There was a heated argument ensuing between Levi and Marshall. Marshall said that he wanted to take it slow so that he could train, after all, he had a mission he was after, and wanted to complete it. Levi didn't feel that was necessary, and he wanted to just move instead of waiting for him to finish every battle. Kylie didn't have a say in the matter. Neither male would let the poor girl talk.
Marshall quickly retorted to Levi's previous argument. "How do you expect to beat gyms without training?!"
Levi shook his head. "If I have a good strategy, I don't need to train."
Marshall glared. "Then what happens when you aren't strong enough? Then you'd have to train!" He argued.
Levi simply gave an eye roll. "No, that's not it. All I have to do is get a good tactical strategy!"
"And make your Pokemon dislike you because you constantly make them faint?" He said, venom coming with his words. The silence that befell between the boys as they glared at each other was enough to make even the strongest men and women fall weak to their knees. Kylie broke the silence.
"If you two can't agree, then we might as well travel alone!" Kylie said.
Marshall looked at her surprised. "Are you sure..?" He asked, breaking his glance from the relentlessness of Levi's stare.
She nodded. "Yeah!"
"Why don't you just have on of us come with you, and the other travel on his own?" Levi offered.
"That doesn't sound like a terrible agreement, yet, how would we decide?"
"A battle." Levi said.
"Oh boy.."
"I guess I'm referee." Kylie said.
The two of them backed away from each other to give ample distance, and tossed out their signature Pokemon.
Lycanroc.
...Lycanroc?
The trainer opposite of Marshall had sent out his own Lycanroc, that having been a Midday Lycanroc.
"You have a Lycanroc too? This'll be a pain.." He said.
"But you also have two Pokemon. You have the advantage." Levi said.
"You don't have a second one?" He asked.
"I do, but at the moment, he's resting."
"Ah."
"The battle will begin in 3..2..1..Battle!"
Marshall immediately went to make the command, but Lycanroc knew the move he'd chose and immediately went for Rock Throw.
Levi's Midday Lycanroc barely rolled out of the way, charging at Lycanroc with Accelerock.
Lycanroc of course got struck by the blinding Accelerock, but taking advantage of his thrown height in the air, Marshall made Lycanroc go for Rock Slide. The rocks came crashing down on Midday that it was impossible to see what happened through the dust cloud. He had been struck, but not struck down. He still stood, strong, not so much, but he stood. Midday used Rock Throw himself, and Lycanroc was struck again. He slid backwards, giving a murderous stare.
"Lycanroc, ROCK SLIDE!"
"Accelerock!"
The two Pokemon's moves collided, and it was practically an explosion of pebbles. Marshall and Levi covered their faces, and once the barrage stopped, they looked at the scene that befell. Midday had fainted, meaning Marshall had won the battle. Marshall jumped, pumping his fist into the air.
"Yeah!" He cheered.
"It seems you've won. I suppose that I'll be travelling alone for now, but, trust me, I'm sure we'll see each other again." Levi said, walking away. Kylie watched him go.
"Bye Levi! I'll make sure to message you and talk whenever we can!" Kylie said. She then turned to Marshall. "Guess it's just us now!" She said. "Train?"
"Train."
That's what they did along to the next town. Nei and Lycanroc both got their fair share of training. Even Kylie's Scorbunny (named Nia) got her turn to battle too! They entered the town, of which didn't have a Gym. It was big though, there was a Pokemon Center, lot's of houses, and of which was also a four way intersection from the looks of it. Where to go next, they were unsure, due to the fact they could go North, South, or East. So, instead, they decided to walk around and see the sights, what was there. They first went to the Center to heal, and buy some more supplies, and then they explored. There was a Trainer's School as well. Marshall insisted they didn't need to go, even though Kylie practically begged. He decided that she'd be allowed to go, but they needed to meet by the eastern-most exit to get going. Marshall found a Town Map. He didn't want to just pick it up of the ground and take it, but he didn't really have any other choice in his eyes. He grabbed it and stuffed it in his bag. He then made his way to the exit. He took out the Town Map and looked at it as Kylie came approaching.
"You bought a map?"
"..Sure." He said.
"Well, where are we headed?"
"This is the right direction I believe."
"Then let's move!"
"Right."
