Rating: G
Disclaimer: I disclaim any ownership of any actual Pokémon character in this story. (That sounded good, but I'm not sure I know what it means...)
Chapter Four - Two Weeks
"So, you ready? James! Hello? This is Earth calling James! Wake up!"
"Huh? Oh." James blinked at Myrea's frantic tone of voice, then looked around himself for a moment. Now he remembered. He was in the Pewter City gym, getting ready to battle for his first badge. He suddenly didn't feel so good.
"So where was your brain just then? You have to focus on this! Or if you're not ready, we can leave and come back la--"
"No, I'm ready, really. I was thinking of... good battle strategies... yeah." He grinned down at her disbelieving face. After spending two weeks with her, he felt like he already knew her inside and out. Maybe it was because they had spent nearly every waking moment in each other's presence. True, the majority of the time was actually in training, but he felt much more comfortable now around her, and his attitude and general mood about the situation he was in was a lot better. In short, without Myrea, James was pretty sure he wouldn't have even made it this far.
She was still looking at him now, her hands on her hips while she awaited a true explanation. Somehow, she had the uncanny ability of knowing when he wasn't telling the truth. What he had really been thinking of was Jessie, and about how proud she would have been if she were here, watching him get his first badge. At least, that's what he hoped.
He tried his best not to think of Jessie all the time, knowing that when he did so, his mind drifted away in a flood of emotions; emotions that were sometimes almost too hard to bear. As such, Yume's gift to him was at the same time a blessing and a curse. But he knew that in order to succeed, he must focus on the good to come rather than the pain of the present.
"What? You told me that thinking of your strategy beforehand is good, right? So I'm thinking about it," he told Myrea, hoping the innocent route would work. Her expression remained unchanged, however.
"If you say so. Just so you know, that innocent act never works with me." She flashed him a quick smile, and he blinked, this time in shock. Before he had the chance to think on that further, she continued. "You better get going! Flint's gonna think you stood him up. Now, you remember everything I've told you, right? Set up a good defense before you use any offense, then--"
"Alright! I remember everything! Geez, you'd think you were my mother, sending me off to school or something," he groaned.
"And don't you use that attitude around me, young man," she countered in a mock-motherly tone. Then she giggled. "Go on. I'll be watching." She hugged him quickly, then dashed off to sit behind the barred-off sideline to do just that. James swallowed hard, feeling ill. He wondered if all trainers felt like this when they fought their first major battle. He had no idea.
Hopefully he was ready for this, and all the training he had done under Myrea's guidance would pay off. Although he was certain that this wouldn't be too tough a fight in the first place. Squaring his shoulders, he tried to look resolute as he walked into the main room of the gym, where the battle would actually take place. The gym leader, Flint, was standing at the far end of the rocky field surface, but there was no one else in the massive room, save for Myrea and Flint's rather large group of children clustered at the sideline. When James took his proper place across from Flint, the gym leader began to speak.
"You are James, here to battle me for the Boulder Badge?"
"I am," James answered, hoping his voice was steady.
"Very good. I wish you luck, and you may call out your Pokémon," Flint said next in his gravelly voice. He didn't really seem to be that bad of a guy, in James' estimation. Now, which Pokémon to use first...
James glanced over at Myrea, but she was glaring at him viciously. He quickly faced forward again. Right. Gotta do this myself. With a nod, he grabbed one of the Pokéballs at his belt and tossed it out.
"Go, Marril!"
"Mar!" the little water Pokémon squeaked, seeming happy to be out of it's ball. Since Myrea had bought a Pokéball for it, James had decided to keep it in only for important battles, otherwise he normally let it ride on his shoulder when they traveled.
"That's a nice-looking Marril," Flint commented approvingly, "but we'll see if it's any match for Graveler! Go!"
James tried to keep his jaw from dropping in shock, but failed. Graveler? Myrea had only said he had an Onix! He dared to look back over at her, and this time she had her arms folded and was still glaring. James recognized that look, and whenever a girl used it on him he knew that he'd better do something soon to change it. He put the surprise he felt out of his mind as quickly as he could.
"Begin!" Flint suddenly called out, raising a hand in the air.
"Okay, Marril, give it your Water Gun to slow it down!"
"Rock Throw, Graveler!"
