Dagzar
The Dreamer
- 444
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- In my dreams.
- Seen Dec 13, 2016
Mentor
Chapter 15: Fuchsia City
Chapter 15: Fuchsia City
Fuchsia City was drearier than she expected. True, it wasn't raining (though those few clouds in the sky looked rather ominous…), and nothing about her surroundings appeared sad, but there was something about the place that made her fidgety.
Currently, she was taking a walk in the park. Truthfully, she would rather be reading or something, but the Fuchsia City Hospital had sucky magazines and Ed and Ally were too annoying to put up with at that moment. They were acting weird, too. The boy had been nervous ever since he heard that his parents had been called and the girl just sat around, looking depressed.
Their attitudes were irritating, as said, so therefore, she had left to go do… something.
As it was, Leah's only activity options stemmed to either finding something to do or thinking. Thinking, unfortunately, led her back to the events from yesterday.
Lorelei, before leaving the day before, told her not to repeat what happened on Seafoam Island, especially about that Plate thing and those thieves. Leah hadn't really cared for the reason why, even if Lorelei never gave it. It wasn't her concern and she would rather not waste time thinking about it. But, the topic couldn't help but slip into her mind when she had better things to think about. It, like almost everything else currently in her life, was annoying.
As Leah looked around as she walked, she couldn't help but find it odd on how someone's environment could change in a short amount of time. Yesterday, she was on the icy Seafoam Island and now, she was walking around a random park she had stumbled across.
Actually, it reminded her a bit of Pallet Town. Not only did almost all the same Pokemon live there, but the people were the same too: boring, dull and completely caught up in their lives. Though, there were some differences. The forests and plants were more lush and colorful, but still had that boring shape to it; seemingly a blend of Pallet and Cinnabar's wildlife, somehow.
Leah yawned, having not gotten that much sleep the night before. She had piled several blankets on her bed and was still shivering all night long. It had gotten better when she woke up, but definitely not enough for her to ditch her jacket on such a warm morning. Some people, the ones wearing tank tops or baggy sleeveless shirts, gave her perplexed glances.
Honestly, she was at a perfectly fine temperature at the moment, not too hot and not too cold; just right. She didn't find outdoors very warm at all, to tell the truth.
Continuing to walk down the cement pathway, Leah looked around her and spotted a large tree with long overreaching branches in the distance. Making a snap decision, she veered off the trail and walked to it, hiking up the hill that the tree stood upon. It was shady, out of everyone's path and kept the sunlight from blinding her. Though, it also kept the sun from being her convenient heat source, but she just sighed and took her Fire Stone out of her pocket.
The Fire Stone had become quite useful to her, enough for it to be always carried around in her pocket. Leah turned the stone around in her hands, looking at the mixes of reds and oranges. Taking her eyes off the rock, she looked down upon the park, eyes trailing over the moving people that she could see.
She was bored.
Like Pallet Town, there wasn't much to do. She supposed that she could go watch a movie or something, but she had no clue what was playing or where the movie theatre even was. Fuchsia City was a town that attracted trainers because of its Safari Zone, but Leah was not a trainer and she wasn't interested.
Partly to bounce ideas off of and partly because she was bored, Leah took out her Pokeball and released Sands. She honestly didn't need the company (really!), but hey, she did strange things when she was bored. And really, she was starting to brood and that was never a good sign.
Sands looked around, nose and ears twitching at the new sounds and smells.
"I'm over here," Leah said, not wanting to be ignored. Sands looked over to her, blinking.
"I'm bored, not lonely," she told him when he scuffled over to her and leaned his paws against her legs. "Get off."
Sands obviously didn't believe her as he stood on his tiptoes and sniffed at her curiously. Leah stared for a moment before she looked at the Fire Stone she was playing with in her hands in understanding.
She held it up. "Oh. Want this?"
Sands seemed to nod, though he probably just moved his head. Either way…
"Too bad," she said, smirking as she didn't let go of it. "I'm using it."
