For most of the people at Professor Oak's camp, it was a day like any other, the only thing different was the knowledge that the end of their time at camp was upon them. However, there was an air of excitement amongst the CITs of Professor Oak's summer camp. That was because it was the day they sat out for their overnight stay in the mountains. Why is this so special? Because this overnight was going to be what officially made them counselors and it was going to be complete with them signing their names on the Ho-Oh statue at the top.
Ethan was particularly excited for the outing, he was really looking forward to sitting around the fire eating smores, talking with the other CITs, becoming an official counselor, and most importantly cuddling with Lyra. Lyra had also been hinting lately that she was ready to go at it with him again; apparently, she now had a source of birth control to prevent another pregnancy scare so he was in anticipation. But he was also a little worried after the whole incident.
Ethan and Red had already finished packing up for the trip, with all their traveling and camping experience this was a very easy process. Everything they needed fit into their backpacks. "Welp I'm ready. I'm gonna camp the crap out of that mountain," said Ethan.
"Eh, sure thing," said Red, "The only problem now is we have to wait on everyone else to get ready."
As he says that, the pair sees a couple of CITs struggling to fit all their things into their bags. "It's a good thing we're on a schedule or else we'd be here all day," said Ethan.
Yellow suddenly came running up to them, "Hey guys! Are you excited?!" she said excitedly.
"Better believe it," said Red.
"You all ready to go?" asked Ethan.
Yellow nodded, "All good," she said as Chuchu jumped off her shoulder. Pika ran up to Chuchu and began nuzzling her affectionately.
"How's the egg doing Ethan?" asked Yellow.
"Still doing great, Any day now the Pikachus will have a little one of their own," Ethan replied.
"That's great! I can't wait to see the little Pichu," said Yellow.
"It's gonna be a great moment," Red said looking happily at the Pikachu pair.
xxxxx
"Ugh, I'm already mentally drained," Rosa said laying her head on Nate's shoulder.
"Don't go pooping out on us already, just remember we've got a date to look forward to after we drop off the CITs," said Nate.
"Double date," Hilda corrected.
The Unova friends were sitting by the bus waiting for Professor Oak and the CITs to arrive. Hilda was already going a little stir-crazy, "Geez can we get this going? I wanna get out of here already," she complained.
"We'll have our time soon enough," Hilbert said wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Not soon enough," Hilda muttered.
"Someone's impatient," said Nate.
"I don't blame her, I'm excited to go out on a date again," Rosa said hugging his arm.
Just then, Professor Oak showed up with Blue, Jack, and Mira in tow. "Hello guys, I really appreciate you guys driving the CITs on your day off," he said.
"It's no problem, it'll be nice to relax and have fun after the chaos of last week," said Hilbert.
The prank war continued on for a while after the water pokemon prank. It all came to a head when the two camps pranked each other with some extra destructive pranks. Both sides realized this was turning into a case of mutually assured destruction and decided to call a truce. Blue had no intention of letting up even if the others weren't involved so Professor Oak threatened to suspend his pay if he caused any more trouble.
"How much longer till we head out?" Hilda whined.
"We'll be heading out shortly," Professor Oak said as he turned to see Red, Leaf, Ethan, and Lyra walking towards them ready to go.
Mira became a little emotional as she realized how much Ethan had grown up. It seemed like just yesterday he was playing in the sandbox with Lyra and the wild pokemon and now he was a young man with a girlfriend and long career ahead of him. His parents would be so proud if they could see him now. "Oh Ethan I am so proud," Mira said as she hugged him with a teary-eyed smile.
Jack joined in too, though he kept his emotions in check to spare Ethan more embarrassment. Ethan did feel a little embarrassed getting the mushy family treatment in front of everyone else but he let it slide. It wasn't like he understood how they were feeling. "I love you guys," he said.
Pretty soon all the other CITs had arrived, some were way overpacked for an overnight trip. Bunch of noobs. Professor Oak decided to get things going, "Alright everyone, this is it. This is your overnight trip. You'll be taking a 10-mile hike up the mountain to your campsite where you'll have to brave the elements on your own. You won't have me or any of the counselors to help you out 'cause this a big step in your growth at this camp. It will require the utmost trust in each other and your pokemon. Any questions?"
