RE: Rose Quartz And Onyx- The Revival
Zy: Better watch out next time else I may be a better shot next time. ;D
And I guess I get what you're saying. I'm not sure. I generally don't think of such things as important. With a story this big, are smaller things such as a thunderstorm really important in the long run? No. Not at all. And hey I do want SOME surprises in store for the reader. ;D
May wanna lurk till the end of each part at the least. |3
I may end up doing that, whenever I go back and try and look at the first chapter. Whoo third person \m/ but I can't be too bothered right now. I'll get back to you on that bit...
aggiegwyn: Yeah :/
Anyways, Crystal may have changed, or this could have been her somewhat similar attitude to the past. We don't know yet, and probably will not know for a while. |P So sorry about that bit. Also hahahahaha, Eru's job is complete.
GUEEEEEEEEESS WHAT FOLKS?! IT'S THAT MAGICAL TIME OF THE WEEK! A new chapter is to be added! This one chapter is slow (and I'm still upset at myself for having to separate this into two chapters, but it was bound to happen anyways...), but guess who's in for the ride?!
Also if Zy can say frickin' and cal can say hellbent I get to cuss a little in my fic so HERE IS MY WARNING ANYWAYS SO THERE >0
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Chapter 11: Regroup
“Hey.”
Crystal didn’t respond to the voice. She simply sat, her clothes becoming muddied as she continued to hold Dragola close to her.
“I said, hey.”
Nothing. In all truth, the girl let the words fall on completely deaf ears. She didn’t want to be seen crying, nor did she want to stop. She forced herself to somewhat regulate her breaths. Gingerly she pet the creature; she had done what she could for her with a Potion, but the dragon was still fast asleep.
The rain suddenly stopped overhead. Sounds of raindrops hitting cloth brought the gifted girl’s attention up and over to the figure standing solemnly over her. Aeron didn’t speak, yet simply gazed at her with a look of pity.
The youngest Hikara gazed back down at her Pokemon, still torn.
“Crystal…” the fire trainer began slowly with a long sigh. “… …come on, let’s get back to the Pokemon Center…”
“-my fault,” the blonde whispered. Water droplets trickled down her back, making her shiver and clutch the Dratini tighter.
“…what?”
“It’s all my fault,” Crystal hiccuped. “Everything thus far has all been my fault. I-I probably got, got Breeze and Flora killed, m-my family is in danger, I-I’m just some sort of dummy-burden to you, a-and even n-now, I, I couldn’t react straight in the b-b-battle, and Dragola was in a lot of, lot of pain because of me! I-It’s all my fault! I-I should have never, never gotten this gift! Never! I’m sick of it! I-I just keep losing and-and I’m never…I’m never…I’m never going to be anyone special and helpful at all!”
Only the sound of her hyperventilating wails and the rain could be made out on the scene. Ashamed, Crystal buried her head deep into Dragola’s smooth, wet body. Her legs were beginning to ache from being sat upon, although it didn’t matter to her.
Eru breathed in roughly, before kneeling down to the girl. She gently placed her empty hand on her shoulder. “You’re not a burden. Ignorant sometimes, yes, but otherwise no.” Crystal glanced up. The elder had to hold her breath for a moment; her student’s eyes were red and puffy, along with her cheeks and nose. Her hair clumped together unnaturally from the rain and appeared tangled. She attempted to soften her normally stern, sarcastic expression further. “…come on. Let’s get you two out of the rain. We can talk back at the Pokemon Center…”
“A-Aeron…” Crystal weakly slurred, sniffling. “I…I’m not so sure I can be a trainer anymore…”
“Stop that nonsense for right now. Come on. Wash up first, and then you can be all emo at the Center.”
The blonde couldn’t even mutter a retort. She allowed herself to be lifted by her arm up to her feet, as though she was a lifeless doll. With a small roll of her eyes to the heavens, Eru pushed the blonde onwards, back down into the city.
* * *
“Are you gonna be a mute for the rest of your life or what?”
Once again, Crystal wasn’t up to answering her mentor. She had taken to sulking on the top bunk, her sleeping bag tightly wrapped around her. Her messy hair still stuck to the back of her neck and seeped through her nightgown. She faced the wall, eyes blank as she simply tried to keep her mind off of the battles.
