I flopped down on my bed with a groan, frustrated.
"Please Maggie? I think a trip to the Safari would be fun!" Evan pleaded as he hovered above my head.
"For the thousandth time, no! It's been a long few days, and the last thing on my mind is a trip back to Pastoria just to look around some gross swamp!"
"But Maggie, I-"
"Evan..." Gloria interrupted from the floor. "Let me handle this, okay?" She told him in a hushed tone. He silently flew off as Gloria climbed her way up to me.
"Margaret, listen. We're only looking out for what's best for you, even if Evan's methods of doing so are a bit... bothersome. The point is, you need to relax and take a bit of a break!"
"I already told you guys, we're gonna be training again today. Besides, I'm not exactly in the mood to go back to Pastoria after last night..."
She quietly sighed. "The Safari isn't anywhere near the gym. You won't even have to look at it!"
I exhaled and turned to the wall. "I really just... don't wanna go."
I could hear Gloria take a small breath in, as if she were about to say something, but after a short pause she simply sighed. A quiet moment passed before Cedric stepped up on the bed and gracefully hopped over me. He sat down so we were face-to face, and gave me a stern but concerned expression. I stared at him for a few seconds, wanting to tell him no, but unfortunately his silence said a thousand words.
"... Mmfine...! I'll go, alright?" I groaned as I sat up.
Evan gasped. "Really?! Yesss!!" He flew around the room excitedly and wrapped Cedric in a hug.
Gloria looked at them, baffled. "How did you...?"
Cedric just chuckled as he pushed Evan off and led everyone out of the Pokemon Center to the streets of Veilstone. As I reluctantly begun walking back to Pastoria City, I let Aline and Cole out to tell them the plan.
"So Cedric was the one who convinced you go back?" Cole stared over at him skeptically. "Huh. Strange one, isn't he...?" He muttered under his breath quietly enough so Cedric couldn't catch what he said.
There was a bit of an awkward silence afterwards, like something was missing. I could tell that everyone knew what it was. Usually Andrea would have gotten upset at him, then they would argue the entire way to Pastoria... Part of me somewhat missed the constant fights.
Shaking my head, I pushed the thought out of my mind and continued on. I looked over at Aline, who seemed more distant that usual. I was about to talk to her, but figured she had enough on her mind and left her alone. However, Gloria ended up unintentionally doing it for me.
"You doing okay Aline...?"
"...I'm fine."
"Are... Are you sure? After what you did last night-"
"I wouldn't have said anything if I knew I couldn't handle it Gloria. Please just trust me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing, okay? All of this is just... it's a lot to wrap my head around. That's all..."
"Right..." Gloria sighed, clearly dissatisfied with the chat.
Evan suddenly swooped in, a big smile on his face. "Aw come on you guys, don't bring down the mood! We're going over to the Safari to have fun, aren't we?"
Aline forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah...! You think we'll find a new teammate there Maggie?"
"That's what I'm hoping... But either way, we're not staying long."
"Whaaaat??" Evan whined. "Why not?"
"I already told you, I don't even want to be in Pastoria City in the first place. There's no way we're staying long enough so that we have to sleep overnight."
"Aww..." Evan fell on top of my head, his wings drooping over me.
"Hey, just be glad I agreed to even go. I wanna get this over with a soon as I can, then it's right back to training."
"Fine..."
Unfortunately he stayed there until we finally made it to Pastoria City, where he led everyone over to the Safari Zone. I paid for the visit and after having all of the boring rules explained, walked inside. Since I wasn't allowed to use my team to fight, the only one out was Evan.
"Jeez, this place is huge...!" I looked around the giant swamp, which turned out to be much larger than I expected.
"Ooh, look!" Evan exclaimed as he flew over towards some sort of train station. "We can ride these train cars around to different areas of the Safari!"
"Yeah, that's not happening. Sticking to one area will be way easier, plus I feel like I'm gonna get lost if we-"
"WOAH, A DUSTOX!!" A small rock was suddenly pegged at Evan by a young trainer.
"H-hey! Watch it!" Evan yelled as he blocked his face from any further attack.