The CITs were silent, they were completely ready and excited for this. "Alright then, load up and have a great day!" said Professor Oak.
Everyone got on the bus ready to go; Hilbert was the one driving the bus, Hilda sat in the seat behind him, and Rosa and Nate sat in the seat next to hers. Hilda ended up with one of the CITs sitting next to her and he made it blatantly obvious that he was checking her out. The amorous expression on his face was not helping matters either. Hilda gave him a terrifying glare, "You try anything on me and you'll be going up that mountain in a body cast," she threatened.
A cold shiver ran down the boy's spine and he scooted away from her. He looked up at the driver, luckily, Hilbert didn't seem to notice. He would really be in for it if he did.
With everyone on the bus, Hilbert closed the door and sped off. Professor Oak, Mira, and Jack watched them with sad smiles on their faces. "I can't believe Ethan is going to be a counselor," Mira said getting teary-eyed again.
"Today they're counselors, tomorrow they're leaders and champions," said Jack.
"I have no doubt they will be fantastic whatever happens. They're already such wonderful souls," said Professor Oak.
xxxxx
Everyone was left to their own devices as they were driven to the base of the mountain. Blue was seated next to a pretty black-haired girl and he wasted no time using his charm to try and win her over. The girl actually bought into his charms and moved closer to him as they talked.
Red and Leaf were talking as per usual with Leaf laying her head on Red's shoulder. "I've never camped with other people before. This should be interesting," said Red.
"I wouldn't expect much to happen unless somebody snuck some alcohol up the mountain," Leaf said, "Maybe some truth or dare if people get bored."
"Oh please no..." Red sighed remembering how the last game of truth or dare went.
"I wouldn't be too worried. You wouldn't have to participate, you and I could just spectate."
She had a point. "I guess we could just watch everyone else suffer. Personally, if it's a full moon tonight then I'd like to explore."
Leaf imagined her and Red walking around looking at the beautiful landscape and the legions of hills and valleys below. "You know what? I like that idea a lot more," she said dreamily.
Ethan and Lyra meanwhile were taking turns playing Super Mario on an old Gameboy and Ethan was setting the standard for what the high score was. With a final hammer throw by one of the enemies, Ethan's turn was over, he lasted until the third level. "Hammer throwing bast***," Ethan mumbled, "Why don't they just give him lightning powers while they're at it?"
Lyra giggled and took the Gameboy from his hands, "Alright let me show you how it's done," she said.
Lyra got to work quickly getting through the first level. Then with some struggle, she made it through level 2 and made it to level 3. Lyra was on her last life but she was close to surpassing Ethan. It wasn't like this was anything they took seriously so Ethan decided to have a little fun. He quickly poked her in the side Lyra making her flinch and almost bump into a Gumba. She ignored it until he did it more and she realized what he was doing. "Ethan back off," she said.
"What?" he asked innocently.
Lyra went back to playing but Ethan kept throwing her off with his pokes. It all came to a head when a last poke by Ethan distracted her just long enough to get hit by a green shell. "No!" she cried out in frustration.
Ethan chuckled triumphantly, "Aww too bad."
Lyra turned back to him with a cunning look in her eyes, "Yeah, too bad..."
She lunged at him ready to hit him but Ethan was quicker and caught her by her wrists. Her intent wasn't malicious but she did want to get him back for screwing her up. "Come on let me go," she said as she struggled in his grasp.
"Are you gonna hit me?" asked Ethan.
"Yeah."
"Well then."
Ethan spun her around and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her arms in place. "I guess we're at a stalemate," Ethan continued. Lyra continued to struggle for a moment before Ethan started tickling her. Lyra couldn't contain her laughter, she was extremely ticklish and she was completely at Ethan's mercy.
Soon they came to their last stop before the mountain, the general store outside of camp. "Alright guys, this is the last stop so stock up on anything else you need," Hilbert announced as he opened the bus door.
Everyone got off the bus leaving the Unova friends sitting on the bus. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I'll be right back," said Rosa as she walked off the bus.
Hilda gets up from her seat and plops down on Hilbert's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hilbert wrapped an arm around her and hit the bus horn a couple of times. "Where to ms.?" Hilbert said in a sophisticated voice.
Hilda leaned in so that her lips were just barely touching his, "To the stars," she whispered.
