Ash was half-asleep when Pikachu took a flying leap from his headboard onto Ash's stomach.
"Yeee-ow!" Ash was jolted into the waking world to see his electric mouse gnawing on his hat.
"What, is that a hint?" He grinned and shoved the hat on his head. Ash dragged himself out of bed, got dressed, and (still
half-asleep) stumbled out of his room.
"Morning Ash!" Misty chimed.
Ash did a quick double-take. He and Brock had only rejoined Misty a few days ago, and they were already headed out on a
new adventure.
Brock and Misty, as ex-gym leaders, had been invited to an extremely difficult Pokemon league. Ash, as a winner of most of
the other leagues, got an invitation as well. They were on a chartered ship from Hoenn to this new country--Esrah.
Esrah was a somewhat large country with extreme conditions in many areas. Like most countries, it had eight gyms, but the
similarities ended there. The concept seemed simple, but this land was much more complicated than Ash could have expected.
Each gym in Esrah had three Reidlos, trainers who were similar to gym trainers in other nations. To fight with a gym
leader, the challenger must first track down and defeat the leader's Reidlos. Not much else is really known about the
Reidlos, however, there is a tracking program available for the PokeGear to make finding them a little easier. But not
much.
Ash, oblivious to the challenging road ahead, carefully made his way to breakfast, Misty in tow. Though he was used to
ships, he was sill a little shaky from his experience on the S.S. Anne. The two took to the buffet and sat down with full
plates.
"Nice ship!" Ash remarked as he stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth.
The two continued to discuss their trip and catch up until Brock joined them at the table.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Good morning, starshine!" piped Leena, looming over the sleeping Zac. Zac didn't stir. Leena cleared her throat.
"I said, GOOD MORNING!!"
Zac just rolled over. Leena sighed. They had traveled far, but they had to be at Lilamis City by nightfall, when the boat
arrived. They had jobs to do, and they had to get going--now.
"You leave me no choice," Leena said, laughing as she reached for a PokeBall. The ball opened and a Raichu appeared in a
bright flash of light. "You know what to do."
The Raichu nodded, making a "rai" sound in the back of his throat. His cheeks glowed and sparked with electricity. Seconds
later, Zac had been thouroghly electrecuted into conciousness. Raichu was returned to his Pokeball.
"Inconsiderate." Zac murmured.
"Places to go, people to...Uh....YOUR MOM!" Leena turned and started to pack up Zac's things, since
hers already were.
"Toss me a Pokeball," Zac muttered.
"Lazy..." Leena growled, tossing an odd looking Pokeball over her shoulder. Zac got up and set off
after a nearby Pidgey.
"Come to daddy, little Pidgey." Zac began to stalk the little bird. "Daddy's tired of walking."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sound of the ship's horn made Ash wince. He was relieved to see shore, with no obstacles between the ship and the dock. No Magikarp-shaped-submarine, no hurricanes, nothing. He could heel his blood starting to boil with excitement--he was getting closer and closer to being a Poke`mon master.
He couldn't hold it back. A grin bled onto his face.
"AWWWW-RIGHT!" Ash screamed to the bay. "HERE I COME, ESRAH LEAGUE!"
Someone grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air.
"Eager, aren'tcha buddy?" The man was strong, and he reminded Ash of someone he'd met before. "Didn't want you fallin' into the drink." His eyes were a bright blue.
"Oh...Uh, thanks!" Ash said brightly. "Couldya... um, let me down, though?"
"Oh! Yeah, sure." He laughed and Ash's feet found the ground again. "Excited about the league, huh?"
"Yeah, absolutely." Ash laughed.
"Ash!" Brock's voice echoed around the open deck of the ship.
"I'm over here!" Ash called in reply.
"Ash, huh?" The man's bright eyes glistened under his dark hair. "I'm Trei. I'll catch you on the flip side, huh?"
"Yeah...I'll see you around," Ash said, and Trei took off just as Brock was walking up.
"Who was that?" Brock asked, watching Trei's retreating back.
"He said his name was Trei." Ash frowned.
"Did you say Trei?" Brock looked surprised. "He's one of the gym leaders. I think he's with the water gym."
"No WAY!" Ash's jaw dropped and he stared in the direction he'd gone.
