Story Notes:
Standard Disclaimer: I own the character Jack as well as the plot of this story, Pokemon and other known characters are their respective owners. This story contains sexually explicit content. Go away if you're offended or too young to read such revolting literature.
Chapter 11
Over the next two days Jack spent time with all his Pokémon alone or in company but after their first day's mishap, none of them seemed to be very much in the mood. It didn't stop them from having a good time though. Having been on the road for so long they had really forgotten what good food tasted like, and gorged themselves sick at the buffet table. When they got back to the room they were stuffed and didn't have the energy to do anything. Even Laura, who seemed the most energetic out of all of them, seemed too distressed about a new pudgy belly than with doing anything.
Lucario seemed to be the only one to take everything in stride. Eating only what she needed and then found her way to a gym on the lower deck where she worked it all off. It was also out of view from the sea, and was one of the few places on board she didn't feel queasy. That is where Jack found her on his collection of everyone during the last few hours of their voyage and he stopped to watch for a moment as the Lucario began a routine he had witnessed at the gym in Fuchsia. Her quick punches and lightning kicks were all so well timed and took so much concentration that she didn't notice him watching until she turned and threw a punch in his direction.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of the floor and turned away as if embarrassed.
"So this is where you disappear to all the time?" asked Jack, wandering in. It was midday and none of the other passengers on board were inside, preferring the upper decks for the wonderful weather and the lounge chairs. That's where Sasha, Laura, and Maya were.
"It's relaxing here." She replied simply, turning to take a stance before launching several blazing kicks into the air.
"May I join you?"
She stopped again and regarded him. He was tall, to be sure, but he lacked a lot of muscle tone she noted.
"You could use the exercise." She said flatly, and began another routine.
He laughed. "That's not very nice you know," he said playfully.
"But it's true," she answered, "You're soft. In the belly," she pointed to his full stomach, "And in your arms," she pointed there next, and when she came up beside him she slapped him on the legs and on the behind as well. "And here and here too."
"I get your point. First of all, ow. Second this isn't what I call fun."
"It doesn't have to be fun," she came around to face him. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Why are you a trainer?"
"I..." when he actually tried to put it into words he wasn't so sure. Did he do it because it was fun, or was he more entranced now that he knew what was involved in raising his Pokémon? "I can't answer that."
"You can't or you won't?" she said harshly.
"I can... I don't know."
"Is it fun to raise Pokémon?" she took a step forward. "Is it a game to you? Is this," she pointed to his crotch, "What raising Pokémon is to you?" She turned and took several steps away. "You are a child, Jack. That is why I do not respect you as a trainer, and that is why you will never see me as you see the others."
She continued with her routine and left Jack to stand there for a while like an idiot. "Then train me," he said suddenly, and she turned to look at him through narrowed eyes. "I'm not what you need me to be. Help me become that." He took a step forward and she held her ground, unthreatened. "I will be the best trainer you can have. But I need your help to be the best trainer I can be. I'm asking Lucario. Help me train to be a Pokémon Master." She looked at him in the eyes for a moment and then turned her head away. Still not convinced though she called out an order.
"Twenty laps around the gym, and don't cut corners." She turned around again and began another routine of her own and smirked to herself when he carried out her order. He began his laps and she watched as he passed by every now and then, keeping count.
During his 7th lap the other three and Riolu stepped inside calling for Jack only to find him running around. And looking very bad at it, they noticed.
"What's going on here?"
"Hi girls. Earning respect, can't talk," said Jack as he passed by them.
"Earning respect?" asked Sasha. "What's this about?" she directed the question at Lucario.
"Jack asked for my help in becoming a Pokémon master, and I agreed," answered Lucario, arms crossed in a standing meditation.
"So he's doing laps?"
"He's getting rid of that disgusting lump in his belly," said Lucario, sneering at Laura and Sasha especially. "You could fare to trim down a bit yourselves."
"Did you just call me fat? She just called me fat! Hey Jack! She called me fat!" said Laura indignantly. Jack only wheezed by her on his way through his eighth lap. "Just cause he didn't say anything doesn't mean he agrees."
"You'd better please him if you didn't have that lump in your middle either."
It took very little time for both Laura and Sasha to begin their own routine then as well, joining Jack and keeping pace for a while before they too fell quick victim to fatigue.
Maya, however, did not join them in their jog but moved in beside Lucario, who still meditated on one leg and kept count of all three of their progress.
