Chapter 8- To Vermillion City
Chapter 8
When I awoke the next morning, I was still in my tent, but Eve was no longer laying over me. I sat up quickly and looked about inside the tent, but she wasn't anywhere in it. Looking down at myself, I noticed that my jeans were fastened and my clothes straightened out a little more than they had been the night before. The faint scent of Eve's juices still lingered on them, more than reminding me of what we'd been doing last night. (As if I really needed a reminder...)
But she was definitely gone. Before jumping to the conclusion that she might've been taken away while I was asleep or something like that, I decided to check inside Fern's house first. She probably just went inside to eat or something...or so I hoped. I went to look around after fixing my clothes a little more. Sure enough, that's where she was. From the looks of it, she'd just taken a bath because Fern had her seated in a chair while she dried off her fur. Not to mention the place kind of did smell like...wet dog. When she finally noticed me standing at the backdoor, she smiled and nodded off towards the bathroom. "Hey, glad you're finally up. I figured you'd like a bath after last night too so I already filled the tub."
I noticed she was looking at me kind of funny when she mentioned the bath. What was that supposed to mean? She didn't know about me and Eve, did she? Once again that "mind reading" thing she did took effect as she let out a quiet giggle and dried the Eevee-girl's hair. "Wipe that coy look off your face. It's kind of hard for me to forget all that noise you two made last night."
"Ah...that was...uh..." I hated when my face turned bright red at times like these. It just made me feel even more embarrassed. I knew she had to have heard something last night; but the thought of it seemed a lot more awkward than it did now. I was relieved she really didn't seem to have noticed that I was watching her and Ivysaur then too though.
Fern just laughed at my expression. "Just go get washed up, would you? I need to talk to you when you're done."
"A...alright." I glanced at Eve, who was watching me with a warm smile on her face. Whether she was content about the petting Fern was giving her while she dried her off or something else, I didn't know. But that was the first time I'd seen an actual smile from her. Seeing that made me feel all warm inside. But I didn't stand there swooning for long. I quickly headed to my tent to grab a change of clothes and came back in, trying to avoid eye contact with the two smiling girls as I went by to the bathroom. I didn't really have any regrets about what happened, but still, it was really embarrassing to have them watching me like that...
I wound up staying in the tub for quite some time. It had been a while since I'd actually been able to relax like this. Even before I met Eve on the way to Saffron, things had been a little stressful. Fern's ranch was a nice place to just forget about everything. At least for this moment. I wondered if she liked living like that all the time. I probably wouldn't mind it myself; but I made sure not to forget about what I needed to do. I wished I could have spent just a little more time enjoying the peace and quiet, but I needed to get that Staryu some help as soon as possible and keep moving. The hard part was telling Fern about what I decided.
Needless to say, she wasn't happy with my decision. I felt kind of bad for springing it on her like this now; especially after she was nice enough to let us stay there, give us a warm bath, and now I'd ruined her breakfast with the news. Still, she was surprisingly understanding with it. After about twenty minutes of arguing, she finally gave in, but under the condition that she tagged along. "You're going right where my uncle wants you to." she said. "And there's no way I'm letting you go there by yourself with Eve."
"Why not?" I asked in protest. Honestly, I still didn't fully trust her. For all I knew, she might have just made off with Eve while I had my back turned rather than letting her set one foot in Vermillion. "I can take care of her myself, and it's on the way to-"
"To Fuschia City. I know. I figured that's where you might be trying to take her since there's plenty of places to hide around that area." I didn't know about any special hiding places until now, but I still thought heading that far south was the best idea. "The point is," Fern continued. "You're not thinking cleary. Eve is something very important to Team Auro. Do you think they're just going to let you stroll into town, refuse to hand her over, and let you off easy? No, they're going to do whatever it takes to get their hands on her. Chances are there's probably a nice-sized group of those guys waiting in Vermillion to take her by force if they have to. There's no way I'm letting you go alone, even if you're not going to be there long."
I started to argue even more, but then decided to give up. She was being as stubborn as I was and I supposed I should have been thankful that she was at least letting us go. She was right- that was something this Team Auro group wasn't likely to do. I just figured I'd have to keep a close eye on her as well as them. "Alright, alright, fine, you can come. Now can we hurry up and get moving?"
Fern smiled at my decision and nodded. "One second." she replied, heading off to her bedroom. Eve and I waited while she packed a few things and returned. I noticed she now had three poke balls at her waist now instead of the single one she'd had when I met her. One of them undoubtedly had to contain her Ivysaur, but I wondered who was in the other two. Giving a slight nod, she motioned towards the front door. "Shall we?"
I nodded in return and started walking with Eve close beside me like always. Once we were outside and moving down the path that led back to the main road, something crossed my mind. "Wait, if you're coming with us, who's looking after your Pokemon?"
"Don't worry." Fern chimed. "It's all taken care of."
I stared at her blankly for a while, but said nothing more about it as we went on our way to Vermillion City. Wasn't any of my business I guess...
