Story Notes:
Yoy for disclamers. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.Yawn. At least now I can't be sued by people who find joy in pages of dullness, i.e lawyers.
Confusion
Tom awoke. There were clean sheets and no one was saying 'go through his pockets,' so he chalked that up as a promising beginning. He kept his eyes shut, just in case there was anyone around who, once he was seen to be awake, would make life more complicated and less long for him. Besides, no one had ever said what time a trainer should get up in the morning, and if they had, Tom had probably gone into selective hearing mode. He found life better that way, especially if Holly was talking to him.
One problem with staying there with eyes closed was that he could hear breathing, and that he had an uncomfortable feeling he was being observed, like someone would watch a rarity in the wild. He knew that with there being a rather good dream last night, something bad was bound to happen in the morning. For him, life just worked like that.
He then did something very foolish.
He opened his eyes.
"WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPYHEAD!!!" Holly screamed in his face. It as liked having your ear put next to a chalkboard and someone running a piece of chalk down it. Tom wondered if she was talking to someone else. There was a next to no chance that she was, but Tom was a guy who lived in hope.
"I'm not in. Stop shouting. Stop talking altogether, for that matter. Call back when I can be bothered to get up, please." Tom said, with the sort of feeling that makes your bed seem a lot more comfortable than it actually is, but only when you first wake up. Holly didn't take well to this. Her eyes narrowed, and, with a heave, she literally made him get up on the wrong side of the bed with an unusual sound, like a yell cut short mixed with a crunch. As Tom picked himself up, she smiled nastily, and flounced out of the room, the triumphant look again on her face. Tom thought it smart to leave the center.
They walked downstairs, Tom being careful not to leave his bag in the room, and gripping it tightly to his back. He walked up to Joy's desk, and found to his delight that it was a much less depressed Joy at the counter. Tom expressed greetings, thanks, and yawns to the nurse, and recieved his pokéballs. They left the center, ready to face a brand new day, and possibly a leave of chattering gnat. But Holly seemed quieter than usual, and while they entered the center of Petalburg, Holly still hadn't said a word. Talking must have taken the strength away to keep on talking. Tom knew he ought to feel cheerful about the lack of talk, but all it did was make him feel lonelier than usual. The dark clouds didn't help to lighten the mood: it looked like it would rain any minute.
In silence, she rummaged around in her own bag, and retrieved a map. Tom craned his head over her shoulder to have a look as well.
They started at Holly's map, partly to see where they had to go next, partly because Tom had never realised how big the world is compared to him. He grinned at how far he could travel, as a fully-fledged trainer. They stared at the map for a while, and Tom traced the passage they were supposed to take with agonising slowness. He then repeated the action, and Holly jerked, seemed to wake up, and started walking towards the path leading to Oldale Town, still in silence.
Tom started getting nervous at the continued lack of incessant speaking: even Holly with flu, and possibly lockjaw would've said at least something by now. Tom realised that you don't appreciate something good till it's gone, even though he couldn't see what was good about Holly not speaking. Against all expectations of himself, he tried to make her talk while walking.
"So, how are you doing?" Tom said hopefully. Silence from Holly.
"What about pokémon battles eh? Fancy one, while you're on your losing streak?" This also got silence, but only because Holly had clamped her mouth shut in an effort of staying silent. Unfortunately, Tom didn't notice this.
"Err, nice view, huh?" Tom said desperately, pointing at the grey clouds. This deserved silence, and received it. He sagged.
"Look, why aren't you talking? You don't appreciate a long stream of endless words until it's gone."
Holly's stopped suddenly, and her head jerked quickly to his. She stared him in the eyes, making him feel very uncomfortable. She then smiled madly, which terrified him even more. It was amazing how one smile could bring out so much horror.
"You told me to stop talking, so I will! Okay? Okay! Let's keep going then shall we?" She said this in her usual bright, fast tone, but Tom couldn't stop the wash of guilt flowing through his body, followed by a familiar sinking feeling.
"Sorry." he said, staring at the ground.
"Pardon? Missed that one. Say it again, will you?" Holly said sweetly, looking smug.
Tom took a deep breath, forced to go through it again. "I said, sorry."
"One more time, couldn't catch it again."
"Don't push it."
"One more time, couldn't catch it again." This time, she said it more slowly and deliberately, poking him to say it. Tom sighed again. He was getting good at it.
"I said-"
"Hey! Our eyes met! Wanna battle?" Their eyes did nothing like it, but Tom was grateful anyway,
"Sure! Let's get going!" He said, rushing over to his next opponent. Saved by the kid with the twitchy eye.