The two began making out in the seat without a care in the world. "You guys stole that from Titanic," Nate interrupted.
The two lovers broke off the kiss for a moment when they realized he was right. They shrugged it off though and went back to kissing. Nate rolled his eyes and got off the bus to see if there was anything he might need.
xxxxx
Ethan and Lyra were the last ones to check out. Ethan has his usual stack of junk food while Lyra had a few extra bottles of water. "Now we're definitely ready," said Ethan.
"I'm guessing you're planning on devouring all of that by yourself?" she asked
"Actually I was thinking of letting you in on it...Maybe."
Lyra giggled, "If you'll be so kind, I'll take the popcorn."
Ethan looked on in mock consideration for a moment before speaking, "I suppose I can let you have some this one time," he said jokingly as he pulled her in and kissed her.
Unfortunately, their moment was interrupted by the arrival of a group of people our main characters know all too well. It was Justin and his friends lead by Silver. "Look who it is," said Justin, "I hear you girls are about to go to your little sleepover."
Ethan and Lyra tried to ignore them but they were stopped by Silver, "Hey dipsh**s, he was talking to you," he said.
"Yeah, when people ignore you it usually means they don't care. Now, how about you and your boyfriends piss off?" said Ethan.
"Oh, you've still got your jokes huh?" said Justin as he walked up to him. He was fully prepared to punch him but luckily Nate stepped in. Nate looked at them with an intense glare that neither Ethan or Lyra had ever seen on him before.
"Do we have a problem?" Nate asked.
Justin knew it probably wasn't going to end well so he stepped back, "Not at all," he said with a smug grin. With that, the group walked to another part of the store. Ethan watched them with a glare, he wanted to teach them a lesson so bad. Then an idea came to him; he looked out the front window to see their ATVs parked out front. Perfect.
A grin came to his face as he grabbed one more thing off the shelf behind him, a bunch of bananas. The cashier rung it up and Ethan paid for it and he quickly went outside, pulling apart the bananas in the process. "You're gonna love it, Silver," he said quietly.
Lyra wasn't sure what he had in mind but she hoped and prayed he wouldn't get caught. Ethan walked up to the ATVs, "What are you doing?" asked Lyra.
"Just a little something I saw in a movie," he said as he stuck one of the bananas into the tailpipe of the ATV.
Lyra immediately knew what he was trying to do, it both thrilled and scared her to know the possible outcome of this prank. Lyra took a couple bananas from him and started jamming them into the other tailpipes as well. Within seconds, the couple had filled all the ATV tailpipes with bananas, they bolted back to the bus and the door closed behind them. Lyra and Ethan sat in their seats right as Silver, Justin, and the others came out of the store. They jumped on their ATVs and tried to start them but they didn't start. They just made this troublesome automotive noise. Ethan and Lyra struggled to contain their laughter as they watched them repeatedly try and fail to start their ATVs.
Silver got off and started looking around his ATV trying to figure out the problem. He walked around once before coming to the tailpipe. Silver finally found the problem, he pulled out the banana and stared at it. Ethan and Lyra couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing as the bus pulled away. Ethan stuck his head out the window, "Suck it jack***es!" he shouted before coming back inside.
The rest of the guys looked in their tailpipes as well and found more bananas. They looked at each other angry at what had just been done to them but none more so than Silver. "Ethan," he growled crushing the banana in his hand.
xxxxx
After more drive time, the bus finally reached the mountain trail. After getting everyone off, Hilbert spoke up again, "OK everyone who is in charge of the map and the compass?" he asked.
"Me!" Blue said.
"OK then, here is the radio for the ranger in case of an emergency," he said handing Blue a walky-talky.
The girl he had been talking too looked at him admirably and stood a little closer to him. "OK, it's a steady hike so just follow the trail and all will be well. Don't forget to write your name on the Ho-Oh statue," Hilbert announced.
"Alright, got it," Blue said.
"Good luck to you all, have a great day!"
With that, the CITs began their hike up the mountain and Hilbert went back to the bus to join his friends. "Alright, let's lead the charge Red!" Leaf said enthusiastically pulling Red to the front.
"OK then," Red said going along with it.
xxxxx
Afterward, Hilbert and the others were having a late lunch at a nice Diner in town. They were lamenting on the fact that their summer was almost over. "I can't believe it's already almost here, it feels like it was just yesterday that got here," said Rosa.
