~~~ Neprhite ~~~
"She's in here?" I exclaim loudly.
"Piii." Pidove coos. I rub their head in thanks before returning him to his PokéBall.
I take a hesitant step towards the gym, pausing in front of the doors. I push open the double doors after stalling slightly, welcomed with a rush of warm wind. A man wearing a white shirt with a purple bow called out to me turns to face his visitor.
"Oh Trainer! The gym is closed now. Please come back tomorrow." He stretches his arms outwards and preventing me from entering any further.
"My friend came in here, have you seen her?"
The man gives me a confused look. "I'm sorry sir, you must be mistaken. No one has entered here since 5 pm."
Surprise crosses my face (how many times have I been shocked today?) but I thank the man nevertheless, giving him a small wave when exiting. I trudge back towards the Pokémon Centre, fatigue starting to take away my body and mind - I must be more exhausted from my journey as I thought. The familiar orange roofed building comes into my vision a few minutes later and I'm thankful the building doors are automatic.
I arrive at my assigned room without miraculously falling asleep and fumble for the key in my pocket. After emptying both my pockets and bag, I find the silver object resting on the floor. With an exasperated sigh, I hastily unlock the door and entered the room.
The walls and ceiling were painted white, but cracks were beginning to appear in the corners. A window was on the opposite wall of me and a bunk bed was near the glass panel, already having a prepared blanket and pillow. A table stood on the left side of the room, decorated with a vase of sunflowers. The room was small, but simple and comfortable.
"Come out guys." I sleepily mumble, releasing my Pokémon from their PokéBalls. Oshawott and Pidove appeared, crying their names when appearing. I crawl into bed immediately, hiding underneath the covers. Within thirty seconds, I'm in dreamland. My partners curl beside me, closing their eyes as we all fell asleep.
...
My eyes flutter open as the sound of my shrieking Pokémons echo in my ear in the 'early' morning. I groan loudly, turning over to lay on my stomach and flipping the pillow over my head to cover the loud noises. A beak pokes into my stomach, and there are screeches near my ears until I eventually give in to their pestering.
"Okay, I'm awake." I grumble, flipping the white blanket off my body. Sliding the curtains open, the warm sunlight greets me. "What's the time?" I yawn, reaching for the clock. Pidove drops the clock onto my outstretched hand and I smiled in thanks before looking at the time.
"It's 12pm?" I scream, eyes bulging out. Frantic, I throw on my usual clothes and rush out of the room, sliding across the floor while struggling to slip my socks on. I hop on one foot as I wear my shoes, skidding to a stop in front of Nurse Joy's counter. "Thank you for the lovely room. I'll be back soon!" I yell, rushing towards the cafeteria.
No sign of her.
I sigh, but continue to head outside. Arriving at the gym, I burst open the doors, receiving the attention of all the trainers prepared to challenge the leader. My eyes scan the room - no girl with teal streaks.
I trudge outside, hanging my head low. "Think Nephrite... Where would you be if you were her? Where did she like to visit?"
"I'm bored Nephrite." A young girl argued. Her sticky hands had a stick of pink fairyfloss in them, and she repeatedly stuffed some into her mouth. "What should we do now?"
"I don't know Jadeite. Do you think our parents are battling again? We could watch!" The boy replied, taking some fairyfloss too.
"I don't think so." She pouted, "I saw them heading out towards the forest again."
"Should we go visit my grandpa's again then?"
"Oh yes! We can stay in the park too!"
"Let's go! Towards the park!" He replied, taking hold of his friend's hand and pulling her along, laughing loudly together.
As the two children neared the park, the girl rushed forward towards the swings. "Look Neprhite! Let's play on these for a while!" She yelled excitedly, already clambering onto the seat.
"The park!" I suddenly shout. Asking a nearby shop owner where the place was - which resulted in me being forced to buy their products - I make my way towards the area filled with trees, wild Pokémon and hopefully my friend.
As I approach the greenery, I find myself walking straight towards the swings. I catch sight of a girl reading a book on the swings with a Chikorita resting on her shoulders, and allow for a mental victory dance as celebration. Casually making my way over, I reach the swings without her noticing, sitting down on the non occupied one. Jadeite doesn't seem to be bothered by this, and I eventually release Blade out of his PokéBall.
Blade nuzzles against my leg, but a familiar cry catches his attention as he turns to face his 'old friend who was stuck with him inside of a lab'.
"Osha!"
"Chiko!"
I stare in amusement as the two friends reunite and began to talk quite quickly, probably about their journey so far. I take a deep breath and finally declare my presence.
"Hey."
"Mmhm." She replies immediately, but after a few seconds, she glances up at me. "Oh, Nephrite. It's you..."
"Long time no see, Jade." I smile brightly at my childhood friend, using her nickname in hopes of reconnecting.
"Uh, yeah."
An awkward atmosphere rests upon us, and I rack my brain trying to think of a topic to start taking about.
Unexpectedly, she mumbles something that makes my heart ache. "I'm sorry for suddenly leaving you when we were just children. It was a sudden move to the Sinnoh Region, my parents didn't give me time to say my good byes."
