[Pokémon] Mentor (PG-14)

[I Laugh at your Misfortune!]

Great chapter, like always ;) the little lampshade hanging made me laugh a bit, I'll admit :P

 

[altaria221]

Great chapter, i started reading about a week ago and can't wait for the next chapter, keep up the good work :)

 

[delongbi]

Hmm, this chapter was interesting. Leah does have a heart! And I still like William the best. I wonder what Pokemon it is... :)

Anyway, if you've noticed that there are hardly any grammar mistakes in this chapter, it's because my sister-in-law was kind enough to look it over and purge any she saw.

None that I found.

I don't have much to say about this... as usual, good job! Keep it up!

 

[Giratina ♀]

The floor was a bit messy; there was a pile of clothes in the corner, but other than that, it looked spotless.

'There was' would probably be necessary. 'A pile of clothes in the corner, but other than that, it looked spotless' can't hold its own as a sentence, which is required for both parts of a semicolon.

Seriously, it sounded like something from out of a stupid video game.

The lampshading made me chuckle, but as far as lampshading goes 'it's like we're in a video game' is pretty common material.

Ed's grip tightened on the Safari-Ball in his hand. "A Tauros!"

"There's no way you can capture a Tauros here unless you find it asleep or something."

...and so on.

Taurus is a zodiac sign. Tauros is a Pokémon.

It seemed to have finally gotten the notion to leave the trainers alone since it turned around and trotted away, its set tails flicking water behind it.

'Its set tails'? What does that mean?

Will's 'not your regular Pokémon' sounds pretty interesting. Would it happen to be a Shiny Pokémon with a temper, judging from their discussion of Pokémon thieves earlier on? Anyway, this chapter was quite interesting. Fighting off the Tauros was done pretty well, but the only way that William could have brought in Squirtle was to sneak it in, because the Safari Zone people don't want Trainer's Pokémon harming the wild ones - and if he does that every time he goes into the Safari Zone, wouldn't he be running a risk there?

 

[Dagzar]

Great chapter, like always the little lampshade hanging made me laugh a bit, I'll admit

Thanks, Screw the rules, I have green hair! (Your name is certainly a mouthful). I love lampshade hangings! ;)

Great chapter, i started reading about a week ago and can't wait for the next chapter, keep up the good work

Thanks for reading and reviewing, altaria221! I hope I don't disappoint you!

Hmm, this chapter was interesting. Leah does have a heart! And I still like William the best. I wonder what Pokemon it is...

Yeah, Leah does have a heart in there somewhere, but it's buried under all that snark. The brats may even be able to uncover it if they try hard enough. ;) And William is getting pretty awesome; I have no clue why I didn't like him when I introduced him.

None that I found.

I don't have much to say about this... as usual, good job! Keep it up!

Thanks, delongbi!

Taurus is a zodiac sign. Tauros is a Pokémon.

*slaps self* Looks like I have a lot of editing to do.

'Its set tails'? What does that mean?

… I was going to say I misspelled 'six', but Tauros doesn't have six tails and now I'm all confused. <_<

Will's 'not your regular Pokémon' sounds pretty interesting. Would it happen to be a Shiny Pokémon with a temper, judging from their discussion of Pokémon thieves earlier on? Anyway, this chapter was quite interesting. Fighting off the Tauros was done pretty well, but the only way that William could have brought in Squirtle was to sneak it in, because the Safari Zone people don't want Trainer's Pokémon harming the wild ones - and if he does that every time he goes into the Safari Zone, wouldn't he be running a risk there?

Nope, the mystery Pokemon isn't a shiny or is even known to have a temper. Nice guess, though. And William is technically running a risk of getting caught, but I think he may be able to charm his way out of trouble since he was using his Squirtle in self-defense and had a ten-year-old kid with him. Though However, any other time, he'd probably be kicked out. ;)

Thanks for reviewing, Giratinasaur!

 

[Giratina ♀]

Tauros has three, I think. x3

 

[Dagzar]

Mentor
Chapter 20: Goodbyes and Hellos​

It was a few days since their trip to the Safari Zone and William found himself seriously considering giving his brother a Pokemon. It wasn't that he didn't want to give Ed one; it was just that the Pokemon he was thinking of was really tough to train, especially for a newbie trainer.

Since he couldn't decide on what to do, he decided that he might as well get some advice.

"Hello? Yes, this is William Williams. I'd like to speak to Professor Oak, please." William held the phone to his ear and waited silently when the professor's aide said that he'd go get him.

A giggle of laugher drew his gaze and he looked out the kitchen window to see Carla chasing Amber the Vulpix around the yard. If he strained his head, he could also spot Ally sitting on the stairs with Ed, talking quietly. Ed looked a bit put out, but William couldn't really tell from the angle he was watching. He couldn't see Leah anywhere, but he vaguely recalled her going out the front door almost a half-hour ago.

"William?" a voice finally said from the other end of the line.

William's attention went back to the phone. "Hello, Professor. How're you doing?"

"Fine, fine," Professor Oak said, a hint of curiosity in his voice. William knew that the professor was busy, so he got straight to the point.

"You know those Pokemon I gave you?" William started, one of his hands playing with the phone's rubber cord. "Do you think I could take one of them back?"

The Professor's tone seemed puzzled. "I thought you gave up on being a trainer?"

"I have," William replied. "But my brother needs another Pokemon and I was thinking of giving him Coralie."

"Coralie, you say? How old is your brother?"

"Ten," William said, but added, "He'll be eleven in September."

There was a pause at the other end of the line. "Hmm, do you think he'll be able to take care of your Pokemon?"

"He's been doing well with his Paras," William said. "Coralie shouldn't be that much trickier."

"A trainer would have to have a lot of experience to raise a Pokemon like Coarlie properly," Professor Oak warned.

William sighed. "I know. He promised to study hard if I gave Coralie to him."

"Hmm." The Professor paused. "I don't see why not, but I'm not sure a ten-year-old would have much patience for a Pokemon like Coralie. Her ability is fascinating, yes, but once he realizes how limited it is…" The Professor trailed off, a bit uncertain at what would happen.

"He can always give Coralie back to me," William said smoothly.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Professor Oak said. "Should I send her over to the Fuchsia Pokemon Center?"

William nodded. "Yes, please. I'll have my dad pick her up."

"How is your brother's journey going?" the professor asked, changing the topic.

Thinking about Ed's recent hospitalization, William said, "It could have gone better, though he did get his first badge from Blaine."

"He went to Cinnabar Island first? That's rather odd."

"It was under the advice of his mentor," William replied. "She didn't want to go to Viridian City."

"Oh, that's right; your brother is participating in the Trainer Mentorship Program, isn't he? And how is that going?"

"Fine," William answered shortly. "Their Mentor is a bit… different."

"Oh? What's her name?" Professor Oak asked curiously.

William paused. "Leah Gordon, though I might have her last name wrong."

There was small pause before the professor answered. "Leah Gordon?"

"You know her?" William asked, a bit uncertain. He had no clue that Leah knew Professor Oak.

"No, I've never met her personally, but I know of her. A pity, actually. I would have liked to meet her and your brother."

William didn't really know why anyone would want to meet Leah, but then something else came mind and he paused, not exactly wanting to pry, but... "You weren't at Pallet Town when the new trainers came by, right? I thought you liked doing that."

"Yes, I do love meeting new trainers." Professor Oak sighed. "Unfortunately, something came up at Mount Moon and I had to go."

"What happened?"

Professor Oak's tone was grim. "Bad business, I'm afraid. Strange characters were disturbing the Clefairy and making a mess of things. If it wasn't for a few trainers who got involved, I'm afraid that they would have gotten away with nearly them all."

William's eyes narrowed and his grip tightened on the phone. "All of the Clefairy? Why would anyone do that?"

The professor sighed. "I'm afraid I don't know. The Pokemon League is still investigating, but nothing has come out of it yet."

"I hope those people are caught." William frowned.

"Yes, so do I."

Silence descended on their conversation and William changed the subject, having one more thing he wanted to do before he hung up. "Professor, may I ask a favor?"


-


"If it isn't the Sandshrew Girl," the Ekans Kid drawled as Leah walked up the hill.

"Yeah, yeah," Leah grumbled. She had run out of excuses at why she was still meeting with the older teen.

Leah lowered herself to sit beside him.

"You wanna battle?" the Ekans Kid asked, purposely waiting until Leah got comfortable before proposing.

Shaking her head for once, Leah scowled and said, "No. I always win; it's boring now."

The Ekans Kid smirked and got out a Great-Ball from his belt, which didn't look much like the Pokeball in terms of colors. Its top was a dark blue with a thick, cherry red line on each side of the ball, both producing slightly from the Great-Ball's smooth surface.

"I won't use Lucifer this time," he promised. "This Pokemon is… something else."

"Obviously." Leah rolled her eyes. "So what is it, a Rhydon?"

The Ekans Kid wagged a finger at her. "I knew you'd ask that! … But no, I kept your Sandshrew in mind when choosing this particular Pokemon. They should be about equal." His face brightened. "And because I like you, I didn't choose a water-type, so no type advantage for either of us."

Leah hardly stopped to think about it. "Fine, then."

The two teens got up, going to their usual sides of the hill. Leah, quite confident in her abilities due to a winning streak, let loose Sands.

The Ekans Kid grinned, as if sensing the girl's confidence. "You have no clue what you're in for."

The Great-Ball was thrown and the Pokemon was released.

The creature was something that Leah had never seen before. Actually, scratch that, it did bear a slight familiarity, but Leah just couldn't place where she had seen it before.

The Pokemon looked up, tilting its abnormally large head and putting the end of one of its small skinny arms to its mouth. It stood on its feet, but the feet looked more like bumps at the bottom of its white body. It looked like the Pokemon was wearing a mask that covered the upper part of its head. The helmet was a mint green one with two red spikes sticking out of it. The Pokemon also had a tail, which was rather cloth-like and was dragged along the ground as the Pokemon stumbled over to Sands.

"Leave it, Teddy," the Ekans Kid warned and the Pokemon instantly pulled back its white hand after trying to pet the Sandshrew. The strange little creature went back over to the Ekans Kid, and after a brief hesitation, grabbed hold of his pant leg as if wanting something.

"What is that?" Leah asked, crossing her arms. The Pokemon looked bizarre, as was most Pokemon that she had seen for the first time. And honestly, it looked nothing like a teddy bear, even if it vaguely acted like one.

The Ekans Kid grinned wider. "Teddy is a Ralts. Never heard of it?"

The name Ralts rung a bell in Leah's head, but that was about it.

"Oh well." The boy shrugged, the grin betraying his innocent look. "If you don't even know what type it is, I guess I have the advantage then."

Leah snorted. Maybe so, but the Ralts looked like it could fall over due to the gentlest of breezes. It didn't look that tough. Hell, it wasn't even bigger than Sands!

Before Leah could even issue an attack, the Ekans Kid jumped right in. "Teddy, Double Team!"

Mentally swearing, Leah could only watch as the Ralts briefly glowed right before two clones of itself appeared on each side of it. All three were swaying slightly and the middle one (and the original) kept turning its head to stare at the clones with curiosity.

"Sands," Leah said. "Poison Sting the middle one."

The Ekans Kid didn't hesitate. "Focus, Teddy! Teleport around the Sandshrew."

The Poison Sting harmlessly impacted the ground and Sands jumped back in surprise when the three Ralts instantly appeared around him. He looked wildly at the three, definitely not expecting to be suddenly double-teamed.

Leah was tempted to yell out 'Ha! A psychic type!', but unfortunately, the fact that the Original Ralts was now mixed up with the clones caused her to hold her tongue.

"You're doing great, Teddy," the Ekans Kid called out with a happy tone of voice.

"Scratch at one, Sands!" Leah commanded. Just because the Ralts cloned itself didn't mean the Pokemon was any stronger than before. Besides, the clones were only illusions; Sands only had to hit them until he struck gold.

Sands leapt at the closest Ralts, which backed away like it was scared. Before the Sandshrew could even strike, the Ralts teleported next to one of the other Ralts.

"You can't beat me if you can't hit me," the Ekans Kid taunted with a smirk in her direction, but paled. He glanced at the Ralts, two of them ignoring him, but one of them looking back at him with what was seemingly a nervous expression.

Leah happened to take notice of that fact.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked pointedly at the Ekans Kid, taking a moment to command her won Pokemon. "Sand Attack, Sands."

"Nothing," the Ekans Kid said a little too quickly, answering Leah's question before going back to the battle. "Get out of there, Ralts!"

Sands had little time. He jumped over to one of the patches of dirt between the grass and turned around, showing his tail to the Pokemon. Digging his claws into the dirt, he flung it out of the ground, between his legs and right at the psychic-types. Two of the Ralts were successful at teleporting away, but one of them seemed to malfunction, standing motionlessly and letting the dirt go right through its non-corporal form.

"One," Leah said in victory, smirking and turning her attentions to the two remaining Ralts, who huddled together by their trainer.

The Ekans Kid surprisingly knelt down to speak to his Pokemon face to face. "You can do it, guys," he was saying with much more emotion than Leah had ever seen from him. "Don't be scared." Then he smiled, showing a bit of teeth that looked a bit more intimidating than he intended.

The Ralts, however, ate it up. They let go of each other and bravely faced Sands head on, both standing tall.

Psychic types were weird, was all that Leah could think about.

Actually that gave Leah an idea. The Ralts seemed pretty timid and there were no rules to this battle, so maybe…

Making it looked like she was doing nothing important; Leah's hand went into her pocket and retrieved the Fire Stone, keeping it hidden behind her back. Sands' ears twitched and his stance changed, his claws digging into the ground where he stood. She was certain that her Pokemon knew the Fire Stone was out and that was exactly what she wanted.

"There's no rules, right?" Leah asked the Ekans Kid, who now looked more confident.

"That's right," he replied and grinned when he saw that her hand was behind her back. "What? You're going to give your Sandshrew X-Speed or something? That won't help."

Leah gave him back a smirk of her own.

"Hey, Sands!" she called out, mimicking an urgent and serious tone. "Look!" Holding up his Fire Stone, she waved it in the air, watching Sands' eyes following the motion.