"Attention, passengers! We will be reaching our destination shortly. Please gather your belongings!" a woman's voice echoed over the loud speaker.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zac and Leena had long since arrived in Lilamis city. It had been an embarassing and comical trip, the two of them clinging to a freshly caught Pidgey they taught Fly.
"I can't believe you did that," Leena remarked, referring to the stunt of wrestling and capturing the aforementioned Pidgey. "You could have used Raichu. He listens to you, and I have plenty of Revives."
"That makes too much sense!" Zac retorted.
The two proceeded to walk to the dock, where a fairly large crowd of people was waiting for the fresh meat to arrive. Small groups prepared to take bets on which trainers would drop out first, which would last longest, and many other things. Leena figure there were at least two Reidlos waiting on the dock, but probably not Lilian's.
Lilian was the first gym leader, assoviated with the psychic gym. She was known throughout the world for combining psychology with her battling strategy. Rumors said that when executed this combination actually appears extremely silly, but it was oddly devastating.
The ship docked and began unloading its passengers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wow!" Ash exclaimed as the grand ship docked. "Look at that!" He pointed at the city, enraptured.
The entire city had a majestic air about it and seemed to have a metallic sheen. The gym was right in the heart of the town and plainly visible from the ship.
Pikachu scurried up behind Ash and alighted on his shoulder. "Pika!"
"Ready Pikachu?" Ash tightened his grip on the railing. "Let's knock 'em dead!"
Misty ran up and stood next to Ash. "It's beautiful," she sighed. "Like a vision from a dream!"
Ash attempted to inch away from Misty (whom he thought was entirely too close) only to bump into Brock.
"It is nice," Brock replied. "I can't wait to get off this ship!"
The ship began unloading its passengers, Ash, Misty and Brock at the head of the stampede.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Jessie, I'm pooped, can we stop?" James' whiny, pitchy voice echoed in the forest clearing. Meowth had hit the ground hours ago and James was forced to carry him--Jessie had opted to just leave him where he fell.
"No, James, we've got--" she started attacking nearby bushes, trying to clear a path. "--to keep--" hack, slach, "--moving!"
"Jessie, you're going to pass out, and then I'll have to carry you too!"
Jessie thought for a second, and then stopped. And sat.
And didn't move for a long time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Look." Zac smiled, watching Ash make his way through the crowd. "Let me have him. As he is now, he can't beat me. He's the one Lance wants us to take care of, right?"
"Guess that's gotta be him." Leena frowned uncharacteristically.
"Let's see what that Pikachu can really do." Zac's grin widened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ash had been grinning ever since he stood on this new land, but when a trainer blocked his path, his grin spread from ear-to-ear.
"You're Ash, right?" The boy was tall, and most of his figure was hidden in a loose, short-sleeve hoodie. He wore high-top sneakers that thin, sleek legs vanished into. He had on gray athletic shorts, and his hair was covered by a mysterious bandana. "I thought I'd introduce you to the Esrah league."
"Cool! You're gonna have to explain it all to me, though." Ash grinned.
"How about a two-on-two battle?" He couldn't help smiling. "By the way, my name is Zac."
"Alright, so..."
"Vaporeon, Jolteon!" The two appeared in a bright flash.
"Can we borrow a friend's Poke`Mon? I want to make it fair!" Ash glanced over at Misty and Brock.
"Sure, it's not an official match." Zac sighed. He didn't know all of the Poke`Mon, being a native of Kanto, but he knew Ash had a water Poke`Mon.
Brock tossed him Mudkip's Poke`Ball. "Be nice to him, Ash."
"Mudkip, Pikachu, go!" Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder and Mudkip sprang forth from the Poke`Ball.
"You two know what to do!" That was all Zac said. The two canines lunged--Vaporeon for Pikachu and Jolteon for Mudkip.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt, now!" Ash yelled, but before Pikachu could do anything, Vaporeon had knocked it clear out of the imaginary boundaries and straight into Brock's face.
Pikachu couldn't move.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, shocked and horrified to see his best buddy taken out so fast by the first trainer he fought. Knowing water Poke`Mon to be useless against electric, Ash grimaced. He couldn't win this battle.
The Jolteon and Vaporeon sat down, waiting for an order. Zac smiled. "Give up, Ash?"
Ash looked down at Mudkip, who was shivering with fear, and at Pikachu, who had somehow been paralyzed, and then at his feet, his hat covering his eyes. He looked up with a smile.
"Yeah."