Aeron scowled, letting loose a faint swear. “By the legendaries. You are freakin’ unbelievable. You gotta cut this out right now. So you lost! It isn’t the end of the world. I, for one, am not going to have you play the crazy pop-emo girl all night long! Dragola’s doing fine, and I’m sure she’ll forgive you…”
There was another pause, before Gunnar scratched her head in frustration. “Listen. Losing happens. I lost my very first gym battle myself. But you know what? I couldn’t cry. I had some mean, rough-and-tough brothers that wouldn’t LET me cry, let alone go ‘oh, life is so hard, cut-cut, I can never amount to anything, cut-cut…I am sorry, but I am sick of this pathetic little act you’re putting on right now. Either you snap out of it, come to your senses and listen to my advice before you go headfirst into another nightmare, or I swear, I will call out Val so quick it’ll make your head spin.”
“Take me home, then. I don’t want to be here any more. I let Dragola down too much, and I just hurt everyone I come across…” Crystal muttered from above.
The elder’s brow furrowed, her frown showing full-blown frustration. “That’s it. Freya, come out for a minute.” The gifted trainer paid no heed as she heard the ball break open and the Pokemon materialize. “…now…” Aeron whispered, her words too quiet for the younger to figure out. Not that it mattered.
Suddenly, the Flareon leapt up onto the bed, quickly walking over to the girl. She prodded her with a paw, but Crystal didn’t reply. Giving a small grunt, Freya walked around to face the girl head on. The girl shut her eyes, pretending she wasn’t there. The Eeveelution lightly nibbled on her nose. No response.
Finally, Freya shook herself, radiating heat and making herself appear as a Meowth that had just been dried with a hairdryer. She walked over, pawed Crystal once more, before sitting comfortably on her face and upper chest.
At last, Crystal reacted, groaning and trying to shoo the Flareon off so she could breathe. Soon her actions grew more panicked, as Freya’s Flash Fire increased with every moment.
“Oww! Owww! A-Aeron, call her off!”
“Only if you’ll come down here and talk,” she apathetically murmured, pressing a few buttons on her Pokegear.
“Call her off!”
“You gonna come down here?”
“Yes! I’m coming down! I’m coming down! Owwww! She’s really hurting me!” Crystal cried, emerging from the sack and making a beeline for the ladder. Freya stuck close to her, pawing at her with a snicker.
“Okay, Freya, that’s enough I guess…you’ll get your fun later…” Aeron yawned, petting her side of the bed. With a single, artful leap, the Flareon landed by her mistress’s side. The blonde carefully looked on before taking the last step down. Adamantly, she sat on the bed across from Aeron. Soon, the elder closed the application she had open and shuffled forward. A hand absently began to pet her starter Pokemon.
“…so what do you want me to say?”
“Why do you think everything’s your fault?”
“…if I didn’t follow that Pokemon I rescued, none of this would have really been happening,” she began. “I just…I don’t want to be able to talk to Pokemon anymore. I have just been hurting everyone with my gift. And, Dragola really trusted me and gave it her all in that fight. There’s no way I can win…”
“That was your own goddamn fault.”
Crystal glanced up. Her stomach lurched. “How…how can you say such a thing?!”
“Listen, bitchy or not, this is the truth of the matter. You haven’t done any training, and you haven’t even bothered to look at anything concerning Pokemon, including their abilities and moves. Sylvia has a few levels on Dragola, most definitely. It was no surprise that she beat you. In the end, it was inevitable. I told you, many, many times before: stop rushing into things.”
The youngest Hikara let her gaze fall to the ground at that. She watched as her shadow only gently shifted from brief situations she made to keep herself upright. Her eyes burned from crying so much, and she simply closed them.
“Now, if you went out and caught some more Pokemon, as well as doing some training against wild Pokemon, you may still have a chance.”
“Forget it. I’m not going back.”
“Oh, so that’s it? You’re just giving up?” Crystal glared up. Eru had risen to her feet, wrists on her hips. A sly smirk had crawled across her face. “Just gonna say, ‘I failed once, that’s it for me’? Not gonna try again? Okay, you can do that. But first, you’re going to give Dragola back to me, and then, when I bring you home, I’ll have YOU be the one that has to pack all the furniture away while I sip on some ice cold lemonade and
laugh as I tell your family what happened. And we’ll move you far, far away from here, far away from Beghta, where you’ll never have to worry about trying to rescue Breeze or Flora ever again.”