The two commands were nearly simultaneous, but Marril reacted a little slower than Graveler, and then was too distracted by dodging the rocks Graveler was hurling at it to use the Water Gun. James was momentarily dismayed, but soon had an inspiration. "Marril, try using your Agility to dodge the rocks! Then use the Water Gun in between!"
Marril was quick to comply with this, and where before it had barely been able to escape the rocks, it now evaded impact with ease, blasting a spray of water after every rock at the Graveler, which was weakened a bit by every blast.
"Rush at it and Tackle it, Graveler!"
But Marril easily escaped this move, and was now behind the rocky Pokémon; when James suggested it try a Tackle of it's own, the much smaller Pokémon was able to knock it's water-weakened foe to the ground easily, where it lay moving feebly.
"That's enough. Marril is the winner!" Flint announced, calling back his own Pokémon. James called Marril back with a feeling close to elation. If that was all there was...
"For the second round, I choose Onix!" Flint was saying as he tossed out a second ball. This time, James was only slightly less surprised. Myrea had said there was an Onix, but not a Graveler - it made sense that Flint should be using the Onix now. Marril was probably too tired from the last battle, and Weezing didn't do too well against rock types. That... left...
James risked a final look at Myrea; now she was leaning over the sideline railing and glaring. He swallowed hard and grabbed Victreebel's Pokéball.
"Go, Victreebel!" With that all too familiar scream, the grass Pokémon appeared. It was facing James, and he could swear it was staring at him, just waiting for the right moment to jump at him. They had worked at training it... but it still wasn't as obedient as it should be.
"Begin!" Flint yelled for the second time, and James knew it was now or never. "G... go! Use your Razor Leaf!" But Victreebel was still staring at him. He hoped his knees hadn't started shaking.
"Onix, Bind it!" he heard Flint call, and as the Onix slithered forward, it's rocky body rumbling across the gym floor, James felt that feeling of impending doom creeping up on him. Yet when Onix had Victreebel wrapped up tight, he remembered a situation in his past very similar to this.
"Quick, use Sleep Powder!"
Instantly, his Pokémon released hundreds of tiny sparkling particles; it had actually done what he wanted, and without trying to eat him first. He was almost too scared to believe it until Flint pronounced his own Pokémon unable to battle, and Victreebel the winner. Even then, he had a hard time believing it when, after he had called Victreebel back, Flint walked forward to give him his badge. He stared down at it, watching the way the overhead lights glinted off it.
"Good job, James. You're quite a Pokémon trainer," Flint smiled, clapping him on the shoulder before walking around to meet his clamoring children. Flint was apparently a man of few words, but he had gotten his point across. James was still staring at the badge on his palm.
But before too long, he was nearly knocked over when Myrea came running up to hug him fiercely, laughing ecstatically. "James, you did it! That was so great! I told you so, I knew you could do it!" James listened to her rave, a slow smile spreading across his face.
He had done it. He had actually won.
"I never would have thought... with only two weeks' training..."
"Well, that just shows you what you can do. It's a lot more than you think," Myrea chided her new friend lightly, unable to keep a smile from her face as she did so. He seemed dazed still, or maybe awestruck would be a better word, that he had won. Either he was always like this when he accomplished something, or he was far more accustomed to losing than she had previously thought. Whatever it was, he still hadn't told her much about himself personally, so she really didn't know. On the other hand, it wasn't as though she had told him much, either. But she could hardly do it now, while they were walking around Pewter to take in some of the sights.
James had seemed eager to get on with training and heading toward the next gym, but Myrea had insisted that he rest and relax for at least a day first. He had agreed, although reluctantly, but seemed to be enjoying himself now. When he wasn't talking about training, that is.
"Just relax now," she continued. "We can worry about all that other stuff later, but for now... Oh! Look at that! Isn't it cute?"
James blinked and looked all around for something "cute", but apparently he missed it. "What? What's cute?" He looked completely perplexed. Myrea giggled.
"That," she said, pointing. "That" was a little outdoor café, a small but nice-looking place with table decorated with all sorts of flowers outside a tiny kitchen. There were a few people scattered here and there, but otherwise it wasn't too busy.
"Cute...?" James repeated in puzzlement.
