Christina Langley & Melody Hughes – Route 30 Center
Chapter 2: Breakfast with company
Christina yawned, rubbing the last bit of sleep out of her eyes before raising the glass of juice in front of her to her lips to take a little sip of it. She and Sindy were currently seated in a little area of the center with a couple chairs and tables, where you could either eat food you had brought with you, or a light breakfast the center offered the travelling trainers. Chris' was in the middle of a few slices of buttered bread, and Sindy was sitting next to the table, happily nibbling away on some dry-food for Pokémon, which she was absolutely in love with.
Looking to her companion, Christina gave the Cyndaquil a smile, lifting her gloved hand to gently scritch the Cyndaquil at the neck-area. "Don't eat too much, or you're going to get tired. It's still a pretty long way to Violet and we need to keep up a good pace." The Cyndaquil raised her head a little, squinting, as usual, up at the girl before nodding lightly, taking in her words, before going back to her breakfast.
Morning for Melody had come a bit earlier than the trainer would have liked. After her battle with the boy and his Ledyba, the lack of sleep from the night before she started her journey had finally started rear its ugly head. Since it had been a rather busy and eventful day, Melody decided that stopping her journey for that day at the Pokemon Center was probably for the best. Thankfully, this was one of the branches that had a place for trainers to rest with some small bedrooms... and thankfully this time Melody did not have any issues falling asleep.
"Now I think it's time that both of us grabbed something to eat this morning. Wha'cha think about that, Blossom?" Melody asked with a yawn, glancing down at the small Chikorita that was bouncing along happily behind her. The Chikorita let out a rather loud, happy chirp in agreement for her size, causing Melody to giggle at the sight. "Well, I guess one of us is a morning person."
Turning the corner to where the center set up a small area for trainers and their Pokemon to eat, Melody's eyes widened as she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Blossom seemed to have almost the exact same reaction. The little Chikorita looked at the scene before them, before suddenly letting out another excited chirp and bounding forward. Blossom made a straight beeline towards Sindy, almost running into the Cyndaquil before she managed to stop and chirped happily again.
"Oh my Gawd, Chrissy!" Melody shouted, rather loudly at that for someone being inside a Pokemon Center. The short girl quickly bounded her way towards the redheaded trainer, relief and joy gracing her facial features to see that Christina had managed to make it out of the Spinarak and Ariados chase alive and okay. "I was so worried about you! Are you okay? You didn't get injected with spider venom or stuck in another web or anything did you? What about Blaine, did he and Derpy make it out okay?!"
As Melody and Blossom made it into the room and called out for the two, both Christina and Sindy raised their heads, almost in unison. Sindy looked overjoyed to see Blossom again, abandoning her food, if only temporarily as she ran over to meet her friend with a loud squeak, jumping a little on the spot in front of the Chikorita.
Chris', likewise, looked stunned to see Melody again, a bright smile quickly spreading on her lips as she stood up to meet the girl. "Melody, hey! I'm so glad to see you as well. I'm fine, yeah!" She paused, raising a hand to rub the back of her neck a little. "... I don't know where Blaine and Derpy went, but... Derpy's pretty strong from the look of things, so I'm sure they're fine."
She quickly abandoned the worried expression and instead looked up, smiling brightly at Melody, clapping her hands together. "But you made it here! That's great! Come on, sit down, have some breakfast with us. We were going to head out soon, but I think I can put it off for a bit to chat a little with you." The red-haired girl gave a little grin before nodding at the chair opposite the table while taking a seat again. Sindy meanwhile squeaked something out to Blossom and waddled on over to the foodbowl again, inviting her for a bite of food as well.
Melody nodded, a broad smile gracing her features as she went to fix herself some breakfast. The girl was delighted to see that the Pokemon Center had her absolute favoirte brand of cereal, Frosted Pika-Oh's. Pouring herself a bowl of the ceral, Melody followed it up by adding milk and then cutting up one of the bananas that were offered, before taking a seat to join Christina. Meanwhile, Blossom accepted Sindy's offer to join her. The Chikorita was happily nibbling away along side her friend, squeaking and chirping as she ate in what could only be assumed as the two having a conversation.
