Rating: G
Disclaimer: I'm tempted to say that I own Pokémon... yes, very tempted. But I don't. :p
Chapter Eleven - Another Friend
"And how are you today, Weezing? ...hm, I see. We'll have to work on that, then. Dugtrio? Seel? Marill? How is it for you today? ...Oh, that's good. Victreebel... Victreebel, I know, but you really can let go of my leg, I'm not going anywhere... And Gengar, if you wouldn't mind, please get off my head... Well, you two can goof around all day if you want, but the rest of us are going to get more training in. ....What do you mean more training? You need all you can get! You want to get to the Pokémon League too, don't you?"
"That's so cute."
James whirled around as best as he was able with Victreebel's vine still wrapped around his leg and Gengar still perched on his head. Myrea was leaning casually against the only tree in the area, looking at him and his assembled Pokémon with an amused smile. He hadn't heard her approach, and had just assumed she was back at their temporary camp where he had left her.
"What do you mean?"
"It's cute. The way you talk to your Pokémon before you train. It's almost like... you understand what they're saying," she added reflectively.
"Well... I do understand what they're saying," he told her sheepishly, blushing just the tiniest bit at this admission.
"You see? Adorable!" Myrea concluded brightly, as if what he'd just said proved it.
"I'm afraid I still don't understand..."
His friend just shook her head. "You don't have to." Then she smiled again. "But you know, your Pokémon all love you a lot."
"I guess... but..." he began, pointing at Victreebel and Gengar.
"What about them? They seem pretty attached to you."
"Not funny."
"Okay, okay, I know. So what are you trying to say?"
"It's almost like they're... jealous of each other or someth-- OW! Stop pulling my hair, Gengar! Victreebel, my leg doesn't bend that... cut it out!"
A few seconds later, James was sprawled out flat on his back, staring dazedly at the sky while Gengar laughed and Victreebel screamed shrilly. "Okay... how about a five minute break?" he groaned. He continued to lay there while Myrea returned all of his Pokémon to their balls for him, then managed to get to his feet with her help.
"Well... don't worry about it too much, James," she said soothingly, patting his arm as if to console him. "Some Pokémon just don't get along too well with others at first... they should come around eventually."
"Yes, but will they come around before or after I've been ripped in half?" he muttered in reply.
"Let's not get carried away now," was all she would say before she took his arm to help him back to camp.
In the weeks since Jon had gone back home, it had seemed deathly quiet every place they had stopped... not that that was a terribly bad thing. But sometimes James found himself missing the boy's constant babbling; it had reminded him of Meowth, in a way. The only difference was that Meowth actually had the sense to shut his big mouth before he got pummeled. Usually. This made James smile. Then he thought of Jessie. And frowned.
Her emotions lately had been disturbing - a sometimes jumbled mess of everything from rage to bitterness to... fear? Sadness? It was hard to tell, with the way she seemed to be muffling them. Either of those was hardly an emotion he would expect Jessie to be capable of displaying. So maybe she was angry and bitter on the outside, but fearful and sad on the inside...?
He suddenly realized that his shoulders were slouching and he was shuffling his feet as he walked. And Myrea was looking at him funny.
"What's wrong?"
"Not much..."
She didn't ask again the rest of the way back, but continued giving him funny glances, which he pretended not to notice as he struggled to fight back the depressed feeling that kept looming over his like a dark cloud. Even when they were back in camp and Myrea began fixing something for them to eat, he just sat there watching her blankly, not really seeing her. He didn't know how he must look at the moment, but it actually never even crossed his mind. There wasn't room for much else right now except Jessie and her emotions.
This time, lunch consisted of sandwiches. Myrea sighed. Well, at least it wasn't food from a can again.
She sneaked another glance over at James, who was just sitting there cross-legged with his chin on his hands. At first glance, it seemed like he was sulking. Maybe he was still thinking about his unruly Pokémon. But looking again, she saw that he was staring at her. Blinking a few times in surprise, she lifted a hand hesitantly to wave in front of his face. No response. With another sigh, she turned back to her work.
Of course he's not really looking at you... well, he's looking at you, but he's seeing someone else. No need to be so surprised.
She finished up quickly and handed James his sandwich. She had made it twice as big as her own, fully knowing how much he could eat. But he just sat there, staring at it as blankly as he had at her. She nibbled at her own, watching him until she couldn't stand it anymore.