Making a whine and seeing the hopeless situation, Sands abandoned his pursuit and went off to sulk a few feet away. Like Leah, he watched the people going about their businesses, but with a more gloomy atmosphere.
Her attempt of relieving her boredom failed, Leah sighed and absentmindedly stared at the sunlight streaming though the branches.
It was then she realized that she was being reminded of Pallet Town, especially her last day there. The day when the dreaded journey started and all her hopes and dreams shattered… And when that stupid brat beat her in that Pokemon battle. She had not forgotten about that, even if some people did.
How long had it been since that day? It was July now, almost a month later. How depressing was that? It was almost like she would never get away from following the brats around. Beginning trainers usually gave up in the first two weeks (or was it one week? She couldn't remember any more), but that obviously didn't happen. She was not waiting until they got their four gym badges, one of the only other ways to get out of being a mentor to them.
But, luckily, hope was still present.
That morning and just as she was leaving the hospital, Leah had met Ed's parents, who had driven over to see their son when they found out that he had gotten hurt. They were… nice people and very concerned.
Ed's parents were curious on what happened to him and how he got hypothermia.
Leah, of course, seeing how concerned they truly were, told them the whole honest story. On how they were knocked overboard and how she thought Ed was washed away by the tides. That he had survived, but was trapped in an icy environment with no way of getting out. How, with the help of some vague person Leah made up to substitute for Lorelei, Leah was able to save him with him almost dying.
The best part was that Leah didn't lie, going with Lorelei's wish and vaguely describing her and keeping those weird people and the artifact out of it… Okay, she did do some exaggerating, so sue her.
When done her tale, Ed's parent had exchanged concerned looks and went off to talk to their son, while Leah departed, having done her good deed for the day.
And now she was here, sitting bored under some random tree.
Leah sighed and glanced at Sands, who was still sitting at the edge of the hill in one of the patches of sunlight.
Well, if you couldn't find excitement, you just had to make your own.
Untangling her legs, Leah stretched one of them out. Sands obviously didn't see it coming, judging by the squeak he made when she nudged him off the hill. Leah quickly crawled closer to watch Sands roll down the hill, its body perfect for doing such a thing. Halting at the bottom, the Sandshrew slowly unrolled itself, seemingly dizzy, as he tried to shake the sticky grass from his skin. His ears dropped and he looked up to his trainer, in a way that screamed, 'Why?!'
Leah grinned and laughed loudly at her Pokemon's expression. "Nice, Sands!"
Sands ignored her and laid down where he sat, letting the sun's rays dry him off.
Still chuckling, Leah leaned back with her legs outstretched. Ah, that was fun. What an excellent (if somewhat immature) way of curing her boredom. Now, to stop herself from being pulled back into the abyss of melancholy, she had to keep thinking; and she knew just the topic.
The seeds had been planted. If things went according to plan, Ed's parents would stop him from going on his journey since they seemed like such nice people that cared about their children. With that done, all Leah had to do was to think of a plan to get rid of Ally. The girl didn't seem to be stubborn, but she had a hard interior that wouldn't be denied… Hmm, what to do, what to do?
Unfortunately for Leah, her plotting time was interrupted when a shadow fell over her, one that wasn't in the shape of branches. She looked up and regarded the weirdo above her. "What?"
"I know you," the teen said with conviction. "You're from Pallet Town."
Leah's eyes narrowed. "Yeah? So?"
"I hardly ever meet people I know out here," he said as he flopped beside her, letting Leah see his face now that the sun was no longer behind him. He looked older than her and a bit foreign. He had long-ish black, matted hair with tanned skin and wore a plain white tee-shirt and jeans.
Leah stayed silent, trying to non-verbally tell him that she didn't want him sitting next to her like he knew her.
He either ignored it or didn't notice. "It's been a while, eh?" he said with a smile, though it looked more like a smirk to her. "What have you been up to?"
"Who're you and why are you talking to me?" Leah asked bluntly.
Looking hurt, the teen put a hand over his heart. "Ouch, that hurts. Come on, we're both Mentors, right? Remember, we chatted a bit before we got handed the kids."