********
"Uhh, I'm only just starting being a trainer, so will you go easy on me?" This was Tom's third battle, after Sylva and Golde both knocked out one enemy after another with one attack each. They didn't have time to gloat: Aqua members could be everywhere. So, feeling a bit paranoid, Tom withdrew his pokémon straight after they won, snatched the minor amount of winnings, and challenged his third opponent. This one looked only around 13, and his trainer clothing was missing: he was just dressed in a grey t-shirt and matching shorts and shoes. Oh, and he was very close to trembling.
"Huh, no worries. So am I. That means we can go all out on each other, right?" Tom said, smiling. The smile seemed to be too quick an action, because the trainer looked even tenser than before.
"Oh, hell no! Who made you king of.. doing battles all the time! I wanna battle! Lemme battle! You don't know how to anyway: you're not even a trainer! I'll batter you, kid!" Holly said quickly, butting in. The boy looked half terrified to see Holly suddenly take charge, and turned to Tom.
"Is there something wrong with her? Why does she speak so fast? And is she a beginner too? Because I don't wanna battle an expert!" Holly looked taken aback, a brilliant achievement.
"Yeah, she gets that a lot. Best not to mention it. And how can you tell her off for speaking quickly? You just sounded like a gerbil on helium!" Tom said, rolling his eyes.
"That's not nice!"
"That's life, kid. You battling this insaniac or not?"
"No way! You sound like gang members! And I don't want my new pokémon stolen! I'm outta here!"
"Wait-"Tom began, but the kid had already run like the wind, down to Oldale town.
Holly rounded on him. Although he was taller than her, Tom was shrinking away from her as quickly as a person can shrink.
"What the hell was that for? You just lost me my battle!" She said angrily. "Do you realise how hard it is for me to get a battle, with you hogging them all?"
'And, she's off again. Another hour and she'll be as good as new. Better continue to Oldale town: I'm getting sick of this.' However, Tom's thoughts got mixed with something else.
You should apologise to her, you know.
'Right, I've got enough voices in my head, as well as Sylva. Out.'
But I belong here.
'You mean you're me?'
A part of you. Your conscience.
'Bugger. You're the last thing I need.'
"Are you even listening to me?" Holly shouted, oblivious to the battle in Tom's head. "It's bad enough you've lost me a battle, now you're not even listening to me?"
She has a point; I bet she was ready to battle the gym leader when I... you... we stopped her in a battle. And she probably doesn't feel good already: you beat her without taking a hit. His self-esteem must be in tatters. You did all of this. Tut tut.
'Shutupshutup! I don't need this! And who are you to tell me what to do?'
I'm you, you idiot.
'Ah. Good point. How about we split up at Birches professor place? We can be rivals! Are you happy now?'
Not really, but I bet she will be. You've probably done the right thing.
'Bugger off.'
"I SAID, ARE YOU LISTENING?" Holly's voice must have been coming close to breaking glass pitch, because Tom's eardrums felt like resigning, hopping out his ears and taking the next ship to Johto.
"Heyhey! Are you still here? So you are! Er. Hey, I was just thinking: sharing battles isn't working, is it? How about we split up when we get to the professors place? Then you can tiddle off and do what you want! And I'll spend the day in Littleroot, so we won't meet each other! Isn't that a good plan?" He said this slowly, to give his eardrums a break. His conscience butted in.
Saying 'we won't meet each other' seems a little harsh.
"Shut up, me!" He realised, too late, that he had shouted this out loud. The good part was Holly had stopped talking. The bad part was that she was looking as though she had decided to travel with an emotionally challenged person, and couldn't back out now. He went red.
"Ok... but what about our battle?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah, it was an easy victory, so I think we should split up so that we can train, and then see who trained harder! Isn't that a good idea? It is, isn't it?" Damn, now he was hurting his own ears. And he was starting to babble. Loudly.
"Er, fine then. But we won't get anywhere by standing still, will we? Let us go into lands unknown to us two! Well, more just for you, I've already been here before." Holly said regally.
"You can be very posh sounding when you want to be, you know that?"
"Yep. Tally ho!"
"Please stop saying things like that, it's freakin' me out."
"Are we gonna stand here changing our voices or are we actually gonna MOVE!"
"I vote not one, but number two." Holly snorted and started laughing.
"What?"
"You said number two!"
"Oh, grow up."
They kept on walking, Holly, thankfully, was laughing too much to remember why she was mad at Tom in the first place. But before they could finish the route, a more serious worry came to mind.