"It's all good. Water under the bridge, right?" I beam, giving her a quick pat on the back.
Jadeite closes her book and hands it to Chikorita, before starting to swing a little. "How have you been these years?"
"I've been good these years, yeah I have!" I hastily reply, mentally groaning inside at my pathetic answer. "What about you? Have you been doing well since your move?"
"Could always be better. My grandma passed away 5 years ago, and my family has been mourning over her death since then. I don't know why, I guess it's just that I never knew her that well."
I keep silent after that response, sneaking a glance at her remorseful face before changing the subject. "Sorry for yesterday at dinner, you just shocked me a little. I mean, it's been so long!" I try to keep my voice cheerful, and relief sweeps over me as she sends a smile my way. "I tried to follow you when you left the cafeteria yesterday, you know. I thought you entered the gym but a man inside said that no one had gone in. So, where did you go?"
The girl nervously bites her lip before pulling Chikorita into her lap and burying her face into the Pokémon. "I don't want to talk about it."
~~~ Jadeite ~~~
I start to stroke Chikorita, giving a simple answer. "I don't want to talk about it."
Nephrite seems to ponder over this, but thankfully lets it go. He starts to tell me about his journey from yesterday, how he got soaked from his Oshawott the first time they met and how he got attacked by a flock of Pidoves. I nod throughout his talk, occasionally adding some small sounds to show I was listening. I confess to being at the Professor's lab a few moments after he was, and he smacks his head in annoyance at this.
In the middle of our conversation, my PokéGear vibrates and I discretely check the caller ID. I cancel the call, before realisation dawns on me about who I just refused to answer.
"Jadeite, I'm going to need your help." Nephrite whispers, eyes focused towards the bushes. I follow his gaze to see two people - a man and a woman - dressed in blue clothing and with blue streaks in their hair. They also had visible marks representing a moon on the man's neck and the woman's right cheek (refer to picture posted above!). I groan at the inconvenient timing and glance sideways at Nephrite, hoping he wouldn't fit the pieces together and solve the puzzle as I hide my gloved hands behind my back.
"Well, look at this. This place is crawling with pathetic trainers." Silence fills the park as the man started laughing. The woman next to him cackles loudly at this.
"We are grunts from Team Lunar. Give us all your Pokémon, or we'll use take them by force." The woman shouts, causing a few of the nearby children to cry.
Nephrite is positively seething at this. He stands up and walks towards the grunts, his Oshawott towing behind him. I take the chance to escape unnoticed into the nearby shrubs to hide.
"Who gave you the right to steal Pokémon from others..." He says in a low voice. It was barely audible, and the grunts mocked him for that.
"Hahaha! What did you say, little boy? I couldn't quite hear you! Why don't you wait another few years until you can actually talk, hm?"
The boy curls his hands into fists, and stares coldly at the evil organisation in front of him. "You have no right to ignore the Pokémon's feelings of wanting to be together with their trainer. Why do you have to steal and become the worst humans alive."
I notice some families slowly retreat from the park during this, and although I've logically plan out the safest route to take, I can't help but stay to hear the grunt's answers.
The man falls for the obvious trap and stupidly answers the question. "Our boss needs all these Pokémon in order to bring Maishayn -"
"Shut up you idiot!" The woman hisses, covering the man's mouth with her hand.
"Maishayn? As in the legendary Pokémon Maishayn?" Nephrite questions, rising his right eyebrow in query (or at least he attempted to, he raised both of his eyebrows).
"Enough talk before I reveal anything else! Patrat, come out!" The man yells, obviously trying to intimidate my childhood friend.
"You too Butterfree!" The woman joins in.
Neprhite grits his teeth in determination as he throws out another PokéBall onto the imaginary field. "Oshawott, Pidove! Time for action!"
With the sound of four different Pokémon shrieking their names, I follow the flow of the battle as their cries echo throughout the eerily silent park.
"Butterfree, tackle on Oshawott!"
"Patrat, leer on Pidove!"
"Oshawott, Pidove, dodge!"
I continue watching the battle, groaning every time an attack missed. After a mere three minutes, I see the outcome of the battle.
Nephrite is going to win.
I roll my eyes and whisper to Chikorita. Seconds later, a flurry of leaves head straight for the distracted Pidove and Oshawott, who are preparing to deal the final strike.
"What in the Arceus?" Nephrite says in shock, before focusing on his Pokémon again. His Oshawott takes a direct hit from my attack and falls unconscious, while a fainted Pidove falls to the ground. "Razor Leaf? Who's there?" He shouts, running across the field to return his partners back to their PokéBalls.
"We always have back up. Think about that next time." The woman smirks, eyes meeting mine for a split second. I maintain eye contact, and she scoffs at this before looking away.
"We have to go, boss is waiting." The man exclaims to his partner. They both snort loudly but take off to the sky via jet packs?
Nephrite falls to the ground, disbelief in his eyes. He calls my name a few moments later, but I've already swallowed the guilt building at my throat and left the park.
After all, I shouldn't be helping my enemy.
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Sorta a cliffhanger? Haha I hope you enjoy reading the story.
Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it.
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