Less sarcastic, she kneeled down to face the girl head on. The younger flinched backwards, trying hard to break eye contact. Fury was bubbling within her, yet that plain look in Aeron’s face unnerved her. “…you can’t change the past. No one can. It is locked in place. You have to accept that. I…I know how hard it is to lose someone close to you, to never see that person again. I know. I know the pain of losing. I’ve definitely lost my fair share of battles when I was younger, before I was toughened up by my own teachers. But, if I didn’t suck up and learn from my mistakes, I’d probably be dead right now…or worse.
“…hahaha, I know that this will sound really crazy to you, kid…” she continued, patting her shoulder. “…but you and I? We’re not that different. At all. I was just like you when I was starting out. Only difference is that I grew up in a family that embraced the idea of being a battler openly, but I was still like you are- headstrong and naïve. And that’s how I know what you need.
“You can and will win the next time you battle the Gym Leader. And like hell if you think that I’m not going to force you to train hard for it. If it takes days, weeks, even a month! I’m not going to let you humiliate yourself for something so…menial, so stupid. Got that, Crystal?”
Crystal gulped, unable to look elsewhere. Aeron had a stern grasp on her, her eyes sincere. The lighting aged her face. She glanced down gently for a moment, before gazing at her mentor again, still disheveled in her emotions. Weakly, she finally managed, “I don’t have a choice in the matter…do I?”
“Nope,” Aeron beamed, slapping her on the back a few times. “Now, no more tears! Tomorrow, we will start your training.”
“…so don’t be mad, Aeron, but…”
“Oh god. If you’re about to say what I THINK you’re going to say…”
“How exactly does one-”
“AUGH,” the teacher groaned, planting her face into the palm of her hand before leaving the girl’s side. “…where’s that copy of ‘Pokemon Training for Dummies’…”
* * *
Before the odd duo, a Ratatta lay unconscious as a result of Freya’s Ember. The evolution of Eevee coolly breathed out an exhaust cloud in the shape of a few rings. “…That’s…that’s it? That’s all you have to do to train a Pokemon? I thought there was some sort of trick involved in it,” Crystal stated in disbelief.
“Deceivingly simple, yet extremely important.” The fire trainer nodded, before tilting her head off to the still-sleeping rat. “Fight against an opponent that has higher speed than anything else, and your Pokemon will learn how to fight faster. Fight against an opponent with stronger attack, and it will learn how to hit harder. Those are the basics as I was taught. Granted, all of this takes a while, but those are the basics of training. We really don’t need to worry about trying to make Dragola faster, as she’s plenty fast, so just battle whatever we can find here. It won’t matter so early on, at any rate.”
The blonde began twiddling her hair again as the Onyx Ball was offered to her. She hadn’t seen Dragola since Aeron made her recall her and give her to the nurse down at the center. Once again she went into deep thought as to how to apologize. A rustle from a nearby bush caught her attention before hand, and she quickly snatched it from her mentor.
“So what do you think that was?”
“Hmm? I’m not sure, really…Freya, investigate.”
Giving a small ‘Tch! Recon duty again…’, the Flareon tip-toed over to the brush on the side of the road. Using great agility, she leapt upwards and landed on the other side. A small, round, blue creature with leaves sprouting from its head tumbled out of hiding onto the road.
“Aw, shizzle, did you gotta do ‘dat, foo’? Here I was, ‘bout to go an’ give mah trainer da’ jump, but noooo, you gots to go an’ get all up in mah grill, fo’ rizzle!” the Oddish spat back at the bushes, shaking her leaves wildly.
Crystal stared dumbly for a moment, before an unstoppable smile crossed her face. “F-Flora?!”
The small grass type shifted about, taking in the sight of the younger trainer. “Oh shizzle! Don’t do dat to dis’ flowah, lady, else I may jump you fo’ real!”
“Flora, is that really you?! Oh my god, is it?!”
“Da one and only purest flowah of da Northside hood! Damn straight, lady!”
