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PokePaul
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My As-Yet-Untitled Story [Chapter 2 posted]
It doesn't have a title yet, apologies. This is my first post for this forum so hello everybody, and I hope the lack of a title doesn't break a rule - I did try to think of one!
Anyway that'll either put people off reading or intrigue them into doing so, and there can't be any expectations as to what this is about
Enjoy.
Calum had been daydreaming again when he’d noticed the train. Sitting in his fathers plush office he had been staring idly out of the window, watching the clouds drift past so slowly that if he hadn’t been staring with such interminable boredom he might not have noticed the difference.
Small frothy bubbles of clouds began to rise across the azure sky, joining the larger ones like playful Altaria before slowing and lengthening out into milky trails. It was an incredibly warm, still day. The window had been open all afternoon but the plush scarlet drapes barely wrinkled in the weak breeze. It was unusual for the mountains to be so generous with the weather so late into autumn but the entire town of Honest Rock had gleefully excused themselves outside with one excuse or another, to savour the remains of the day. Even there, on the fourth floor of the Town Hall, Calum could bitterly hear the frivolity outside.
Up until then he had miserably resigned himself to his extracurricular Latin studies; his father may not have been in the room but he could feel the eyes of the oil painting behind observing him sternly. At times he thought he could almost feel his cigar tinged breath on the back of his neck …
Uncomfortably Calum had turned around in the gigantic, brown leather chair to stare up at the portrait of his father on the wall above. And the honourable Mayor Theodore Baker stared righteously back.
It had been then that the beauty of the day had stolen his attention and he’d rolled lazily about in the chair, draping his head over the arm rest to watch the clouds roll by.
After a good hour he noticed those peculiar clouds and after a while wondering idly what they could be the obvious dawned on him as the whistle of a steam train sounded joyously in the distance. His curiosity peaked, trains to the town used to be few and far between but during the last six months the town had welcomed the construction of an official League Pokemon Gym in the interests of growth and tourism. His father had personally spearheaded the campaign to get the license, and succeeded. Ever since all manner of people had been arriving to Honest Rock and with the building newly finished, an official League trainer would be arriving to assume the post of Gym Leader any day.
Jumping up and clutching the window sill, Calum stared down across town to the nearby station and followed the winding track just into the meadows before spotting the olive green locomotive chugging it’s way pleasantly forward.
“It’s him! It must be!” Calum whispered excitedly to the empty room.
He watched the equal interest of the people below unfold rapidly as the throngs of townsfolk milled in the direction of the station; including his father, as the Mayors stately black saloon trundled pompously through the square. The freshly waxed bonnet glinted the sun back to Calum at the window.
“As if he didn’t take me along,” the boy growled, “Here I am stuck with a Latin textbook …”
He ran a hand defiantly through his blonde hair, well not for much longer he thought. Reaching for his school satchel he ripped a cool metallic ball from the pocket and flung it out the window.
“Swellow!” he called, the ball bursting with a crackle of electricity and spark of blue light. A large navy bird sailed gracefully back towards him, it’s powerful wings bristling as it settled on the stone window ledge.
Calum laughed and clambered onto it’s back, holding firmly but gently to his companions feathered breast.
“You can guess where we’re going can’t you?”
The Swellow released a shrill call of agreement before spreading it’s wings and diving from the window. Within moments they had covered the square, capturing the attention of the people beneath, then dipping and racing past the passenger door of his fathers car. Calum winked cheekily at his reflection in the tinted window and knowing his father had seen as the window began to lower, with a nudge Calum urged Swellow back high into the sky and together they left the car far below and behind.
The train hadn’t yet pulled into the station but had almost wound it’s way through the countryside and with boyish playfulness Calum rode Swellow towards it - eager to perhaps get a look through the carriages at his soon-to-be hero. As they flew nearer however, he was suddenly aware of somebody else.
Racing along, at phenomenal speed, beside the brassy bulk of the engine was a raven haired woman hoisted to the saddle of a Rapidash! The beasts pure white legs a blur of ivory and scarlet as the flames which engulfed it’s body swirled like a bushfire about it’s hooves, scorching the trail it made alongside the tracks.