"James, wake up!"
"Hm? Oh... I didn't see... I didn't know... sorry," he finally mumbled.
"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
He seemed taken aback by her blunt question, but at least he admitted it. "I... yes."
"Do you really think she's doing that bad?"
"That bad? What makes you think... oh. I guess you can just tell." He smiled weakly, which was good. Myrea knew that if he was too far gone, he wouldn't be smiling at all. "It's just a feeling I have... I think she's getting worse without me around. I only hope that I'll see her soon and... she'll understand. I'm sure... sure she'll understand... and everything will be alright."
Myrea realized that he was reassuring himself, and she smiled. James had actually worked it out on his own. Soon, maybe he wouldn't need her around anymore... No, she had to take care of him. It was just something she had to do.
Feeling better, she watched in fond amusement as he devoured his entire lunch in three bites. It surely must have broke some kind of record.
"Do we have any dessert?" he asked next, giving her the most hopeful look she had ever seen. She just started laughing, and couldn't stop for quite some time, not even when James got up to look at her more closely and ask what was so funny. She couldn't have told him even if she knew the answer.
"How far are we going today?"
James studied the landscape ahead while awaiting Myrea's answer. She had been exploding into random fits of giggling ever since they had packed up to leave after lunch. Exactly what was so funny was beyond him.
The path ahead of them twisted and turned in odd ways, which might have seemed unnecessary if one had failed to notice the large amount of rocks and scattered bushes that dotted the terrain here. Every so often, there was a tree beside the path, but those were few and far between.
"Oh... let's see," Myrea began at last, managing to get her mirth sufficiently under control. "A couple more hours, at the least, then we'll stop and train a bit before nightfall. It'll be interesting, training under these conditions," she nodded, indicating the land around them. They both were silent again for at least another ten minutes, with Myrea actually not laughing once. James' thoughts traveled back to the worry he had felt earlier in the day for Jessie, and that reminded him of a question he had been wanting to ask Myrea.
"Myrea?"
"Yes, James?"
"I was wondering... isn't there anyone back home that you're worried about?"
"Well, I suppose..."
"I know you said you had a sister... Aren't you worried about her being there all by herself?"
...Yes and no. She can take care of herself, I know that well enough. The only thing I'm truly worried about is how mad she'll be at me the next time she sees me."
"Mad?"
"Yep. She'll gripe and complain about how I got to go on a 'cool adventure' - those will be her exact words - and then if she gets to meet you... well, she'll really be ticked."
James blinked, confused. "Why?"
"Because... oh, never mind. Another one of those things you probably won't understand."
"O... kay." When she put it that way, he believed her. "What's your sister like, anyway?"
She seemed to choose her words carefully as she replied. "Emily is... she's a little dramatic. Over-dramatic, at times. She's also stubborn and a major pain in the butt. I guess that's just the sister in me talking." She stopped to laugh for a moment before continuing. "She's really a very sweet girl, if you take the time to get to know her. I just hope that our house is surviving with only her taking care of it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if--"
"Stop right there!"
Myrea and James did stop. Then turned to look at each other. The voice had sounded right above their heads... but how could that be? James thought Myrea was turning pale.
"That voice... she..."
"That's right! Don't move an inch! Hahh!" Seeming to fall from the sky, a girl suddenly landed right in front of them, her knees only bending slightly before she straightened upright and stuck her fists on her hips to glare at Myrea. James looked up quickly to see that there was a tree above them where she must have jumped down from; at least he knew now that this girl hadn't really fallen from the sky.
Meanwhile, Myrea had taken a step back and was staring at this girl with considerably more shock than James had ever seen her display. "Emily!" she yelped when she was finally able to speak.
"But that... but that's your sister!" James spluttered. It was his turn to stare in complete surprise now.
The girl standing before them was short; Myrea was only a head shorter than James, but this girl was head and shoulders and then some. But then, that was just because she was considerably younger. Her short blonde hair curled up against her face, framing a pair of purple eyes similar to Myrea's. Her pink dress and knee-high socks made her look even younger than she probably was, but even with her slight stature, James could tell right away that she was a force to be reckoned with. Maybe it was just the way her eyes blazed as she looked at Myrea. He was feeling sort of glad she hadn't seemed to notice him yet.
