Pokemon: Next Generation

Chapter 24: The Discovery

Chapter 24: The Discovery

My brain felt foggy as I woke up slowly the next morning, sluggishly taking in my surroundings as I laid in bed, my eyes still shut with sleepy dirt.

Something poked my belly and I heard a crooning that reminded me of a shrilling bird. A small weight shifted on my chest. I opened my eyes, staring at the small body of Togepi.

"Ah!" I sat up quickly. Togepi began falling to the floor. I yelled again, hurling myself out of bed, catching Togepi, but landing in a heap on the cold, hard tile.

Groaning, I sat up and held Togepi up to my face. "Togepi, if you weren't so cute I'd be mad at you right now. I almost broke my back, you know. And you almost became a scrambled egg."

"Pri, pri!" Togepi smiled.

"Oh, you're awake." Misty walked in the door. "You sure do sleep like a Snorlax."

I banged my head on the mattress tiredly. "So I've been told a couple hundred times."

Mostly by you and Daniel, I muttered in my head.

"Everyone else is down at breakfast. You better hurry. Ash wants to get down to the gym." Misty grabbed her backpack. "If you could bring Togepi down with you, that would be great."

"Sure thing." I held Togepi up, who waved happily to Misty as she left the room.

I sighed, placing Togepi on the bed while I changed and got ready. In ten minutes (I'm super fast for a girl when it comes to getting ready, I know) I was making my way to the kitchen area, Togepi wiggling in my arms. My friends were all sitting at the same table as yesterday, but Ash seemed done eating this time and kept talking about his gym battle at the top of his lungs.

"You guys don't have to wait for me- let me just grab some fruit," I said as I handed Misty her Togepi.

"You don't want to listen to Ash tell us about how he's going to win his badge for the seventy-fifth time, Em?" Daniel asked politely.

"Haha." I rolled my eyes, then turned to face Ash who didn't seem to have heard. "So, are you ready for your gym battle?"

"Of course I am!" Ash stood up, almost knocking his chair over. "Let's go!"

We all made our way out of the Pokemon Center, squinting as our eyes adjusted to the sun, and walked the short distance to the Pokemon gym. It was a large building that reminded me of a mansion because of its classy design. There was even a gate at the entrance.

Ash was the first to notice the gate was locked. "Hello? I'm here for my gym battle!"

No answer.

"Hm, maybe he called in sick?" Daniel guessed. "Oh, I know! Maybe he got cold feet! Get it? Cold feet?"

We all sighed.

"Come on, that was a good one," Daniel argued.

"Well, looks like no one's here. Now what?" Anthony peered into the gate.

"But I have to battle the gym leader!" Ash whined.

"It doesn't make sense..." Brock trailed off.

"Hi there!" A woman's voice came from right next to us. We turned- she was standing so close to Anthony that he yelped.

"How'd you just... appear like that?" Anthony questioned, taking a few steps back.

She looked like she was in her fifties and wore clothes that reminded me of gardening- overalls matched with pulled back hair. Not to mention she was pretty muscular. Still, she sounded nice as she said, "I'm sorry, but the gym leader's not here right now. His name's Pryce and I'm Sheila. He goes up to the mountains every morning and meditates under a waterfall."