"Glad to hear it. Let me treat your Pikachu. I owe a friend of yours a favor." Zac crossed the "battlefield" and pulled a potion out of his pack. But, before applying it, he pulled some spines out of Pikachu's joints.
Ash was shocked. "Wh-what?!"
"Jolteon's fast. He used a pin missle attach when he was running for Mudkip." Zac grinned. "You've got to be careful. Some people fight to the death here."
Ash recoiled and looked at Pikachu, concerned. A girl stepped out from some undisclosed hiding place behind Zac and glanced at a stopwatch in her hand.
"Wow, 7.32 seconds. You're slow today, Zac!" she piped. She stuffed the clock in a khaki messenger bag and lazily closed it. She was quite a bit shorter than Zac and even Misty, but had a relatively strong build. Her outfit consisted of a circus-like black tank-top over a white turtleneck, all tucked into slightly baggy jeans. Her hair was to her shoulderblades, brown, and half-up in two large bao on the sides of her head. She looked at the strangers. "And you are...Who?"
Before anyone else could get a word in, the girl had Brock down on one knee in front of her.
"HellotheremissI'mBrockandyouseemlikeanicegirlowouldyouliketogooutwithmesometime?" he rattled off in one breath.
"Uhm....It's nice to meet you, Brock. I'm Leena! And you two?" Leena turned to Ash and Misty, dodging every other question Brock had asked. Zac seemed annoyed.
Misty let out a sigh at Brock's seventh spontaneous confession of undying love this hour and pulled at his ear. "I'm Misty. This is Ash. Oh, and don't mind Brock, he does that to all pretty girls."
"All of them you say?" Leena giggled mischeviously. She glanced at Zac, smirked, and then back at Brock. "I'd love to go out sometime," she said sweetly, finally answering him. "But I think you missed one..." she thought, laughing uncontrollably as Brock jumped out of his skin and the others just looked on, exasperated. However, Leena stopped laughing abruptly when she was nearly knocked off her feet by Brock.
Obviously uncomfortable, she pushed him away. "Personal space please!" She stepped back behind Zac once more. "You three must be tired! How about the five of us go find a place to stay? I betcha you're lost."
Misty flushed angrily at this blatant insult of their intelligence. "I'll have you know we HAVE a map--"
"Sounds like a plan!" Ash cut in. "But you'll have to tell us more about this league."
"Nooot a problem!" Leena snapped her finders and began to leave before Zac or Misty could protest. So the four followed her into the metropolis without hesitation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leena sat on her bed at the inn, Marowak curled up in her lap, and flipped through a a breeding magazine she'd borrowed from Brock. Ash, Misty and Brock were situated in a room right across the hall, while Zac and Leena shared one. Leena abset-mindedly fed Marowak Poke`Blocks that seemed to be coming from an endless supply in her bag.
"So, we're going to be following those three..." Leena shut the magazine, held Marowak over her head and lay down. "This could get interesting, ne Marowak?" She giggled. Marowak responded with a cheerful coo as a loud, obnoxious knocking fell upon their door.
Leena put Marowak under her arm and looked through the peephole. It was Misty.
The door was opened and Misty came in. "Sorry to bother you two, but--" Misty laughed. "Too much testosterone in there."
"It's fine!" Leena replied. "You can stay until things calm down."
Zac rolled his eyes and Leena took out a squirt bottle, a sponge and a towel. So proceeded to give Marowak a bath, setting her on the towel and scrubbing her thouroughly with the liquid in the bottle.
Misty sat on the now vacant bed. Marowak looked up and growled at her as if to protect Leena in case Misty were ill-intentioned. Misty laughed nervously and inched backwards until Marowak was satisfied.
"Oh, sorry about her," Leena apologized, scrubbing a spot on Marowak's back. "She's a little unfriendly. She'll get used to you." She gestured to her bag. "There's some Poke`Blocks in there. Give her a few and you'll have a friend for life."
Misty fished through the bag, but instead of finding Poke`Blocks she came upon an odd, lavender Poke`Ball with a purple stripe along the front.
"What kind of Poke`Ball is this?" Misty asked. "I've never seen one like it."
"It's called a Phantom Ball. It's for catching ghosts--my grandpa makes them." She began to towel-dry Marowak. "Don't open that one; Misdreavus is in there. She and Marowak don't get along, to say the least."
Misty nodded, replaced the ball and pulled out the bag of Poke`Blocks. "She likes the yellow ones," Leena informed her.