Making sure that his eyes were still on it, Leah threw it over to the Ekans Kid, who took a step back as the Fire Stone landed at his feet. The Ralts, both curious of the very shiny rock, gravitated towards it, losing a bit of interest in the battle.

Leah mock gasped. "They have your Fire Stone, Sands! Get 'em!"

That was all that she needed to do. Sands, seeing his most favorite thing in the world in the possession of two strange Pokemon, quickly went to its rescue. Faster than Leah had ever seen him run, he sprinted right towards the Pokemon, making his attentions clear with a loud growling.

One of them jerked its hand away from the stone and the two Ralts turned towards the Sandshrew as one. Both were caught in a trance, unable to move or respond to their trainer's commanded. They seemed so frightened that one of the Ralts disappeared, but not by teleportation since there was no white light. Now there was only one left and Teddy could only stand there.

Sands lunged, but a red light suddenly took Teddy away from his clawed clutch.

"Again?" Leah asked as the Ekans Kid put the Great-Ball away, having forfeited the battle.

The Ekans Kid grimaced and made his thoughts known. "That wasn't really fair."

Leah shrugged. "Hey, you're the one who said no rules. Besides, I only threw a Fire Stone and there's no harm in that. It's not my fault Sands went nuts."

Frowning, the older teen reluctantly let it slide since it was true.

"Hey," Leah said, wanting to silence the bells of familiarity that were ringing in her head. "Where does Ralts come from anyways?"

The Ekans Kid's eyes lit up and Leah mentally slapped herself for asking and prepared herself for a long and most likely boring conversation.

"I got him from Hoenn," he started. "It took me a few days just tracking him down. They're pretty rare, even over there. Of course, it took even longer just stopping him from teleporting."

"What'd you do?" Leah asked dully.

The teen grinned at her. "Ralts are attracted to nice people, so all I had to do was to be nice and kind and radiate happiness."

Leah wondered how you were supposed to 'radiate' happiness. "So… Ralts came to you because you were a good person?" she asked, doubt present in her voice.

"Not really," the Ekans Kid admitted, waving if off. "As long as you're in a good mood, Ralts won't get scared."

"Not a very good battler then," Leah commented, putting her hands in her pockets. "If a little aggression puts them off, they're not going to win very much."

The Ekans Kid shrugged. "Yeah, but once Teddy evolves, he'll be much more powerful and won't have much to fear."

Leah doubted that.

"By the way," The older teen said, staring at the tree. "This is the last time I'm going to be losing to you. Next time, I'm going to stop holding back."

"Holding back?" Leah snorted. "You haven't won once yet."

The Ekans Kid flushed. "Well, yeah, but the next time I see you, Teddy's going to have already evolved and Lucifer too."

Leah blinked. "They're not going to have evolved by tomorrow."

This time it was the Ekans Kid's turn to give her a look of confusion. "What? Oh!" He slapped his forehead like he actually cared that much. "Forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Fuchsia City's gotten old," he explained. "I'm moving on."

Leah wasn't quite sure what to think about that. "You're… leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm heading to Vermillion City to check out a few things there. Maybe attend the Pokemon League Convention if I can get a ticket."

"Pokemon League Convention?" she repeated. It wasn't something she had ever heard of before.

He grinned. "Yeah, this year it's being held in Vermillion City. I tried to make it last year, but Pewter City was a bit too far away."

Deciding to check out the convention on the internet later, Leah was surprised when the Ekans Kid suddenly stuck out his hand.

"Huh?"

"It's a handshake," he said, like he was talking to an idiot. "People do this when they're greeting people or saying goodbye."

Leah huffed. "You could just say goodbye." But she took anyways, a bit shocked that his hand was so warm. After a moment, she tried to pull her hand away, but the Ekans Kid held it tightly.

"We might as well introduce ourselves," he said with a grin. "I can't keep calling you the Sandshrew Girl."

"… I'm Leah," she said grudgingly

The Ekans Kid gave her another smug smile. "I'm Danny."

Danny released her hand and Leah took it back, giving him an odd look.

"So,' he said cheerfully. "Now that that's done, it's time for me to get going. The path from Fuchsia to Vermillion is really long and boring and I need to get started."

"Alright," Leah replied.

With a small wave, Danny turned around and marched down the hill, looking like he was trying not to break into a run. Once he was on the path a few meters away, he turned his head to give Leah one more grin. And then he tripped because he wasn't looking where he was going.

Leah chuckled. "Moron," she said in amusement.

Sands looked up at his trainer from where he was sitting, giving her a confused look.

"Oh, go back to your Fire Stone," Leah snapped at him when she saw that look.

The Sandshrew was only too happy to, feeling the smooth and sharp surface of the stone with his paws.

After a moment, Leah sat back down, under the tree's shadow. She didn't really want to go back to the house yet; she just didn't feel like it.

Now that her only distraction in the mornings was gone, Leah wondered what she was supposed to do now. She had no clue how much longer she was staying in Fuchsia City for or when Ed's parents would finally make their decision. Hell, she didn't even know if she was going back to Pallet Town or being forced to continue accompanying the brats on their journey. Hopefully the former.

Actually, she didn't need to follow the brats around. Come on, she was a volunteer! Sure, an unwilling one, but there wasn't anything stopping her from just ditching them, like Danny did his. There may be a little guilt at first, but really, her Pokemon were weaker than Ed's or Ally's. She had an old Sandshrew while the other two had a strong Paras, an electrical Voltorb and a fiery (only literally) Vulpix.

Just because she was older didn't make her more of an expert.

"Sands," Leah said, not really wanting anything, but saying his name anyways.

The Sandshrew looked up curiously, but when Leah didn't say anything else, his head drooped back down to the Fire Stone's level.

Leah only sighed.


-


Slowly trudging through the doorway, Leah kicked off her shoes and went upstairs, ears open to inform her if there was anyone in the house. Apparently no one, but if her ears were right, everyone was in the backyard having a party or something. Following the laughter upstairs, Leah went trough the kitchen and opened the door, peering out, before cautiously making her way over to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, who were looking over the railing of the deck.

"What's going on?" Leah asked as she joined them.

"William is introducing Ed to his new Pokemon," Mrs. Williams said, a bit of disapproval in her voice.

Leah leaned over the railing and looked down on the events.

Ally stood off the side with Amber at her feet, watching politely with a smile on her face. Also with Ally was Ed's Paras, but the bug-type wasn't doing anything interesting, just sitting there with hardly a care in the world. A little further away, past Ally and in the corner of the yard, was Sparks. The Voltorb didn't look very happy, but whether that was because he was always like that or that no one paying him any attention whatsoever couldn't be deduced.

And the main event stood in the center of the yard, between William and Ed who were standing across from each other. The Pokemon were both light blue with brown shells on their backs and both obviously Squirtle. But that was as far as the similarities went. William's Squirtle was standing motionless and alert, waiting for an attack. The other, however, kept swaying and moving its arms and tail back in forth, like it was trying them out.

"William gave Ed a… Squirtle?" Leah asked.

"Just watch," Mr. William advised. "It's not as it looks."

Leah frowned and watched the battle silently.

"Okay, Squirtle," William was saying. "Tackle."

Ed grinned. "Coralie, use Water Gun!"

William's Squirtle hardly waited for the words to leave her trainer's mouth before she was off, running quite fast on those small four legs. The other Squirtle wobbled a few steps back, intimidated by the direct attack before Ed's further urgings caused it to lean forward and taking in a breath. The jet of water that lefts its mouth was much smaller than William's Squirtle would have done, but it was a direct hit all the same.

The stronger Squirtle didn't care, though, only running right through the water, letting the liquid bounce right off her smooth head.

"Dodge!" Ed shouted, panicking.

Being too slow, Ed's Squirtle could only brace itself as William's bashed right into its stomach, knocking it back a few feet.

"Water Gun," William said, but then added. "Don't overdue it."

The Squirtle nodded as she easily sent a large stream of water from her mouth and pushed the other Squirtle back another few feet, making it tumble backwards and onto its shell. When the water let up, Ed's Squirtle flailed, trying to turn itself over, but its arms and legs were just too small by themselves.

"Aw," Ed whined, judging the battle to be over.

Ed's Squirtle realized that too as it relaxed its body and tilted its head back, letting the tips of its arms and legs to start melting into a pink-ish purple liquid-

"What the ****?" Leah said out loud, hardly noticing Mr. William's cough.

The Pokemon's shell deflated, lowering the Not-Squirtle to the ground and turning into the brightly colored goo as its limps joined the liquid along with its head. Now just a pile of purple slime, the goo kept moving, getting its bearings as the liquid reshaped itself into something more solid looking. When it was done its shape shifting, it stood upright as much as it could with no legs. The new Pokemon was rather small, about the same size as Ed's Paras, but taller. The Pokemon had two bulges at the side of its body that acted as arms and was still a bright pink-ish purple color.

"What- a Ditto?" Leah asked, surprised.

"I picked it up at the Pokemon Center for William," Mr. Williams explained. "Ditto was one of his old Pokemon."

Frowning, Leah wondered where William caught the Ditto. They were very rare Pokemon and they usually just appeared around Kanto randomly. Hell, even if they were tools for breeding other Pokemon, it was still speculation on whether Ditto itself could breed.

And William gave such a Pokemon to Ed of all people?

Leah unhanded the railing and went down the stairs, wanting to take a closer look at the Ditto. By then, Ed was crouched over the Pokemon with Ally looking over his shoulder at the jiggling Ditto. Now that she was closer, Leah could see that the Pokemon looked utterly devoid of a personality, not only by not doing anything, but having no face as well.

"Leah!" Ed beamed at her. "Look! Look what William gave me!"

"I see," Leah said, actually meaning it as she stared at the faceless Pokemon. It was creepy just looking at it.

William filled Leah in. "The Ditto's named Coralie."

Leah frowned, wondering why the Ditto had a nickname and William's Squirtle didn't.

"Hey," Ed said, trying to get Leah's attention again and only continued when she turned in his direction. "Send Sands out! I want to see Coralie transform into him."

"Come on," Leah grumbled, but got out the Pokeball anyways. "There are three other Pokemon you can use, why Sands?"

With a flash of light, Sands sat on the grass, blinking at the weird Pokemon that swayed in front of it. He raised one of his paws, intent on poking it (or something like that), but Leah glared at him until he lowered it.

Ed grinned. "Okay, Coralie! Transform!"

That word triggered a change in the Pokemon. It abruptly froze and appeared to be staring at Sands, even with no eyes. Suddenly, the Ditto melted, going back into a pile of goo. For a few seconds, it moved around a bit, but then raised itself tall, the purple color fading into a pale yellow-brown. Arms and legs formed, making a plate pattern that shifted as a tail and head were formed. The remaining bright color of the Ditto turned into white fuzz that lined the Sandshrew's stomach and part of its muzzle.

Coralie's black beady eyes stared right into Sands' identical ones, both Pokemon having a stare down.

Leah couldn't help but shiver a bit and feel uneasy. The transformation from Ditto to Sandshrew was more graphic then she really thought it would be. She expected maybe a white light or something and then an instant transformation, but not something in slow motion.

Ed didn't have quite the same reaction. "Wow! Awesome!"

The two Pokemon continued their staring contest, before it was broken by Sands' low growl. The ground-type's ears were flat on his head and he changed his position to be standing on all four legs, tense and ready for a fight.

"Sands," Leah scolded, not putting much effort into it. "Calm down."

The Ditto-Sandshrew could only give the original a confused look that bordered on hurt when Sands backed away from the Pokemon, still growling.

Not wanting the two Pokemon to get into a fight (mostly because she didn't feel like breaking it up), Leah returned Sands to his Pokeball to calm down.

Ed patted Coralie's head in pity and picked it up, one arm going across its chest and the other holding up its legs.

"Whoa!" Ed said, backing up a few steps as he adjusted his grip. "I didn't know Sands was this heavy."

William re-entered the conversation. "Ed," he said. "Remember, if you're going to use Coralie, especially again Koga, you're going to need to pay attention to the attacks different Pokemon use."

"I know!" Ed said, having already been given such a talk. "I'll take good care of Coralie!"

Smirking, William asked, "Okay then. Tell me, what attacks does Leah's Sandshrew know?"

"Scratch," Ed said off the bat. "Uh, Growl, Poison Sting…"

Leah rolled her eyes and added, "Sand-Attack and Rapid Spin."

"Right!" Ed said, nodding.

"Ed," Ally spoke up as she spoiled her Vulpix with pats. "When are we going to challenge Koga?"

Ed's grin got wider as he put down Coralie. "Tomorrow!"

"No," said both William and Leah, who looked at each other. William was the one who ultimately continued, "You need to do lots more studying before I'm going to let you do that. Do you know what Pokemon Koga's going to use?"

"Poison types, like-" Ed counted with his fingers. "- Venonat, Grimer, Beedrill-"

"Do you know their attacks?" William asked, crossing his arms.

Ed shook his head. "No, but I know Amber's attacks! I can get Coralie to turn into Amber and most poison-types are half bug, so I'll have an advantage."

Mentally groaning that Ed was already cutting corners, William was forced to admit, "That's a good idea, but Ditto can only transform into objects in front of him. So unless Ally's Vulpix is out while you're battling, it's not going to work." William smirked. "Nice try, though."

Pouting, Ed's eyes narrowed as he tried to think of an idea.

Since her interest had been lost, Leah turned around and went back to the deck, but not before giving the Not-Sandshrew one more look. Coralie sat still on the ground, its clawed paws playing with the strands of grass in front of it like a child would.

Leah shivered.


-


A/N: Finally, after about twelve chapters, another Pokemon is captured. (Hey, that kind of rhymed!) Anyways, next chapter is the gym battle and hopefully it won't be as short as I think it might be.

 

[Dagzar]

Mentor

Chapter 21: Koga​

-


Leah watched the rain drip down the car window as she listened to the pitter-patter on the car roof. It was a miserable afternoon with dark clouds in the sky and a chill in the air. To her left, Ed was practically bouncing in his seat and he constantly leaned forward as much as the middle seatbelt allowed him to, just to keep asking the same annoying question:

"Are we there yet?"

William only sighed and Leah smirked at him, happy that Ed was bothering him instead of her.

"Not yet," Mr. Williams spoke up from the driver's seat, both eyes fixed on the road. "We'll get there when we get there."