"I think I deserve an endurance medal. I haven't eaten since the start of my journey! Beat that!"
"You don't deserve a medal for forgetting something as important as that. You plank. It's lucky for you that they feed pokémon when they heal them at the center, or I could turn you in to the police for a paltry amount of money!" Holly's voice was getting steadily higher again; for the good of the windows in Oldale town, Tom cut her off.
"Do me two favours: stop being posh, as a matter of fact, just stop, and go to Oldale without speaking. Please."
"Do I need to make you apologise to me again?" Holly said, smirking. Tom took the lead to Oldale, without a word.
You know, you haven't actually apologised to her properly yet.
"SHUT UP!!" Tom shouted, releasing his pent up frustration on himself. His conscience wisely shut up. Unfortunately, Holly didn't.
"What? That's the second time you've done that!" Holly said, baffled.
"Just talking to myself is all." Tom mumbled, staring at the gloomy sky.
********
"Before we leave here, can we actually eat something? You may get a medal for endurance, but becoming anorexic is not something you should have to worry about if you're a trainer."
They were stood outside the center of Oldale, while Tom's pokémon were being healed,(Holly still managing to avoid a battle, thanks to him) and Holly, as usual, was whinging. For once, Tom agreed with her, because, for once, she was right. It's hard to worry about everything and anorexia at the same time. For a trainer it's almost impossible, although there was probably some mad person out there trying to disprove that point.
"Ok, but where do we go? In case you haven't noticed, Oldale isn't really noted for it's food industry." Tom said, scanning the area. "It isn't noted as anything much, except the first town some trainers go to. And that doesn't really deserve a gold star."
Having looked around, they found a small, dingy café, in which were few people. A waitress came along (who walked like she had Nelsons column stuck between her buttocks) and looked at Tom, as though expecting something. Tom frowned, and ordered eggs and bacon for himself, and Holly asked for a small salad. Tom looked at her, puzzled.
"You moan to me about being hungry, and you get a small salad? For breakfast, at all times? How does your mind work? Wait, don't answer that. And I'm not paying for you, you know. Cough up. Real gentlemen belong in fairytales."
Holly grumbled to herself, fished through her bag, and revealed her full purse, earning a stare from Tom. She snapped it open, and paid for her meal.
As the waitress waddled away, something struck Holly, and she turned to Tom, swelling with the need to request information.
"You know, I just thought about something. I really don't know that much about you. Care to spill?" Holly asked, looking bright.
"What is there to spill? I was alive then, and still am now. End of story." he said, trying to sound final. Unfortunately, this was Holly he was talking to.
"But there must have been something you were doing up until you joined up at trainers' school! What were you doing? Where were you doing it?" She realised Tom wasn't paying her any attention. She poked him. "What happened, damnit?"
"Hey, hey. I'm just an average guy. Nothing special. I might as well ask you why you talk so damn much. Food's here." As the food was set down, Holly noted the damn. Wisely, she decided to change the subject as they began to eat.
"The reason I talk so d- much? Aargh, what's that word again? You're quite good with long words, give me a hand with this. It's to do with parents." Holly said, her face screwed up as she tried to remember.
"Kleptomaniac? Maniacal?" Tom hazarded, focusing on cutting what they would have liked to call meat, but what looked and tasted like vegetarian pig swill.
"Begins with an H."
"Hydrophobic?" he said desperately.
"Herrydeterry!"
"Bless you."
"No, that's the word!"
Tom frowned, confused. "Isn't that a quiz show?"
"No, you spoon. I'm trying to make you understand. H-E-R-R-Y-D-E-T-E-R-R-Y! Oh, you know!"
"Er. Are you sure you've not drank any alcohol recently?"
"Herrydeterry!"
"Isn't a word! And repeating it isn't going to change it into a word! Try hereditary!"
"That's it! Hereditary! God! Can we go now?"
"You are not leaving until you've eaten your vegetables that you whinged for. And we've only just started our meal!" He said, looking at her and wishing he had spectacles, to make him look mature. Maybe arbok-style spectacles. But that wouldn't really make him seem mature.
Holly frowned and surprisingly got to work with her food. Tom looked surprised at actually making Holly do something.
" The way you're gaping... are you offering to eat me? Or making a dirty word to a fish?" Holly said, looking up at him and receiving no reply. She pushed the bottom of his mouth to meet with the top. "Much better. I ate all my vegetables now, sir. Are we done here?"
"Uh, yeah. Let's get out of here." He got up, and almost made it to the door, but he was stopped by a woman.