Melody smiled as she watched the two, before turning her attention to Christina. "So, what have you been up to? Our departure from each other was sort of sudden, yeah?"
"Heh, yeah, it kind of was." Christina replied, snickering a little as she raised a slice of bread to take a little bite out of it. She then proceeded to tell Melody about her newest capture, making sure to emphasize that she was -not- planning on making the Spinarak a permanent part of her team.
"Oh, speaking of which! I never got to ask you, have you caught any Pokémon on your trip so far?" Chris' suddenly asked, a look of curiosity moving over her expression as she brushed a strand of red hair behind her left ear, her right eye seemingly purposefully somewhat hidden behind her locks.
Melody felt a small blush rise to her cheeks at the question. Slowly, the shorter, brown-haired girl looked away from Christina, absentmindedly stirring her spoon around her cereal bowl. A small, weak sounding giggle escaped her lips as she slowly looked back up at her red-haired friend.
"Um... Well, truth is... N-Not exactly..." Melody finally answered. She glanced down at Blossom, the Chikorita seemingly unaware of the conversation the two girls were having as she continued to eat breakfast with Christina's Cyndaquil. "Blossom's still kinda all I have. I mean, we ran into a few wild Pokemon when we left Cherrygrove, but... She ended up fainting the few we ran into... then the whole Spinarak thing happened... and then we battled a trainer and his Ledyba, so... Um... No."
"Awh, you fought a trainer?" Chris' replied, her brows raising. "I haven't found one to fight yet. I fought a bunch of wild Pokémon, but Sindy's pretty strong." She glanced down at the two Pokémon on the floor, who were happily murmuring away with one another while eating and Chris' had the distinct feeling they were talking about their trainers. Shaking her head a little, she looked back up at Melody. "Myself, I caught that... spider-thing, and earlier, we had a really tough fight with a... Buizel, I think it was, and I caught it. But... it seemed a bit... rough. I don't think I'll be keeping it on my team. I might just let it go." She raised a hand to tug a little at the scarf around her neck before reaching down into her bag sitting on the floor besides her, to pull out her Pokédex, opening the page for Buizel, which she then showed to Melody. "There it is. It attacked with some kind of... blast of air, but it's definitely a water type."
"Ooooh..." Melody replied, her mouth unfortunately full of crucnched up banana and cereal at the time. Swallowing what was inside, the girl nodded at her friend and smiled. "I dunno, Chrissy. A water type sounds like it'd be a good balance to a fire one, you know? Plus, I bet he's probably a pretty speedy and durable guy!"
Snickering a little at her friend's ignoring of general manners, Christina shrugged a little. "Yeah, I guess so, but... I just don't want a Pokémon on our team that doesn't really... fit, you know? Besides, it's... well, I dunno." She shrugged, raising a hand to rub the back of her neck, looking off to the side with a distinct look of uncomfort in her expression. "... I still think I'll let him go."
"Can... I see him?" Melody asked. "I haven't even seen one yet... You know, just out of curiosity?"
"Huh? Oh, uhm... yeah, I suppose so." Chris' reached into her bag and pulled out the Buizel's Pokéball. Aside from healing him up and made sure it got fed, she hadn't really... done anything with him, so she was unsure of what was going to happen. Looking thoughtful for a moment longer, she aimed the ball at the floor besides the table, opposite of the two chattering 'mons, she opened the ball, sending out a beam of light, which quickly formed into the Buizel, blinking his eyes a little as he was finally out of the ball.
Melody glanced down at the otter-like Pokemon. She could not help, but smile as she watched Blossom glance up from the bowl she was sharing with Sindy, giving the Buizel a curious glance as she let out a curious sounding chirp to follow. Slowly, the Chikorita made her way over towards Buizel, before walking around him as if she was inspecting him for some sort of defect or something of the like. Following the Chikorita, Sindy made her way over to the Buizel as well, though she let her friend inspect this new Pokémon, staying a little over to the side.