"Em..." Myrea was saying now, looking somewhat calmer and less shocked, folding her arms tightly and giving her a look that would have made James flinch, but seemed to have no affect whatsoever on her sister. "Would you mind explaining exactly why you are here?"
"That's simple enough, Big Sister. I'm here to stop this from continuing any further!" Emily announced with all the drama Myrea had said she had, pointing a finger right at her.
"Stop what from continuing?" Myrea demanded.
"This! It's gone on too long and it's really becoming unfair, besides." Here she paused, then abruptly folded her hands in front of her and wailed, "You're hogging all the fun! Since when do you get to go out on a cool adventure and leave me behind by myself?"
"You weren't by yourself," Myrea stated flatly.
"But this... this is an adventure! None of my friends want to go on adventures... and besides that, their idea of an adventure is camping out in their backyards." Emily sniffed at that idea, then hurried on. "I thought you agreed that we could have an adventure together! Why did you just run off and leave me with your boring job? And... and..." She trailed off to stare at James as though she hadn't noticed his presence before now. He smiled weakly and half waved at her.
"HIM!" she declared loudly, pointing that finger at him now instead while looking back at Myrea. "You get to go... on a cool adventure... with HIM! Augghh! This is so... so... so unfair!"
"I think someone needs to calm down now," Myrea said tiredly, rubbing her forehead.
"Well, I'll tell you one thing. You gotta come home with me now." Emily had seemed calmer when she said that, at least a little bit.
"No."
That little bit of calmness, however, was lost after Myrea's reply. She moved so quickly that James wasn't even sure how she managed to reach his ear, but she somehow had it firmly in her grip, dragging his head down to her level along with it.
"Emily! Stop that!" Myrea scolded, but Emily's fingers didn't loosen in the slightest. It felt like his ear was clamped in a pair of pliers.
"I'm not letting him go until you say you're coming back with me!"
"Let's try to stop being childish here, Em."
"Um... that really hurts... could you..."
"Not until you come back with me!" Emily proclaimed again, still speaking to her sister.
"Well... I'm not coming back with you. But you could come with us."
"Huh? ....Really?!" Emily squeaked, forgetting to hold James' ear. He straightened up to rub it gratefully.
"I guess so," Myrea sighed. "Since there's no way I'm going home with you... not yet... and there's not going to be any other way to get you off my back... I guess so."
"Oh, this is so great! Better than you coming back! You won't regret it!" Emily was practically jumping up and down in excitement.
"Well, you've got to consider a few things first," Myrea began matter-of-factly. "What about our house?"
"It's gonna be fine... I told everyone I would be gone for awhile, and it's not like there's anything there that really needs taken care of."
"So... what about school?"
"You know as well as I do that we're both way farther ahead than we should be at our age, and we aren't even in public school anyway."
"Clothes? Or any other stuff you're going to need?"
"Brought them all with me in the first place. I wasn't sure how long it would take to find you."
"Which brings me to another thing... how the heck did you find me?"
"Big sister-seeking radar!" Emily beamed happily.
"Okay... forget I asked," Myrea sighed, rubbing her forehead yet again. James just smiled as he watched. Finally, someone who actually managed to fluster Myrea.
"Well, since you'll be traveling with us now... I guess I have to introduce you to James. So Em, this is James. James, this is my little sister, Emily. What do you think?" Myrea lifted an eyebrow in question at James, while Emily merely gazed up at him worshipfully.
"Well... I'd have to say... she doesn't look much like you." And that was true; besides their eyes, they really didn't look that much alike.
"I'm sorry I hurt you, sweetie!" Emily burst out suddenly, rushing forward to hug him tightly around the waist. James' eyes bulged.
"Never mind... she... she's definitely your sister," he croaked. "Could you... my ribs..."
"Sorry again!" she giggled, stepping back at last. Now it was Myrea's turn to watch with a smile.
"Um... so do you have any Pokémon?" he asked her next.
"Oh, I collect pretty Pokémon! I have a Starmie and a Vaporeon. They're so beautiful... Did you know you're cute?"
He had to stare at her big starry eyes for quite some time before he realized she was still talking to him. Why was it that so many girls seemed to look at him like that now since he had taken off his Team Rocket uniform? He had no clue.