Dumbfounded, Calum paused and stared in awe at the unlikely competition between animal and machine. Swellow likewise hung in the air, it’s attention just focused enough to ensure it’s wings continued to flap and keep them both airborne.
Drawing nearer, the woman suddenly seemed to noticed the pair watching her from so high in the air. She looked directly up, but Calum saw most of her face was hidden by a leather aviator cap and goggles, her body was clad in identical attire. With a spirited whoop the woman greeted them, lifting both hands from the reins to wave crazily. Calum was sure she’d be thrown from the creature as it thundered along but absurdly she stayed mounted.
He waved meekly back, slightly embarrassed at his dumbstruck state.
The woman laughed friendly and then gripped her steed, flattening her body against it, and the Rapidash seemed to burn even stronger as it quickly overtook the train; leading it victoriously into town.
Calum blinked, looking after them. That woman was amazing! He’d stupidly been expecting a man but it made no difference, her skill and control of that Rapidash had been legendary. And he was now more determined to shake the hand of the new Gym Leader for Honest Rock.
Apart from a few people who had been in the right place at the right time, the train station was relatively quiet. Calum’s father had yet to arrive but he was no doubt only minutes away, along with the rest of the town.
As Swellow swung low out of the clear sky and under the glass roof of the central platform conservatory, the train itself was just slowing to harbour at the end of the track. But it wasn’t that he was interested in any longer, the person he’d been so desperate to meet ironically hadn’t been on the train to begin with.
“Take us down Swellow,” he asked as his eyes skimmed the station. The woman was nowhere to be found.
Swellow alighted onto the stone platform just as a swarm of people emerged from outside, pushing alongside the Mayors car. Swellow chirped anxiously as the crowd rushed past them both and thronged beside the opening doors of the carriages. Calum petted his friends soft brow, knowing how much it disliked large numbers of people, when a shadow was suddenly cast over them. Calum turned to look into his fathers irritated glare.
“Well, young man,” he said sternly, adjusting the weighty golden chains of office that hung about his robed neck, “We shall be having words when we get back. For now, however, I have a pressing engagement as you’re obviously aware … and you might as well hang around now that you’re here,”
Calum breathed a sigh of relief as his fathers face softened with the last sentence.
“But you’ll be doing double Latin tomorrow evening understand,” he added maliciously as he strode away, pushing past people.
With an irritated groan Calum continued to look for the strange rider he’d seen but with so many people arriving it was next to impossible. Instead he turned his attention back to his father who was talking earnestly to a large, heavy-set man who had just stepped down from the first carriage. He had a heavy tan, something almost unheard of this high in the mountain district, and shaggy silver hair. He nodded as his father talked but his cold blue eyes looked about attentively, as if memorising every face around him. It was then that Calum noticed the six, shiny Ultra Balls strapped to a khaki belt the man wore …
“Ladies and gentleman, settle down, settle down,” bellowed his father suddenly to the crowd, bringing order to the disparate raucous, “Thank you, thank you very much. Now, this is a significant day in our towns history. With our Gym freshly completed a wealth of opportunities has been given to us …”
Calum nodded impatiently, barely paying attention to the mandatory speech, any moment that woman would be appearing and he’d finally get to meet her.
“This advancement will bring new faces and new life to our small town,” his father continued grandiosely, “which will welcome young Pokemon trainers in earnest, eager to claim a Badge from the hands of our esteemed resident Gym Leader …. Nathaniel!”
Calum’s jaw hung in puzzlement as the sturdy man waved a clenched paw at the applauding crowd.
“What…?” he whispered, a thousand questions bombarding his mind, he instinctively began to scratch his forehead furiously - an awful habit his mother detested.
“Hmm, seems as good as choice as any,” came a direct voice from behind him, “Do you happen to know what Type of Pokemon he specialises in?”
Calum turned to reply, still scratching his head, “Listen, I didn’t even know he was going to be-”
It was then he discovered that the person who had spoken to him was the woman he’d been looking for all along. She gave him a brilliantly white smile as his jaw dropped once again.
“It’s rude to stare,” she tutted, taking a heavy swig from a bottle of mineral water, her forehead dotted with hot sweat. The goggles she’d been wearing earlier hung loosely over her shoulder.
“You’re incredible!” was the first thing Calum managed to shout out. He promptly cringed with embarrassment.