Giving his father a grateful look, William continued, "Ed, if you're bored, why don't I quiz you?"

That did the trick as Ed backpedaled. "No," he said hastily. The past few days since getting his Ditto had been spent looking at the different kinds of poison-types that Koga would use. It wasn't an uncommon sight for Ed to suddenly check in on different members on the household to get away from studying. It wasn't that Ed didn't like looking at poison-types and their moves ("awesome" as Ed would call them), it was just that William made it really boring.

"Come on, Eddy," William said, grinning as he turned in his seat so that he could see his brother. "Last minute studying could be the difference between winning and losing."

Ed pouted and leaned back in his seat. "I won the Volcano Badge from Blaine without studying."

"You lost," Leah pointed out, losing interest in the rain. "Ally won and Blaine just happened to be nice and give you the battle."

Ally spoke up from the other side of Ed. "P- Paras was able to poison Growlithe," she defended, her stutter a bit worse than usual.

"He still lost."

"Play nice," William scolded at Leah and then turned back to Ed. "Come on, Eddy. You have nothing to loose. Just give me five minutes."

Scowling, Ed crossed his arms and but admitted defeat. "Fine."

Before the quiz began, William spoke to the girls. "If you want to pitch in, don't hesitate."

Leah turned back to the window, not interested.

"First question," William started. "What type is Venonat?"

"Poison and Bug," Ed answered immediately, expression still defiant.

"What are its special abilities?"

Ed opened his mouth but closed it again, thinking hard. "Uh, they have really good eyesight and sometimes… their attacks that wouldn't do much damage against a type with immunities, does damage?" He seemed a bit uncertain at that point.

Nodding, William explained further. "Yes, though remember, sometimes Venonat only has one of those abilities, not two." He turned to Ally, who looked at him curiously. "Ally, this is going to affect you the most since you have a fire-type. If Koga sends out a Venonat against your Vulpix, there's a good chance that its bug-type attacks, like Leech Life, will an unusual amount of damage."

Turning back to Ed, William said, "While we're on attacks, here's another question about Venonat: from levels zero to two, what techniques would it have?"

"Leech Life," Ed started, now regretting that he spent his studying time just bugging Ally or Leah. "Supersonic, Tackle, Poison Powder, Disable Foresight…"

"Confusion," Ally offered hesitantly.

William nodded in approval. "That's right!"

"Here's a question," Mr. Williams said, having been keeping an ear on their conversation. "What poison-types is Koga going to use?"

Ed started to list off a bunch. "Venonat, Grimer, Koffing, Ekans-"

"Nidoran?" Ally asked.

"I have never seen him use Nidoran or their evolutions." William shook his head. "I think it's because they evolve into more ground based Pokemon. I know Giovanni from Viridian City uses them and he's a ground-type trainer."

Leah entered the game. "Butterfree? Beedrill?"

"Butterfree isn't a poison-type," William said. "He might use Beedrill, though I've never seen it."

Suddenly, William snapped his fingers. "Oh, right. Got to tell you guys something."

Ed and Ally leaned forward.

"Now, you both have two Pokemon," he said to their nods. "So Koga has the choice to challenge you to either a one-on-one battle or a two-on-two battle. If you end up in a one-on-one battle, choose wisely. Ed, I'm talking to you, so listen. Koga will probably send out his Pokemon first and if it's one that you don't know much about, don't use Coralie. You'd be better off using Paras since you know its attacks and abilities."

Ed nodded. "Got it!"

"Leah," Mr. Williams suddenly asked as Leah averted her eyes from the window to look at the boy's father. "Are you challenging Koga?"

Blinking, Leah had troubles computing the question. "Why would I do that?" she asked dryly, actually a bit curious at the answer. When had she ever given some sort of hint that she wanted to challenge a gym leader?

"Don't most trainers get badges?" he asked. "I know William did it when he was young."

"… I'm not that type of trainer," Leah replied, a bit uncomfortable. She didn't want to get into her motivations with Ed's dad of all people.

"Come on!" Ed said, jumping into the conversation. "It'll be fun! You battle with us all the time."

Leah scowled. "No," she said and turned her head away from him, making the matter closed.


-


The gym was a bit far out of the city and by the time the car got there, the rain had stopped.

Leah opened the car door, pausing for a few drops of rain water to drip down from the hood before getting out, Ed right behind her. The gravel crunched under their shoes as they went around the back of the car, meeting up with Mr. William and Ally. Slow as ever, William took his time and with his cane clutched in one hand, the group walked towards the gym as one.

The gym was surrounded by trees with big long branches that stretched out quite a distance from their trunks. The branches hung over the large gravel-filled space that served as a parking lot and Leah kept a scowl on her face as the tree's leaves dripped water onto everything under it. The gym itself looked a bit like a lodge that might've been found up the mountains. It was completely made of wood with a small staircase leading up to the porch.

Not bothering with the damp railing, Leah was careful not to slip as she went up the stairs. There was an odd pine scent in the air that smelled rather nice, but Leah wasn't paying much attention to it, her eyes focused on the door ahead. In the double door were two glass windows that took up much of the top part, but the glass was blurred so that Leah could only see pale light, but not much else.

They went inside, Mr. William holding the open for everyone. The inside was much nicer than Blaine's gym was. It was well lit and had some sort of cozy, earthy feeling to it. The ceiling was a bit low and there was even a fireplace (though not lit) over by the couches. It was then Leah started wondering whether they had accidently entered an actual lodge instead of the gym. A rug guided them over the receptionist's desk, though Ed took a detour, gravitating to the large cushioned seats instead.

"Stay with us, Ed," Mr. Williams warned.

Ed sulked, but hardly for a moment as he came back to them with a grin, the prospect that he was about to battle Gym Leader Koga on his mind.

"Is Koga open?" William asked the receptionist.

"He's currently battling a challenger," the receptionist replied with a small smile. "I don't think it'll take much longer."

William thanked her and turned back to the group, just in time for Ed to complain.

"We have to wait?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking put out.

"Be patient," William commented, looking around.

Since there wasn't any point in waiting around, Leah went over to the cushioned chairs and sat down on one of them, letting her body sink into the seat. Ed and Ally followed her lead, the boy throwing himself on one of the couches and Ally sitting next to him, hands folded on her lap.

"I can't wait!" Ed exclaimed, taking out his two Pokeballs and holding them tightly in his hands.

Ally copied him, though only with Amber's ball. "A- Are you nervous?" she asked.

"Nope!" he replied proudly. "I'm gonna win!"

William came up to them, settling down into the chair next to Leah, leaning his cane against the arm of the seat. "Don't get overconfident. That's the easiest way to lose," he said.

"Did you ever battle Koga?" Ally asked the older boy shyly.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago." William replied, smiling. "He gave me and Martini lots of trouble." He then noticed Ally's enquiring look and explained, "Martini was my Golduck."

Ed's brightened. "I remember Martini! I loved playing with him!"

Chuckling, William said, "I remember how you always badgered him to use Psychic on your toys and make them move."

"Yeah!" Ed frowned a bit. "I wish you didn't give him away."

William took pity on his brother. "Martini wouldn't have had much to do if he stayed with me. Besides, I still keep in contact with his new trainer, so I can still visit."

Curious on how William won the gym battle, Ed asked eagerly, "How did you and Martini win?

A nostalgic smile spread across his face. "A lot of effort," William said, leaning back into the chair, his eyes dimming as the memory came to the forefront of his mind. "It was a one-on-one battle and it was me and Martini versus Koga and his infamous Muk. Now, Muk are really tough Pokemon to beat normally, but Koga upped the difficulty to eleven. His just kept using Minimize and Acid Armor over and over again, enough that Muk was pretty much a speck and as hard as diamond. It was really frustrating since either Martini's attacks weren't connecting or they hardly did any damage."

"What did you do?" Ally asked, memorized by the story. Even Leah was paying attention.

"Martini was finally able to Disable Muk's Acid Armor," he continued. "Then, all we had to do was confuse the hell out of it until it knocked itself out."

Ed looked at his brother with a worried face. "Do you think he'll send out Muk against us?"

William shook his head. "Koga's Muk is way too high leveled for you guys. He might send out a Grimer though, so watch out for that."

The conversation steadily drifted onto less Pokemon-related topics, despite Ed's urgings for William to tell more gym battle stories. Leah zoned out, relaxing in her chair and trying to ignore the babble going on around her.

Thankfully, it wasn't too soon when the doors that lead to Koga's arena opened and several people walked out. There were four of them and three were comforting one guy who had his head bowed. As they walked past Leah, she kept an ear open for what they were saying.

"Don't worry, man," said one of the comforters. "Most people lose to him on their first try."

"Yeah, you're not alone. He completely creamed me, too."

The challenger sighed. "I totally thought I had him, though! I didn't know Venomoth could even do that."

"You can challenge him again later or something," another said, patting the challenger on the back. "Come on."

Leah turned her eyes back to everyone else, just in time to see Ed and Ally's pale face, intimidated by what the previous challenger and his friends' said.

"You'll both do fine," William said, noticing the suddenly cool mood. "Just remember what I said and do your best."

Everyone got up, Leah lagging slightly as she wondered if she could just stay behind since she wasn't battling or anything.

The receptionist nodded at them as they went past and Ed gave her a shaky grin in return, nervousness at the upcoming gym battle finally making itself present. They walked through the door and into the arena.

It looked quite similar to Blaine's, but instead of candles, there were lanterns hanging from the ceiling, all brightly lit. The ground mimicked the outside, with dirt and mud spread out amongst the floor and walls were made of wood. Wooden bleachers sat again the wall, having three levels to them. The only other person in the room was a woman with purple hair tied back in a ponytail, who sat cross-legged at the side of the room, her hands playing with two colored flags.

She looked up when she saw them and immediately got up, revealing a sleeveless black jumpsuit and a fishnet shirt. "Hey," she greeted with a smile, brushing herself off. "Welcome to Fuchsia Gym!"

"Where's Koga?" Ed asked, noticing the gym leader's absence.

The woman grinned. "Dad's taking a water break." She then peered at Ed and Ally, who were at the front of the group. "Are you guys challenging, because you two look a bit small."

Ed bristled. "Yeah, we're challenging! And we're going to win!"

The woman walked forward, her pink-ish red scarf dancing behind her. "You sure you guys can take Dad?" she asked, stopping a few feet away.

"We're sure!" Ed exclaimed, his confidence returning.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the woman said in a singing tone and then crossed her arms and looked at the obvious adult. "Just these two?"

Mr. Williams nodded. "Yup. They're all yours."

"Awesome!" the woman cheered and grinned at the two. "So, what levels are the Pokemon you're going be using?"

William was the one who answered. "Varies around high level one and very low level two," he said.

The woman nodded. "Got it! I'll go tell Dad." She looked at the non-challengers. "If you want, you guys can go sit on the bleachers."

Leah had started walking almost as soon as the woman turned around. She jumped up on the bottom bleacher and up one before settling on the topmost bleacher. Mr. Williams and William followed, both taking a seat on the bottom one.

"You always go for the top?" William asked Leah, turning around.

"Yeah." Leah shrugged. Unlike the lower bleachers, the top had the wall conveniently behind it so that it could be used as the back of a seat.

"I didn't know Koga had a daughter," Mr. Williams commented.

Shaking his head, William said, "Me either." He looked around, mostly at the lanterns above their head. "Wow, I haven't been here in years. The lanterns are definitely new."

"… William," Mr. Williams said, and his son looked up immediately since rarely did his father use his full name. "What were those forms all about?"

William frowned. "Forms, what forms?"

"The lady at the desk," the father started, "asked me to fill out some forms for Ed and Ally that said that the gym was not responsible for any accidents." Mr. Williams spat the last word, not at all happy at what the forms implied.

An aghast look overtook William's face. "What? I've never heard of this."

"I have," Leah threw out and when father and son turned around to look at her, she further explained, "At Cinnabar Gym, I had to sign the same thing."

The three just looked at each other, saying nothing.

"Well," William said, looking rather uncomfortable. "Pokemon are a bit dangerous and accidents can happen. These are poison-types."

There was a pause and Mr. Williams finally said, "After the battle, I'm going to ask the Gym Leader himself at what this is all about. Because I don't like it; not at all."


-


"D- Do you think we can win?" Ally asked, more nervous than normal due to Koga's reputation.

Ed nodded. "Yeah," he said, turning to her. "Our Pokemon are awesome! We can't lose!"

Just then, the door at the side of the room opened with the woman and Koga walking through, both talking quietly. The man was dressed much like his daughter with a black jumpsuit and long red scarf tied tightly around his neck. His hair was black and spiky and he had a gaunt face with a long and pointy nose.

"You two are here to challenge me?" the gym leader asked, his voice grave.

The two trainers felt intimidated by him and it was Ed who replied. "Y-Yeah!"

Koga nodded and turned to his daughter. "Janine."

"Got it, Dad!" she said and walked to the side of the arena, picking up the red and green flags.

"I would like to battle you first," Koga said to Ally, who froze for a moment before slowly nodding.

Ally stepped forward into the trainer box, her eyes pausing over to the three-people audience, before she looked back at Koga, who had reached the other trainer box.

"Okay!" Janine announced. "This is a battle between Gym Leader Koga and the challenger… ah, ****. What's your name?"

Ally's voice was hardly audible. "Ally Anderson."

"- and the challenger, Ally Anderson!" Janine continued. "This will be a two-on-two battle and no time limit. That okay with everyone?"


-


"Idiot." Leah couldn't help but comment quietly when Ally nodded at the set rules.

William frowned. "Does she know that she can reject the rules if she wanted to?" He hesitated, rising out of his seat. "Maybe I should tell her…"

Watching the two trainers sending out their Pokemon, Leah said, "Too late now."


-


Ally didn't hesitate at which Pokemon she was going to choose and she threw the Pokeball to the middle white line. "Go, Amber!"

Appearing in a dazzling white light, the Vulpix fanned out his two tails and sniffed the white chalk in front of him, seemingly recognizing it.

Koga threw his own Pokeball, letting it arch in the air before releasing the captive Pokemon. The Pokemon was much like Ditto in the sense that it was made up of a dark purple slime, which oozed and popped as the Pokemon placed its three fingered hands on the ground in front of it. It rose up, revealing two white eyes that kept disappearing under the slime that dripped past them.