Leah thought back and dimly remembered talking to someone. "Oh," she said, finally recalling. "You're the Ekans kid!"
"I got an Ekans," he said, nodding along and seeming not knowing what to say about his nickname. "I never got you're name."
Snorting, Leah turned away from him, loosing interest. "I never got yours either."
"I'll give it to you, if you want."
"No."
His face fell. "That goes straight to my heart." He looked around and spotted Sands lying at the bottom of the hill. "That's your Pokemon?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll call you the Sandshrew Girl," he said happily, copying her style.
He really wasn't going away, was he? Leah asked herself.
"So," he stared. "How're your kids going?"
She stared at him blankly. "The brats? Annoying."
"You still have yours?" He seemed cheerful with the way he was grinning. "That sucks. I got rid of mine weeks ago."
"They give up?"
"Nope, I ditched them in Viridian City."
Honestly, Leah had never considered that solution as an option before and said nothing.
He continued on. "Really, the Mentor Program has only been in use for a few years and trainers survived before that. People are just coddling them."
Leah tried to imagine Ed and Ally doing their journey alone, but all she could think about was their stupidly, shyness and inability on how to survive in the real world.
The Ekans Kid was staring at her and she glared back, not interested in the conversation. The teen seemed to see that and switched topics. "Hey, I'm bored. Want to battle?"
She was going to refuse, really, she was… But, it wasn't as if there was anything better to do. And if that meant actually battling, then fine, she'd do that.
"Fine," she said coolly and called out to Sands. The Pokemon raised his head, not at-all wondering whether she would knock him off the hill again, right when he got to the top. After another shout, Sands seemed to sigh and he got up, stretching, before slowly hiking up the hill.
"Doesn't look very tough," the Ekans Kid commented when he saw her Pokemon.
Leah ignored him. "Where's yours?"
The teen grinned and grabbed one of his Pokeballs from his belt. "This'll be good training for Lucifer," he said, before releasing it.
The Pokemon was, predictably, an Ekans. It had bright purple scales covering its entire four foot long body that was stretched out from head to tail. There was a yellow band around its neck and yellow was also apparent on its underbelly. The Ekans tail flicked, the rattle at the end of its tail made a small and hardly apparent sound. Yellow eyes opened, revealing split pupils that narrowed further as it took a look at its pray.
"You named it after Satan?" Leah asked in disbelief.
He pouted. "It's a snake! Besides, I think it's an awesome name."
Leah only sighed. People would name their Pokemon the strangest things; at least it wasn't Slither or anything like that. "So, are we battling right here?"
"Sure." He nodded and looked around. "It'll do."
The two trainers got up and separated to different sides of the hill, the Pokemon between them. As Leah did so, she couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà-vu. She was completely mirroring that final day of freedom; how annoying! It was then that she decided that she wasn't going to let that happen any further.
Sands was uneasy, constantly glancing at its trainer and the Ekans, not very willing to fight. Lucifer, on the other hand, seemed to mirror its trainer's grin and its forked pink tongue darted out of its mouth and over its lips.
"Don't be intimidated," Leah warned Sands. "Come on; don't be a coward."
The Ekans Kid edged his own Pokemon on. "That's right, Lucifer. Leer!"
Lucifer hissed, the noise unusually loud and grabbing Sands attention. It raised its head higher, showing its yellow belly as it looked down on the Sandshrew with gleaming eyes.
"Scratch it, Sands!"
Seeing that Leah didn't want to repeat her command, Sands stayed cautious as it approached the snake, who was eying him hungrily. When the Sandshrew had edged close enough for the Ekans to strike, he leapt out of the way only seconds before Lucifer's jaws had bit down on the space where the Pokemon previously was. With the Ekans head to the ground, Sands went for the face, managing to get a swipe at the Pokemon before it pulled away.
"Scratch again!" Leah commanded.
The black haired teen also gave orders. "Lucifer, Wrap!"
Lucifer lunged, its body quick and agile as it dodged the mediocre attack and curled around the Sandshrew, embracing it with its long body. Sands struggled, kicking out its feet and digging into the Ekans' flesh with its claws. Lucifer hissed in pain and unwound itself enough for Sands to get free.