Misty pulled one out and held it out to Marowak. She greedily accepted it, and eyed Misty curiously. Then, she bit down hard on the unsuspecting water-trainer's leg.
"Owwwwwww!" Misty yelped in pain. Marowak cooed, and, satisfied, balanced her bone on her head.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Leena quickly and profusely apologized. "She does that when she likes people."
"I wish she didn't like me so much..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zac has made his way across the hall and was presently lecturing Ash and Brock on the rules of the league, explaining the badges and more importantly, the Reidlos.
"Pass me your Gear," Zac said, and Ask pulled out the phone-like device. "I'm going to upload the software that tracks the Reidlos."
"So, we have to beat all four...Wait, tracks them? Huh?" Ash was more than slightly confused. "I don't--"
"They'll explain it to you at the gym. Just tell them you've got the software." As Zac was talking, Brock was watching him. There was something odd about this guy. Something in his mannerisms, the way he held his hands... no, that wasn't it.
His eyes.
He had bright hazel eyes, with long, effeminate eye lashes. He was also well-groomed, moreso than Misty.
"Okay, okay." Ash's voice brought Brock out of his thoughts. "So, do you have any badges?"
Zac laughed. He unzipped his hoodie and held it open.
Eight badges shimmered in the soft light of the room. They were all made of precious stones, unlike those of Kanto, Johto and Hoenn.
"The stakes are a little higher, here." Zac grinned. "I'd show you my other badges, but they're in the other room."
"You have more?" Ask stared.
"I've beaten almost every league out there." His laugh was a tad higher than his voice, another strange quality. "Mostly thanks to my Arcanine."
"Where are you from?" Brock wondered aloud. "I mean, you use all of these Kanto Pokemon."
"Viridian. That was a long time ago...I made my way to Pallet town by myself, with no Pokemon to help me. Professor Oak found me...I had no sense of direction...I still really don't." He laughed again.
"Any more questions?" Zac finally said after a moment of awkward silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Misty and Leena sat adjacent to one another on the bed, chatting away about their lives.
"So you're a gym leader." Leena took a swig from her water bottle. "That must be exciting!"
"Well, my sisters run the gym now, but..." she produced a few pokeballs. "I'm always training, in case I have to go back."
Leena nodded. "I think I fought your sisters once before, actually!" She produced the Cerulean Gym badge. "They were good, but they were no match for Raichu! Isn't that right?" Raichu squeaked contentedly as Leena stroked his fur. Marowak had long since been returned to her ball, since she had caused Misty quite a bit of grief. She was covered with bandaids and bruises.
Misty nodded, yawned and stood up. "Well, it was nice chatting with you, but I need to get to bed." She went to the door, and turning the knob, turned her head back as she walked through the door. "Later--Ah!" Apparently she should have watched where she was going, because as she walked through the door she collided straight-on with Zac.
"Watch it." Zac walked past her and sat on the bed.
Leena pouted. "Be nice, Zac!" she scolded.
"Maybe you could teach your boyfriend some manners!" Misty turned up her nose. Her comment was greeted by unsupressed laughter from Leena and a scowl from Zac.
"BOYFRIEND? Hardly!" Leena managed to yelp between gulps of air. Misty, red-faced, stormed out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The nerve of those two!" Misty slammed the door behind her and threw down her bag.
"Woah, what happened to you?" Brock looked up from his breeding magazine and Ash's attention snapped to the raging water trainer.
"Zac and Leena are no good!" Misty shouted, disregarding the bonding she and Leena had done before she and Zac "met" in the doorway. "So rude!"
"Quiet, Misty!" Ash whispered harshly. "People are trying to sleep! We'll get thrown out if you keep yelling!"
"Oh...Sorry." Misty drew a deep breath. "They just...Augh!" Misty threw herself on her bed in a fit of rage, and, muffling her voice in the pillow, let out a mighty scream.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leena hopped out of the hotel room, pulling on one of her boots. Her hair was sloppily done up in her usual style, and she had a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth. She made her way casually down the narrow hallway, munching her toast and humming some unidentifiable tune. She'd made a point to get up earlier than everyone else today since she wanted to meet with Lilian before Ash did.