To say this woman was a bit large was to say that the arctic was a bit nippy. She was HUGE. Not fat, but she just seemed to give off an aura of largeness. Being roughly seven feet tall helped add to this effect. A chubby face, and a purple, maid-like dress made her seem even more domestically impressive. She was one of those mothers who you expect to have a moustache, to have a rolling pin with her at all times, and to have the temper of a primeape. A small face poked out from behind the massive figure, and Holly and Tom recognised gerbil-on-helium boy.
"Are you the gang members who scared my Jeffrey? Because we don't like gang members in this town!" she boomed at them, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Interesting theory. Is there any town that does actually welcome gang members? Now if you'll excuse me, I have a new life to begin. See ya!" he said quickly, trying not to reveal his worry of being thwacked with said rolling pin. He tried to move past her, and was blocked.
"Are you gang members or not?" she boomed again. Tom was tempted to say yes, but knew there were some times when a joke was just not welcome. He looked her in the eyes.
"No. We are not gang members, and even if we were, why would we tell-"he clamped his hand over his mouth, too late. You can't help but doing at least something to such a straightforward question. Several pairs of eyes narrowed, including Holly's.
Tom knew that there was just one thing that he could do to get out of this compromising position. He just wished he knew what the hell it was. He thought quickly, and came up with a very weak answer. If this worked, he would stand on his head and sing a song. Or at least gape, which he was better at.
"Hey... are they selling fermented shuckleberry over there? I think they are!" he said desperately, pointing in a random direction. Shuckleberry was made when the juices in a shuckle's shell are left for a longer time than usual to carry on fermenting: it became very delicious, but what was more important was that it became very strong alcohol.
Contrary to Tom's belief, this monster must've been a shuckleberryholic, as she started staring madly at the random direction he pointed in. Holly grabbed the gaping Tom, and rammed her way past the woman, running in the direction of the center.
Holly grabbed the gap between the automatic doors and swung them open, panicking. They hurtled over to the desk and motioned to get Tom's pokémon back, and he clicked them on his belt. Without waiting for the standard 'have a nice day' they sped out of Oldale as quickly as possible and headed down to Littleroot, without looking back. The reason they did this so quickly was because rolling pins can really hurt, especially from an angered alcoholic.
********
Much to Holly's dismay, there weren't any trainers worth challenging on the road and the wild pokémon seemed too busy surviving against each other to bother organising a surprise attack on them. Even though they had just run like hell from an alcohol enthusiast town, Holly was bored. And when she was bored, she let you know. However, Tom's selective hearing was pretty good now, and he managed to block out most of the things she was saying, offering a 'yeah' and 'mmm' when he felt it appropriate. And so they went along the short path in relative silence, pausing only to get over ledges that were there, possibly for the sake of making a person into a hurdles champion. While Tom mused over this, they cleared the last hill that led to Littleroot.
"Is that it? Looks more like a dead end with houses on it for decoration." Tom said, looking at their destination.
"That's sort of what I thought too. But, it's just a case of walk in the biggest building, become a trainer, walk out. Even you could do it."
Tom nodded numbly. Quick, easy, and it made sense. One of the best plans. Now for the bit that he had dreamed about.
Tom had run over this part of his journey in his head many times, but when it came right down to it, he was a sucker for the classics.
"Well, Holly, I guess this is goodbye. Er. Good luck on your journ-" he started, but was cut short as Holly hugged him.
He froze. This was madly unthought of: he had called her names, complained about her incessant talking, stopped her from having a battle, and she was damn well HUGGING him. He could've swore, he could've threw her off him, he could've even run away like a gibbering fool. But he didn't. He really, really didn't know what to do. After a while, she let go of him, staring at the ground.
"Yeah. See you later." Holly said, her voice quavering. Without another word, gesture, or look, she turned around, and set off back the way they had come. Tom just stood there, rooted to the ground. He swung around, and tried to move down to Littleroot, but something was stopping him. He didn't know what the hell it was, but it was doing a good job. So he just stood there, waiting for god-knows-what.
He stayed there for another 15 seconds, still stood in the position that she had left him in. He examined his conscience and emotions. They replied 'well, blimey.'
He heard a shout, and his body relaxed. He knew who it was, and somehow, he knew what it was before it had even been shouted. It didn't take a genius to figure out why; and it was just her way of doing things. Feeling better, he moved down the path to Littleroot, alone, the shout still ringing in his ears.
"PSYCHE!!!"Chapter End Notes:Well there you go. I'm sorry if this seems little short or a little rushed, but I'm going abroad next week and won't be able to work on this during the weekend, and I wanted to get this on the internet ASAP.