The woman laughed softly and took another drink.
“Where’s your Rapidash!?” he then asked eagerly, never having ridden one before.
“I left her just outside the station in the meadow, deserves a well earned break,” she replied simply, capping the bottle and stuffing it into her leather jacket, “Is that your father then?”
Calum followed her to a bench where she sat down with a relieved sigh, but showed no other signs of exhaustion.
“Yeah. Yeah, he’s the Mayor.”
“I gathered that. And that’s a fine Swellow you’ve got there,”
Calum had completely forgotten his bird which had flitted to the top of an iron post and made itself at home in the hanging basket.
“Thanks, I’ve had it since I was a child. How long have you been training for? And why are you … um, dressed like that? You look like a fighter pilot.”
The woman laughed loudly again, tossing her black hair from her face.
“Have you not seen the flames a Rapidash can put out when they’re in full gallop? This flame-retardant leather is the only thing stopping me from cooking when I’m riding her. Beautiful creature though, I’ve not had her long. I traded for her about three months ago and certainly haven’t regretted it,” she smiled, her cheeks slowly beginning to tinge pink as she rested, “I can be the most disorganised woman you’ll ever meet, young … ahm, what did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t. It’s Calum,”
“Charmed, I’m Isabel,” she said, giving him a strong handshake, “As I was saying, I can be the most disorganised fool, and wouldn’t you know it - I missed the train! Of course I’d had all my luggage loaded the night before but naturally it’s myself I forget to put on the damn thing. Anyway, luckily Rapidash can get me here just as promptly as any machine can. And I got to see a far stretch more of the countryside as well. Beautiful weather you have up here!”
Calum shrugged, “You’ll see,”
They both looked over to where Calum’s father was escorting the Gym Leader into his car and dozens of people were still applauding mindlessly.
“I’m sorry,” Calum said, turning back once again to Isabel, “Just who are you? I had myself convinced you were the new Gym Leader but, as you can see…”
Isabel laughed loudly again, “My, what a compliment. I’m sorry to disappoint you, no. Actually I’m the new Nurse at the Pokemon Center.”
T.B.C
It doesn't have a title yet, apologies. This is my first post for this forum so hello everybody, and I hope the lack of a title doesn't break a rule - I did try to think of one!
Anyway that'll either put people off reading or intrigue them into doing so, and there can't be any expectations as to what this is about
Enjoy.
~~~~~~
Chapter One
Honest Rock
Honest Rock
Calum had been daydreaming again when he’d noticed the train. Sitting in his fathers plush office he had been staring idly out of the window, watching the clouds drift past so slowly that if he hadn’t been staring with such interminable boredom he might not have noticed the difference.
Small frothy bubbles of clouds began to rise across the azure sky, joining the larger ones like playful Altaria before slowing and lengthening out into milky trails. It was an incredibly warm, still day. The window had been open all afternoon but the plush scarlet drapes barely wrinkled in the weak breeze. It was unusual for the mountains to be so generous with the weather so late into autumn but the entire town of Honest Rock had gleefully excused themselves outside with one excuse or another, to savour the remains of the day. Even there, on the fourth floor of the Town Hall, Calum could bitterly hear the frivolity outside.
Up until then he had miserably resigned himself to his extracurricular Latin studies; his father may not have been in the room but he could feel the eyes of the oil painting behind observing him sternly. At times he thought he could almost feel his cigar tinged breath on the back of his neck …
Uncomfortably Calum had turned around in the gigantic, brown leather chair to stare up at the portrait of his father on the wall above. And the honourable Mayor Theodore Baker stared righteously back.
It had been then that the beauty of the day had stolen his attention and he’d rolled lazily about in the chair, draping his head over the arm rest to watch the clouds roll by.
After a good hour he noticed those peculiar clouds and after a while wondering idly what they could be the obvious dawned on him as the whistle of a steam train sounded joyously in the distance. His curiosity peaked, trains to the town used to be few and far between but during the last six months the town had welcomed the construction of an official League Pokemon Gym in the interests of growth and tourism. His father had personally spearheaded the campaign to get the license, and succeeded. Ever since all manner of people had been arriving to Honest Rock and with the building newly finished, an official League trainer would be arriving to assume the post of Gym Leader any day.