"You're not joining them?" she asked.
"I swim. A lot," she answered agreeably, sitting cross legged on the floor, watching their progress as well, especially Jack's. "How did you convince him to run laps?"
"He convinced himself. I told him I wouldn't tolerate a flabby trainer and so to earn my respect he asked me to train him. I'm just waiting until he gives up."
"You don't have much faith in him then."
"I have no faith in him. If he continues on like this the League will discard of him like trash."
"He has perseverance though. That has to count for something," argued Maya, who took Riolu into her arms and held her up.
"There is a difference between perseverance and skill. One does not lead to the other. He could have all the perseverance in the world, but that would not make me respect him any more as a trainer. Only as a man doomed to fail."
"You seem to know a lot about the challenges of the Pokémon League," said Maya, not really expecting an answer. When an answer did come though, she was a little surprised to hear it.
"I do."
When Jack came back to her, out of breath and soaked to the bone with sweat he nearly collapsed under his own weight. Laura and Sasha, also sweaty and fatigued came up behind him. Lucario stood there in the middle of the mat waiting for him, completely unfazed by his appearance or his smell.
"You owe me seven more laps. Why did you stop?"
"Seven? Can't be! I did all of them!" he managed between gasps.
"You did 18 laps and cut 5 corners. Now make it up! Do you want my respect or my pity? Now go!" she yelled at him, and he belatedly stretched upward and began his 14th lap. To the other two she snickered. "And you joined late. You haven't made up your first eight laps, nor did you finish the last two. Ten more. Move!" Begrudgingly they left as well, though they did so and left behind a few choice words.
When they were finally finished they fell to their faces in front of her. She only looked sternly down at them and asked one simple question. "Do you have what it takes to become a Pokémon Master? Will you continue to become the champion of the Pokémon League?"
Jack picked himself up and stared hard at Lucario. "I do. I will."
"Then I will train you. But on one condition. They join you every time you practice."
Jack looked back at his two exhausted Pokémon and nodded. "Done."
They let out simultaneous groans of protest but were cut off.
"Then stand up and take a shower. You all stink," said Lucario, getting a giggle from Maya and Riolu.
"I call scrubbing his back!" said Sasha.
"I call his front! Ha!" said Laura, followed quickly by, "Aw! The showers are separate! What a jyp! Come on Jack, let's go back to our room and we'll get all clean there instead."
"Can't I just take a shower by myself?" he protested.
"But Jaaack!"
"Come on Laura. We'll get all clean first and get all dirty later," said Sasha, guiding the Lopunny to the women's rooms.
"But I wanna be dirty now." And then the door closed behind them.
"They won't ever change you know," said Maya.
"They will. But it won't be my doing. It will be Jack's. If he wants to be a Master trainer, then his Pokémon will grow with him."
They stayed quiet for a while and then Maya spoke again. "I think everyone would grow anyway, even if you hadn't agreed to help." Then she leaned over and kissed the Lucario's cheek, "But I think you'll help keep him on track."
Lucario only looked at Maya as she stood up and held Riolu above her head. "Now who's up for another swim?" she said merrily at the puppy Pokémon, getting happy barks and yips from her in response. "What's that? You want mommy to join us? Well, I think that's a great idea. Come on mommy. Let's go for a swim." The Riolu barked happily again and when Maya turned to leave Lucario smiled at the Vaporeon's back. She got up and followed to the pool, happy to have someone like her along for the journey.
After they had cleaned up and redressed, Jack went back to the room to put on a novelty tropical t-shirt he had picked up at the gift shop, which he looked terrible in, and at last joined his Pokémon by the pool. Riolu was riding on Maya's back as she raced through the water and Lucario was hesitantly wading through the shallow end as though the water would suddenly lurch up and swallow her whole. Laura and Sasha were sunning themselves as he expected at the side of the pool. When they saw him Sasha was the first to speak.
"And there he is. We thought you were going to miss us getting off."
Then Laura. "God, every time I see you in that shirt I want to rip it off your body!" Jack stopped flat and stared at her, as did the rest of them, and even a few patrons as they passed by.
"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" asked Sasha, only saying what they were all thinking.
"Of course I do! It's a terrible-oh. I get it. Well that just goes without saying."