Lilian was odd at best. True, she was a powerful trainer and a capable gym leader, but she was a little strange. She was well into her 20's, but had a childish "I can make the world a better place" attitude. She was uncharacteristically immature, unlike most psychic Pokemon trainers, probably the least mature one Leena had met---and she'd met many.
Leena found herself at the door of the gym. She barged right in, taking out the completed Third-Eye badge and showing it to the man standing at the entrance of the leader's arena.
"Forgive me, Miss, but Lilian isn't in today."
"I see. Who's her substitute?" Leena asked, not really caring, but naturally curious to see who would be here instead.
"Master Lance will be arriving shortly."
Leena's face lit up and her heart rate tripled. Blood rushed to her cheeks. "Lance is coming here?!" she yipped. The doorman gave her a confused look. "Uh..." Leena's face turned redder, now with embarrassment. "Thank you, sir." Leena regained her composure and calmly walked out. As soon as the door closed, however, Leena let out an excited squeal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zac swore. "Lance is coming HERE." Ash and the others were eating their breakfast a few feet away. "Here. To this town."
"Is that a problem...?" Leena eyed him suspiciously.
"I have to follow two sets of orders, you know." He dropped his voice so the others wouldn't hear. "Giovanni's AND Lance's."
"You worry too much!" Leena's creepy grin came back.
"I do not--I worry exactly the right ammount!" Zac stumbled through his sentence, only to be dragged away by Leena, who was giggling like a schoolgirl.
"Here's a warning--they think we're together," she whispered.
As they were leaving, ash and his friends heard a high-pitched scream of "WHAT?!" from Zac.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ash looked in the direction the pair had left in. He shot Brock a confused look, only to find him gone across the room, on one knee, confessing his love to some poor woman sitting there.
The girl giggled as Brock finished his speech.
"...Oh, and I'm Brock."
The girl giggled. She didn't look particularly young (she was perhaps 17), but she wore her hair in braided pigtails and wore a very childish dress of overalls and a pink, striped blouse. She looked a child indeed, from a distance. She patted Brock on the head. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lilian."
Brock was taken aback. "Wait, you're--"
Lilian giggled. "See you around!" She skipped out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes, you heard me." Leena laughed. "They think we're a couple."
"But--you--me--US? Even if I WAS a guy, that's...A SIN AGAINST NATURE!" Zac fumed.
"HAH!" Leena pulled out a small electric device from her sleeve.
An angry, yet worried expression fell on Zac's face. "Leena...What's that?"
"I call it--Blackmail," she proclaimed. She hit a button and out rang Zac's voice: Even if I WAS a guy--" Leena hit the button again and the recording stopped. She pocketed the recorder. "Oh, and one more thing..."
"What?" Zac grumbled.
"It's were. Not was." Leena smirked. "In your little outburst there grammar escaped you."
Zac shot her a dirty look and just kept walking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Three pieces of seaweed washed up on the shore of Esrah.
Upon closer inspection, one would learn that they were not seaweed, but Jessie, James and Meowth.
"I ain't nevah doin' that again!" Meowth snarled. "Don'cha get that cats hate water?!"
"No complaining!" Jessie barked.
"But I'm hungry!" James moaned.
"We eat when we find the twerp!"
"But, Jessie..."
"WHAT, JAMES?!"
"Where are we?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lance was a very beautiful man.
His hair was down today. He was working undercover and it saved money on gel.
He was grinning at Zac.
"I want that picture burned," she snarled.
"And I want to see you in that dress again."
Zac jumped and looked around, looking for Ash and the others, but didn't see them.
"Why you--"
"I did tell people my Reidlos were women, but I never told them that one wants to be me."
"I. DO. NOT."
"Stop making fun of me you guys!" Leena whined as she came into the room. She was heavily laden with papers and bags.
"What's all--" Leena cut her partner off.
"Some notes I took on Ash and stuff!" She giggled. "I wrote them last night." Leena then looked at Lance. "Master Lance! Your hair's so pretty!" she squealed.
"Ah...Thanks. Good job on that paperwork..." he said uncomfortably. Leena, in his opinion, was kind of creepy. He took the bundles of paper and put them aside. "Zac and I were just reminiscing." Lance let a conceited smirk make its way onto his face.
"Really? About wha--"
"NOTHING!" Zac shouted. Leena looked somewhat hurt, but then returned to her cheery self and started yammering away about her findings on Ash.
Zac looked bored for a while and Lance was looking at her, probably paying as much attention to Leena's monologue as she was.