"Yes. Cute," Myrea grinned. "Let's go eat there, I've always wanted to eat at a café with a handsome man... how dreamy..." James seemed to be dumbfounded again, so Myrea simply hooked an arm through his, tugging him along. "C'mon! I know you're hungry, and this will be fun."
And so, several minutes later, they were seated at one of the tables, waiting for a menu. Giggling at James again was becoming difficult for Myrea, since he wasn't looking too comfortable; he didn't seem to know whether to put his elbows on the table or not. She studied him as he sat there fidgeting, her brother's clothes still looking a little too big on him, and decided right then and there that he was absolutely the most adorable guy in existence, and even if his heart might belong to someone else, for now he was hers. That thought made her smile.
"How slow can you be for a place with not much business?" she heard him mumble suddenly. He was staring at the greenery at the center of the table as though about to eat it. She had to laugh this time.
"Don't worry, the waitress is coming right now," she reassured him. "I didn't know you were that hungry."
"Me neither," he shrugged.
Later, as she was poring over her own menu, she noticed him looking nervously over the top of his. "What should I order...? I don't exactly have any money, you know."
"Will you stop worrying about it? I'm paying, since you did so great at your first gym, so just order anything you want." He still seemed uncertain, but did as she said.
And once their orders were taken, he still looked uncomfortable. Myrea had no idea what was wrong, so she thought she'd try starting a conversation to lighten up his mood. "So, what did you think of Flint's Pokémon?"
That topic might have worked a little too well. "That's right! Where did you get off telling me that he only had an Onix? Didn't you know about the Graveler?"
James sounded faintly angry, but Myrea didn't let him know she thought he was. "Well, yes. And I did it to teach you a lesson. Firstly, you were more confident when I told you there was only an Onix. I've seen how nervous you get about multiple opponents. And second, a trainer has to deal with a lot of surprises and learn to adapt to them. You did fine, didn't you?"
"I guess, but--"
"But nothing! You did great... and I'm your coach, so what I say, goes," she added with a determined nod.
"Since when were you--"
"Since I started training with you two weeks ago. And if you have a problem with that, maybe I should teach you a more personal lesson soon," she snapped. The way his mouth kept opening and closing reminded Myrea very much of a Magikarp. She lowered her head down farther so she could look up at him, then smiled. "That face is really cute."
He closed his mouth quickly and sat up straight. "You're crazy," he stated weakly. Myrea sat up as well, her smile growing bigger.
"So I'm told." James shook his head, but now he was smiling, too. Another job well done, she thought to herself. "Okay, back to the original topic."
"We had an original topic?"
"Hush. I think your Marril, for one, did excellent. Your idea really worked well."
"Only because you helped teach it Agility."
"Hey, I can't take all the credit. Your strategy was good... but what happened to my "defense, then offense" speech? Or did that one just go in one ear and out the other?"
He seemed to sense that she was teasing, and he grinned sheepishly. "Oh, well... strategy just kind of left my mind once the battle started... then it was pretty much instinct that took over."
"I see... well, instinct is good, but it won't work all the time. That's when you use the strategy. Oh, and what about Victreebel? Weren't you proud when it didn't try to eat you?"
"Yeah. But it was thinking about it, and that was the problem," he sighed.
"We'll work with it more, it'll come around."
"I suppose... but what's all this Pokémon talk about? Didn't you say I was supposed to be 'relaxing'?"
Her eyes lit up wickedly. "Oh... I see, yes. Of course. So let's talk about something else. Like... oh... you," she grinned, leaning over the table at him.
"Um... about me?"
"Yes... you. Like... let's see... what kind of girls do you like? Well, you like your partner, right? The red-haired girl? What's she like? Did she give you that bracelet?" Myrea had always been dying to ask James about the bracelet, which she had noticed but said nothing about back when she had first found him. Right now he was obviously flustered by all her sudden questions, so she sat back to wait and to give him a little time to think. But he was doing that Magikarp thing again. "You don't have to answer all that at once. Start with the first."
"I guess I... I don't know. I never gave it much thought."
"Then tell me about that girl. What is she like, and then maybe that will answer the first question, too." It was silent for a long time as he considered this.