A mild, but rather terrible odor filled the air and Ally covered her nose and mouth with her hand, grimacing at the smell. Ed, who was still behind Ally, backed away in disgust, almost thankful that he didn't have to go first. However, Koga seemed unaffected by it, the same as Janine, who prepared her flags.

"Let the battle begin!" Janine said with a grin, waving both of the flags in front of her.

"E-Ember!" Ally commanded, her voice muffled by her hand. Amber, who was keeping his distance, was only too happy to try to get rid of thing that was making that smell. A small fireball was launched right at the pile of goo, but the Grimer's trainer had other plans.

Koga's eyes narrowed, as if thinking of a strategy. "Minimize."

The fireball didn't even scorch Grimer as it zoomed right over the poison-type's head. Grimer's slime body had taken less than a second to spread out across the dirt, now looking like a puddle of slime. Once the fire was no longer a threat, it pulled itself together, but looking quite a bit smaller than before.

Ally remembered what William had set about that move and she knew that she had to put a stop to it before everything started to miss. "Amber, Quick Attack!"

The Vulpix crouched down before becoming a blur as he rushed at Grimer.

"Disable!"

With hardly a pause, Grimer expanded itself again, but time not on the floor but in the air, looking like a liquid net. Unable to stop in time, Amber ran right into it and the slime instantly came down around it, trapping it in the poison-type's body. However, Grimer didn't swallow, only spitting out the fire-type after a moment, who slid on the ground, fur matted with goo. Amber's tails were stuck together, the tips of them having a thin later of slime between them.

"Amber!" Ally shrieked.

The Vulpix tried to get up, but his legs were stuck together and he was forced to just lay there, defeated.

Janine raised the red flag in her father's direction. "Vulpix is unable to battle! Grimer wins!"

"Return," Ally called out hoarsely, Amber being pulled back into his Pokeball. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she had only one other Pokemon she could rely on. Amber had been beaten so easily, so quickly, so there was no way Sparks could win, right? Especially since the electric-type wouldn't even listen to her...

Taking out her only other Pokeball, Ally glanced at it for a moment, wishing as hard as she could that Sparks would cooperate, just this once.

"Sparks, go!"


-


"No way she's going to win now," Leah said, sighing. When was the battle going to be over?

William slowly nodded. "Maybe if Koga only had one Pokemon left…"

"What's the problem?" Mr. William asked, puzzled, his mouth still pulled downwards into a frown. "I know the Voltorb is a bit of a troublemaker, but I'm not sure it'll just stand there and get attacked."

"Not the problem, Dad. Voltorb will definitely attack, but its most likely going to go out of bounds while doing so. Not only that, but there's nothing stopping it from attacking Ally or Koga." William paused. "I think she should throw in the towel before someone gets hurt."

Surprisingly, it was Leah who came to Ally's aid. "Oh, give her a chance," she said, having no clue what she was even saying. "Koga's a gym leader, he's not going to let anyone get hurt."


-


The Voltorb looked around him with narrowed eyes.

Ally kept silent, her hands folded in front of her. She didn't say anything and didn't make any sort of move. Sparks wouldn't listen to her, so what was the point of telling him what to do?

Both trainers did nothing, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

When it was apparent Ally wasn't going to do anything, Koga said, "Grimer, Mud Slap."

Grimer tilted back, using its long arm to reach behind it to the ground. With one move, it pulled its arm back, gathering the dirt and flinging it at its opponent. Ally made a small squeak and jumped back as the mud hit her pants and shoes, while Sparks rolled out of the way.

Now it was on. Grimer had successfully gotten the Voltorb's full attention and Sparks definitely wasn't happy at being attacked. Small yellow sparks jumped around his spherical body and Sparks growled like a machine. Closing his eyes, the Voltorb started to roll, upturning dirt and bit of mud that got in his way.

"Harden, Grimer," Koga said, looking unimpressed.

Grimer did so, its liquid body glowing a pale purple, and turning solid. It was now prepared for Voltorb's attack, or so it thought. Sparks, though, had a different plan in mind. More sparks fizzled into existence as the electric-type didn't slow down, only speeding up. The Voltorb collided into Grimer, making a cracking sound as the electricity exploded outwards, throwing both of the Pokemon back.

Voltorb rolled to a stop and after a moment, he righted himself so he could look directly at the damage he did. Grimer smoked, its body now back into a liquid form. The terrible smell was much thicker and now had a slight burnt odor to it. Despite that, Grimer was still conscious, its arms shaking as it pushed itself up.

The two Pokemon stared at each other and Sparks made another growl, warning that he would do that again.

"Return," Koga said, holding up a Pokeball and with red light, Grimer disappeared.

"You sure about that, Dad?" Janine asked, blinking, but quickly regained her composure and held up the green flag. "Uh, Grimer has forfeited! Voltorb wins!"

"I know when the battle has been lost," Koga told Ally, taking out another Pokeball and throwing it.

Koga's second Pokemon was unexpected. It buzzed in the air, its four wings a blur as it hovered over the battlefield. It had a yellow insect-like body made of three parts. The top part was its head with two large red eyes and two antennas above them. Its middle was attached to its arms and legs that resembled sticks. On the end of each arm was a large silver spike that must have been not very heavy since the Pokemon's twig-like arms could lift them. The end part of its body, which was the biggest, had two black hoops and on the very end was a large yellow stinger.

"A Beedrill," Ally whispered to herself. Her Pokemon tilted back his body so that he could look at it, not at all intimidated.

"Beedrill, Fury Attack," Koga said. "Do not let it rest."

In an instant, Beedrill was right over Sparks, baring down on the electric-type, spikes raised. The Voltorb rolled back, dodging a spike, but was nicked by another and making him pause. Sparks was forced to get moving again as soon as he was hit again. The spikes didn't do much damage since Sparks had a hard body, but they were very annoying and Beedrill could poke out Voltorb's eyes if the electric-type wasn't careful.

Sparks let off a small electrical discharge, deflecting one of the spikes and making Beedrill fly back a bit. However, after the electricity died down, Beedrill was back on his case, the Voltorb having to continuously move in order not to get hit.

Ally bit her lip, wondering if she should say anything. Sparks wouldn't listen, but maybe it would give her Pokemon an idea?

"Sparks," Ally finally said. "Charge!"

The Voltorb ignored her, not even giving his trainer a glance. Beedrill, however, pulled back, flying near to the ceiling, just in case Voltorb changed its mind.

"Twineedle." Koga commanded.

Beedrill turned around, flying back towards the Voltorb. Once it was close enough, Beedrill lifted its legs and jabbed its stinger in Sparks' direction. The electric-type rolled back, but like the Fury Attack, Beedrill just kept trying. Sparks let loose another Spark, but Beedrill dodged, flying around the Voltorb and trying again.

Finally, Voltorb was so fed up, he concentrated, sending a Sonicboom right to Beedrill's face. Luckily for the poison-type, it was able to get out of the line of fire just in time, pulling up and getting out of the way for any other assaults.

Koga thought for a moment before saying, "Poison Sting."

Still staying away, Beedrill once again pointed its stinger, but instead of flying close, it let its stinger glow before shooting out several purple needles. Sparks rolled again, but couldn't stop as Beedrill didn't even pause with its attack. Forced to race around the field, Voltorb kept turning and twisting, trying not to get hit while spewing dirt in his wake. Several times, Sparks rolled near the boundary line, but he never crossed it, having to always go another way because of the Poison Sting.

Ally watched, breathless. It was a stalemate, neither of the Pokemon getting the advantage. Beedrill couldn't hit Sparks and Sparks couldn't fight back. As long as Beedrill stayed high in the air, her Voltorb couldn't hit it. Maybe she could think of a way, a strategy, to get Beedrill to come back down, but if Sparks wouldn't listen, what was the point?

"You can do it, Ally!" Ed cheered from behind her and she turned around to give him a hesitant smile.

There was nothing she could do. It all came down to luck; Sparks would just have to win by himself…

Back in the field, Sparks was getting tired. There was only so much energy he had and he had already used a lot, not only by moving around so much, but also because of the large amount of electricity he had used against Grimer. As the Voltorb rolled, he started to glow a pale yellow, charging electrical energy. His movement became erratic, as he could only focus on a single task. Finally, the Pokemon stopped, deciding to continue charging rather than moving.

The pale needles bounced off his body and Sparks shielded his face by turning around, but Beedrill followed his movements, trying to hit his face.

"Beedrill." Koga said. "Fury Attack."

The Poison Sting let up and Beedrill rushed in, spikes outstretched. With a clang, the spike scratched Sparks' metal-like surface, leaving a shallow red line. Another jab by Beedrill left a second scratch.

"Sparks!" Ally yelled. "Now!"

Sparks discharged, making the air crackle and giving off a bright yellow light. The blast of energy threw the poison-type back, making its limbs freeze in mid-air. Beedrill landed on the ground, the only sign of life being its wings that kept twitching like it was trying to get off the ground.

Janine came over to peer at Beedrill closely and when she saw that it wasn't going to get up, she raised her green flag. "Beedrill is unable to battle! Voltorb wins! The match goes to Ally Anderson!"

When she heard those words, Ally felt relief wash over her like a tidal wave. She did it; she won. With her body tingling, she walked over to her Voltorb and knelt beside him. The electric-type glared at her, the air still thick with static, but she only smiled and didn't try to touch him.

"G- Good job!" she told him, her voice still breathless.

Sparks growled again and Ally returned him to her Pokeball for a much needed rest. When she stood up, Koga and Janine were in front of her.

"You have proved your worth," Koga said dully, like it was a line he used often. He showed her a pink heart-shaped badge and handed it to her.

"Aw, stop being all cold, Dad," Janine commented and said to Ally, "That was a good battle; you're definitely a tough one."

Koga frowned. "Your Voltorb is wild?"

Ally gulped under his stern gaze and nodded. "Y- Yes. He doesn't really like me…"

"Then I suggest that you do not use him in a battle until he is under control," the gym leader advised. "He could get other people hurt and you would not be able to stop it."

"Good job, Ally!" Ed cut in, coming up to them. His eyes were wide and he was grinning, having enjoyed the battle. "That was awesome."

Ally blushed. "T- Thanks."

"You're next," Janine said to Ed. "Are you ready?"

Ed's grin got wider. "Yeah!"

Koga turned to him.

"Then let us begin."


-


A/N: This chapter got way too long so I'm just going to put Ed's battle in the next chapter. And you know, I'm starting to notice that my chapters always come out weirdly long, especially when I'm sure that the chapter will be on the short side. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or bad thing. <_<

Anyways, I'm curious; does anyone have any predictions for later chapters?

 

[Venia Silente]

Yay! More chapters! More Sands♥FireStone!

The whole preparing for the Gym Battle idea was nicely done and I think pace was the correct or most convenient one, regardless that the fact that as you say, chapters end up longer than they were intended to be; but I have to say, from my prespective, chapters are getting actually shorter plot-wise.

Also thanks for putting up more with the Ekans Kid (and his Ralts). It was a very fun battle to read because given the previous record of these boys, I didn't expect most of the things they tried to do (such as Ekans Kid retreating again).

Oh and one more thing... under normal circumstances I would have waited till next chapter to review, but I'm going to review right now! because I feel kinda sick and have been going around with doctors... for medical reasons... lately. Just in case.

Now, for some suggestions, inquiries, and minor corrections...

"Than I can't catch Nidorino or anything strong?" Ed frowned.

I'm guessing it's a "then" there. Also, kudos for the Nidorinos. I love Nidos, and I think they don't get enough love. Not even from the friggin games what with the infertility 'glitch'... OK I'm done ranting...

...the Not-Sandshrew thing...

Fun and creepy in one. Ditto was an interesting idea for a Pokémon to give Ed given that we're talkin' game battle mechanics here; let's see what it turns out to be like when Ed is to face a Pokémon he doesn't know.

"Hey, Sands!" she called out, mimicking an urgent and serious tone. "Look!" Holding up his Fire Stone, she waved it in the air, watching Sands' eyes following the motion.

Oooohhh OTP!!! :D
And that's interesting for a switch in strategy. I have to say, for all the no-trainer that Leah is, she's got the cunnings of M. Tatcher. Now if that is good or bad for poor Sands...

Leah mock gasped. "They have your Fire Stone, Sands! Get 'em!"

That was all that she needed to do.

Ralts are is SO EFFIN' F*ED!!!!
*Ralts receives 65535 damage!*

I like to see that you combined three forms of attachment to completely twist around the battle: Sand's love for the Fire Stone, Leah's ability to adequately see this as a tool for use in battle (Fire Stone is not an in-battle use item, nor one that "can" be taken advantage by a Sandshrew, after all...) and most importantly associating Ralt's "powered by kindness" with this form of projection of interest (timid nature yet quick to explore). The resulting scene with Ekans Boy yet again retreating from battle is a much welcomed surprise, since I fully expected for him to try and twist things around by that point.

Also we finally get the Ekans Kid's name, but for some reason I can't really care. He's still that Ekans Kid from he hill who runs away as soon as the battle turns a bit strange on him.

One thing from the game mechanics I would have liked to see there was Ekans Kid giving half of his money to Leah for all these battles. I mean come on he's essentially battling her just out of lust to tire and annoy her and he's forfeiting all battles at the first scare!

...And now he's leaving? Leah's best and only form of diversion sans kicking Sands off from a hilltop has gone off to lands unknown... now maybe she's gonna take her Mentor work seriously.

For the most recent delivery...

To her left, Ed was practically bouncing in his seat and he constantly leaned forward as much as the middle seatbelt allowed him to, just to keep asking the same annoying question:

"Are we there yet?"

Cue my childhood :cheeky:

Seriously, I like how normally childlike the characters behave out of battle. Ally more thasn everyone else and her personality has been being developed white well. William and his particular form of being a no-Trainer is also a nice addition to the rooster.

"Is Koga open?" William asked the receptionist.

Don't know you adults but that kinda sounded so wrong to me... :cheeky: Did you meant available instead? I guess no. I'm a bit dirty these days...

The woman grinned. "Dad's taking a water break."

Yay! HG&SS Cameo!!!!!! +2 Mood EV pts for me!