As always, constructive critism is deeply appreciated.
As an old friend once said to me: Oh, shut up.
Any thoughts, ideas or random gestures (not spamlike) go to [email protected]
One problem with staying there with eyes closed was that he could hear breathing, and that he had an uncomfortable feeling he was being observed, like someone would watch a rarity in the wild. He knew that with there being a rather good dream last night, something bad was bound to happen in the morning. For him, life just worked like that.
He then did something very foolish.
He opened his eyes.
"WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPYHEAD!!!" Holly screamed in his face. It as liked having your ear put next to a chalkboard and someone running a piece of chalk down it. Tom wondered if she was talking to someone else. There was a next to no chance that she was, but Tom was a guy who lived in hope.
"I'm not in. Stop shouting. Stop talking altogether, for that matter. Call back when I can be bothered to get up, please." Tom said, with the sort of feeling that makes your bed seem a lot more comfortable than it actually is, but only when you first wake up. Holly didn't take well to this. Her eyes narrowed, and, with a heave, she literally made him get up on the wrong side of the bed with an unusual sound, like a yell cut short mixed with a crunch. As Tom picked himself up, she smiled nastily, and flounced out of the room, the triumphant look again on her face. Tom thought it smart to leave the center.
They walked downstairs, Tom being careful not to leave his bag in the room, and gripping it tightly to his back. He walked up to Joy's desk, and found to his delight that it was a much less depressed Joy at the counter. Tom expressed greetings, thanks, and yawns to the nurse, and recieved his pokéballs. They left the center, ready to face a brand new day, and possibly a leave of chattering gnat. But Holly seemed quieter than usual, and while they entered the center of Petalburg, Holly still hadn't said a word. Talking must have taken the strength away to keep on talking. Tom knew he ought to feel cheerful about the lack of talk, but all it did was make him feel lonelier than usual. The dark clouds didn't help to lighten the mood: it looked like it would rain any minute.
In silence, she rummaged around in her own bag, and retrieved a map. Tom craned his head over her shoulder to have a look as well.
They started at Holly's map, partly to see where they had to go next, partly because Tom had never realised how big the world is compared to him. He grinned at how far he could travel, as a fully-fledged trainer. They stared at the map for a while, and Tom traced the passage they were supposed to take with agonising slowness. He then repeated the action, and Holly jerked, seemed to wake up, and started walking towards the path leading to Oldale Town, still in silence.
Tom started getting nervous at the continued lack of incessant speaking: even Holly with flu, and possibly lockjaw would've said at least something by now. Tom realised that you don't appreciate something good till it's gone, even though he couldn't see what was good about Holly not speaking. Against all expectations of himself, he tried to make her talk while walking.
"So, how are you doing?" Tom said hopefully. Silence from Holly.
"What about pokémon battles eh? Fancy one, while you're on your losing streak?" This also got silence, but only because Holly had clamped her mouth shut in an effort of staying silent. Unfortunately, Tom didn't notice this.
"Err, nice view, huh?" Tom said desperately, pointing at the grey clouds. This deserved silence, and received it. He sagged.
"Look, why aren't you talking? You don't appreciate a long stream of endless words until it's gone."
Holly's stopped suddenly, and her head jerked quickly to his. She stared him in the eyes, making him feel very uncomfortable. She then smiled madly, which terrified him even more. It was amazing how one smile could bring out so much horror.
"You told me to stop talking, so I will! Okay? Okay! Let's keep going then shall we?" She said this in her usual bright, fast tone, but Tom couldn't stop the wash of guilt flowing through his body, followed by a familiar sinking feeling.
"Sorry." he said, staring at the ground.
"Pardon? Missed that one. Say it again, will you?" Holly said sweetly, looking smug.
Tom took a deep breath, forced to go through it again. "I said, sorry."
"One more time, couldn't catch it again."
"Don't push it."
"One more time, couldn't catch it again." This time, she said it more slowly and deliberately, poking him to say it. Tom sighed again. He was getting good at it.
"I said-"
"Hey! Our eyes met! Wanna battle?" Their eyes did nothing like it, but Tom was grateful anyway,
"Sure! Let's get going!" He said, rushing over to his next opponent. Saved by the kid with the twitchy eye.