"...And then there was this sushi but Misty didn't like sushi because she trains water Pokemon so to her it's, like, cannibalism and Brock DOES like sushi and THAT'S what happened!" Apparently Leena had taken the time the night before to get Misty's entire life story, from birth to the bike incident to what she had for dinner last night. She drew a breath. "Anything else you need to know, Master Lance?"
"Who is Zac dating nowadays?"
"Apparently ME!" Leena piped, giggling maniacally.
"I thought for sure it'd be someone like me, back then."
"GO. DIE." Zac barked.
"DON'T TALK TO MASTER LANCE THAT WAY!" Leena screamed, smacking Zac with her bag.
"YOU GET TO TALK TO HIM HOWEVER THE HELL YOU WANT AFTER DATING HIM!" She practically exploded.
Silence.
After about 20 seconds, Leena began crying hysterically.
"You--lied to--meee!"
"Nobody lied to you!" they both barked.
"You said you were gay!"
"Well..." they both began.
"Oh well...I'll get over this eventually, I guess..." Leena frowned. "I'm gonna go watch Howl's Moving Castle and eat a WHOLE pint of Hagen-Daaz! You're all MEANIES!" Leena ran out, still crying, but more angry than sad now.
"This is your fault!" Zac snarled.
"Look, if you didn't decide it would be cool to look like a lesbian, we'd still be together!"
"Who'd want to?!"
"Her, apparently!"
They stood in silence for a while. When a trainer arrived, Zac left.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zac found Leena sitting contentedly on her bed at the inn, watching Howl's Moving Castle, and, as promised, shoveling ice cream into her mouth. Brock had been dutifully standing guard at her door. He didn't try to stop Zac, but he gave her a dirty look.
"Leena," Zac crooned, somewhat whinily.
"Shh! This is the best part!" Leena merrily continued watching. "Howl's prettier than Lance, anyway."
Leena kept watching the screen, a smile on her lips, but her eyes held a faraway sadness in them.
"Leena--"
"It would have been nice of you to tell me, you know." Leena's eyes didn't leave the screen. "I wouldn't have bothered with him if I'd known all that."
There was a paralyzed silence between them for a second broken only by the sounds of the TV. Then Zac decided to break it. "What's Brock doing out there?"
"Don't know, really. He saw I was upset, so I guess he's waiting for me to feel better or something." Leena's eyes brightened. "He did get me this ice cream, though. He's such a sweetie, doncha think?"
"Gave me a dirty look. Does he think we broke up or something?" Zac laughed a bit in spite of herself.
"Oh, no." Leena replied. Her smile grew into a huge grin. "I just let them all know you're a girl."
Zac's jaw dropped. The movie ended. Leena, smiling smugly, walked out.
"Revenge is sweet, non?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Misty and Ash felt like they'd just been told the sky was falling.
"He's a CHICK?" Ash exclaimed once more, much to Misty's annoyance, since they were outside.
"Apparently." Misty scratched her head. "I knew there was something about him...her...uh...it."
Ash stood on the sidewalk, still baffled. "He's a CHICK?"
Misty sighed. What am I gonna do with that boy...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Leena walked slowly through the mall, Brock next to her and carrying some bags. He seemed more than happy to help, but looked a bit uncomfortable. Leena seemed very far away and wasn't talking to him much. She acted as though she were in another dimension entirely.
Brock and the others had been pretty much kept in the dark about what had happened. Brock's only real indication of what happened was Leena yelling about what a jerk Zac was being--and she mentioned someone named Lance. All of them had quickly dismissed the thought that Leena and Zac would have known Lance--THE Lance, one of the best trainers in the world and an old friend of Ash's. How could they? Sure, they were skilled trainers, but surely not THAT skilled. Actually, they only could assume Leena was skilled--out of the four, only Zac had ever seen her battle.
"Hey Leena..." Brock cautiously began.
"Huh?" Leena pulled herself from her thoughts and turned to him. "Yes?"
"I was just wondering, and I don't mean to pry, but..." Brock looked uneasy. "...what happened this morning? Between you and Zac?"
Leena frowned. She turned to a random store and revived herself. "Ooooh, Brock, can we go in there?"
"You're dodging the question." Brock stopped walking.
"It was...Nothing that you need to concern yourself with." Leena continued into the store.
Then what am I doing here? Brock thought.
END CHAPTER ONE.