At that, Crystal collapsed to her knees, scooping the Oddish into her arms tightly. Her words fell into disarray. Aeron slowly shook her head as she listened to absolute nonsense. “Oh, oh god, Flora…I’m so glad that you’re not hurt and that you got out alright, I am SO sorry for what happened, I couldn’t battle back enough and did they hurt you in any sort of way? What about Breeze? How is she doing?”
“Yo makin’ mah head go ‘round like some foo’ dat just got Seismic Toss’d, girl, slow down for dis weed!”
“You’re not hurt, are you? What about Breeze? Where is she? In the woods?” she attempted to babble slower. Flora shook her leaves at that. A sweet smell leaked out from the crown of the Pokemon’s head.
“Naw, them foos’ ain’t gone an’ got in mah grill. I be fine but dis weed need some zs soon if ya catch.”
“Flora, what about Breeze?” the young girl pressed.
“Man, you got any place I can chill, lady? I be as beat as a Tauros on whoopin’ days…”
“Flora…” Crystal painfully attempted one last time. Her stomach sunk, praying that her Pokemon wouldn’t say what she expected her to. “…what happened to Breeze?”
At last, the radish hopped out of her grasp, gazing into the distance. “Sorry, homes, but when I gots busted outta dat joint, da bird be nowhere near me, fo’ rizzle…”
Once again, the young girl felt like she had been punched in the stomach by a Machamp. She rose to her feet, all excitement gone from her expression.
“…so what was with the kissy-happy lovey-dovey moment gone bad with that Oddish? You’re always leaving me outta the loop when you switch languages, you know…” Aeron whistled gently, eyeing Flora dubiously.
“Well, ah, Flora’s back. That’s Flora, I can guarantee that, one-hundred percent, just with the way she talks. We really only talked once, but I remember the way she spoke, without a doubt.”
“Ah, so if your Oddish was near…”
“Unfortunately…she hasn’t seen Breeze,” Crystal cut the elder off, her gaze distant and locked on some tree far in front of them.
“…oh. Well, I mean, if you found Flora, then maybe Breeze is still out there and safe as well, you know? Either way, this is gonna make your life way easier,” Eru clapped her hands. Freya pounced forward, finally returning to her trainer’s side. A small lick of a flame escaped her mouth as she watched the every eccentric move of the weed Pokemon. “Assuming she doesn’t have her Pokeball anymore, you’ll need to catch her again. So, go on, take out one of the Pokeballs I gave you. Any will do…”
The gifted girl watched as her Pokemon muttered something about the sunlight being too much for her. Shaking her head, she unzipped the Pokeball compartment on her waist. Of the five tiny red and white orbs, she chose one of the precious commodities and clicked the button twice to maximize it to full capacity. “…Hey, Flora?”
“Shizzle?” the poison type responded, tilting her leaves.
“Since…you probably don’t have your Pokeball and all and I think you said you were tired…why don’t you rest inside this one for a while? We’ll head right back to the Pokemon Center…”
“Oh, praise da Legendaries, girl, dat sounds somethin’ blessful!” She leapt at once, teetering over and slapping her leaf against the orb without a further word needed. The red light died within one moment. Aeron gave a small smirk.
“Alright, now we’re in business. Let’s head back to the Center. Afterwards, we’ll start on training. Best be prepared mentally for some heavy training.”
“Okay,” the blonde replied, shrinking the Pokeball and letting it catch on her belt’s magnet. Soon she was by her teacher’s side, and whether she knew it or not, a smile crawled over her face. “…so how long do you think training will take?”
“Given you just got back Flora and probably haven’t trained her…well, closer to two, three weeks max now.”
“T-two weeks?!” the student exploded.
I…I suddenly feel faint…
The elder paused, noting her student’s appearance. She grasped her shoulder with a serious frown before dragging her along. “Oh, yes. Two weeks of whipping not only your team, but yourself as a trainer into shape. I’m going to prepare you for all sorts of trouble on the battle field, starting with Sweet Scent, because knowing you, you’d just happily let the scent fog your senses. Oh, two weeks. Joy.”
“Help me,” Crystal whimpered.
* * *
“Okay, I think it’s time for our supper break…”
Covered in beads of sweat, Crystal immediately sat herself down on a nearby stump in the clearing. She collapsed over it on her stomach dramatically, her breaths as labored as a Pokemon clinging onto consciousness by the skin of their teeth. Both Blaze and Freya faltered with their Flamethrowers as they watched their trainer raise up her hand.