********
"Uhh, I'm only just starting being a trainer, so will you go easy on me?" This was Tom's third battle, after Sylva and Golde both knocked out one enemy after another with one attack each. They didn't have time to gloat: Aqua members could be everywhere. So, feeling a bit paranoid, Tom withdrew his pokémon straight after they won, snatched the minor amount of winnings, and challenged his third opponent. This one looked only around 13, and his trainer clothing was missing: he was just dressed in a grey t-shirt and matching shorts and shoes. Oh, and he was very close to trembling.
"Huh, no worries. So am I. That means we can go all out on each other, right?" Tom said, smiling. The smile seemed to be too quick an action, because the trainer looked even tenser than before.
"Oh, hell no! Who made you king of.. doing battles all the time! I wanna battle! Lemme battle! You don't know how to anyway: you're not even a trainer! I'll batter you, kid!" Holly said quickly, butting in. The boy looked half terrified to see Holly suddenly take charge, and turned to Tom.
"Is there something wrong with her? Why does she speak so fast? And is she a beginner too? Because I don't wanna battle an expert!" Holly looked taken aback, a brilliant achievement.
"Yeah, she gets that a lot. Best not to mention it. And how can you tell her off for speaking quickly? You just sounded like a gerbil on helium!" Tom said, rolling his eyes.
"That's not nice!"
"That's life, kid. You battling this insaniac or not?"
"No way! You sound like gang members! And I don't want my new pokémon stolen! I'm outta here!"
"Wait-"Tom began, but the kid had already run like the wind, down to Oldale town.
Holly rounded on him. Although he was taller than her, Tom was shrinking away from her as quickly as a person can shrink.
"What the hell was that for? You just lost me my battle!" She said angrily. "Do you realise how hard it is for me to get a battle, with you hogging them all?"
'And, she's off again. Another hour and she'll be as good as new. Better continue to Oldale town: I'm getting sick of this.' However, Tom's thoughts got mixed with something else.
You should apologise to her, you know.
'Right, I've got enough voices in my head, as well as Sylva. Out.'
But I belong here.
'You mean you're me?'
A part of you. Your conscience.
'Bugger. You're the last thing I need.'
"Are you even listening to me?" Holly shouted, oblivious to the battle in Tom's head. "It's bad enough you've lost me a battle, now you're not even listening to me?"
She has a point; I bet she was ready to battle the gym leader when I... you... we stopped her in a battle. And she probably doesn't feel good already: you beat her without taking a hit. His self-esteem must be in tatters. You did all of this. Tut tut.
'Shutupshutup! I don't need this! And who are you to tell me what to do?'
I'm you, you idiot.
'Ah. Good point. How about we split up at Birches professor place? We can be rivals! Are you happy now?'
Not really, but I bet she will be. You've probably done the right thing.
'Bugger off.'
"I SAID, ARE YOU LISTENING?" Holly's voice must have been coming close to breaking glass pitch, because Tom's eardrums felt like resigning, hopping out his ears and taking the next ship to Johto.
"Heyhey! Are you still here? So you are! Er. Hey, I was just thinking: sharing battles isn't working, is it? How about we split up when we get to the professors place? Then you can tiddle off and do what you want! And I'll spend the day in Littleroot, so we won't meet each other! Isn't that a good plan?" He said this slowly, to give his eardrums a break. His conscience butted in.
Saying 'we won't meet each other' seems a little harsh.
"Shut up, me!" He realised, too late, that he had shouted this out loud. The good part was Holly had stopped talking. The bad part was that she was looking as though she had decided to travel with an emotionally challenged person, and couldn't back out now. He went red.
"Ok... but what about our battle?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah, it was an easy victory, so I think we should split up so that we can train, and then see who trained harder! Isn't that a good idea? It is, isn't it?" Damn, now he was hurting his own ears. And he was starting to babble. Loudly.
"Er, fine then. But we won't get anywhere by standing still, will we? Let us go into lands unknown to us two! Well, more just for you, I've already been here before." Holly said regally.
"You can be very posh sounding when you want to be, you know that?"
"Yep. Tally ho!"
"Please stop saying things like that, it's freakin' me out."
"Are we gonna stand here changing our voices or are we actually gonna MOVE!"
"I vote not one, but number two." Holly snorted and started laughing.
"What?"
"You said number two!"
"Oh, grow up."
They kept on walking, Holly, thankfully, was laughing too much to remember why she was mad at Tom in the first place. But before they could finish the route, a more serious worry came to mind.
"I think I deserve an endurance medal. I haven't eaten since the start of my journey! Beat that!"
"You don't deserve a medal for forgetting something as important as that. You plank. It's lucky for you that they feed pokémon when they heal them at the center, or I could turn you in to the police for a paltry amount of money!" Holly's voice was getting steadily higher again; for the good of the windows in Oldale town, Tom cut her off.