"Well, maybe if I dip into the potion fund I'll get a new shirt or two, but until then..." They all looked at him with a worried expression on their face, except Lucario, who was clinging onto the side of the pool as though she would fall away never to be seen again and whose expression was only a reflection of her apprehension. Riolu was having a grand time though, and splashed her mother with every pass that Vaporeon made around the pool.
"I see it! I see it! Look! There it is!" came a cry from the deck. A patron was pointing off the side and waving to someone Jack couldn't see, but he followed the direction of her arm and there it was. Cinnabar Island. The only landmass in sight. Even from so far out he could make out the tall rocky faces of numerous volcanoes and cliffs and the unmistakable ring of smoke that perpetually surrounded the peak of its most famous volcano, 'Mount Fire.' Its populous wasn't known for their naming conventions.
"They say that when a Pokémon trainer comes to Cinnabar Island it's for their 7th badge," began Jack, "That they climb to the top of Mount Fire to prove that they're ready to meet any challenge, that they're ready to take on the final gym in the league and go for the Champion's title."
"They say that," said Lucario, "But no one bothers anymore." She paused a long moment to look at the growing mountain. "You wouldn't make it."
"Is that a challenge?" asked Jack, "What makes you think I can't?"
"It's not a challenge. I know you can't."
Jack was a little put off by her attitude, but he didn't let it get to him. "Okay, then, I bet you I can make it." He said, kneeling beside her. "And if I make it, you have to show me the form you've been hiding from me." This got the others' attention. They had just assumed that he could perceive all of them that way.
"And if I win?"
Jack paused, looking deeply into Lucario's eyes. "If you win, you can name whatever you want from me, and I'll do it."
"Even if it's freedom? With my baby?" The others stared at her agape, shocked she would even consider it.
Without even a moment's hesitation he said, "I am as good as my word Lucario. But only if you win." He held out his hand to shake and she stared hard at him before taking his hand.
"You should not make bets you can't win Jack," was all she said after that. And it gave them all a lot to think about.
When they were nearing Cinnabar the sound system blared for a moment alerting all passengers to their arrival and to make sure they had everything before they departed the ship. Jack collected everyone in their Pokeballs and made one last trip to their room to get his pack and then disembarked with only a single thought on his mind, climbing Mount Fire. Now that he was on the island though, and standing in front of the tourist sign describing the mountain. How the hell was he going to get all the way up there?
"Every journey starts with the first step, so they say," he said to himself.
"That they do young man," came a gruff old voice from behind him. "Thinking of taking the Mount Fire challenge eh?" Jack turned to see an elderly man in khaki shorts and a white golf shirt standing behind him. He wore hiking boots and tall socks that made his legs look like spindly twigs and huge sunglasses that hid the wrinkles around his otherwise youthful eyes. He had with him a walking stick whose end had been whittled down from use and a small backpack and water sac hanging from his shoulder. "Indulge an old man if you might. Are you a Pokémon trainer?"
"Um, yeah, I am, yes, a Pokémon trainer. Of course," replied Jack, still a bit unsure of the man.
The old man laughed a healthy and vigorous laugh that almost had Jack in chuckles as well. "If you'll pardon me boy, could I see the badges you've collected? It's been such a while since I saw some fresh new ones." The man reached up with one wrinkled hand and swept some of his thick white hair out of his face. Jack opened his small leather booklet and revealed his set of three. They glittered in the bright sunlight and Jack was almost as entranced by their glow as the old man seemed to be. "Three eh? No small feat if I recall. But most boys your age who come here are on their way to seven. Just how it goes. What made you come here so soon? Can't be for the weather. Ha! I'm afraid we don't get much of it around here. Ole Smokey here," and he pointed with his walking stick at the Mountain, "Sees to that. Chases away all the storm clouds."
"Seems more like a protector then," answered Jack, though he had forgotten the original question.
The old man laughed again. "That she is kiddo. That she is. I like you kid. How's about I show you the way up this here mountain. I could use the company anyway." The old man began to walk up the sloped pathway and Jack turned to regard the man.
"You're climbing the mountain? But you, you're..."
"Old? Ha! I've got life left in these limbs yet kiddo. I could show you a thing or two about this smoke pot too if she weren't so darn stubborn. Come on, we both want to see the top, and people give this old lady too much of a hard time. She's not so tough once you get to know her slopes, if you know what I mean, eh?" He laughed and started walking again. Jack, hesitant at first but insistent on going up the mountain followed after him.