Aeron, too, panted heavily, grunting something about being out of shape as she monitored her heartrate. She disgustingly glared at her student for her overly dramatic display of exhaustion. She ruffled her hair gently before finally allowing herself to sit down.
“Oh, come on. Running a mile isn’t that bad.”
“E-easy for…for you to say…” Crystal breathed out lightly, still fighting for breath. “I…I don’t see why I have to do any training…anyways…”
“Tch! Typical as always,” Eru grunted. “Let me put it to you this way- what if you were in the way of a Surf attack? Or any attack of brutal nature, for that matter? You got to be able to get the hell out of there, and fast.”
“I still don’t see what that has to do with me…”
“Even better…” the fire trainer hesitated, taking a long sip from a water bottle. “…better yet, what if Team Missile was in hot pursuit and I was a mile away?”
“But that’s…”
“No buts with me, kid,” Aeron gave a heavy laugh. “It’s do or die in this world, unfortunately. It’s a very realistic situation. Ahhhh…hah. I think I’m going to go get some firewood. It’s getting late. Might as well spend the night out here, to get you used to that as well. Come on, Blaze, we’ll grab some. Freya, stay with the kid and keep her out of trouble.”
“Always recon duty,” the Flareon grumbled as she wandered over to the passed-out trainer’s side and adamantly stuck her butt down. She glared enviously at Blaze, who simply buffed up his chest.
“Love you too, Freya,” the Charmeleon mocked Umbree, before setting his tail high up in the air and following his trainer. The Eeveelution sneezed at that, before glaring at the still panting girl. Crystal had somehow managed to pull herself to an upright position, and she let her eyes fall onto the fire type. She emptily gazed back at the new trainer, tilting her head gently.
“What are you looking at?” Crystal queried innocently.
“Nothing much, that’s for sure,” Freya snickered gently. She stretched out, mimicking a cat in her movements, before sneezing once more. Soon Aeron and Blaze were out of view. “So how is that egg of Blaze’s doing? Please tell me it’s sunny-side up. That arrogant fool doesn’t deserve a child…”
“Ah, right! The egg…” Crystal noted, gingerly taking off her bag and opening the back. The egg, still wrapped in its many blankets, had not changed, though it did show its liveliness by shaking in the young girl’s arms. With a small smile and a sigh, she rubbed the top of the egg before wrapping it back up and sliding it carefully back into her bag. “Freya, do you have any idea what it will be?”
“Not a clue, nor do I care really. All I know is that it’ll be another fire type…and between Blaze, Centaura, Ty and all of Aeron’s other fire types, I’ve got enough competition to last me a lifetime.” She emptily yawned, stretching her legs again before sitting in a more comfortable manner. “Not that those three are any sort of threat to me, but god, you would think two is plenty in one team.”
“No Arcanum?”
“Arcanum’s cool. She and I grew up together, practically, as Aeron’s second starter. And, we make a vicious double battle team, given we both can activate Flash Fire. She’s the only one, but that’s probably because she knows how to keep her trap shut.”
Second starter…The words stuck in Crystal’s mind as she glanced down to Dragola’s Pokeball. Without a doubt, one could call her that. Yet the dragon hadn’t emerged from her orb, even at her pleading, which not only angered Aeron as they hadn’t been able to train her, but it worried the blonde deeply. “Dragola…” she muttered as she plucked the capsule off her belt and gazed into it. Freya glanced over, yet rose to her paws quickly as gentle footsteps approached. She inhaled, a glow shimmering at the back of her throat, yet it soon died out as Sylvia reached the camp. Crystal looked up with a soft ‘oh’, as she attempted to make herself appear less frazzled from her exercise regimen.
“I heard you were out here. …ah, what a cute little Flareon. Is that your partner’s?”
“Y-yeah,” she nodded gently as Freya wandered over, carefully sniffing the gym leader. Gently Sylvia offered out her hand to the evolved Eevee; Freya surprisingly allowed herself to be stroked for a few seconds before retreating to Crystal’s side. “What are you doing out here?”
“Oh, I was just out on a walk with some of my Oddish,” she beamed gently. As though on cue, one of the little weed Pokemon waddled to her side, gazing up at the rising moon. It sighed in content, only briefly glancing at the Flareon. “…but in all honesty, I was hoping to come and talk to you. Are you okay from a few days ago?”