Amber, who was keeping his distance, was only too happy to try to get rid of thing that was making that smell.

An pronoun or adjective missing here, perhaps?

"You always go for the top?" William asked Leah, turning around.

"Yeah." Leah shrugged.

Nothing wrong here. It's just that I still remember a certain almost Wet Sari scene and how... challenging it seemed to read on in William's mind.

"You have proved your worth," Koga said dully, like it a line he used often.

Some conjugation is missing here, it seems.

Now, overall the new chapters are quite good, it's just, as I said, for my particular preception of the speed of the plot they seem to be getting shorter. But if what you say it's true that the Gym battle as a whole is turning very much longer than you expected, I won't have to worry anymore... :D

I hope to see more of this work since it's one of the few I am reading right now. I'll try and be reviewing every third or fifth chapter, that means next month most surely but don't despair, I'll keep reading this interesting love story!

 

[delongbi]

Hullo! Was everyone on vacation or something last week? I found the lack of reviews very peculiar.

They went inside, Mr. William holding the open for everyone.

I think Mr. William was holding a door...

That was the only mistake I found. Hmm, I have a lot more random comments and ponderings than usual...

Ditto was an interesting addition to Ed's team. Can Ditto transform into any person/thing/Pokemon, or just Pokemon, or some variation?

"Dad's taking a water break."

The first time I read that, I thought pregnant? Then I reread it and realized the obvious meaning...

Anyways, I'm curious; does anyone have any predictions for later chapters?

Well, I am positive we have not seen the last of Danny. My theories about him are a) he is a psychic or is just particularly sympathetic of his Pokemon's feelings b) something is wrong with his Pokemon so if they get hurt too much, they blow up or something c) he's just a weird kid. Whatever the case, I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere.

I am sad that we'll be leaving William soon. For a while, I thought he might come along with the group, but now I'm convinced otherwise (but still hopeful). Leah needs someone to put her in her place sometimes.

I think Ed is going to win the battle (they've spent way too much time in Fuchsia already), but use his Ditto incorrectly, and I think they'll be going to Celadon next.

And those are all of my predictions, for now. Keep up the good work!

 

[Dagzar]

Thanks for reviewing solovino and delongbi!

Oh and one more thing... under normal circumstances I would have waited till next chapter to review, but I'm going to review right now! because I feel kinda sick and have been going around with doctors... for medical reasons... lately. Just in case.

Oh, that sucks; I hope you feel better soon!

I'm guessing it's a "then" there. Also, kudos for the Nidorinos. I love Nidos, and I think they don't get enough love. Not even from the friggin games what with the infertility 'glitch'... OK I'm done ranting...

Yeah, I quite like Nidos too. Not only do they evolve into the awesome Nidoking / Nidoqueen, but they can learn so many moves! And yeah, that stupid glitch can be annoying, especially when I want to breed my Nidoqueen. <_<

Also we finally get the Ekans Kid's name, but for some reason I can't really care. He's still that Ekans Kid from he hill who runs away as soon as the battle turns a bit strange on him.

Heh, I agree. I also still refer to him as the 'Ekans Kid', even if I've now revealed his name.

One thing from the game mechanics I would have liked to see there was Ekans Kid giving half of his money to Leah for all these battles. I mean come on he's essentially battling her just out of lust to tire and annoy her and he's forfeiting all battles at the first scare!

Leah would love it if that happened, but the Ekans Kid would run away faster than he usually does. You know, I completely forgot that trainers hand over money to the winner and I would have liked to put that in somewhere. *le sigh*

...And now he's leaving? Leah's best and only form of diversion sans kicking Sands off from a hilltop has gone off to lands unknown... now maybe she's gonna take her Mentor work seriously.

Yeah, Leah's going to have to find a new friend hobby. Of course, being a kind-hearted Mentor is probably not going to be one of them. ;)

Cue my childhood

Same here! I remember when I was little, I used to look up from my Gameboy Color and from the backseat of the car, ask, "Muuuum, are we there yet?" My parents were thankful that I eventually learned what patience meant and everyone lived happily ever after!

Don't know you adults but that kinda sounded so wrong to me... Did you meant available instead? I guess no. I'm a bit dirty these days...

Now after looking at it, I can see what you mean. Wow, I didn't spot that! Maybe I'm not as perverted as I thought I was! :D

I hope to see more of this work since it's one of the few I am reading right now. I'll try and be reviewing every third or fifth chapter, that means next month most surely but don't despair, I'll keep reading this interesting love story!

Heh, okay, I'll be looked forward to your monthly-ish reviews! Thanks for reviewing!

Hullo! Was everyone on vacation or something last week? I found the lack of reviews very peculiar.

Hi, delongbi! I hope your vacation was good! And yeah, sometimes everyone just decides not to review one week. It happens. *shrugs*

Ditto was an interesting addition to Ed's team. Can Ditto transform into any person/thing/Pokemon, or just Pokemon, or some variation?

Ditto is rather low-leveled so only Pokemon right now. Maybe it will be able to transform into objects later. ;)

The first time I read that, I thought pregnant? Then I reread it and realized the obvious meaning...

Haha! I see what you mean! And isn't that a weird mental image.

Well, I am positive we have not seen the last of Danny. My theories about him are a) he is a psychic or is just particularly sympathetic of his Pokemon's feelings b) something is wrong with his Pokemon so if they get hurt too much, they blow up or something c) he's just a weird kid. Whatever the case, I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere.

I am sad that we'll be leaving William soon. For a while, I thought he might come along with the group, but now I'm convinced otherwise (but still hopeful). Leah needs someone to put her in her place sometimes.

I think Ed is going to win the battle (they've spent way too much time in Fuchsia already), but use his Ditto incorrectly, and I think they'll be going to Celadon next.

Heh, interesting theories you've got there, though I won't say anything to any of them. However, I will confirm that the Ekans Kid will return eventually. ;)

And those are all of my predictions, for now. Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

 

[Dagzar]

Mentor
Chapter 22: Decisions​

​

-



"Congratulations," William said as Ally climbed onto the bleaches, taking a seat next to the older boy.

Her face tinted a pale pink. "T- Thanks."

Leah gave no comment, instead watching with a bored expression as Ed took a step into the trainer box, already having a Pokeball in hand. He looked determined to win, not betraying an ounce of nervousness. His confidence was probably boosted by Ally's win, and really, whose wouldn't be? If Koga could be beaten by an uncontrollable Voltorb, what was there to be afraid of?

"I hope Ed wins," Ally said.

"He will," William assured her. "As long as he remembers what I taught him and doesn't get reckless, I don't think he'll have much of a problem."

"Reckless?" Leah snorted. "He's already chosen his Pokemon."

William had nothing to say to that and could only hope that Ed wouldn't do something stupid.


-


"This is a gym battle between Gym Leader Koga and Ed Williams," Janine announced, this time having gotten Ed's name beforehand. "It'll be one-on-one, no time limit." She paused, looking at both of them before raising her flags. "Okay, let the battle begin!"

Ed grinned and gripped his Pokeball tighter, like he was trying to keep from throwing it. William told him to wait for Koga to make the choice first, because Ed had to know if he could use Coralie or not, but… Suddenly throwing his Pokeball, Ed released Coralie in a flash of light.

Having been studying for days, Ed was really confident that he was going to win! He trusted Coralie, so there was no reason to wait.

Studying the Ditto from the other trainer box, Koga made his choice, throwing his own Pokeball out into the field. "Venonat, Confusion. Don't let it move."

The new Pokemon didn't look very bug-like except for a few features. Its two white antennae twitched and it immediately stared right at the Ditto with large pink eyes. It had a fluffy purple body, one that was rather rounded and had two small feet and arms. Two visible white fangs came from its mouth and all in all, it looked rather cute. However, its actions didn't match up to its appearance as the Pokemon showed why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Venonat glowed blue and it made a small nattering sound as hardy visible blue rings immerged from its mouth. Before Ed could even issue a command, the blue rings passed right over his Pokemon with no trouble at all.

"Coralie," Ed said, frowning slightly. He flexed his hand, feeling the odd numb tingle within it. Shaking his head, he just went right to it.

"Transform into Venonat!"

However, Coralie wasn't feeling as well as Ed. The Pokemon had stopped its constant jiggling and now wasn't moving at all, like it was completely frozen in time.

"Coralie?" Ed asked, worried. He knew what Disable did, but he didn't know when it wore off.

Koga watched the battle impassionedly. "Venonat, Supersonic."

More nattering filled the air, but this time, it was much more high-pitched and annoying. The sounds overlapped until it was just a constant buzz of noise. Ed covered his ears and winced; watching as yellow hoops emerged from Venonat's mouth and homed in on Coralie.

By then, the Disable had worn off, but maybe it was best if the Pokemon was still frozen. Purple goo started to drip from the end of Coralie's arms as the Ditto tried to hold its regular form together, though it was all in vain.

"Transform!" Ed shouted, now really getting panicked. This wasn't how this battle was supposed to go!

Coralie tried, but it was very confused. It reared up, forming clumps of purple fur, and a single white antenna stuck up, but they quickly melted back into it. Again, the Pokemon tried to transform, but this time it was even worse, not even getting off a paw before losing it.

Koga didn't stop in his relentless assault. "Confusion."

Venonat's eyes turned from pink to blue as they glowed brightly. A blue aura surrounded it, one that was paralleled by one around Coralie. For a moment, nothing happened, but in the next, the Ditto was suddenly picked up and thrown backwards, leaving behind a trail of liquid. The normal-type landed near Ed's feet, purple slime spreading along the floor.

Ed knelt down, not touching the Pokemon. "Coralie? Coralie?

The Ditto slowly got up, pulling herself together. It sat there, dazed, until it suddenly lost form again.

"C- Coralie!"

Then, Coralie got back up, purple fur appearing around its now spherical form. It stood on stubby legs and two white antennae poked out of its skull. With the pink bug-like eyes, it could no longer be told apart from its opponent.

Ed grinned. Things were finally going his way. "Good job!" he said as he got back to his feet. "Now, Supersonic right back!"

The Not-Venonat shrieked, making small yellow rings rush over to Venonat with a wave of sound. There was no way to dodge, so Venonat just stood its ground and let the attack pass by, its antennas hugged to its head. Koga stood behind his Pokemon, his arms crossed, though the line of his mouth thinned at the chatter.

"Confusion," Koga ordered coldly.

His Venonat stood still before the familiar blue aura once again surrounded the Pokemon. The poison-type's eyes went blue and Ed's own Pokemon stepped back nervously, already being well acquainted with the attack a few minutes earlier. However, there was no cause for alarm. The blue aura didn't overtake the Not-Venonat and instead faded from Koga's Pokemon.

Venonat looked around in confusion, both at its opponent and its trainer. It stumbled forwards, as if it forgot all its instincts and training.

It was the chance Ed was waiting for. It was time to take the advantage!

"Coralie!" Ed exclaimed. "Confusion!"

This time, it was Coralie who the blue aura appeared over first and the Venonat who was incased second. The Not-Venonat raised its tiny paws and, like it didn't quite know what it was doing, made a rather random swing of its paw. This had an effect, though not the one Ed had hoped for. Venonat was shoved lightly, having to take only a few steps back to regain its balance.

Venonat nattered again, shaking its head and seemingly breaking its confusion.

Koga stepped in again. "Venonat, Leech Life."

"Confusion!" Ed yelled, not willing to let ago of his slight advantage. He tried to remember more of Venonat's attacks, but they slipped from his mind like water. The only attacks Ed did know Venonat knew were Confusion, Supersonic, Disable and Leech Life! Well, and Tackle, but what Pokemon didn't know that?

The real Venonat came darting forwards at a much faster pace than what Ed assumed a bug could make. Coralie's eyes glowed blue and it tried to stop Venonat, but its inexperience caused it to fail, hardly slowing the rival Pokemon down. Venonat pounced on Coralie like a cat and they fell to the ground in a mass of purple fuzz and feet. The Not-Venonat kicked out, but it was all for naught as Venonat's fangs seemed to gleam before it bit down onto Coralie's flesh with all the strength it could muster. Coralie screeched and kicked out again, its eyes glowing blue as it tried to mentally push the Pokemon away. Venonat flinched as it was jerked to the side and was forced to let go.

"Leech Life!" Ed yelled, refusing to give up. "Leech Life, Leech Life, Leech Life!"

Coralie got up, its antennas quivering and showing that its fur on its side was matted with blood. Before its opponent could get its bearings, it was Coralie who pounced and bit into Venonat.

"Confusion!" Koga said.

Ed's eyes narrowed. "Confusion too! Don't let it do anything!"

A blue aura surrounded both Pokemon, this time much brighter than before. The Pokemon kept wrestling, one trying to get away, and the other trying to hold it back while using only its fangs. Venonat shrieked and Coralie flinched as if it had been hit.

Suddenly, both Pokemon were thrown back, Coralie's fangs forcibly being pulled out of Venonat's flesh and ripping out a chunk of its fur along with it.

"Confusion!" Ed said again and repeated in urgency. "Confusion! Pound it!"

Venonat was getting up, just as hurt as Coralie, when a sudden force hit the Pokemon like an anvil from above. The poison-type fell again, and this time, didn't get up.

There was silence at both ends of the field as Janine walked over, avoiding the drops of blood and fur. She leaned over Venonat and when she saw that it wasn't going to get up any time soon she raised her green flag.

"Venonat is unable to battle!" she said. "Ditto wins! Victory goes to Ed Williams!"

Ed stood still for a moment until the realization of his victory crept up on him. A grin stole his face and his eyes lit up as he could hardly contain his excitement. He practically skipped his way over to Coralie, who had resumed its pink-ish purple and gooey form.

"We did it, Coralie!" he exclaimed, picking his Pokemon up as best he could and trying not to let a bit of his Pokemon slide down his arms. He looked up as Koga approached him.

"Another good battle!" Janine stretched, smiling.

"Indeed," Koga admitted with a straight face, handing over the same badge he gave Ally.

"Good job, Ed," Ally said with a blush, coming over to him with everyone else.

"Knew you could do it," William said proudly, rustling his brother's hair.

Ed's face positively glowed.

Leah said nothing; too busy watching the look Mr. Williams gave Koga.

