Pokemon: Adventures of Clair

Chapter 3: Steven Stone

Keeping your eyes closed though, with the now hot sun on your face is like trying to grapple the wind. No. Clair was no closer to falling back asleep than she was to remembering getting any sleep at all. The sound of the river was the only soothing thing around. Clair laid still, wishing she had taken her father up on one more night of sleep at the house but then she heard something. Kōeina was swimming in the river. The dragon was laughing? Opening an eye she looked out at the river. The little thing was diving and leaping up out of the water. Clair smiled, rolling over from her side to watch her delighted friend.

She leaned over to cup some water from the river and - Splash - a magicarp leaped from the water and soaked her face. Clair gasped and Kōeina laughed. Clair growled in anger. "Stupid magicarp!"

Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hair behind her ears and sat up. She was awake now, and they needed to get a move on. Rubbing her shoulder she watched as Kōeina emerged from the water. It rubbed itself against her knee and stretched. Clair spotted a red mark on its lower tail as she stretched. "Kōeina?" she paused. It looked back at her and she picked it up. It had a cut. It didn't look deep but little shards of metal were caught between its sleek wet scales. She pulled one out and Kōeina winced but it didn't fight her. She picked the pieces out and held her friend closely. As she finished she sighed. "You were very brave last night, Kōeina. Thank you for helping me. I hope we never have to fight anything like that again."

The dragon wiggled free and reared its head close to hers. They stared at each other for a moment. Dragon expressions were harder to read than human ones but it seemed concerned. Maybe it felt the same way about Clair's pain as she did about its.

Getting up, Clair pulled her ornate blue pokeball from her bag. "Would you rather stay in here where you can rest or sit on me and look around? We have a long walk ahead of us."

Kōeina leaned away from the ball and then leapt onto Clair's arm. She didn't mind. It was an honor to have such strong affection from a dragon. Watching the river flow down she could tell which way was south. As long as she followed the river it would lead her to the edge of Johto and Kanto. The river would lead them to the shore between New Bark Town and Kanto's Route 22. It was the fastest way to Pewter City.

Clair's distaste for the awful things was distracted though as she heard the sound of whistling down the mountain.

Dratini's grip tightened and Clair skimmed the trees ahead. After a moment she spotted a kid in a white button-up with gray hair and a red tie. His attention was not on her though. He was walking up the mountain with a pokeball ready in his hand and a tune whistling from his mouth.

Clair froze, staring at the man in confusion. Nobody ever tried to climb Mount Silver. Was he looking for Blackthorn City? Was he a trainer? Clair mentally prepared herself for battle as the boy spotted her and stopped suddenly.

"Oh! Hello. My name is Steven." he walked toward her with his hand extended.

"My name is Clair. What are you doing out here?" Clair tried to sound fierce. He paused for a moment and waited for her to shake his hand. His grin only grew wider.

"I am hunting a pokemon Clair. Any chance you've seen it?"

Had he come for a dratini? Clair glared at him, "What kind of pokemon?"

Steven broke eye contact, lowering his hand. His eyes shifted to Kōeina but his smile did not fade. "Wow! Is that a dratini? It is beautiful!"

Kōeina let out a surprised squeal but Clair moved between him and Kōeina. "You cannot touch it. This is Kōeina. She is an honored dragon on her path to becoming a dragonite."