“For the most part…Aeron’s slavedriving me into submission, though,” she chuckled, a hint of her past breathlessness showing through. Her smile faded as she let her eyes fall to the orb in her hand. “…Dragola’s not doing so well though. She refuses to even come out and look at me…”
The gym leader frowned at that. “First loss?”
“Sorta…It’s been a crazy road for all of us within this last month or so.” Crystal sighed, before explaining all of the events to the grass trainer. Sylvia nodded gently, sitting down beside the gifted girl as she went over everything that had occurred with Team Missile and how she and Dragola had over-psyched themselves for the battle. When the blonde had finished, she found herself twiddling with her hair once again.
“Wow…I know Kira said that you had that gift, but I’d never imagine it to go that far, really,” Sylvia bit her lip, unsure of what to say. “You’re okay, though, right?”
Crystal hesitated at that, leaning back as she gazed at the stars gently. “…to be honest…I don’t even know anymore. I mean, I feel as though I’m only training right now to keep promises to people…everyone but myself. And, I’m terrified of Team Missile. To know that they’re after me, and want to use me as their pawn…”
“It is pretty heavy from the sounds of it…”
“I just made so many promises…to my family, to Aeron, to my Pokemon, and to the one I rescued so long ago…I had no idea it would be so difficult to keep them all. I had no idea it’d end up like this.”
Feeling tears threatening to spring a leak, Crystal bowed her head, allowing her pink bangs to hide her face. She felt Sylvia lightly rub her shoulder.
“Hey…there were two things your sister said to me, that to this day I will always remember.”
Crystal kept her head down, although she tilted her head gently towards the Gym Leader.
“No matter what happens, no matter how hard the circumstances are, keep on smiling. We all have those counting on us to give it our best, be it family, friends, or Pokemon. If we can do that, then surely the negative times will all fade away.
“And, well…never give up. Always give your best where it counts, when it counts. Haha, Kira would kill me if I didn’t give my one-hundred percent against you, so you have to promise to do the same, Crystal! She’s kinda scary when she’s upset.”
“Hahaha, scary’s not the word I would have chosen, but we’ll go with that, because I can’t think of a better one right now,” Crystal gave a small smile. The smile faded when she gazed back to her Pokeball. “…still, I’d like to give it my all next battle with you-”
“Oh, you’re challenging again?”
“Yeah, Aeron’s making me…”
“Haha, I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay, apparently it’s necessary…still, I can’t train Dragola like this. She won’t even come out of her Pokeball…”
“I think I have the solution for that,” Sylvia winked, offering out her left hand after calling the Oddish over to her side. “If I may?”
“Well, I should wait for Aeron to come back technically…Dragola’s her Pokemon, but she’s just loaning her out to me for now…”
“What about that somber serpent?”
Crystal leapt and yelped as Aeron stood behind her, a heavy batch of timber secured on her shoulder. Blaze grunted as he set down a log nearly his size in the middle of the clearing. Suspiciously he eyed the Gym Leader, but not before he and Freya were dismissed by a wave of their trainer’s hands. Giving a guttural sound of her own, the fire trainer let the collection of dead branches fall near the giant log.
“Oh, hi, Aeron, was it?”
“Aeron Gunnar, indeed. Pleased to meet you officially, Sylvia,” the fire trainer nodded and offered out her hand formally.
“Same. Sounds like you’ve been giving Crystal a run for her money…”
“She runs for nothing, I swear…”
“Aeron…” Crystal groaned, still recovering from her heart attack.
“Haha. I didn’t know you had so many fire Pokemon…you must like them, huh?”
At that, Aeron’s polite façade dropped to flat-out nervousness. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Haha, I guess you could call me a fire trainer…”
“And you came into my Gym with them.”
“Whoa, slow down there, Princess, I know there’s a rule for your gym about them, but I have some taste in my fire types. Only Blaze bears an open flame, and I didn’t even have him at the time. I’ve been training them for six years. I think I know what I’m doing.”
Six years…? Does that mean that she started late in training or something like that? Crystal passively noted to herself, but not before allowing herself to be cut off by the Gym Leader. “Still, I may have to press charges…”
“Too bad you have no proof I had any fire types at the time,” Eru hastily countered. “Hey, come on you two, hurry up with the rock gathering, huh?”