"Nice work," Mr. William said, averting his eyes from the gym leader for a moment. "Hey, why don't you kids go wait in the car. I need to talk to the gym leader for a moment."

Koga raised an eyebrow as the father handed over the keys to William.

No one questioned it and the group walked out of the arena, Leah turning for a moment to give one last glance to Mr. William, before the door closed behind her with an ominous bang.


-


The ride home was anything but silent.

"That was so fun!" Ed exclaimed, looking at his two badges. "Now I have two badges! Hey, Will, why is the Soul Badge heart-shaped?"

William had no clue as he didn't really think about badges anymore, so he only shrugged and watched as Ed just continued talking without delay.

"I can't wait until we challenge a gym leader again! Oh, oh! In Celadon City, Erika uses grass-types, right? I wonder what Pokemon she'll use."

Leah screwed her eyes shut and just wished that she was sitting in the front and William was sitting in the back instead. He knew how to deal with his brother, she didn't, especially when his mouth was moving a mile a minute. Seriously, when was he just going to shut up?

Stealing a glance towards the front, she couldn't help but notice that Mr. Williams had been pretty silent throughout the ride home, his mouth firmly in a thin line. Whatever Koga had said to him couldn't have been good because he refused all attempts by William to get a conversation going.

Okay, Leah said to herself, it looked like she might be in the clear. Ed, unknowingly, was celebrating his last victory and Mr. Williams silence loomed over the car with only her and William noticing. Once Ed was gone, Ally would eventually give up and then she could go home and relax with the last month of summer ahead of her.

Leah didn't need to worry, though that didn't change the fact that she hoped that nothing would go wrong.


-


"Eddy!" Carla said, rushing into her brother's room, pigtails bobbing up and down. "Can I see? Can I see?"

Ed laughed and showed her his newly earned badge.

She ooh-ed and awed. "It's a pink heart! It's so pretty."

Only looking at Ed's face could anyone tell that he disagreed with that statement, but he kept his silence.

Leah wasn't paying attention, having her eyes closed and head leaning against the wall next to the door. She was trying to listen to the noises outside the room because when they got home, Mr. Williams had called his wife into the kitchen and now they were presumably discussing the gym battle. Ed was oblivious that a life changing event could be going on, though Ally looked like she knew something as she kept playing with those stupid frills on her shirt.

"Hi!" a bright voice exclaimed right in Leah's ear. The teen jumped, immediately opening her eyes to gaze into Carla's, who started at her. It was quite a surprise since Carla usually didn't bug her, apparently intimidated by Leah's… well, everything.

"What?" Leah answered, having no clue at what to do. In the corner of her eye, she spotted Ally suppressing a smile and Ed grinning at her.

Brats.

"Where's your Pokemon?" Carla asked. "I've seen Eddy's and Ally's a lot, but not yours."

Carla had seen Leah's Sandshrew before, but thankfully, she was usually distracted by Amber before she could start poking and prodding Sands.

"He's in his Pokeball," Leah replied.

Go away, go away…

Carla pouted and clasped her hands in front of her. "Can I see him? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Being a five year old, Carla could pull off the adorable pleading look pretty well and somehow, Leah found herself taking out Sands' Pokeball and enlarging it.

"Yay!" Carla clapped her hands and leaned forward, tracing the bit of tape on the ball's top that held the very faded Bulbasaur sticker. "Why's there a sticker?"

Leah frowned. "Because."

"Because why?" the little girl asked.

"Because, because."

"Because, because why?"

Leah took a deep breath. "Because I like the sticker," she said coldly, putting an end to the argument. Of course, her reply was a complete lie. The only reason the sticker was still present was because she just happened to be too lazy to peel it off. That and the paint on the Pokeball might peel off as well.

That seemed to do the trick as Carla dropped the argument, though unfortunately, she didn't go away.

"I want to see him now," Carla demanded with pouty lips.

Leah grumbled to herself, but released Sands anyways, letting the ground-type appear before her.

Carla gasped and dropped down to all fours to stare the Sandshrew right in his eyes. Sands leaned back as she got closer, not entirely comfortable of the wide-eyed creature in front of him. The little girl didn't hesitate to run her hand over Sands' head and play with his ears.

"He's so cute!" Carla cooed. "I wanna Pokemon!"

Ed jumped off his bed to sit beside Carla and across from Leah. Then there was a pause before Ally joined him and sat in front of the door, completing the circle around Sands. Now, Sands was surrounded and had no way out.

Leah ignored the pleading look from her Pokemon and just watched with a small smirk as Carla manhandled the Sandshrew until he was half-sitting on her lap.

"What's his name?" Carla asked.

"Sands," Leah replied shortly, now knowing that she wasn't going to be left alone anytime soon.

"Sands is cute!" Carla repeated and looked at her. "Where's your other Pokemon?"

"I don't have any."

Carla blinked, confused. "Why?"

Ed jumped in. "She doesn't want any others."

"What Pokemon do you like, Carla?" Ally asked, also joining in on the conversation.

Leah noticed Ed's smile twitched and suddenly got a bad feeling…

"Arcanine!" Carla chirped, smiling widely. "I really like Arcanine because they're strong and big!" She let go of Sands momentarily to demonstrate with her arms on how big Arcanine were. "They can run fast and make fire and they're so pretty-"

"What other Pokemon do you like?" Ed cut in.

Carla started to list all the Pokemon she liked and the reason why. "Butterfree because they can fly and are pretty, Pikachu because they're really cute, Meowth because they're cats and cat are cute! Oh! Did you know there's a Meowth that can talk? On TV, there's one and he has a really funny voice!"

Suddenly, she was interrupted by the door, which opened a bit before bumping into Ally.

"Oh, sorry," Mr. William apologized to Ally, who did the same before getting out of the way so that he could open the door further. "Ed, your mother and I want to talk to you. Can you come into the living room, please?"

There was sudden hush as everyone quieted down and Ed swallowed before getting up, and followed his father out the door. After he left, Leah reached over and closed the door again, no longer wanting to eavesdrop.

"Is Daddy angry at Eddy?" Carla asked, breaking the silence.

"N- No," Ally replied, her stutter making a return. "They're just talking."

"Ed might not be going back on his journey," Leah said, explaining the basic situation.

Carla quieted for a moment, petting Sands, before asking, "But why?"

That was something Ally couldn't explain well. "I- I don't know."

"But why?"

"Look," Leah said, gaining Carla's attention. "Ed got hurt and your parents don't want him being hurt again. That's it."

"But- But why?"

Leah felt her annoyance rising. She just answered that question!

"D- Do you think he'll still get to go?" Ally directed at Leah. "They won't actually keep him from going, will they…?

Honestly, at that point, Leah wasn't quite so sure. Beforehand, she was pretty sure since Mr. Williams didn't look very happy when he saw those forms that he had to sign, but now that she had thought about it some more, it could go either way.

"You know those forms we had to sign at Cinnabar Island?" Leah said, not answering the question. She waited for Ally's hesitant nod before continuing, "Well, Ed's Dad signed them instead of me and you remember what they said, right?"

"B- But-" Ally tried to grasp onto words. "Those forms were only just in case! Just in case something happened."

"The forms are new though," Leah countered. "William had never seen them and even I never heard of them before Cinnabar. I may not be a trainer, but I would think that I'd still hear something about it. Besides, gym leaders wouldn't just randomly get people to sign forms, there would have to be a reason to make them do that." Leah shared her theory. "Someone must have been killed or something and the gym leader got sued, so now the forms are there to keep it from happening again."

Ally went quiet and after a moment, said, "P- People get hurt all the time, no matter what they're doing. W- Why is Pokemon training different?"

Feeling surprised, Leah didn't really expect that kind of comment from a ten-year-old, but either way, she had an answer.

"Did you know," she started, "why the Mentor Program was introduced? It was because a bunch of rookie trainers got killed in Viridian Forest. You know how in cartoons and stories, Beedrill always chase the 'young heroes' in Viridian Forest? Well, it actually happened in real life and instead of getting away, they got poisoned and died."

"W- What does that have to do with anything?"

"Trainers go looking for trouble," Leah said. "They look for more and more dangerous Pokemon to capture and train, go out to the ends of the earth just to capture this one Pokemon that probably doesn't even exist. Some people, when training out in the bush, just disappear and don't come back."

Suddenly, a loud voice penetrated their conversation from outside the room.

"But why?!"

Other voices could be heard, but the first drowned them out with more shouting. Finally, stomps echoed from the hallway and got louder as the person go closer to the door. Ally moved back a bit as the door was shoved open and Ed stormed into the room. His face was red and he looked like he was about to cry. It didn't look like he knew what to do for a moment, but then he took one glance at his sister, still sitting quietly on the floor, and said, "Get out!"

Carla looked up at him and just burst into tears at his harsh tone. She let go of Sands and rushed out of the room, yelling, "Mummy! Eddy's being mean to me!"

Ed slammed the door behind her and then locked it, making Leah wonder what parent would put a lock on their children's door just so that they could be locked out.

"Ed!" Mrs. Williams said from the other side of the door, knocking on it. "We only want what's best for you-"

Crossing his arms, Ed wasn't having any of it. "Go away!" he screamed.

"Ed-"

"I hate you!" he yelled and repeated, "Go away!"

There was pause before footsteps were heard walking away from the door. As soon as Ed couldn't hear them anymore, he started sniffing as he tried to stop himself from crying.

"Guess you're not coming then," Leah said casually.

That was all he could take as Ed just started to cry, not caring that Leah and Ally were still in the room, watching him. He went over to his bed and lay down, muffling the sniffles with his pillow.

Ally didn't know what to say, so just moved herself to sit closer to Leah until their shoulders were touching.

"B- But," the girl tried to start before getting a bit teary eyed herself. "W- We were supposed to do it together."

So, Leah just sat there with her arms crossed, her body tense, and tried to encourage herself to leave the room and leave the brats to their crying session. She couldn't even handle one crying brat, but two? That was way over the limit.

"It isn't fair!" Ed said into his pillow between tears, his voice hoarse. "I want to go!"

Leah would have liked to reply: "Life's not fair; get over it." But she didn't feel it was a good idea.

It was nearly five minutes later when Ed started to calm down. He unveiled his face from his pillow and got up, wiping away tears with his arm like he didn't want anyone that came in the door know that he was crying. However, that did nothing to get rid of the thin wet lines on his face that marked where the tears had slid down. He looked up to see Leah watching him and Ally looking down at her hands.

"It isn't fair," he repeated, his voice cracking. His sadness turned to anger as he made his opinion known. "It isn't fair! I'm going to go on my journey! I will!"

"And how are you going to do that?" Leah asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ed sniffled and glanced around his room, like he was trying to burn it into his memory. Finally, he looked back at Leah with a determined expression, one that said that nothing would get in his way.

"I'm gonna run away."


-




A/N: Wow, this was a rather short chapter. Anyways, Fuchsia City is finally wrapping up (finally) and I don't mind telling you guys that there's one more chapter to go in this particular city, which will be good news to the people who are getting tired of it (I know I am!).

 

[delongbi]

Hello! I don't really feel like seperating comments from grammar issues so its all a jumble today! Much like my room...

"Congratulations," William said as Ally climbed onto the bleaches, taking a seat next to the older boy.

Ooh, first line mistake. =P I think you meant bleachers. Bleach would be rather uncomfortable to climb onto.

No one questioned it and the group walked out of the arena, Leah turning for a moment to give one last glance to Mr. William, before the door closed behind her with an ominous bang.

I think you meant Mr. Williams (with an s). Also, I wonder what's up with him? Maybe he paid Koga or something to lose... The battle between the Venonat and the Ditto seemed a bit unbelievable. It seems unlikely for Ed to win when he: a) has had Ditto for only a day b) the Ditto was so beat up before it even got to attack.

He knew how to deal with his brother, she didn't, especially when his mouth was moving a mile a minute.

You need to add a "but" or an "and" before "she didn't"

Mr. Williams silence loomed

Should be "Mr. William's"

I liked this chapter- definitely surprising! I take it back about Mr. William's paying off Koga; I guess he was speaking about the forms. I still think it was a little unlikely that Ed won the battle. I was not expecting Ed's parents to actually tell him he was not allowed to continue on as a trainer... I wonder how it will all turn out. It would be interesting to see Ally and Leah together without Ed, but I just cannot imagine you writing it that way. You've built up Ed's character too much to just drop him off the face of the earth (or wherever Pokemon are... you get the point).

Overall, this was a solid chapter. I think you were more concise in this chapter than other chapters. Nice job, and keep up the good writing!

 

[Dagzar]

Thanks for reviewing, delongbi! :D

Ooh, first line mistake. =P I think you meant bleachers. Bleach would be rather uncomfortable to climb onto.

*winces* I'll fix it right away.

I think you meant Mr. Williams (with an s). Also, I wonder what's up with him? Maybe he paid Koga or something to lose... The battle between the Venonat and the Ditto seemed a bit unbelievable. It seems unlikely for Ed to win when he: a) has had Ditto for only a day b) the Ditto was so beat up before it even got to attack.

Yeah, I see your point. The gym battle was a bit of a copout. I'll see to it that the next gym battle is a bit more believable. Though, just a small correction, Ed had Ditto for about a few days already, not a single one.

It would be interesting to see Ally and Leah together without Ed, but I just cannot imagine you writing it that way. You've built up Ed's character too much to just drop him off the face of the earth (or wherever Pokemon are... you get the point).

Heh, yeah. A Leah and Ally only adventure would probably be pretty awkward without Ed to break the silence. And we'll see if Ed gets temporarily left behind or not. ;)

-
By the way, and this is directed to everyone in general, there will not be a new chapter this week because I've been really busy and haven't had much time to write. Also, though I'm not quite sure at this point, there might not be an update next week either since I'm going to be out of town for a few days. Sorry!

 

[I Laugh at your Misfortune!]

"Guess you're not coming then," Leah said casually.

Leah can be a real bastard sometimes XD But always in an incredibly amusing way

 

[Dagzar]

Leah can be a real bastard sometimes XD But always in an incredibly amusing way

That's for sure! I know I should be feeling sorry for Ed and Ally, but Leah's comments always make me smile and love her even more. :D

 

[Dagzar]

Mentor
Chapter 23: A Promise​

-

William had quite the same reaction as Leah when he first heard what Ed was going to do. Of course, he was a bit more polite about it.