"Gotta say, this has been a really great summer," said Hilda.
"Yeah, it's definitely been more exciting. We've had that guy N, the Champion of Kanto, the Team Rocket attack," said Hilbert.
"The Kalos Champion and the Kalos Queen getting married," Hilda sulked. She was still upset that she missed such an event.
"To be fair, Hilda, it's not like we're affiliated with them in any way," Nate said.
"But Ethan and Lyra got to go."
"Well they were are friends with Red, we're not exactly at that level with him."
Hilda just sat there and sulked so Hilbert wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Anywho, I gotta say finding out Red is the champion was one of the most exciting developments. Considering how much attention the other champions get I'm surprised more people didn't know who he was."
"Red has always been one to keep to himself. If the party in the dining hall was any indication he REALLY doesn't like the attention," said Nate.
"I don't blame him," said Rosa, "you know how much attention the champions get. I would be overwhelmed."
A waiter came up to the group and placed a basket of chips in front of them. Nate immediately took one and popped in his mouth. "Still the very best like no other ever was," he said.
"Can't argue with that," Hilda said as she ate a chip as well.
Hilbert looked at Nate in contemplation which Nate was quick to notice. "What?" Nate asked.
"Just what you said. I feel like I've heard it somewhere before. It almost sounds like a crappy cartoon intro," said Hilbert.
He thought for another moment and shrugged it off. "Eh, whatever."
xxxxx
A couple of hours later, the CITs were still hiking up the trail. They were about halfway up the mountain and they were coming to an open area to rest. Red and Leaf were a good way ahead of the pack; Leaf was a little tired but she could go on for a while yet and Red was hardly phased. Ethan and Lyra were in a similar state but they were lagging behind with the rest of the group since they were the ones with the directions. Yellow was up there with them and she had Pika and Chuchu running and having fun together beside her. Blue, on the other hand, was further back talking and flirting with that girl from before. Everyone else was moving a little slower either already beat or almost there.
When they reached the rest area, Red and Leaf turned back to look at the others. There was a good 50 feet behind them and the group. "I don't know about you but if it were just me I'd be almost to the top by now," Red said.
"Yeah me to," Leaf replied, "a break would do us some good though."
Red sat down on a log while Leaf sat on his lap sideways, comfortably resting against him. Red was loving it way too much, it sucks that they still have to walk for a while. Then again, it wasn't like they couldn't do this again when they got to the peak. Of course, Leaf was feeling the same, "I wish we could just stay here all day," she said.
"Me too, but we can get too comfortable. We've still got 5 miles of trail ahead of us."
"Well then let's enjoy it while it lasts," Leaf said before Red leaned in and kissed her gently.
Everyone else was resting, drinking, eating snacks. Everything was going just fine, that is until one of the CITs spotted a group of wild pokemon he decided he wanted to capture. He pulled out a bunch of pokeballs and charged into the wilderness. It took him no time to find them; they were mostly common catches but among them was an Eevee and an Electabuzz. Those two were prime targets.
"Alright, you guys are gonna make awesome additions to my roster," he said as he released a Rhyhorn.
Most of the pokemon cowered in fear and Electabuzz stood to the front ready to defend his friends. "Don't worry Electabuzz I won't hurt you too badly. I want you to join my team after all," he said.
Electabuzz stood his ground. "Alright then, Rhyhorn, Horn Drill!" he commanded.
Rhyhorn's snout formed dome-shaped energy and charged forward ramming into all the pokemon and knocking them away in one shot. The wild pokemon lied there almost unconscious and the boy saw his chance. "Alright, perfect job Rhyhorn!" he said as he pulled out some pokeballs, "Now then let's-"
He was interrupted by the ground shaking beneath him. It shook so violently that he was knocked off of his feet. The ground shook once more and out of the ground came a massive angry-looking Steelix. The boy broke into a cold sweat as the metal snake looked at him with an unwavering glare. The boy slowly got up to his feet, "Uhh h-hey Steelix. Erm, you see I-I was just uh..."
He ran out of words to say and broke into a sprint back to the trail. Steelix wasn't having it and began pursuing the young trainer.