“Alright, but rest assured you will not have those two at the least at my gym again, less you want a write-up with the Pokemon League and a fine to attend to.” At that, Aeron let loose a small swear before shoving her hands in her pockets. She twitched at the sound of the Pokemon League.
“Okay, okay, I won’t bring them. Sorry…but what’s up with the Dratini?”
“I was just wondering if I could see her.”
“Ah, yeah, go ahead. Don’t mind me, I’m just gonna work on the fire…or do you want to see my fire permit, too, Ms. Rulebook?”
“I trust you have one, especially with so many fire types to deal with,” Sylvia smiled innocently, before gently picking the ball from Crystal’s hands. Aeron merely grumbled sarcastic nothings as she trumped off to help her Pokemon create a campfire spot with rocks and sand. The blonde expectantly gazed at the Pokeball. “Now, Crystal…if you wouldn’t mind translating a bit for me?”
There was the request again. This time, however, the words didn’t affect her so badly. Still gently playing with her hair, the blonde nodded.
I hope Dragola can hear me from the Pokeball, still…
“Hey, Dragola, it’s me, Sylvia…”
“Dragola, Sylvia wants to talk to you,” Crystal echoed, switching languages. The brunette briefly glanced at her, taken aback by how odd it sounded, before continuing.
“Now, I know I’m probably the last person you want to see, but I think it’s important that I said that I’m sorry.” Crystal continued the translation, though expectantly gazed at the Gym Leader. “I probably didn’t make you feel that great when I battled against you. But, given how you haven’t trained, you did astonishingly well out there! You had me worried for a bit with Pinchy. And, well, I know it sounds dumb, but I had fun. But…well, it’s not so fun if you’re feeling so down. Crystal’s really trying for you. If you two can train together for the next time, then I’m sure we can all said that we had fun and truly gave it our all.
“I don’t want you to be upset anymore, okay? You seem like a sweet little girl from what Crystal’s been telling me. And, as harsh as it does sound, Aeron was right when she said that you two couldn’t have beaten me at your current state. You can and will get stronger, perhaps strong enough to beat me…”
“But you have to come out to talk it over, first,” Crystal finished translating. “…please?” she added as an afterthought, gazing deeply at the Pokeball.
The ball stayed still for a moment. “I’ve got a Pokeblock with your name on it,” the sly grass trainer added with a giggle.
At last, the Onyx ball snapped open, materializing the lengthy serpent. Reluctantly Dragola glanced up, pain still in her eyes. “…I am kinda hungry,” she whimpered gently, hanging her head low.
Immediately Crystal gave a small laugh and got up to tend to her friend. Sylvia held her back, if only for a moment to give her the small, pink cube. The blonde quickly unzipped a compartment on her bag as well, removing the last can of lemonade her mother had supplied her with. Getting down on her knees, she shuffled close to the dragon-type. Her purple eyes darted all over the place, unsure of herself.
“Crystal…are you upset at me? For losing?”
“Not at all. I’m just glad I can talk to you again,” she calmly smiled.
“But, I couldn’t do it…I couldn’t beat her…”
“Dragola…you said you would give it your best, right?” The serpent gazed up at her trainer for longer, before glancing down nervously again. “That’s all that matters to me. It really was all my fault this time. I couldn’t give it my all in the battle because I was too headstrong. Aeron and Sylvia are right, as much as it hurts to admit it…but we can win, together, next time.” Trying hard not to squish the treat in her hand, the young girl managed to open the can of lemonade before offering it to the Dratini. “I’m sorry. Are you willing to forgive me, so we can train together?”
Dragola didn’t move, as she looked sorrowfully into her trainer’s eyes. “C-Crystal…” she whimpered, before suddenly gulping down the Pokeblock whole. Both trainers gave a small gasp as the dragon anxiously chugged the lemonade down as though it were her last meal, tail crushing the can as it was finished. A split second later, she leapt into her foster trainer’s arms, tightly hugging her. Tears streamed down her body gently as she clung on for dear life. “T-thank you! I’m, I’m the one that should be apologizing, b-but you’re taking all of the blame, and I don’t know what to say…”
“Promise me something, then,” Crystal gave a small smile, although she felt a small lump in her throat.