"Does he have a name?" Melody asked, still staring and smiling at the Buizel.
"Oh, uhm... no, he doesn't. I mean, I haven't given him one, at least." Chris' replied, watching the two 'mon moving closer to the Buizel. The otter glanced up at Chris' and narrowed his eyes, letting out a little snort before turning his gaze to Sindy. A small amount of time went by before he gave a respectful, if reluctant little nod, as if acknowledging her fighting abilities, which only made Sindy squirm a little around on the spot embarrassedly. He looked surprised as Blossom began circling around him, his tails giving an agitated little flick, though instead of initiating anything, he simply folded his arms across his chest, unimpressed and uninterested in the Chikorita.
Christina looked back up at Melody, sending her a small smile. "What do you think we should name him?"
Melody looked thoughtful as she watched the Buizel's interactions with the two Pokemon. The Chikorita let out a small chirp of annoyance at the Buizel, one that reminded the girl of when her Chikorita had first met Sindy. Blossom jumped in place real quick, letting out another series of annoyed chirps before glancing away with a proud smirk on her mouth. The little leaf on her head spun around, as if it was hair she was swinging around in the process. Suddenly, Melody's eyes lit up.
"I know, let's call him Napoleon!" she exclaimed, with no real reason behind the name at all.
"Napoleon? Hmh..." Chris' mused as she looked back down at the Pokémon again. After Blossom's little tirade, the Buizel got an annoyed look on his face, tails raising up as if about to attack Blossom, but Sindy quickly moved in between them, raising up on her hind legs while squeaking out desperately to the Buizel, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. The otter gave the Chikorita another little glare, but lowered his tails while huffing again.
"... You know, I think that could work." Chris' said, smiling to Melody, before her smile was replaced with a thoughtful look. "Though it's a bit of a shame to name him, only for me to just let him go." Pausing for a moment, her eyes slowly moved up to Melody, Chris' lips twitching into a wry smile. "Say, since you don't have any other Pokémon with you... would you like to bring along Napoleon? He's -really- tough, I can tell you that for a fact."
Melody's eyes widened at the question. She slowly glanced away from the Buizel, staring at Christina as if she had just shot fireworks out of her fingertips or something of the sort. The smaller of the two girls bit her lip, seeming somewhat hesitant to reply.
"W-Well... I mean, I couldn't possibly... I mean, it'd be really cool, but..." she stammered, not sure of just how to reply.
Christina shook her head, smiling warmly. "No no, it'd be perfect! I mean, I would just go ahead and release him, but if you accept it, you'll both get a tough team-mate and... well, we'd prove to the world that we're friends, right?" The red-haired girl smiled brightly as she picked up a piece of toast and gave it a little bite. "But, you know, it's not like you have to accept him if you don't want him."
Melody nodded her head. "Yes, yes!" she exclaimed. Another blush climbed up to her cheeks, she noticed that several trainers at this point were looking at the two girls and their Pokemon, causing her to glance back down at the Buizel and smile softly. "I mean... I would like that... Friends and stuff."
Sindy lowered herself down onto all four again as the Buizel was pacified, letting out a little sigh as she stepped back again, moving over to the little bowl of food the two had been sharing, where she picked up a few bites, walking over to offer them to the newly named Napoleon. He glanced down at the Cyndaquil, looking just about ready to turn away and huff, but instead sat down and took the food in his arms, giving a solemn nod to Sindy as he started eating.
Smiling warmly once more, Chris' nodded, the excitement clear in her eyes. She really wanted to help out Melody, she didn't want to just leave Napoleon to his own devices in the wild after going through the trouble of capturing him, and finally, she was starting to like Melody more and more and was thrilled at the idea of having a friend out on the road with her, even if they wouldn't be travelling together all the time. "Mmmh. Friends." She nodded, looking down at the Pokéball in her grasp before extending it to Melody, holding it in her palm. "Here you go, then. From one friend, to another. Take good care of him, yeah?"