"What should I call you? Since we're going up together and all."
"Me? Oh. The people here call me Mr. B. You can too. It's sort of a nickname I suppose."
"I'm Jack," he said, catching up to match the old man's stride.
Mr. B. only turned a knowing eye at Jack and held out his hand. "Good to have your company."
After a little while, when the slope became a little more tedious Mr. B. turned his head to Jack and asked, "So Jack. Do you like trivia?"Chapter End Notes:Don't forget to read, rate and comment on my previous chapters as well. I always love the feedback I get and appreciate all the comments. Thanks
Lucario seemed to be the only one to take everything in stride. Eating only what she needed and then found her way to a gym on the lower deck where she worked it all off. It was also out of view from the sea, and was one of the few places on board she didn't feel queasy. That is where Jack found her on his collection of everyone during the last few hours of their voyage and he stopped to watch for a moment as the Lucario began a routine he had witnessed at the gym in Fuchsia. Her quick punches and lightning kicks were all so well timed and took so much concentration that she didn't notice him watching until she turned and threw a punch in his direction.
She stopped suddenly in the middle of the floor and turned away as if embarrassed.
"So this is where you disappear to all the time?" asked Jack, wandering in. It was midday and none of the other passengers on board were inside, preferring the upper decks for the wonderful weather and the lounge chairs. That's where Sasha, Laura, and Maya were.
"It's relaxing here." She replied simply, turning to take a stance before launching several blazing kicks into the air.
"May I join you?"
She stopped again and regarded him. He was tall, to be sure, but he lacked a lot of muscle tone she noted.
"You could use the exercise." She said flatly, and began another routine.
He laughed. "That's not very nice you know," he said playfully.
"But it's true," she answered, "You're soft. In the belly," she pointed to his full stomach, "And in your arms," she pointed there next, and when she came up beside him she slapped him on the legs and on the behind as well. "And here and here too."
"I get your point. First of all, ow. Second this isn't what I call fun."
"It doesn't have to be fun," she came around to face him. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Why are you a trainer?"
"I..." when he actually tried to put it into words he wasn't so sure. Did he do it because it was fun, or was he more entranced now that he knew what was involved in raising his Pokémon? "I can't answer that."
"You can't or you won't?" she said harshly.
"I can... I don't know."
"Is it fun to raise Pokémon?" she took a step forward. "Is it a game to you? Is this," she pointed to his crotch, "What raising Pokémon is to you?" She turned and took several steps away. "You are a child, Jack. That is why I do not respect you as a trainer, and that is why you will never see me as you see the others."
She continued with her routine and left Jack to stand there for a while like an idiot. "Then train me," he said suddenly, and she turned to look at him through narrowed eyes. "I'm not what you need me to be. Help me become that." He took a step forward and she held her ground, unthreatened. "I will be the best trainer you can have. But I need your help to be the best trainer I can be. I'm asking Lucario. Help me train to be a Pokémon Master." She looked at him in the eyes for a moment and then turned her head away. Still not convinced though she called out an order.
"Twenty laps around the gym, and don't cut corners." She turned around again and began another routine of her own and smirked to herself when he carried out her order. He began his laps and she watched as he passed by every now and then, keeping count.
During his 7th lap the other three and Riolu stepped inside calling for Jack only to find him running around. And looking very bad at it, they noticed.
"What's going on here?"
"Hi girls. Earning respect, can't talk," said Jack as he passed by them.
"Earning respect?" asked Sasha. "What's this about?" she directed the question at Lucario.
"Jack asked for my help in becoming a Pokémon master, and I agreed," answered Lucario, arms crossed in a standing meditation.
"So he's doing laps?"
"He's getting rid of that disgusting lump in his belly," said Lucario, sneering at Laura and Sasha especially. "You could fare to trim down a bit yourselves."
"Did you just call me fat? She just called me fat! Hey Jack! She called me fat!" said Laura indignantly. Jack only wheezed by her on his way through his eighth lap. "Just cause he didn't say anything doesn't mean he agrees."
"You'd better please him if you didn't have that lump in your middle either."
It took very little time for both Laura and Sasha to begin their own routine then as well, joining Jack and keeping pace for a while before they too fell quick victim to fatigue.
Maya, however, did not join them in their jog but moved in beside Lucario, who still meditated on one leg and kept count of all three of their progress.