“A-Anything!”
“Forgive yourself. We can do it next time, but I need you to be strong for the both of us. I just got some advice from my sister in a subtle way…no matter what, always smile, because others are counting on you. So I need you to be strong for the two of us so we can win this next one, okay?”
The Dratini nodded, burying her face in Crystal’s arms.
“And you can’t cry anymore, okay?”
Again, she nodded.
“So are you ready to train?”
More anxious than ever, she furiously nodded her head, attempting her best to smile for the girl. Crystal, likewise, forced herself to do the same. After petting her head gently, she gazed back to Sylvia, whom had risen to her feet. Her Oddish had already begun wandering back south towards the city. “Haha…thank you, Sylvia.”
“Of course,” she nodded with a smile. Aeron peeked up for a moment from the beginning of the fire. “But next time, I want a match I can brag to Kira about! Train hard, you hear me?”
“Haha, of course. Thank you so much again.” With that, the gym leader made her exit. Both trainer and Pokemon gazed happily at each other, before slinking over to the fire’s side.
* * *
The hot, intense summer sun slowly warmed the air of the morning. Groggily the young girl found herself opening her mouth to yawn for the umpteenth time that day. She nearly shut her eyes, the weight of exhaustion making them feel baggy and sore. Various muscles throbbed from lactic acid buildup with every step she took. A disinterested Aeron noted the trainer’s sleepiness and lightly stretched her arms back.
“Jeez, what’s got you yawning like a Slowpoke praying for some rain to come?” she jeered, poking her student as she took another deep breath.
“You should know,” she bitterly began, rubbing her ribs where she had been prodded. “You were the one that had me running for my life from Blaze and my own Pokemon! Slavedriver!”
“Don’t you forget it, because you’re in for a lot more of that in our journey,” Eru chuckled as she removed a pair of sunglasses from her pack and slid them on her face. The rims were red, bringing out the color of the armbands on her windbreaker. Crystal groaned at the thought. “…so, after two weeks of ‘slave-driving’, do you think you’re ready? We don’t have to go today if you don’t want.”
“No, no, I’m sure I’m ready…” Crystal hastily responded, forcing back another yawn. “Both Flora and Dragola seem more than ready to go, and I guess I can’t blame them…”
“Yeah, I guess so. You have been workin’ pretty hard since we recovered Flora. …I trust Dragola’s forgiven herself as well?”
“Y-yeah. She was really torn about that whole thing. I’m…pretty sure she forgives herself, but I have a feeling otherwise…”
As they rounded the corner, once again the large dome of the Sunrise Gym came into view, along with some of the trees resting inside of the building. The younger faltered at the sight of the coliseum; the last match had been more than rough. Her hand traveled to her belt. The smooth surface of two Pokeballs greeted her touch, and that alone was enough to bring a smile to the girl’s face. Crystal forced her grin to become more apparent, remembering Sylvia’s words of wisdom, regardless of her knees knocking in on one another.
Aeron looked at her student, up and down. “Don’t tell me you’re going to pee your pants.”
“A-Aeron!” she shrieked, swinging a fist at the elder. “Stop teasing me, of course I’m not going to!” Bored, the elder easily fended off her fist and other attacks with one single arm.
“Okay, then prove me wrong. Let’s go back in there and show Ms. Fairy Princess what you got. Remember what I told you, and your Pokemon’s moves.” The younger nodded, but before she could dash towards the greenhouse, Aeron stopped her one last time. “Wait. I’m serious. You can’t keep doing that nervous habit thing. Turn around for a moment.”
Reluctantly, the gifted girl faced away from her mentor. At once, Eru had removed the hair elastic from her bag and spread it over her lengthened fingertips. Gently she pulled just the blonde hair back, before she tied her hair into a low ponytail. “There,” she simply stated as Crystal attempted to fiddle with a few hairs that had begun pulling at her scalp. “Now…I want to see a good battle out there. Let’s go.” After the younger had her hand batted away from her hair, the duo glanced once more at the gym. Crystal forced back another yawn, and reluctantly began the long walk to the arena.
Oh, man, you guys. I am so DONE with Part 1 lolololol. So stay tuned this upcoming Tuesday and the following Tuesday for some crazy RQO!