"Jessie is... she's strong... tough. She's a very determined person... knows what she wants. I'm sure she could be totally independent, but... she's been with me for a long time now. Seems like she was always there..." Myrea watched as his eyes seemed to focus on something only visible to him, his expression somber. Whatever else that girl was to him, it was plain that he does care about her. Apparently a lot.
"I see... and the bracelet?"
"No... She didn't give it to me. It's not really a sentimental gift or anything. I just... have to wear it." It didn't sound as though that was all of the truth, but Myrea could sense that her new companion didn't want to say anything further on the matter, so she didn't push it.
"Thanks for telling me those things. It helps me to get to know you better, you know?" She smiled at him gently.
"So, when do I get to ask about you?" he said next, his expression lightening somewhat.
"Soon. You can ask me again soon, and I'll tell you everything you want to know. But for now, let's eat." She pointed at the approaching waitress, and his expression brightened even more.
"Great. I was about to start eating the stupid plants," he joked with a lopsided smile. Myrea just laughed.
Soon they were finally eating, and Myrea had James laughing in turn over a variety of strange subjects. It felt good to make him laugh, and he needed to be encouraged and happy. She realized that now. Just to take his mind off this "Jessie", at least for a little while. She was beginning to see that she might be the reason he sometimes looked so uncomfortable and sad...
It was much later, after Myrea was already asleep, that James remembered he was going to ask her some questions.
God, James. You know... maybe she planned it that way. Distract you until when you do remember, it's too late. No.... that couldn't be it.
He rolled over in his sleeping bag so he could look at her. She was resting peacefully enough, breathing deeply in a way that made him completely sure she was asleep, a Slowpoke on either side of her. Once she had claimed that they protected her from any danger. James smiled. The amount of trust she had placed in those slow-moving pink Pokémon was sometimes amazing.
"And maybe someday she'll trust me enough to tell me things," he mumbled to himself as he moved onto his back to look at the night sky. Maybe he had only known her for two weeks... but he already cared about her. She was showing him a great kindness, one he had never thought to see from anyone... except maybe Jessie and Meowth. But would they have been willing to help him the way Myrea had, had the circumstances been reversed? That thought troubled him, so he put it aside, instead focusing a bit on Jessie's emotions.
They were calm, very even and unwavering; James had learned enough by now to tell that this meant she was asleep. Closing his eyes, he let that calmness flow through him, leaving him with a feeling of peace, which was about the only way he could get to sleep nowadays...
When he awoke, Yume was there.
This time, there was no signal, no feeling of an unseen presence... she was just there. Which naturally made him cry out in surprise. A quick glance at Myrea, however, showed that she still slept. In fact, it was probably just that she would not wake up, like what had happened the first time with Jessie and Meowth. He stared at Yume as she floated there, several hours seeming to pass before he could speak.
"You... you did come back..."
"Of course," she smiled gently. "Did you think I was just a dream before?"
"No... but I was wondering if you'd come back like you said... What is it that you... want?" He didn't think that sounded like a good thing to ask, but he couldn't think of anything else.
Yume shook her head slightly. "I do not require anything of you. I merely wished to tell you that you are on the right path. You are doing wonderfully at this point; your bracelet has only been activated once. And your recent success is most admirable."
James nodded, glad she was pleased. "Can I... ask you something?"
"Yes."
"It's about her." He hesitantly pointed a finger in Myrea's direction. "Did you have anything to do with..."
"The only influence I have had on her was when she 'happened' to find you after you were attacked by the Beedrill. Because of her good heart, she has stayed with you and helped you greatly since then. All of that was not my doing."
"And the Marril?" he continued on a hunch.
"Yes. I was the one who sent it to you."
"Yeah... I thought so. Not many Marril in Viridian Forest, after all. Oh... there's one more thing." Here he paused, sighing heavily. "This link between Jessie and me... could you..."
"It cannot be taken away. I am sorry, but you must know how far away she is, so you will not have to risk encountering her by chance."
"But the emotions..."
"It cannot be separated."
It had been worth a try, but... he wasn't altogether sure he really wanted the link gone, anyway. Yume must have noticed his downcast expression, for her own softened in sympathy.
"Do not worry. Someday, she will understand." Then she was gone. James lay back down, shivering as though the air held a sudden chill.
He hoped she would understand.
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