"Okay, that's enough," Myrea stepped in, shaking her head. "We've got a long ways to go yet before we stop and train. And--"
"Oh, I wanna train too! I wanna battle with James!" Emily cheered.
"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt. How about we do that now and walk later? James?"
"I... sure." He didn't figure there was any way he could say no and survive.
It only took a few minutes before they were ready to battle. James eyed the rocks and bushes in their immediate vicinity. This would indeed be an interesting match.
"Gooo Vaporeon!" Emily called out. The sleek form of the Vaporeon took shape as she watched in adoration. "Ooh, it's so pretty... don't you think so, James?"
"Yes," he smiled. His grin got bigger when he called out his own Pokémon. "Go, Weezing!"
Emily seemed to deflate. "Tha... that's not pretty," she commented slowly.
"Looks good to me," James continued smiling, patting Weezing's biggest head. "Weezing's been my friend for a long time."
"That's sweet... but now it's time to battle! Alright Vaporeon, go! Quick Attack!" Emily had gone from being starry-eyed to being all-business so quickly it was amazing.
"Vapor!" her Pokémon agreed, launching itself into the air at Weezing, still managing to appear extremely graceful.
"Smoke Screen!" James told Weezing.
"Weeeez..." Thick smoke roiled out of the poison Pokémon's mouth; Vaporeon was thrown off enough by this that it only managed to hit the bottom of Weezing, which didn't move it very much. The smoke was spread out all around Vaporeon now, and James quickly saw his opportunity.
"Weezing, hide behind a rock and wait for the smoke to clear!" It was too hard to see, but James was sure it had obeyed.
"Just wait, Vaporeon! You'll have another chance after the smoke is gone!"
"Vapooor..." The smoke dissipated quickly enough, but then Vaporeon seemed confused as it looked all around for Weezing, which seemed to have disappeared.
"Um... where's Weezing?" Emily asked. "Vaporeon, just look around until you find it, it can't be far!"
"Weezing, Tackle!"
Shooting out from behind a large rock very close to Vaporeon, Weezing slammed into it head-on, sending the unfortunate water Pokémon flying across the field to land at Emily's feet.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Vaporeon... but nice job anyway!" The two returned their Pokémon, then Emily just stood staring at James. "You're so good!" she squealed abruptly. It wasn't too long before she was squeezing the breath out of him again.
"Um... aren't you supposed to be mad or something?" he choked out.
"No... you were too good, and I don't actually train as much as I should, anyway. But it was fun to battle you! Let's do it again sometime!"
"There won't be a sometime if you don't let me breathe soon..."
"Alright, that's enough, break it up," Myrea cut in, somehow managing to step in between them. "We've got a ways to go yet, and--"
"But I was having fun! Why do you always mess up my fun?!"
"You were being annoying!"
"I'm not annoying!"
"She's annoying, isn't she, James?"
"I'm not annoying, right, James?"
"Uh..."
"See? Annoying!"
"He said I'm not, are you deaf?"
James listened to those kinds of exchanges pretty much all the way to their next campsite. It certainly wasn't so quiet anymore. At least there was that.
"...Lemon."
"No way! Lemon is gross! Strawberry is better. And the kind with the caramel... those are the best."
"Those are good... but I still like lemon."
"Ew! I can't stand it! Are you sure?"
Myrea sat back and watched with a faint smile as James and Emily debated on the subject of candy. Actually, they'd been talking about it for almost half an hour. They both seemed to share a common passion for chocolate, that was for sure. She tuned them out for the moment to turn her focus inward.
She didn't really mind that her sister was around now... besides the fact that she was being just as annoying as usual. But there goes your chance to be alone with James for awhile... God, Myrea, that's pathetic. Get over it.
"Hey... now who's spaced out?"
James was grinning at her in a way that made her grin right back. "Guess it's catching. Been around you too long." He pretended to be hurt, and she just laughed.
"We wanted to know what you like," Emily informed her.
"Oh... lemon."
"Ahhh! Are you people crazy?!" her sister cried. James actually started laughing.
Nah... this won't be too bad.
"A comment! A comment! My kingdom for a comment!" ...Well, if I had a kingdom, I'd sure give it. Stop looking at me funny. :p