At the rest stop, the CITs were completely ignorant of the oncoming danger. All except for Yellow who felt a very large and aggressive presence moving towards them. She quickly ran to Red and Leaf, "Red, something's coming," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Just then the CIT came running out of the forest in a panic. "We've gotta move now!" he said frantically.
The ground began to shake violently and out of the forest came Steelix. Steelix let out an angry roar upon seeing all the people; he thought they were hunters trying to take the pokemon under his protection. He immediately rampaged trying to smash everyone with Iron Tail. Most everyone had to flee to the forest to avoid getting smashed leaving only Red, Leaf, Ethan, Lyra, Blue, and Yellow.
Yellow inched up to it when it stopped to catch its breath. "Steelix please stop! We don't want to hurt you!" she cried.
Steelix gave the angriest glare he had ever given and swung its tail in her direction. Yellow jumped out of the way just in time. "Yellow, you OK?!" Red called worriedly.
"I'm fine," she said.
Unfortunately, Steelix wasn't going to let her go that easily. He swung his tail again hitting the ground and send several slabs of rock flying in her direction. Yellow once again just managed to dodge them and ran into the forest with Chuchu following close behind. Pika gritted his teeth angry that this slithery snake tried to attack his mate and her trainer. Red was fully prepared to bring the enraged pokemon down as well but before he could do anything Leaf grabbed him by the arm. Red turned to her questioningly, "Let me take this one," Leaf said sweetly.
Red was surprised but let her do as she pleased, Leaf pulled out a Pokeball, "Blasty I need your help!" she said as she released the shellfish pokemon.
Her Blastoise stood ready to battle and Steelix looked towards him ready to take whatever came his way. Steelix took the initiative and swung at Blastoise with Iron Tail but Leaf was ready. "Blasty, Rapid Spin!" she commanded.
Blastoise withdrew into his shell and spun around deflecting the Iron Tail and knocking Steelix back. Leaf seized the opportunity, "Now use Hydro Cannon!"
Blastoise pointed its cannons at the metal snake and fired off two powerful blasts of water. The attack was super effective and Steelix cried out in pain as the attack blasted him through a large tree. Steelix looked at the group particularly at Leaf and Blastoise as it tried to get back up. Blastoise pointed his hydro cannons at him telling him that he was ready for more. Steelix didn't see himself having much of a chance so he decided to leave.
The group let out a sigh of relief as Steelix left the scene. Red looked at his girlfriend amazed at the strength she displayed. "Great job Blasty, you were great!" Leaf said as she returned the shellfish pokemon.
"You are incredible Leaf," Red said.
Leaf looked at her boyfriend sheepishly, "It was nothing really," she said.
"You almost knocked out that Steelix in one shot. I know gym leaders and Elite 4 members that couldn't do that," said Red.
Leaf's face reddened and Red's kind words. "He's right Leaf. You saved our butts," said Ethan.
"I did what anyone else would've done," Leaf said sheepishly scratching the back of her head.
"Not really, just about everyone else fled."
"Either way, my girlfriend is a bada**," Red said wrapping his arms around her stomach from behind. Leaf was out of words, she just sat there with a big smile and a blush dusting her perfect cheeks.
With Steelix gone, Red, Ethan, and the others found the others and brought them back and Ethan made sure to scold the CIT that angered the metal snake. Luckily nobody was hurt so there was no need to call the ranger and cut the trip short. Unfortunately, the Steelix attack ate away at their time a little; it was already late afternoon so they really needed to get moving and get up there before the sunset. "OK, let's just make sure everyone's here and we can get going," said Ethan. He started doing a headcount expecting everyone to be there.
...But everyone wasn't there...
Ethan counted 15 people, there was 16 that came on the trip. Ethan counted a couple more times in case he missed one but his counting was right. Now he was worried. "Guys, someone's missing," he said to his friends.
They looked worried now as well, who in the world could be missing? Red looked around noting all the faces in the group. That was when he realized it; it was Yellow that was missing.
Alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllright there we go, another chapter bites the dust. I honestly lost track of when was the last time I updated, I ended up taking a short break from writing so I'm sorry about that. Soooo I really don't know what else to say at this point in time other than what do you all think of this chapter? As always feel free to tell me what you think I do really appreciate your feedback good or bad. Have a good day you all, God bless :)