Story Notes:
I will try and keep a chapter word count of around 1,000 but this will fluxuate depending on my mood. I would also like to warn people that I am dyslexic so please ignore any bad grammer or obvious mistakes you see, my spell checker should catch most of them but the most glaring ones have a habit of falling through the netDisclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any of the realted characters however I do own all of my OC's so mitts off unless you have my permissionNote: This story is also posted at Fanfiction.net, do not report this as stolen it is my story I am just posting it in two places to get a larger reader base.I would also like to inform readers that although this story has got several warnings it starts very light maybe Pg13ish but it does however get much darker as the plot progresses
Chapter 24
Simon soon found one of the many worn tracks that lead down to the waters edge. They were soon standing down by the water's edge, Simon leant down and cupped his hands bringing some water to his lips to check how it tasted "It's fine" he declared with a huge grin on his face.
Nuri and Phoenix nodded and stuck their muzzles into the clear water gulping it down greedily.
Simon shook his head laughing "I wish I could do that sometimes"
Reaching into his backpack he pulled out his two litre flask and quickly re-filled it. Turning back to Phoenix and Nuri he placed the flask back in his bag "Can you guys gather some supplies I've got some things to clean"
Nuri and Phoenix nodded their agreement then headed off into the dense undergrowth. Simon watched them until he could no longer make out their figures before turning back to the business on hand following the edge of the pond he made his way to where a small stream flowed gently off into the distance lest his cleaning pollute the watering hole. Placing his bag on the ground he pulled out the dirty plates from lunch along with the two bloody towels he had used to clean up Ember and the tweezers he had used to remove the splinters, he sighed "This may take a while" he said absentmindedly
Back at the campsite Holly had been having a little more luck with her tent; she had finally forced the support beams together into a shape that vaguely resembled the cross they were supposed to form. Now she was face with the problem of the guide ropes, every time she had one in the previous one would pop out of its hole, however she had to admit that pounding the small metal pegs into the ground was somewhat therapeutic. A tired yawn caught her attention and Holly whirled around to see Ember stretching out as she climbed to her feet, Ember glanced around spotting Holly but no-one else "Vuul pix vuuul pixx vuuul?!" she demanded angrily turning on Holly
Holly stifled a giggle before replying "He's off finding water"
Ember calmed down and settled back on her haunches but her sceptical glare remained on Holly
"Of course" Holly continued her face twisting into a look of contempt "He'd probably be better off without you"
Ember jumped to her feet angrily "Vuuul piix vuuul!" she angrily shouted back, only the knowledge that Simon probably wouldn't appreciate returning to a crispy fried Holly kept her from just torching the stupid girl on the spot.
"I mean you can't even win a fight" Holly continued unaffected by Ember's blatant anger "Simon took a whole two hours out of his time to fix you up after the fight" she exaggerated "You're the reason we're so far behind schedule and not only that it was the burn you inflicted that kept Simon in the hospital" she sneered watching Ember's face.
Ember was determined not to let Holly get to her, yet she seemed to reach inside and send all of her insecurities back at her. Ember struggled to maintain a straight face, she would not give Holly the pleasure of seeing her cry.
Holly gave up on Ember a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to get through to her with her jibes, she was certain that she would at least get a reaction out of her. With a sigh she turned back to her tent pounding the guy ropes in with slightly more force than necessary.
Ember sniffles quietly, that stupid girl she shouldn't be able to get to me, these thoughts flash through her head and she finally makes up her mind; one more crack at her expense or one more go at any of them and she would talk to Simon and get rid of her. Smiling as she thought about it, yes three strikes and she would be gone, that was fair and there was no way she could justify any of it. Feeling significantly better Ember settled down to watch in quiet amusement as Holly struggled with her tent.
By the time Simon, Nuri and Phoenix returned to the campsite Holly had managed to get her tent up although it was leaning a bit to the side.
"Hey" Holly called out giving up on straightening her tent
Simon grunted a response making a b-line for Ember "Hey girl" he smiled squatting down "You feeling better"
Ember nodded happily "Vuuul pix"
"Good" Simon said standing up "Because I need that sleeping bag back soon"
Ember growled playfully as she climbed to her feet
Simon dumped his bag "I guess we should set up camp" he wandered around looking for a good place to set up their tent "Ember, Phoenix, Nuri can you guys set up the fire pit please"
They all nodded at Simon and trotted over to the centre of the small field where they started digging the shallow pit for the fire, whilst his Pokemon worked on the fire pit Simon quickly set up his tent with a speed that only comes with practice.