When I awoke the next morning, I was still in my tent, but Eve was no longer laying over me. I sat up quickly and looked about inside the tent, but she wasn't anywhere in it. Looking down at myself, I noticed that my jeans were fastened and my clothes straightened out a little more than they had been the night before. The faint scent of Eve's juices still lingered on them, more than reminding me of what we'd been doing last night. (As if I really needed a reminder...)
But she was definitely gone. Before jumping to the conclusion that she might've been taken away while I was asleep or something like that, I decided to check inside Fern's house first. She probably just went inside to eat or something...or so I hoped. I went to look around after fixing my clothes a little more. Sure enough, that's where she was. From the looks of it, she'd just taken a bath because Fern had her seated in a chair while she dried off her fur. Not to mention the place kind of did smell like...wet dog. When she finally noticed me standing at the backdoor, she smiled and nodded off towards the bathroom. "Hey, glad you're finally up. I figured you'd like a bath after last night too so I already filled the tub."
I noticed she was looking at me kind of funny when she mentioned the bath. What was that supposed to mean? She didn't know about me and Eve, did she? Once again that "mind reading" thing she did took effect as she let out a quiet giggle and dried the Eevee-girl's hair. "Wipe that coy look off your face. It's kind of hard for me to forget all that noise you two made last night."
"Ah...that was...uh..." I hated when my face turned bright red at times like these. It just made me feel even more embarrassed. I knew she had to have heard something last night; but the thought of it seemed a lot more awkward than it did now. I was relieved she really didn't seem to have noticed that I was watching her and Ivysaur then too though.
Fern just laughed at my expression. "Just go get washed up, would you? I need to talk to you when you're done."
"A...alright." I glanced at Eve, who was watching me with a warm smile on her face. Whether she was content about the petting Fern was giving her while she dried her off or something else, I didn't know. But that was the first time I'd seen an actual smile from her. Seeing that made me feel all warm inside. But I didn't stand there swooning for long. I quickly headed to my tent to grab a change of clothes and came back in, trying to avoid eye contact with the two smiling girls as I went by to the bathroom. I didn't really have any regrets about what happened, but still, it was really embarrassing to have them watching me like that...
I wound up staying in the tub for quite some time. It had been a while since I'd actually been able to relax like this. Even before I met Eve on the way to Saffron, things had been a little stressful. Fern's ranch was a nice place to just forget about everything. At least for this moment. I wondered if she liked living like that all the time. I probably wouldn't mind it myself; but I made sure not to forget about what I needed to do. I wished I could have spent just a little more time enjoying the peace and quiet, but I needed to get that Staryu some help as soon as possible and keep moving. The hard part was telling Fern about what I decided.
Needless to say, she wasn't happy with my decision. I felt kind of bad for springing it on her like this now; especially after she was nice enough to let us stay there, give us a warm bath, and now I'd ruined her breakfast with the news. Still, she was surprisingly understanding with it. After about twenty minutes of arguing, she finally gave in, but under the condition that she tagged along. "You're going right where my uncle wants you to." she said. "And there's no way I'm letting you go there by yourself with Eve."
"Why not?" I asked in protest. Honestly, I still didn't fully trust her. For all I knew, she might have just made off with Eve while I had my back turned rather than letting her set one foot in Vermillion. "I can take care of her myself, and it's on the way to-"
"To Fuschia City. I know. I figured that's where you might be trying to take her since there's plenty of places to hide around that area." I didn't know about any special hiding places until now, but I still thought heading that far south was the best idea. "The point is," Fern continued. "You're not thinking cleary. Eve is something very important to Team Auro. Do you think they're just going to let you stroll into town, refuse to hand her over, and let you off easy? No, they're going to do whatever it takes to get their hands on her. Chances are there's probably a nice-sized group of those guys waiting in Vermillion to take her by force if they have to. There's no way I'm letting you go alone, even if you're not going to be there long."
I started to argue even more, but then decided to give up. She was being as stubborn as I was and I supposed I should have been thankful that she was at least letting us go. She was right- that was something this Team Auro group wasn't likely to do. I just figured I'd have to keep a close eye on her as well as them. "Alright, alright, fine, you can come. Now can we hurry up and get moving?"
Fern smiled at my decision and nodded. "One second." she replied, heading off to her bedroom. Eve and I waited while she packed a few things and returned. I noticed she now had three poke balls at her waist now instead of the single one she'd had when I met her. One of them undoubtedly had to contain her Ivysaur, but I wondered who was in the other two. Giving a slight nod, she motioned towards the front door. "Shall we?"
I nodded in return and started walking with Eve close beside me like always. Once we were outside and moving down the path that led back to the main road, something crossed my mind. "Wait, if you're coming with us, who's looking after your Pokemon?"
"Don't worry." Fern chimed. "It's all taken care of."
I stared at her blankly for a while, but said nothing more about it as we went on our way to Vermillion City. Wasn't any of my business I guess...