"Of course!" Melody said with delight evident in her voice. She took the Pokeball from Christina's hand, holding it close as if it was the most important thing she had ever received. Thanking Christina, she smiled down at Napoleon and Blossom. The Chikorita was not oblivious to this, her eyes watching Melody carefully. "Guess what, Blossom? We have a new friend that's gonna be going with us! Welcome to the team, Napoleon!"
Blossom's eyes widened at this. A small, worried chirp escaped her mouth as she glanced over at the Buizel, before shaking her head and jumping up and down furiously. Sindy raised one of her little arms to scratch the back of her head and you could almost see the sweatdrop moving down her head. After a moment, she waddled over to Blossom, squeaking out softly while waving her little arms around, trying to calm down the Chikorita and reassure her that Napoleon, who was blatantly ignoring all of them in favor of his food, wasn't such a bad guy.
Blossom sighed, slowly lowering her head in defeat. It did not take long for the little Chikorita to realize that her trainer was not going to be changing her mind about the Buizel coming with them, despite how fact she pleaded against it. Blossom slowly looked back over at Napoleon, letting out a small, sigh-like chirp. Melody returned her attention to Christina, smiling as she took another bite of her cereal.
"So... What do you have planned after this? Still heading for Violet City, right? We should totally get each other's Pokegear numbers so we can keep in contact with each other, right?" she inquired. Not even waiting for the red-haired girl to reply, Melody reached into her backpack. After a few seconds of digging about, the shorter girl pulled out her phone and flipped it open, smiling warmly at her friend. "What's your number, Chrissy?"
"Oh, it's, uhm... 2-3-3-6-8-7." She replied after a moment of thought, smiling as she took a bite of her bread, afterwards placing it down while quickly reaching into the right pocket of her shorts, pulling out her flip-phone-like gear, which she opened, swallowing down the bite of breakfast. "What's yours? Oh, and, yeah, still heading for Violet! We'll probably be taking seperate paths there, but that'll give us that much more to chat about next time we meet!"
"Mine is 3-4-9-0-2-6," Melody replied to Christina after entering the redhead's number. Listening to her speak about her plans, a small, thoughtful look entered Melody's eyes. Messing with her phone, she flipped it sideways and opened up the map application. "Hmm... You're right. It looks like there's a fork in the road just ahead, both lead to Violet City though."
Chris' nodded and gave a bright smile, putting away her phone after having put in Melody's number. "Well, in that case, let's each take a different road. I'm already excited to hear what kind of adventure you got up to on your path!" Raising her arms, she stretched out and let out another yawn, rolling her head on her shoulder. "Mmh... anyways, I think it's about time Sindy and I get on the road. It was great seeing you again though!"
"Oh, yeah! It was... And thanks again for Napoleon. I promise, I'll take real good care of him," Melody replied. She glanced down at the Buizel as she spoke, who seemed to glance back up at her in the process. A rather neutral expression was on the Buizel's face. He was clearly not too sure just yet what to think of his new trainer. Smiling back up at Christina, Melody gave her a small nod. "Take care out there, okay Chrissy?"
The red-headed girl nodded with a warm smile as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, getting out of her seat. "Definitely. And you too! Can't wait to meet with you again!" Giving a bright grin at her friend, she looked down at the Cyndaquil and gave her a little wave. "Come on Sindy, let's get going! We've got lots to explore today!" The little Cyndaquil looked up at her trainer, then turned to Blossom and Napoleon, raising one of her paws to give a little wave, along with a squeak, waddling after Christina, whom gave Melody another wave before heading out of the center.
Heh, I hope Melody knows what she's getting into with Napoleon. Picking out her pokégear from her pocket, she opened it and looked at her 'Contacts'. Aside from her mother, father and brother, she now had Melody in there. Just the fact that her new friend's name was in her gear made her steps along the sun-beaten road all the more uplifting. Finally, she closed the gear, tucked it back into her pocket and smiled brightly down at Sindy. "Ready for second part of our adventure, girl?" The Cyndaquil responded with a cheerful squeak and did a little jump, causing Chris' to giggle. "That's what I like to hear!"