In no time at all Simon and the Pokemon had their tent set up and a fire blazing merrily away. Nuri and Simon were cooking a simple stew, Simon had started cooking and Nuri had shown interest so now he was teaching her how to cook, ignoring the fact she would find it difficult at best to stir properly with a spoon, Nuri was listening intently and helping Simon out any way she could although at this point her help mostly consisted of fetching ingredients. Nearby Phoenix and Ember were chatting, Simon wasn't really listening but from the snippets he picked up he guessed Phoenix was asking for combat advice there was a lot of words that Simon didn't really understand and he wasn't really trying to listen however so he could have been wrong.
"How long until the stew is ready?" Holly asked, being the only one without anything to do she was getting quite bored waiting for her meal to cook
"Well with Nuri's help I would imagine only a few minutes" Simon replied patiently patting Nuri on the head
"veee" Nuri said happy that her help had been acknowledged
Simon tasted a small portion "Hmm, need more pepper. What do you think?" he lowered the spoon down to Nuri's level and she lapped it up quickly before nodding in agreement.
Simon smiled as he held open the tent flap for everyone; the meal had been a success although Holly had been sitting a bit too close to him for comfort. He settled down for a good night's sleep only to be woken by Ember gently nudging him about an hour later. "Vuuul vuul piix?" Ember asked carefully
"Sure we can talk." Simon replied frowning slightly, something was eating at Ember "But we should go outside so we don't wake the others"
Ember smiled weakly as they headed out into the crisp night air, Simon sat down and patted his lap "Ok what did you want to talk about"
Ember gratefully leapt into Simon lap "Vuuul piiix vuuul piix?" she asked fearfully
"Of course I still want you around! Ember you're my best friend, I'd want you around even if you couldn't battle at all" Simon replied zealously
Ember smiled "Vuuul piix vulll piix?" she just had to check something that Holly had told her
Simon sighed "Yes it was, but who told you...." He trailed off coming to the only sensible conclusion he could draw "Holly" he whispered under his breath
Ember hung her head in shame "Vuuul piix vuuul piix" she apologized a few tears falling from her eyes
Simon tenderly wiped the tears from Ember's eyes "It's not your fault" he reassured her "Trust me what you did was far better than what would have happened if I had gotten bitten" he looked Ember in the eyes suddenly dead serious "Now tell me what else had Holly done"
Nuri and Phoenix nodded and stuck their muzzles into the clear water gulping it down greedily.
Simon shook his head laughing "I wish I could do that sometimes"
Reaching into his backpack he pulled out his two litre flask and quickly re-filled it. Turning back to Phoenix and Nuri he placed the flask back in his bag "Can you guys gather some supplies I've got some things to clean"
Nuri and Phoenix nodded their agreement then headed off into the dense undergrowth. Simon watched them until he could no longer make out their figures before turning back to the business on hand following the edge of the pond he made his way to where a small stream flowed gently off into the distance lest his cleaning pollute the watering hole. Placing his bag on the ground he pulled out the dirty plates from lunch along with the two bloody towels he had used to clean up Ember and the tweezers he had used to remove the splinters, he sighed "This may take a while" he said absentmindedly
Back at the campsite Holly had been having a little more luck with her tent; she had finally forced the support beams together into a shape that vaguely resembled the cross they were supposed to form. Now she was face with the problem of the guide ropes, every time she had one in the previous one would pop out of its hole, however she had to admit that pounding the small metal pegs into the ground was somewhat therapeutic. A tired yawn caught her attention and Holly whirled around to see Ember stretching out as she climbed to her feet, Ember glanced around spotting Holly but no-one else "Vuul pix vuuul pixx vuuul?!" she demanded angrily turning on Holly
Holly stifled a giggle before replying "He's off finding water"
Ember calmed down and settled back on her haunches but her sceptical glare remained on Holly
"Of course" Holly continued her face twisting into a look of contempt "He'd probably be better off without you"
Ember jumped to her feet angrily "Vuuul piix vuuul!" she angrily shouted back, only the knowledge that Simon probably wouldn't appreciate returning to a crispy fried Holly kept her from just torching the stupid girl on the spot.