"Lucifer," the Ekans Kid cried. "Bite it before it gets away!"
Hissing, the Pokemon complied, untangling itself and allowing its sharp teeth to be seen.
Leah, however, had a plan. "Defense Curl!"
Sands didn't have to be told twice He curled, tucking his muzzle into his stomach and keeping his arms protectively over his head. Lucifer bit down onto Sands mid-section, the plated skin protecting the Sandshrew from most of the damage, but the Ekans didn't let go.
"Bite harder!" the boy said. "Don't give up; its hide isn't that thick." He then turned to Leah. "Better give up now, my Ekans isn't letting go. Besides, Lucifer's fangs are poisonous so you won't last long anyways."
Leah snorted and crossed her arms. "Don't lie. Your Ekans can hardly even rattle and you're saying it's poisonous? I've seen Ekans before and they're not poisonous anyways." She looked at Sands, who was staying still despite the pain the Ekans was probably causing. "Okay, Sands, Rapid Spin."
Despite not liking her Pokemon journey, Leah was sometimes forced to help the two brats train their Pokemon. A result of that was that Sands got training himself, even if he hardly ever used the skills. Technically, the Sandshrew didn't know Rapid Spin very well, the move being a more work-in-progress than anything else.
Lucifer's fangs were apparently not in far enough as they were wrenched out and they briefly scraped across Sands skin as the Sandshrew sharply jerked into a spin. Though, it couldn't be classified as a spin as he didn't make a full turn. But it was enough, however, as Sands was once again free, rolling onto his side and back onto his feet. He wobbled slightly, dizzy from the pain the Ekans caused.
"Scratch," Leah said and added, "If you win, you can have the Fire Stone."
With a shake of the head, Sands concentrated as he jumped forwards and scratched the recovering Ekans on the chest, leaving three bloody lines.
The battle, Leah supposed, would have gone on longer if the Ekans Kid hadn't admitted defeat by suddenly returning his Pokemon to its Pokeball. Sands was left confused on the makeshift battlefield as its opponent disappeared from sight.
"Giving up?" Leah asked, smirking.
The Ekans Kid huffed. "No, it's just that Lucifer had already been in a battle this morning and was already worn out."
Leah mentally doubted it.
"But," he said as he clipped the Pokeball back onto his belt. "I wanna rematch tomorrow."
"What if I'm busy tomorrow?" Leah questioned.
The Ekans Kid shook his head with his on smirk. "You don't live here. Besides, what else could you do here?"
"The brats control my life right now," she informed him dully.
He gave her a strange look. "Just ditch them. They're ten; give them candy and run out while they're distracted. They won't notice."
Leah wanted to tell him that the brats were ten, not five, but thought better of it and instead just returned Sands to his Pokeball and began walking away.
"Remember!" the Ekans Kid called out from behind her. "Tomorrow at this time!"
"Whatever," Leah said, rolling her eyes, but she was smiling. She couldn't help it, she tried to make it revert back to a frown, but it just wouldn't work. She had won! Technically a draw, but the Ekans Kid had forfeited and she would have won anyways.
Wow, her first victory!
No, wait! Leah shook her head, trying the clear the thoughts away. No, it didn't matter if she won or not. She didn't care about Pokemon training. Besides, she had won battles before, playful ones against Ed and Ally when they trained together. Just because the battle was against a stranger made no difference.
Sighing half-heartily and with a grin still on her face, Leah kept walking, not being able to help the flashback of her victory playing over and over again in her head.
Leah had walked around a bit more before going back to the hospital to check up on things.
Ally was sitting quietly in the lobby, surprisingly not by Ed's side. A magazine was on her lap and Leah saw the flowers and leaves in it before Ally closed it when she spotted her mentor.
"What's up?" Leah greeted, still in a good mood.
"Ed's not happy," Ally informed her, ignoring the question. She nervously played with the edges of the magazine. "He doesn't want to talk to me."