"Hold on a sec-- he isn't wild!!" I yelled as I jumped in front of him. "He's mine; I'm his trainer...!"
The trainer groaned and gave me a nasty look. "Great... Y'know, you're not really supposed to have your pokemon out in here."
"Yeah yeah, I know... Sorry for the trouble."
The trainer grumbled and went back to searching.
"Maggie, I changed my mind... maybe we should get outta here soon...!" Evan rubbed the spot where he was hit.
"Glad you're finally seeing things my way!" I smirked. "You wanna go back in your pokeball?"
"Nah, I think I'll take the risk of being hit by rocks to be the first to meet our new team member!"
"If you insist! Now let's see what pokemon are- EW!!" I suddenly felt the worst feeling in the world; wet socks. I quickly jumped out of the giant pond of mud that was seeping through my shoes and shook off the gross brown muck stuck on them.
"Perfect..." I muttered angrily. "Who knows how long this is gonna take to wash off!"
"Good thing I don't have to deal with all that!" Evan chuckled.
I glared at him and sighed. "It's times like this when I really wish I had some wings... Must be nice to be able to fly."
"Nah, it's not as good as it seems. These wings get tired a lot considering it's our only way of getting around."
"I still think it'd be cool...!" I smiled as I threw my shoes off and grabbed a pair of rental boots.
I rolled up my pants before I stepped back into the mud pile, wondering what Pokemon were lurking down there. Walking around in thick, ankle-deep mud sure wasn't easy, but I knew that the sooner I found a Pokemon, the sooner I could leave.
As I wandered around, I stumbled into a strange patch of mud which I could stand on somehow. "What the...? Solid mud?" I asked myself as I stomped on it.
I was startled by a sound coming from below me, but was terrified as it started to rise up! I tried grabbing onto whatever was under me, but I slipped off the round surface and landed flat on my back in the mud. "Eugh...! Gross!"
Evan flew near me. "M-Maggie! Are you-"
"HEY!" I looked up to see the annoyed feminine voice coming from a towering Quagsire. "Are you the one who rudely ruined my nap?! I'll have you know that-"
"MAGGIE MAGGIE QUICK THROW A SAFARI BALL!!" Evan yelled desperately as he shoved one into my hand.
"W-WAIT, WHAT?!" The Quagsire yelled as she was forced inside the camouflage-colored pokeball. She quickly escaped, coming back even angrier. "Listen, you! I-"
"DO IT AGAIN DO IT AGAIN!"
Again I attempted to capture her, but she still broke free. "Now hold on-!" Another Safari Ball was thrown, but once again it was in vain.
Around 20 Safari Balls later, Quagsire came out panting and tired. She collapsed in the mud with a sigh. "Alright, I give...! You win..." I wound back my arm and threw my last Safari Ball, finally managing to catch her.
"Woo-hoo! Got her!"
"Huh--wha?!" Evan jerked awake from his nap on my head and yawned. "Are we leaving now...?"
"Sure are!" I told him joyfully as I stepped out of the mud. "And we get to bring a little present with us!"
"The new teammate?!" He gasped as he was suddenly fully awake. "C'mon, send her out!"
I clicked the round button on the pokeball, revealing the exhausted Quagsire. "I can't believe I let this happen..." She sighed, "Those useless pokeballs aren't even supposed to work!"
"What?"
"Oh jeez, I'm out...! Uh... I guess you're my new trainer... Hi...?"
"Hey... I'm Margaret." We looked at each other awkwardly before Evan cut in.
"Hi I'm Evan, nice to meet you!" He greeted her with a smile, as if nothing seemed odd at all.
"Heh... Nice to meet you guys. Sorry if I'm making things weird, I just never thought I would get caught up in all this trainer business... But I suppose there's no getting out of it now, is there?"
"Oh, you don't have to join the team if you don't want to!"
"Nah, I'll stay. Trust me when I tell you that I've had my fair share of battles." She put on a smug grin.
"Well then, welcome aboard! Now, as for a name-"
"Jamie." She interrupted me with a smile. "Call me Jamie!"