"Ed," he said as gently as possible, surveying his brother who was sitting on the bed with Ally. "I don't think it's going to work."

Everyone had gathered into Ed's bedroom that morning, minus Carla and obviously, the parents. Leah had once again propped herself against the wall and William was standing near the window. Leah was a bit surprised that Ed had held off telling his brother about his 'awesome' plan until this morning, but that might only be because he had been moping all of yesterday after he came up with it (which made no sense).

"Of course it will!" Ed argued. "Trainers do it all the time!"

William sighed. "That's fiction; it rarely happens in real life." He paused, his mind racing. "Ed, if you do run away, what are you going to do?"

"… I'm going to be a trainer!" Ed said, a bit wary that his brother was asking the obvious.

"You can't be a trainer," William said and then explained, "If you run away, Mom and Dad are going to call the police and then they'll be searching for you. As soon as you turn up at a Pokemon Center or try to get a gym badge, the police will know where you are and then they'll come and get you."

Ed frowned. "But why?"

"Because, idiot," Leah spoke up, ignoring William's glare. "Do you think your parents are going to sit back and let you go? If they really don't want to get hurt, they'll have the police after you the entire way."

"Leah's right," William said grudgingly and looked at Ed with his arms crossed. "It's not worth it having the police after you."

Looking down, Ed scowled and said nothing.

"Isn't there some way?" Ally asked. "T- The police can't follow him all the time, right?"

William was silent for a moment. "No, but they'll be on the lookout. And honestly, the trail from Fuchsia to Celadon is an easy one to follow. They will catch up, no matter how much of a head start you have."

Zoning out of the conversation, Leah mentally grumbled to herself. Why couldn't Ed make it easy for once and just comply with his parents demands? Then, she wouldn't have to be thinking up another plan to get Ed to stay home. It was so annoying! Just when she thought it was over, Ed immediately tore down that hope.

"But," William started, eyes narrowed. "Maybe…"

Leah swore to herself. It looked like someone had an idea.

Blinking, William snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed everyone was looking at him. "I think I have something," he said.

"So, you'll help?" Ed asked.

William gave his brother a weird look. "Of course," he said. "I only want what's best for you and really, I think Mom and Dad are being really unfair."

"What's your bright idea, then?" Leah asked. The faster she got the idea, the more time she had to think up a way to counter it.

Moving away from the window, William sat in the middle of the room, cross-legged, and motioned for everyone else to join him. Being stubborn, of course Leah stayed where she was while the other two formed a semi-circle with the older teen, mirroring the one from yesterday.

Wow, Leah thought to herself, if the parents walked in, wouldn't this look suspicious.

Ed patted the empty ground next to him. "Come on, Leah!" he said. "Join us!"

"Leave her," William advised him. "She can still hear from where she's sitting."

Surprisingly, it was Ally who asked the question.

"What's your plan?"

"It has a few holes," William admitted. "But I think it could work if it was pulled off right."

Leah cut right to the chase. "Just get to it."

William rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." He leaned in closer, his voice lowering. "Okay, Ed, Ally, I know you guys made plans, but you two are going to have to change them. You see, Mom and Dad know you guys are going to go to Celadon next and that's where everyone will be looking. I propose you head out to Vermillion instead and change all your plans accordingly."

The older teen raised his hand for silence when it looked like Ed was going to cut in. "Let me finish," he scolded and then got right back to it. "It's a long way from Fuchsia to Vermillion and there are a lot of roads, so even if someone does catch on, they won't really be able to track you. Now, while that's going on, I will convince our parents to call off any search parties." He looked at his younger brother. "Ed, even if Mom and Dad did say you couldn't go, I don't think they're that cemented to the idea. If I try hard enough, I should be able to change their minds."

"And how long with that take you?" Leah asked. "What if we get to Vermillion before you can do anything? What then?"

William waved it off. "It'll take you weeks, I'd expect. That's more than enough time for me. Though, before that," he continued. "We're going to have to sneak Ed out of the house and without alerting our parents at what's happening."

Leah scoffed. "Good luck with that. I'd think they would notice if he just walked out the front door with a backpack on."

"You're right." He nodded. "That's why he's not going to be using the front door." Pausing for a moment, he tried to get his thoughts in order. "Ed, you're going to have to get up early sometime in the next couple of days. I'd rather you not sneaking away in the dead of night, so dawn will have to do."

Ally raised her hand, like she was in a classroom, and spoke, "Your parents, won't they wake up when we try to leave? We'll be making a lot of noise…"

"Yeah, that's true." William nodded. "Luckily, you and Leah aren't going to be here."

"What?" Leah said, now getting just a bit confused.

William confirmed it. "That's right. Tomorrow, you two will leave to continue on your Pokemon journey without Ed. What my parents won't know is be that you guys will be just checking into the Pokemon Center for a couple nights and then, once Ed joins you, you three can head out to Vermillion."

The four sat in silence while they digested the plan.

"I like it," Ed exclaimed, grinning.

Ally agreed, the prospect of going on the journey with Ed looking less far away than she thought.

However, Leah frowned to herself. It actually sounded like a solid plan, but like William said, there were a few holes in it; places where things could go wrong. For instance, if the parents just happened to get wind of the plan, everything would fall apart, right? And Leah really shouldn't be going against a parent's wishes for their child. If they said that Ed shouldn't go, then it was pretty much written in her duty as a Mentor to uphold their wishes, right?

Right.

-


Later that night, Leah was surprised to see William come down to the computer room where she usually was. Not including the first day at Ed's house, William never really sought her out unless the brats had a scheme in mind.

"I know what you're planning," he started as he walked in, looking around with an uninterested eye.

"Planning?" Leah asked, more to herself than to him as she tried to keep up a mask of innocence. "What do you mean?"

William pulled up one of the other computer chairs and sat down, crossing his legs. He stayed silent, not answering Leah's question and as the minutes ticked by, she started to get a bit unnerved.

"What do you mean?" she repeated.

"You're going to sabotage my plan," he said in a matter-in-fact voice and continued sarcastically, "Search your feelings, you know it to be true."

Leah frowned. Was that a Star Wars quote just thrown at her? She tore her eyes from the monitor and spun her chair around so she was facing William directly.

"What makes you say that?"

Leaning back in his chair, William's face was a blank mask. "You don't like Pokemon training, you don't like Ed or Ally and you just want to go home. Of course you're going to try to get out of it."

"Fine," Leah admitted, throwing down her innocent persona. "You got me." She looked into his eyes. "What're you going to do about it?"

William reached back into his pocket and for a moment, Leah thought he was going to get out his old Pokedex. Instead, three small rectangular tickets were taken out instead. He held them out to her to look at and after giving him a suspicious look, she pulled one out of his hand and examined it closely.

It was mostly blue and had a picture of a black ship sailing on dark blue water with two white clouds in the sky. On the picture's right was a small white tag which had to be ripped of judging by the indents separating it from the picture. The white part had small black printing on it.

"The S. S. Anne," Leah read out loud and looked up. "You mean the ship in Vermillion?"

William nodded. "It's where the Pokemon League Convention is going to be held this year. It's a three-day cruise and I want you to act as a chaperone for Ed and Ally."

"Don't I already?" Leah grumbled and placed the ticket on the computer desk before crossing her arms. "No, I'm not going to do it."

"Too bad," William said. "You're going to do it."

Leah scoffed. "If you care so much, why don't you take just take them, then?"

"I can't walk that much with this leg," William replied, tapping his knee and giving her look like he thought that was a dumb question.

The two stared at each other in a battle of wills and Leah was not happy to admit that she looked away first.

"You know, it's in your best interest to go."

"Really now?" Leah asked, rolling her eyes. "And why would I want to go to some stupid convention in Vermillion city?"

William leaned forward and studied her closely, before saying, "Jason Dare."

Leah's heart skipped a beat and she felt her face heat up slightly.

"What about him?"

The older teen gave her a small smirk, like he was already celebrating his victory.

"He's going to be there. At the convention."

"What?" Leah asked dumbly as she started all her attention was now directed at William. She couldn't help but repeat, "What?"

"My sources say," William started, pulling away from her, "that Jason Dare is going to be there. You probably don't know, but he goes to the convention every year."

Leah shook her head, trying to get rid of her light-headedness. She knew that Jason was sort of a Pokemon trainer because he owned two Flareon (nicknamed Taffy and Flaffy; if there was one thing Leah didn't respect Jason for, it was his naming skills), but she didn't think he actually participated in those sort of things.

"Wait just a minute," Leah said. "I think I would have heard about something like this. I visit Jason's blog a lot and I've never seen him ever refer to going to a convention."

"Of course he wouldn't. If he did say that he goes to the conventions, don't you think that instead of Pokemon trainers coming, fangirls would?"

Thinking over that for a moment, Leah supposed that that made sense. But wouldn't she hear something about it? Wouldn't word leak out if several people said that they saw Jason Dare there? Not only that, but how could Leah know that William wasn't lying? She hadn't been that secretive at having a huge crush on Jason Dare and William could easily take advantage of that. And really, she had no way of knowing whether he was telling the truth or not.

Suddenly, a different thought on a completely separate track popped into her head: If Jason was there then Leah had a once and a lifetime opportunity. She might actually get to meet Jason Dare! It was, like, one of her greatest wishes to not only see him in person, but to talk to him too!

Leah crushed that thought after a brief hesitance. No, she would not give in! Seeing Jason Dare meant going all the way to Vermillion City and attending a three-day cruise. Didn't she want to go home? Go back to Pallet Town where she could just lay on her bed and do nothing with no one interrupting her? Finally leave Pokemon training behind her, once and for all?

Hmm, on one end, she had Jason Dare. On the other, she had several lazy and Pokemon-less days.

It was one of the hardest decisions of her life.

"Fine," Leah forced out, already regretting it. She hated Pokemon training, that would never change (never), but this was Jason Dare they were talking about. It was just to Vermillion City, then, she promised herself, that she would do what Danny did and just drop the brats altogether. They would probably be delighted that they could go off on their own.

"Good," William said, pleased, and broke out into a smile. "You made the right choice."

Leah honestly didn't feel like it and mentally sighed to herself. There went the rest of her summer…

"Where did you get these things anyways?" Leah asked, motioning to the tickets. "They were probably expensive."

"Not really," William replied, his tone pleasant, happy that he got an agreement out of her. "The Pokemon League gives Professor Oak tickets every year to give out to trainers and all I had to do was to ask for some."

"You know," Leah started, "you're doing an awfully lot just to let your brother go on a useless journey."

William frowned. "Journeys aren't useless. They help kids grow and learn valuable skills."

"Yeah, the ones that don't die."

"Look," William said, starting to lose his patience. "I loved going on a Pokemon journey and I know Ed does as well. I don't want him to lose that like I did." He paused. "I don't really think you'd understand since you don't have any brothers or sisters or even close friends."

Okay, even if it was a fact, Leah felt a bit insulted. "What makes you think that?"

"Just of what you've said all the weeks that I've known you," William said simply. "You never mention anyone except for your grandmother and with your attitude, I really doubt you have that many friends."

"Aren't you just a wealth of information," Leah commented, scowling. Why was he being all rude all of the sudden? "I do have family and friends, thanks. Hell, even a great-aunt in Sinnoh!" She rolled her eyes. "And right back at you. I've never heard you mention any friends either and you're never out of the house. You just sit in your room all day, fiddling with your Pokedex."

William went silent at that.

"Just go away," Leah continued, turning back around in her chair. "Fine, I'll go to Vermillion with the brats, you don't need to keep sitting there."

For a moment, Leah thought that she had finally gotten rid of William, but that hope was shattered when he started talking again.

"Leah…"

Scowling, Leah asked, "What?"

"I know you don't want to do this," William said. "But can you make sure Ed and Ally don't get hurt?"

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing?" Leah asked, not really as a question.

William paused. "Yeah, but… if something like ending up on an island happens again, can you keep them together and really keep a close eye on them?"

"Well, sure," Leah said, rolling her eyes. "As long as we don't get separated, they don't want to go exploring and weirdoes start appearing, yeah, sure. It'll be a piece of cake."

Another bout of silence was the reply and Leah hoped that he would finally leave her alone since she had work to do. Her eyes stared at monitor as she quickly Google-d Jason Dare's blog. There had to be something that would tell her if it was all true…

She was so busy browsing that she hardly heard William's reply.

"… What weirdoes?"

Oh, Leah thought to herself as stopped clicking. The 'official' story about the whole Seafoam Island affair didn't include any weirdoes, so it looked like she had messed up. Being the protective older brother that he was, Leah doubted William would just let it slide.

Leah spun around in her chair again, abandoning the search for the Truth of Jason Dare (temporarily).

William started back at her. "Were there… people on the island?"

"Lorelei said to say nothing," Leah said, shifting the blame to someone else without regrets.

"What happened?" William asked, his eyes narrowing. "What haven't you been telling us?"

"Oh, lots," Leah replied with a wave of her hand. Now, she had a choice here. She could lie her ass off and obey Lorelei's instructions, or she could tell the truth. It was really easy to deicide since when had she ever cared about someone's opinion? Besides, the Elite Four were nothing special.

Since William was going to demand every single scrap of information from her, Leah decided to get some info for herself first and started with a question.

"Have you ever heard of an Ice Plate?"


-


"Ed, take your elbows off the table," Mom scolded.

Ed scowled, but did what he was told.

Forks and knifes clanged against the plates as food was slowly cut up and eaten with hardly a word. Ed could feel eyes staring at his bowed head, but whether that was out of concern or that he playing with veggies was unknown. There were several reasons why he was in a bad mood, most centered around that he could no longer go on a journey. His mood had only worsened when he had seen Leah and Ally off yesterday morning.

It shouldn't have been a big deal since he knew that he would see them soon and that they weren't actually leaving, but he couldn't stop worrying. What if they left without him? He didn't know why they would do that, but what if they did? He would be stuck in Fuchsia forever!

From the other side of the table, William coughed into his hand and Dad sent a glance at him.

"I think you should see a doctor, Will," he commented, putting down his utensils. "You've been coughing a lot lately."