Leah raised an eyebrow at that. Ed and Ally had been hand-in-hand practically the entire journey so far. "Why?"
Ally bit her lip. "H- He talked to his parents and he started shouting. Then they closed the door and I couldn't hear."
Well, that was fast. Maybe her seeds had already bloomed?
"Where's his room again?" Leah asked, looking around the crowded lobby. True, she had been to Ed's room before, but she wasn't paying attention on how she got there. And now she had better check up on him and see what had happened.
Leading the way, Ally walked quickly, hoping Leah could solve the problem. Leah on the other hand was mentally chanting, 'please let the brat be grounded, please be grounded, please be grounded-'
The room was quite a ways a way and Leah was already getting tired of seeing the white hallways and moving out of the way of other people. Finally, Ally stopped in front of a closed door and knocked hesitantly.
"Go away!" Ed's muffled yell told them.
"Out of the way," Leah said as she moved past Ally and pushed open the door.
Ed was alone in the room, the parents no where to be seen. The window was open, letting fresh air in. There were four beds, two on each side of the room and facing one another, but only Ed's was occupied, the others being empty and made. Ed himself was huddled in the middle of his bed, arms around his knees and his now not-so-neat orange hair brushing his eyes.
"What's up?" Leah said, trying her previous greeting on him.
Like Ally, Ed ignored it. "Go away."
Leah sat down on one of the chairs near his bed, the chairs already being conveniently angled so that she could face him directly. "Don't feel like it."
Ally sat down next to Leah, hands clasped on her lap. She opened her mouth, as if going to say something, but closed it with nothing said.
"So," Leah started when she saw that Ed wasn't going to reply. "What'd the parents say?"
"They don't want me being a trainer anymore!" Ed burst out, making Ally flinch at the noise.
Instead of dancing in happiness at the news, Leah only said a vague, "I see."
Ed continued. "They don't want me getting hurt like William did and they said it'd be better for me if I stayed home!" He looked almost in tears by that point and Leah suppressed the inch of guilt that surfaced.
"Are they…" Leah tried to word it carefully, suddenly mindful of not hurting his feelings. "Going to force you?"
"Dunno," Ed muttered, spent at his outburst. "They wanted me to calm down before speaking again."
"Right." At that moment, Leah was having a mental crisis. She was thrilled that it looked like one-half of her problem was going to be forced to give up. On the other hand, and for one of the first times in the whole journey, she realized that Ed was a genuine ten-year-old. An annoying, mostly two-dimensional and immature ten-year-old. One whose hopes and dreams rested on his journey.
Leah tried to imagine what would happen if she was prevented on going on her journey when she was ten (before That Incident happened). Truthfully, she would have probably thrown a tantrum and went crying and complaining to her mother… Okay, technically, she didn't have a mother at that point, but it was a good enough example.
No, Leah told herself firmly, stopping those thoughts in their tracks. She wasn't going to look at Ed's perspective in the situation. She wanted out of the whole Mentor thing and she would get out no matter what it took. Besides, Pokemon training was more of a fad than anything else. In a few months, maybe years, Ed would suddenly be grateful that he got to stay at home. Somehow.
"Y- You can't," Ally said and Leah was surprised to note that she too looked like she was about to cry. "We were going to do this journey together!"
Ed nodded, lost in thought. "Yeah, I want to go! But… I don't know what to do, how can I convince Mom and Dad?"
"M- Maybe you can show them how well your Pokemon can battle," Ally suggested. "And then they'll know you're protected."
Grasping onto the idea, no matter how illogical it seemed, Ed nodded again and brightened up. "Yeah! Yeah! I show them what Paras can do."
Despite how persistent the brats were, Leah was sure they would fail. If Ed's Paras couldn't protect him then, then what made Ed so sure that the Pokemon could do so after a small amount of training?
Well, it didn't matter because, either way, Leah was getting out of the stupid journey no matter what it took.
And that was that.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! Nothing much to say on this chapter, but hopefully it wasn't too boring in the beginning and the ending wasn't too cut off. Anyways, I hoped you liked it.
Last edited:
