretty much.” Stephen sighed before standing up. “I’m off to bed ... I suggest you two don’t stay up too late. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Wait up.” Alvin yawned as he stood up. “I’m going with you.”
“Yeah I suppose, I should go to sleep too.” Jessica added as she finished tidying away the last remnants of the late night meal. “What time are you going to be waking us up tomorrow?”
“Around seven.” Stephen replied as he turned to leave. “That should give us enough time to get to the shuttle stop before the afternoon.” Jessica and Alvin nodded in reply.
The three quickly and quietly made their way to the overnight room and got ready for bed, taking care not to wake Sam or Kei. Alvin got into the bunk underneath his sister and quickly fell asleep. Stephen and Jessica wordlessly looked at each other and clambered into separate beds.
Maybe some other time. Jessica’s voice rang in Stephen’s head as he settled down to sleep.
I don’t want to have to explain it to the kids yet. Stephen smiled and closed his eyes, his mind revelling in the newly formed emotional bond between himself and Jessica as he fell asleep.