"Do me two favours: stop being posh, as a matter of fact, just stop, and go to Oldale without speaking. Please."
"Do I need to make you apologise to me again?" Holly said, smirking. Tom took the lead to Oldale, without a word.
You know, you haven't actually apologised to her properly yet.
"SHUT UP!!" Tom shouted, releasing his pent up frustration on himself. His conscience wisely shut up. Unfortunately, Holly didn't.
"What? That's the second time you've done that!" Holly said, baffled.
"Just talking to myself is all." Tom mumbled, staring at the gloomy sky.
********
"Before we leave here, can we actually eat something? You may get a medal for endurance, but becoming anorexic is not something you should have to worry about if you're a trainer."
They were stood outside the center of Oldale, while Tom's pokémon were being healed,(Holly still managing to avoid a battle, thanks to him) and Holly, as usual, was whinging. For once, Tom agreed with her, because, for once, she was right. It's hard to worry about everything and anorexia at the same time. For a trainer it's almost impossible, although there was probably some mad person out there trying to disprove that point.
"Ok, but where do we go? In case you haven't noticed, Oldale isn't really noted for it's food industry." Tom said, scanning the area. "It isn't noted as anything much, except the first town some trainers go to. And that doesn't really deserve a gold star."
Having looked around, they found a small, dingy café, in which were few people. A waitress came along (who walked like she had Nelsons column stuck between her buttocks) and looked at Tom, as though expecting something. Tom frowned, and ordered eggs and bacon for himself, and Holly asked for a small salad. Tom looked at her, puzzled.
"You moan to me about being hungry, and you get a small salad? For breakfast, at all times? How does your mind work? Wait, don't answer that. And I'm not paying for you, you know. Cough up. Real gentlemen belong in fairytales."
Holly grumbled to herself, fished through her bag, and revealed her full purse, earning a stare from Tom. She snapped it open, and paid for her meal.
As the waitress waddled away, something struck Holly, and she turned to Tom, swelling with the need to request information.
"You know, I just thought about something. I really don't know that much about you. Care to spill?" Holly asked, looking bright.
"What is there to spill? I was alive then, and still am now. End of story." he said, trying to sound final. Unfortunately, this was Holly he was talking to.
"But there must have been something you were doing up until you joined up at trainers' school! What were you doing? Where were you doing it?" She realised Tom wasn't paying her any attention. She poked him. "What happened, damnit?"
"Hey, hey. I'm just an average guy. Nothing special. I might as well ask you why you talk so damn much. Food's here." As the food was set down, Holly noted the damn. Wisely, she decided to change the subject as they began to eat.
"The reason I talk so d- much? Aargh, what's that word again? You're quite good with long words, give me a hand with this. It's to do with parents." Holly said, her face screwed up as she tried to remember.
"Kleptomaniac? Maniacal?" Tom hazarded, focusing on cutting what they would have liked to call meat, but what looked and tasted like vegetarian pig swill.
"Begins with an H."
"Hydrophobic?" he said desperately.
"Herrydeterry!"
"Bless you."
"No, that's the word!"
Tom frowned, confused. "Isn't that a quiz show?"
"No, you spoon. I'm trying to make you understand. H-E-R-R-Y-D-E-T-E-R-R-Y! Oh, you know!"
"Er. Are you sure you've not drank any alcohol recently?"
"Herrydeterry!"
"Isn't a word! And repeating it isn't going to change it into a word! Try hereditary!"
"That's it! Hereditary! God! Can we go now?"
"You are not leaving until you've eaten your vegetables that you whinged for. And we've only just started our meal!" He said, looking at her and wishing he had spectacles, to make him look mature. Maybe arbok-style spectacles. But that wouldn't really make him seem mature.
Holly frowned and surprisingly got to work with her food. Tom looked surprised at actually making Holly do something.
" The way you're gaping... are you offering to eat me? Or making a dirty word to a fish?" Holly said, looking up at him and receiving no reply. She pushed the bottom of his mouth to meet with the top. "Much better. I ate all my vegetables now, sir. Are we done here?"
"Uh, yeah. Let's get out of here." He got up, and almost made it to the door, but he was stopped by a woman.
To say this woman was a bit large was to say that the arctic was a bit nippy. She was HUGE. Not fat, but she just seemed to give off an aura of largeness. Being roughly seven feet tall helped add to this effect. A chubby face, and a purple, maid-like dress made her seem even more domestically impressive. She was one of those mothers who you expect to have a moustache, to have a rolling pin with her at all times, and to have the temper of a primeape. A small face poked out from behind the massive figure, and Holly and Tom recognised gerbil-on-helium boy.