The pair made their way east, and Marshall could hear the outburst of a Trainer of whom couldn't find his Town Map.
As the duo made their way down the path still, battling every trainer (Or just about) when they came across them, they swept their way through, making it to a cave.
"We have to go through here?" Kylie asked.
"It isn't dark, thankfully." Marshall replied.
"But caves are still dark and windy."
"Doesn't mean we still can't find our way through. Most of the time, they make caves predictable."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that.." She tried to think of a retort. "I have nothing..Let's proceed."
And so Marshall led the way inside of the cave, looking around. It was dim, but still enough light for him to make out walls and the floor, and the occasional hole IN the floor. As they walked along, it was actually for the most part, quite relaxing. They walked down some obviously man made stairs, taking quick steps as they departed. They heard some chatter and assumed that it was more trainers. They walked by, not bothering to look over.
"Hey! Freeze!"
Marshall gulped. "Oh boy."
He and Kylie turned to face the male voice that confronted them. It was another member of Team Lunar.
"Oh, it's you again. Didn't I beat you like, 4 chapters ago?"
The grunt that challenged Marshall and got one-shot by his Noibat snarled at him.
"Well you're at our whim now, Marshall!"
Marshall rolled his eyes. He instinctively reached for his Pokeball on his belt, but noticed it was gone. They took all his Pokeballs, probably while he was confronting the grunt. Marshall looked at Kylie. He saw her fumble her Pokeball which was in her bag. She, almost as if she read his mind, hid the Pokeball in her bag as they grunts escorted them through the cave. They were sat in front of a rock, where an admin was supposed to watch them to prevent their escape. Marshall saw them set his Pokemon by the admin. He elbowed Kylie. She grabbed the ball from her bag.
"Nia, Ember!" She insisted.
The Scorbunny came out of almost nowhere and shot an Ember at the admin, whom of which fell. Marshall lunged at his Pokemon, and throwing the balls they kept captive in.
"Lycanroc, Nei, we need you!" He shouted. "Nei, Supersonic!" He called, and Supersonic was used on the admin, whom of which became dizzy. "Alright, let's go already Kylie!" Marshall said, who was already running, Lycanroc following suit. Nei wasn't far behind either. Kylie sprinted as fast as she could after them, throughout the winding caves. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but he just sort of hoped that'd he'd end up at an exit. Running up another set of stairs, there was a load of Team Lunar fools guarding the exit.
Marshall swore loudly.
Lycanroc hurled a rock at them, but a Tyrogue came and kicked it, shattering into bits.
"What do we do? Supersonic can't effect all of them!"
They started to close in, and Marshall felt trapped.
"Let's just go! If we run, we might be able to lose them!" Kylie said.
The two of them turned and ran back down the steps. They darted down the left path, but the footsteps were still loud behind them. Marshall slid behind a boulder, and Kylie just sat herself down next to him. They held their breath, waiting for them to pass. They waited there for a while, but eventually they heard their now quiet footsteps leave. Silently, the duo got up and slowly made their way back the way whence they came. They made it out. Lycanroc looked really on edge, and Nei was clinging to Marshall. Nia was already back in her ball. Marshall and Kylie both took deep breaths.
"Even though it was practically with our lives, that was quite exhilarating." Kylie said.
Marshall nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah, it really was." He said.
"Just a handy question, though..Why are they chasing after YOU of all people?"
"Don't even. I don't know and rather, it's a long story to explain what I do know." He knew he could sum it up in a few moments but he refused to do so. "Now let's go." He said, wanting to avoid the subject.
The town wasn't very far from the exit of the cave. It was a short walk, and didn't take long. The town was nice, flowers were out and about, and the grass had dew on it. Obviously not long before they arrived it had been raining. Marshall and Kylie saw the gym, but Marshall didn't feel ready to challenge it yet.
"I think we should train a little and then afterwards we should go rest for the night, we can start my Gym Challenge tomorrow." Marshall said.
And so they went and trained a for a few hours before returning to the Pokemon Center. They got directions to an Inn in town and went, and they got (seperate) rooms and went to bed, since it was dark and Marshall wasn't up for travel any longer.
Sorry this one is short! I wasn't kidding when I said I had writers block. It took way more than it should have to write this chapter, but here you are!
Normaluser, heading out!