"I mean you can't even win a fight" Holly continued unaffected by Ember's blatant anger "Simon took a whole two hours out of his time to fix you up after the fight" she exaggerated "You're the reason we're so far behind schedule and not only that it was the burn you inflicted that kept Simon in the hospital" she sneered watching Ember's face.
Ember was determined not to let Holly get to her, yet she seemed to reach inside and send all of her insecurities back at her. Ember struggled to maintain a straight face, she would not give Holly the pleasure of seeing her cry.
Holly gave up on Ember a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to get through to her with her jibes, she was certain that she would at least get a reaction out of her. With a sigh she turned back to her tent pounding the guy ropes in with slightly more force than necessary.
Ember sniffles quietly, that stupid girl she shouldn't be able to get to me, these thoughts flash through her head and she finally makes up her mind; one more crack at her expense or one more go at any of them and she would talk to Simon and get rid of her. Smiling as she thought about it, yes three strikes and she would be gone, that was fair and there was no way she could justify any of it. Feeling significantly better Ember settled down to watch in quiet amusement as Holly struggled with her tent.
By the time Simon, Nuri and Phoenix returned to the campsite Holly had managed to get her tent up although it was leaning a bit to the side.
"Hey" Holly called out giving up on straightening her tent
Simon grunted a response making a b-line for Ember "Hey girl" he smiled squatting down "You feeling better"
Ember nodded happily "Vuuul pix"
"Good" Simon said standing up "Because I need that sleeping bag back soon"
Ember growled playfully as she climbed to her feet
Simon dumped his bag "I guess we should set up camp" he wandered around looking for a good place to set up their tent "Ember, Phoenix, Nuri can you guys set up the fire pit please"
They all nodded at Simon and trotted over to the centre of the small field where they started digging the shallow pit for the fire, whilst his Pokemon worked on the fire pit Simon quickly set up his tent with a speed that only comes with practice.
In no time at all Simon and the Pokemon had their tent set up and a fire blazing merrily away. Nuri and Simon were cooking a simple stew, Simon had started cooking and Nuri had shown interest so now he was teaching her how to cook, ignoring the fact she would find it difficult at best to stir properly with a spoon, Nuri was listening intently and helping Simon out any way she could although at this point her help mostly consisted of fetching ingredients. Nearby Phoenix and Ember were chatting, Simon wasn't really listening but from the snippets he picked up he guessed Phoenix was asking for combat advice there was a lot of words that Simon didn't really understand and he wasn't really trying to listen however so he could have been wrong.
"How long until the stew is ready?" Holly asked, being the only one without anything to do she was getting quite bored waiting for her meal to cook
"Well with Nuri's help I would imagine only a few minutes" Simon replied patiently patting Nuri on the head
"veee" Nuri said happy that her help had been acknowledged
Simon tasted a small portion "Hmm, need more pepper. What do you think?" he lowered the spoon down to Nuri's level and she lapped it up quickly before nodding in agreement.
Simon smiled as he held open the tent flap for everyone; the meal had been a success although Holly had been sitting a bit too close to him for comfort. He settled down for a good night's sleep only to be woken by Ember gently nudging him about an hour later. "Vuuul vuul piix?" Ember asked carefully
"Sure we can talk." Simon replied frowning slightly, something was eating at Ember "But we should go outside so we don't wake the others"
Ember smiled weakly as they headed out into the crisp night air, Simon sat down and patted his lap "Ok what did you want to talk about"
Ember gratefully leapt into Simon lap "Vuuul piiix vuuul piix?" she asked fearfully
"Of course I still want you around! Ember you're my best friend, I'd want you around even if you couldn't battle at all" Simon replied zealously
Ember smiled "Vuuul piix vulll piix?" she just had to check something that Holly had told her
Simon sighed "Yes it was, but who told you...." He trailed off coming to the only sensible conclusion he could draw "Holly" he whispered under his breath
Ember hung her head in shame "Vuuul piix vuuul piix" she apologized a few tears falling from her eyes
Simon tenderly wiped the tears from Ember's eyes "It's not your fault" he reassured her "Trust me what you did was far better than what would have happened if I had gotten bitten" he looked Ember in the eyes suddenly dead serious "Now tell me what else had Holly done"