Jumping up and clutching the window sill, Calum stared down across town to the nearby station and followed the winding track just into the meadows before spotting the olive green locomotive chugging it’s way pleasantly forward.
“It’s him! It must be!” Calum whispered excitedly to the empty room.
He watched the equal interest of the people below unfold rapidly as the throngs of townsfolk milled in the direction of the station; including his father, as the Mayors stately black saloon trundled pompously through the square. The freshly waxed bonnet glinted the sun back to Calum at the window.
“As if he didn’t take me along,” the boy growled, “Here I am stuck with a Latin textbook …”
He ran a hand defiantly through his blonde hair, well not for much longer he thought. Reaching for his school satchel he ripped a cool metallic ball from the pocket and flung it out the window.
“Swellow!” he called, the ball bursting with a crackle of electricity and spark of blue light. A large navy bird sailed gracefully back towards him, it’s powerful wings bristling as it settled on the stone window ledge.
Calum laughed and clambered onto it’s back, holding firmly but gently to his companions feathered breast.
“You can guess where we’re going can’t you?”
The Swellow released a shrill call of agreement before spreading it’s wings and diving from the window. Within moments they had covered the square, capturing the attention of the people beneath, then dipping and racing past the passenger door of his fathers car. Calum winked cheekily at his reflection in the tinted window and knowing his father had seen as the window began to lower, with a nudge Calum urged Swellow back high into the sky and together they left the car far below and behind.
The train hadn’t yet pulled into the station but had almost wound it’s way through the countryside and with boyish playfulness Calum rode Swellow towards it - eager to perhaps get a look through the carriages at his soon-to-be hero. As they flew nearer however, he was suddenly aware of somebody else.
Racing along, at phenomenal speed, beside the brassy bulk of the engine was a raven haired woman hoisted to the saddle of a Rapidash! The beasts pure white legs a blur of ivory and scarlet as the flames which engulfed it’s body swirled like a bushfire about it’s hooves, scorching the trail it made alongside the tracks.
Dumbfounded, Calum paused and stared in awe at the unlikely competition between animal and machine. Swellow likewise hung in the air, it’s attention just focused enough to ensure it’s wings continued to flap and keep them both airborne.
Drawing nearer, the woman suddenly seemed to noticed the pair watching her from so high in the air. She looked directly up, but Calum saw most of her face was hidden by a leather aviator cap and goggles, her body was clad in identical attire. With a spirited whoop the woman greeted them, lifting both hands from the reins to wave crazily. Calum was sure she’d be thrown from the creature as it thundered along but absurdly she stayed mounted.
He waved meekly back, slightly embarrassed at his dumbstruck state.
The woman laughed friendly and then gripped her steed, flattening her body against it, and the Rapidash seemed to burn even stronger as it quickly overtook the train; leading it victoriously into town.
Calum blinked, looking after them. That woman was amazing! He’d stupidly been expecting a man but it made no difference, her skill and control of that Rapidash had been legendary. And he was now more determined to shake the hand of the new Gym Leader for Honest Rock.
~~~
Apart from a few people who had been in the right place at the right time, the train station was relatively quiet. Calum’s father had yet to arrive but he was no doubt only minutes away, along with the rest of the town.
As Swellow swung low out of the clear sky and under the glass roof of the central platform conservatory, the train itself was just slowing to harbour at the end of the track. But it wasn’t that he was interested in any longer, the person he’d been so desperate to meet ironically hadn’t been on the train to begin with.
“Take us down Swellow,” he asked as his eyes skimmed the station. The woman was nowhere to be found.
Swellow alighted onto the stone platform just as a swarm of people emerged from outside, pushing alongside the Mayors car. Swellow chirped anxiously as the crowd rushed past them both and thronged beside the opening doors of the carriages. Calum petted his friends soft brow, knowing how much it disliked large numbers of people, when a shadow was suddenly cast over them. Calum turned to look into his fathers irritated glare.
“Well, young man,” he said sternly, adjusting the weighty golden chains of office that hung about his robed neck, “We shall be having words when we get back. For now, however, I have a pressing engagement as you’re obviously aware … and you might as well hang around now that you’re here,”
Calum breathed a sigh of relief as his fathers face softened with the last sentence.