William waved it off. "I'm okay, Dad." His voice sounded a bit strange. "It's just a cold, it'll go away."

"Are you sure you don't want any cough medicine?" Mom asked. "I could get you some tomorrow?"

"I'm fine," William said, not wanting all the attention.

Mom frowned. "No, really. I think I'll get you some. You've been getting up in the middle of the night for a couple of days now. Obviously, you can't get to sleep."

William looked embarrassed. "You heard?"

"You come up and down the hall a lot," Dad explained. "Right past our door."

At that, William could only shrug, uncomfortable at the attention his nightly activities had produced.

"Eddy!" Carla said over the conversation. "When are you going?"

"I'm not going," Ed replied morosely, knowing what she was talking about. "I already told you."

Carla pouted. "Mom! Does that mean I can't go?"

"Go where, honey?"

Ed cut in. "Dad, can I be excused?"

Looking over, Dad frowned at his plate. "You didn't eat very much."

"I'm not hungry," was Ed's only reply.

"Ah, let him go, Dad," William said, coughing afterwards.

Mom stared at her oldest son. "William, I agree with your father, you should go see a doctor."

"You can go," Dad told Ed as the topic of William's sickness once again took the table.

Pushing his chair out, Ed got up and padded out of the kitchen, shoulders slumped. The last thing he heard was Carla asking if she could be excused as well.

Once his bedroom door was shut behind him, Ed put his arms over his head and stretched.

Tonight was the night. Well, the next morning, technically. As soon as the sun rose, Ed was out of the house and onto the streets, or so his brother promised. The family had eaten late tonight, so Ed only had around a couple of hours before bed and he really needed to pack. He would have done it sooner, but William advised him that keeping a full backpack in his room for a few days would be suspicious.

It was weird. Now that his journey was so close that he could touch it, he hadn't been feeling very happy. Actually, he had been feeling a bit down. Maybe it was because he had missed being home more than he thought he did. He didn't think he would miss the conversations around the dinner table and sleeping in his bed so much. When he went back on his journey, all he would have was small chatting in the Pokemon Center's cafeteria and a foreign bed.

Actually, he wouldn't even have that when he continued his journey. There were two weeks of walking between Fuchsia and Vermillion and that meant spending endless nights under the stars. When worded like that, it sound really cool, but William had once told him it wasn't as nice as stories made it out to be.

He was really looking forward to his journey, there was no mistaking that, but really, it was just nice to be home.

But enough of that; he had work to do!

Going over to his closet, Ed flung it open and grabbed some clothes. He didn't need much and he knew exactly what he was going to bring. His Pokeballs were on his nightstand with his Pokedex and William had given him some extra Potions.

He was so busy rooting around in his closet that he didn't even notice his door opening and a small body coming in.

"Ed," Carla greeted as she shut the door. "What-cha doing?"

Ed froze and quickly dropped the shirt he was holding. "Carla!"

His little sister came over and knelt by his side, staring curiously at the mess of clothes. "Are you packing?"

"I'm just looking," Ed muttered and looked at his sister. "Go away, Carla. I'm busy."

Carla gasped. "You're going to go now?"

"W- What? I'm not going!" Ed corrected, his mind racing. Why did Carla assume that? He wasn't doing anything suspicious! He was just looking at clothes!

His little sister grinned. "Yes you are! William said so."

Ed didn't know why William had told Carla that, but that wasn't the problem.

"Carla, you can't tell anyone," Ed urged, ignoring the fact that she had been keeping silent for who knows how long. "Mom and Dad won't be happy."

"Why not?"

"I- I just told you!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Arcanine!"

"Did- What?"

"Arcanine," Carla repeated. "You're going on your journey and I want you to get me an Arcanine!"

Ed put his finger over his lips and glanced at the closed door. "Be quiet or they'll hear you."

Carla stamped her foot on the ground and crossed her small arms, face set in a defiant expression.

"Eddy? Arcanine or I'll tell Mom and Dad," she promised.

The decision wasn't a hard one. Even if he had always thought Houndoom was way cooler than Arcanine, he definitely wasn't going to take the chance of Carla telling their parents.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Ed shrugged. He didn't know where you could catch an Arcanine, but maybe he could pick one up while on his journey. Though, he doubted his parents would be too pleased if Carla suddenly gained a giant fire dog for a pet.

Carla suddenly came closer to Ed and hugged him around the middle with her tiny arms, smiling up at him. "You're the best!"

Reaching out, Ed patted his sister on the head (her hair was done up so he couldn't ruffle it properly).

"I'll be back soon with your Arcanine, okay?"

Carla frowned at the thought of a wait, but after a moment, said, "Okay!"

"Great!" Ed exclaimed, as his sister pulled away. He once again picked up a shirt while keeping an eye on his sister. "So, remember: tell parents and no Arcanine." He paused. "Now go away. The faster I pack, the faster you get an Arcanine."

Carla bobbed her head quickly with a big grin on her face and got up, racing for the door. The door shut behind her with a click and Ed once again turned to his task.


-


That night, all was quiet.

The room was dark, the only light coming from the open window. The two cords on the end of the blinds clicked and spun as the wind forced them to dance to its tune. On the bed, Ed slept on, pulling his covers closer without a thought, his mind elsewhere.

With hardly a sound, the knob to his room turned and the door slowly creaked open. Padded feet made their way across the room, taking only a moment to nudge a lone toy out its path. The figure breathed in deeply as he stood at the side of the bed, watching the child sleep peacefully. In a single move, he outstretched his hand grabbed Ed's shoulder, turning him onto his back.

"… Will?" Ed asked sleepily, bringing on of his hand's to his eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. "Is it time?"

William nodded and didn't say another word, keeping his ears open for any signs of trouble.

Still in the dark, Ed covered his mouth as he yawned and got up, stumbling his way towards his dresser. His outfit had already been planned and he slipped them on, letting his pajamas fall to the floor in a heap. After that, he went to his closet and felt around until he grabbed his backpack, which was cleverly hidden under piles of clothes.

Ed was still sleepy and tired and he was hardly aware of what was going on. He got a glance at the glowing, red-lettered time (6: 32) before William lead him out his room, gently closing the door behind them both. The hallway was pitch black, but William seemed to have night vision as he had no problems getting them through and into the kitchen.

"How'd you see?" Ed whispered, still a bit out of it. He could hardly see, but had a feeling William was grinning.

"I've been practicing. Now, come on."

The lock clicked and then William opened the backdoor, letting a cool draft into the room. Ed shivered. It was much colder than he thought it would be. Together, the brothers went onto the balcony and descended the stairs, Ed keeping a good grip on the railing.

Above them, the sky was a night blue, but lighter shades took up the eastern sky with a dash of gold, signifying the sun's rise. The sun was still low on the horizon, but provided enough light for Ed to at least see faintly in front of him.

There was a faint mist that morning that hung above the grass and it was not disturbed in the slightest as the brothers walked through it, the grass tickling their shins. They came up to the wooden fence and stopped.

"Okay," William said a little louder. "This is it."

Ed felt a bit intimidated by the tall fence. He had to get across that?

"How am I going to get over?"

Kneeling down, William linked his fingers together and held them out. "I'll boost you. Throw your backpack over."

Ed took his backpack off, having a bit of trouble with the straps. He bent his knees and with all the force his tired body could handle, threw the backpack upwards. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough as the backpack merely slammed into the fence at about William's height and made a loud banging sound.

The brothers winced in union and looked at the quiet house, listening for any sounds (not that they could hear much from there anyways). It didn't look like anything was disturbed and the only evidence that the noise happened was the slight vibrating of the fence, aftershocks from the backpack's assault.

William got up and grabbed the bag. "I'll do it."

In a much more graceful move, he easily tossed the backpack underhand and it soared over the fence, landing on the other side with a small thump.

"We have to hurry," William said, once more kneeling down and making a step with his hands. "Mom and Dad are going to wake up soon."

Ed hesitantly put his foot in William's man-made step and put his fingers through parts the cross-shaped design at the top of the fence to steady himself.

"Whoa," Ed said as William lifted him up and Ed quickly grabbed the top of the fence, his other foot trying to find friction on the smooth wood. Once Ed's foot was at William's waist, Ed hooked his other foot over top of the fence and heaved himself over, falling to the ground on the other side.

As William wiped his dirty hands on his shirt, he went up to the fence and asked, "Are you alright?"

On the other side, Ed lifted himself up, feeling the long wild grass under his hands and knees.

"Yeah," he replied, getting up. "The grass is soft."

Since Ed's house lived at the edge of the suburban community, there wasn't another yard behind him, but a small grassy area instead. It was littered with bushes and shrubs and even a few of Ed's favorite dandelions, the fluffy white ones where he could blow the seeds off and make wishes. No one ever came to the area and it was mostly ignored, though Ed always used to play back there.

Ed grabbed his backpack and hoisted it over his shoulders.

"Will, now what do I do?"

Instead of a reply, a red and white Pokeball sailed over the fence and opened to reveal William's second and lesser used Pokemon, Pidgey.

Despite his vision having not quite adjusted to the dark yet, Ed could still recognize Pidgey's familiar brown and tan feathers. Pidgey flapped and hovered at Ed's level, waiting for a command from its trainer.

"Leah and Ally are waiting for you about a block away," William said from behind the fence. "Pidgey will guide you."

"Okay." Ed nodded and took a step away from the fence, intent to head out, but something stopped him.

He hadn't said goodbye yet.

"Will?" Ed asked, putting his hand on the cold wood.

"Yeah?"

Ed swallowed. "Uh, I'll see you later, right?"

"Of course," William replied and Ed had a feeling he was rolling his eyes at him. "Look, I'll be here when you get back. Though, could you do a favor for me?"

"Uh, sure?"

William paused. "Do you best, okay?"

"… Okay," Ed said, his brother's words taking a firm root in his mind. "I'll be the best."

"You do that, bro."

Taking a step away from the fence, Ed stood still for a moment. He gave another look to the fence that held the home he was leaving and took a deep breath. At the edge of his hearing, he could hear the flapping of wings and with one last glance, Ed moved forwards and disappeared into the mist.


-


Leah yawned.

Wow, was she tired. Not only did she have to get up at six in the morning, but she didn't even have the rest of the day to look forward too. She could already picture the waiting and the walking and the travelling. It was a nightmare and one that lasted more than a day, in fact.

The bus rumbled from beneath her and sunlight streamed into her face from outside the bus' window. Leah groaned, closing her eyes and wishing the world would just go away and leave her alone already. Unfortunately, the world followed her like a lost puppy, one that was disguised by cuteness but hid its mad yapping and carpet wetting.

The journey from Fuchsia to Vermillion would be long and hard, but at least Leah could be grateful for the fact that the bus was doing some of the work for them. The bus would take them out of Fuchsia, as far as it could go, and them she and two brats would have to start walking.

Giggling was quite prevalent from behind her seat as Ed and Ally enjoyed the bus ride and each others company. Leah's genius plan at sitting up at the front when she knew kids went straight to the back was thwarted as both young trainers just took the seat behind her. It was almost as if they were trying to make her life a living hell on purpose; there was no other answer.

"Can you two just be quiet?" Leah asked them, her eyes still closed.

"No," Ally answered with cheer in her voice, demonstrating her new found confidence, one that did not help Leah's mood in the slightest.

"I like your phone," Ed commented to Leah, head on a completely different track.

Leah looked behind her to see her pasty white cell phone being manhandled by her young charge. It looked like he was just randomly pressing buttons and Leah could only hope that he wouldn't snoop.

"Remember," Leah said coldly. "You may only use that cell phone when you want to call your brother. That's all. So, if you're done…"

Ed held the cell phone close to him. "No, no. Not yet."

Before she had left Ed's house, William had practically thrown his cell phone number at her, demanding "weekly reports". Apparently, Leah's tale about Seafoam Island had unnerved him. He told her that while he didn't know what an Ice Plate was or why anyone was after it, he just knew that it was nothing good. So, in exchange for weekly reports, Leah would get any info William dug up on these 'Plates'.

Giving contact between William and Ed was just a bonus.

"Will said that Mom and Dad are really angry," Ed said. "They don't know what to do."

Leah turned back around. "Hopefully they don't send the police after us, then."

There was pause. "Hey, Leah…"

"What now?"

There was teasing tone in Ed's voice. "If you and Will exchanged numbers, does that you mean you like each other?"

"No," Leah said, venom dripping with the single word as she crossed her arms and tried to ignore their laughter. Her face felt warm and she grimaced. Her heart was only big enough for Jason Dare; he was all she needed.

To distract herself, Leah looked at the ticket in her hand and thought at what the convention would be like. Jason Dare would be there so that meant it couldn't be all bad, right? The only thing that made her pause was that the convention was on a cruise ship. Seriously, whose bright idea was that? It sounded weird to her.

Now that she thought about, didn't Danny mention going to a convention in Vermillion? Did that mean he would be there? If so, then Leah supposed that the convention would at least be interesting.

Leah looked out the window and tried to ignore the laughter in the seat behind her.

It was going to be a long, long trip to Vermillion.

 

[Dagzar]

Continued, because the forum finally decided that my chapter + author notes was way too long (this has never happened to me before!). <_<

A/N: And, Fuchsia is finally done. Wow, this chapter gave me a bit of trouble. No matter how much I went over the Leah / William scene, I just couldn't get it to be how I wanted it to be. It just came out all awkward. To tell the truth, as Fuchsia went on, I seriously played with the idea of letting William join the trio on their journey, but had to ditch it because William's leg wouldn't allow it. <_<

Anyways, I'm sorry for the wait. Hopefully, this chapter is good enough and thanks for reading!

 

[Buoysel]

I like the Jason Dare trick, good idea.

"I think you should a doctor, Will," he commented, putting down his utensils. "You've been coughing a lot lately."

Um, I think Will needs to see a doctor.

 

[Giratina ♀]

I only found one problem: you put 'run away' as one word, which would make it 'runaway' as in someone who's already run away (as opposed to the correct format, run away, which is the act of... running away). I, as a follower of short chapters, think you could have ended this before the Pidgey-Will-Ed scene, but I guess that's just me and my laziness speaking. xD Keep going on this! It's very fun to read, and I can't wait to find out how Ed's parents are going to react to their son runningaway... [brick'd]