"Are you the gang members who scared my Jeffrey? Because we don't like gang members in this town!" she boomed at them, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Interesting theory. Is there any town that does actually welcome gang members? Now if you'll excuse me, I have a new life to begin. See ya!" he said quickly, trying not to reveal his worry of being thwacked with said rolling pin. He tried to move past her, and was blocked.
"Are you gang members or not?" she boomed again. Tom was tempted to say yes, but knew there were some times when a joke was just not welcome. He looked her in the eyes.
"No. We are not gang members, and even if we were, why would we tell-"he clamped his hand over his mouth, too late. You can't help but doing at least something to such a straightforward question. Several pairs of eyes narrowed, including Holly's.
Tom knew that there was just one thing that he could do to get out of this compromising position. He just wished he knew what the hell it was. He thought quickly, and came up with a very weak answer. If this worked, he would stand on his head and sing a song. Or at least gape, which he was better at.
"Hey... are they selling fermented shuckleberry over there? I think they are!" he said desperately, pointing in a random direction. Shuckleberry was made when the juices in a shuckle's shell are left for a longer time than usual to carry on fermenting: it became very delicious, but what was more important was that it became very strong alcohol.
Contrary to Tom's belief, this monster must've been a shuckleberryholic, as she started staring madly at the random direction he pointed in. Holly grabbed the gaping Tom, and rammed her way past the woman, running in the direction of the center.
Holly grabbed the gap between the automatic doors and swung them open, panicking. They hurtled over to the desk and motioned to get Tom's pokémon back, and he clicked them on his belt. Without waiting for the standard 'have a nice day' they sped out of Oldale as quickly as possible and headed down to Littleroot, without looking back. The reason they did this so quickly was because rolling pins can really hurt, especially from an angered alcoholic.
********
Much to Holly's dismay, there weren't any trainers worth challenging on the road and the wild pokémon seemed too busy surviving against each other to bother organising a surprise attack on them. Even though they had just run like hell from an alcohol enthusiast town, Holly was bored. And when she was bored, she let you know. However, Tom's selective hearing was pretty good now, and he managed to block out most of the things she was saying, offering a 'yeah' and 'mmm' when he felt it appropriate. And so they went along the short path in relative silence, pausing only to get over ledges that were there, possibly for the sake of making a person into a hurdles champion. While Tom mused over this, they cleared the last hill that led to Littleroot.
"Is that it? Looks more like a dead end with houses on it for decoration." Tom said, looking at their destination.
"That's sort of what I thought too. But, it's just a case of walk in the biggest building, become a trainer, walk out. Even you could do it."
Tom nodded numbly. Quick, easy, and it made sense. One of the best plans. Now for the bit that he had dreamed about.
Tom had run over this part of his journey in his head many times, but when it came right down to it, he was a sucker for the classics.
"Well, Holly, I guess this is goodbye. Er. Good luck on your journ-" he started, but was cut short as Holly hugged him.
He froze. This was madly unthought of: he had called her names, complained about her incessant talking, stopped her from having a battle, and she was damn well HUGGING him. He could've swore, he could've threw her off him, he could've even run away like a gibbering fool. But he didn't. He really, really didn't know what to do. After a while, she let go of him, staring at the ground.
"Yeah. See you later." Holly said, her voice quavering. Without another word, gesture, or look, she turned around, and set off back the way they had come. Tom just stood there, rooted to the ground. He swung around, and tried to move down to Littleroot, but something was stopping him. He didn't know what the hell it was, but it was doing a good job. So he just stood there, waiting for god-knows-what.
He stayed there for another 15 seconds, still stood in the position that she had left him in. He examined his conscience and emotions. They replied 'well, blimey.'
He heard a shout, and his body relaxed. He knew who it was, and somehow, he knew what it was before it had even been shouted. It didn't take a genius to figure out why; and it was just her way of doing things. Feeling better, he moved down the path to Littleroot, alone, the shout still ringing in his ears.
"PSYCHE!!!"Chapter End Notes:Well there you go. I'm sorry if this seems little short or a little rushed, but I'm going abroad next week and won't be able to work on this during the weekend, and I wanted to get this on the internet ASAP.
As always, constructive critism is deeply appreciated.
As an old friend once said to me: Oh, shut up.
Any thoughts, ideas or random gestures (not spamlike) go to [email protected]