“But you’ll be doing double Latin tomorrow evening understand,” he added maliciously as he strode away, pushing past people.
With an irritated groan Calum continued to look for the strange rider he’d seen but with so many people arriving it was next to impossible. Instead he turned his attention back to his father who was talking earnestly to a large, heavy-set man who had just stepped down from the first carriage. He had a heavy tan, something almost unheard of this high in the mountain district, and shaggy silver hair. He nodded as his father talked but his cold blue eyes looked about attentively, as if memorising every face around him. It was then that Calum noticed the six, shiny Ultra Balls strapped to a khaki belt the man wore …
“Ladies and gentleman, settle down, settle down,” bellowed his father suddenly to the crowd, bringing order to the disparate raucous, “Thank you, thank you very much. Now, this is a significant day in our towns history. With our Gym freshly completed a wealth of opportunities has been given to us …”
Calum nodded impatiently, barely paying attention to the mandatory speech, any moment that woman would be appearing and he’d finally get to meet her.
“This advancement will bring new faces and new life to our small town,” his father continued grandiosely, “which will welcome young Pokemon trainers in earnest, eager to claim a Badge from the hands of our esteemed resident Gym Leader …. Nathaniel!”
Calum’s jaw hung in puzzlement as the sturdy man waved a clenched paw at the applauding crowd.
“What…?” he whispered, a thousand questions bombarding his mind, he instinctively began to scratch his forehead furiously - an awful habit his mother detested.
“Hmm, seems as good as choice as any,” came a direct voice from behind him, “Do you happen to know what Type of Pokemon he specialises in?”
Calum turned to reply, still scratching his head, “Listen, I didn’t even know he was going to be-”
It was then he discovered that the person who had spoken to him was the woman he’d been looking for all along. She gave him a brilliantly white smile as his jaw dropped once again.
“It’s rude to stare,” she tutted, taking a heavy swig from a bottle of mineral water, her forehead dotted with hot sweat. The goggles she’d been wearing earlier hung loosely over her shoulder.
“You’re incredible!” was the first thing Calum managed to shout out. He promptly cringed with embarrassment.
The woman laughed softly and took another drink.
“Where’s your Rapidash!?” he then asked eagerly, never having ridden one before.
“I left her just outside the station in the meadow, deserves a well earned break,” she replied simply, capping the bottle and stuffing it into her leather jacket, “Is that your father then?”
Calum followed her to a bench where she sat down with a relieved sigh, but showed no other signs of exhaustion.
“Yeah. Yeah, he’s the Mayor.”
“I gathered that. And that’s a fine Swellow you’ve got there,”
Calum had completely forgotten his bird which had flitted to the top of an iron post and made itself at home in the hanging basket.
“Thanks, I’ve had it since I was a child. How long have you been training for? And why are you … um, dressed like that? You look like a fighter pilot.”
The woman laughed loudly again, tossing her black hair from her face.
“Have you not seen the flames a Rapidash can put out when they’re in full gallop? This flame-retardant leather is the only thing stopping me from cooking when I’m riding her. Beautiful creature though, I’ve not had her long. I traded for her about three months ago and certainly haven’t regretted it,” she smiled, her cheeks slowly beginning to tinge pink as she rested, “I can be the most disorganised woman you’ll ever meet, young … ahm, what did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t. It’s Calum,”
“Charmed, I’m Isabel,” she said, giving him a strong handshake, “As I was saying, I can be the most disorganised fool, and wouldn’t you know it - I missed the train! Of course I’d had all my luggage loaded the night before but naturally it’s myself I forget to put on the damn thing. Anyway, luckily Rapidash can get me here just as promptly as any machine can. And I got to see a far stretch more of the countryside as well. Beautiful weather you have up here!”
Calum shrugged, “You’ll see,”
They both looked over to where Calum’s father was escorting the Gym Leader into his car and dozens of people were still applauding mindlessly.
“I’m sorry,” Calum said, turning back once again to Isabel, “Just who are you? I had myself convinced you were the new Gym Leader but, as you can see…”
Isabel laughed loudly again, “My, what a compliment. I’m sorry to disappoint you, no. Actually I’m the new Nurse at the Pokemon Center.”
T.B.C
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