"You're not joining them?" she asked.
"I swim. A lot," she answered agreeably, sitting cross legged on the floor, watching their progress as well, especially Jack's. "How did you convince him to run laps?"
"He convinced himself. I told him I wouldn't tolerate a flabby trainer and so to earn my respect he asked me to train him. I'm just waiting until he gives up."
"You don't have much faith in him then."
"I have no faith in him. If he continues on like this the League will discard of him like trash."
"He has perseverance though. That has to count for something," argued Maya, who took Riolu into her arms and held her up.
"There is a difference between perseverance and skill. One does not lead to the other. He could have all the perseverance in the world, but that would not make me respect him any more as a trainer. Only as a man doomed to fail."
"You seem to know a lot about the challenges of the Pokémon League," said Maya, not really expecting an answer. When an answer did come though, she was a little surprised to hear it.
"I do."
When Jack came back to her, out of breath and soaked to the bone with sweat he nearly collapsed under his own weight. Laura and Sasha, also sweaty and fatigued came up behind him. Lucario stood there in the middle of the mat waiting for him, completely unfazed by his appearance or his smell.
"You owe me seven more laps. Why did you stop?"
"Seven? Can't be! I did all of them!" he managed between gasps.
"You did 18 laps and cut 5 corners. Now make it up! Do you want my respect or my pity? Now go!" she yelled at him, and he belatedly stretched upward and began his 14th lap. To the other two she snickered. "And you joined late. You haven't made up your first eight laps, nor did you finish the last two. Ten more. Move!" Begrudgingly they left as well, though they did so and left behind a few choice words.
When they were finally finished they fell to their faces in front of her. She only looked sternly down at them and asked one simple question. "Do you have what it takes to become a Pokémon Master? Will you continue to become the champion of the Pokémon League?"
Jack picked himself up and stared hard at Lucario. "I do. I will."
"Then I will train you. But on one condition. They join you every time you practice."
Jack looked back at his two exhausted Pokémon and nodded. "Done."
They let out simultaneous groans of protest but were cut off.
"Then stand up and take a shower. You all stink," said Lucario, getting a giggle from Maya and Riolu.
"I call scrubbing his back!" said Sasha.
"I call his front! Ha!" said Laura, followed quickly by, "Aw! The showers are separate! What a jyp! Come on Jack, let's go back to our room and we'll get all clean there instead."
"Can't I just take a shower by myself?" he protested.
"But Jaaack!"
"Come on Laura. We'll get all clean first and get all dirty later," said Sasha, guiding the Lopunny to the women's rooms.
"But I wanna be dirty now." And then the door closed behind them.
"They won't ever change you know," said Maya.
"They will. But it won't be my doing. It will be Jack's. If he wants to be a Master trainer, then his Pokémon will grow with him."
They stayed quiet for a while and then Maya spoke again. "I think everyone would grow anyway, even if you hadn't agreed to help." Then she leaned over and kissed the Lucario's cheek, "But I think you'll help keep him on track."
Lucario only looked at Maya as she stood up and held Riolu above her head. "Now who's up for another swim?" she said merrily at the puppy Pokémon, getting happy barks and yips from her in response. "What's that? You want mommy to join us? Well, I think that's a great idea. Come on mommy. Let's go for a swim." The Riolu barked happily again and when Maya turned to leave Lucario smiled at the Vaporeon's back. She got up and followed to the pool, happy to have someone like her along for the journey.
After they had cleaned up and redressed, Jack went back to the room to put on a novelty tropical t-shirt he had picked up at the gift shop, which he looked terrible in, and at last joined his Pokémon by the pool. Riolu was riding on Maya's back as she raced through the water and Lucario was hesitantly wading through the shallow end as though the water would suddenly lurch up and swallow her whole. Laura and Sasha were sunning themselves as he expected at the side of the pool. When they saw him Sasha was the first to speak.
"And there he is. We thought you were going to miss us getting off."
Then Laura. "God, every time I see you in that shirt I want to rip it off your body!" Jack stopped flat and stared at her, as did the rest of them, and even a few patrons as they passed by.
"Do you even listen to yourself when you talk?" asked Sasha, only saying what they were all thinking.
"Of course I do! It's a terrible-oh. I get it. Well that just goes without saying."
"Well, maybe if I dip into the potion fund I'll get a new shirt or two, but until then..." They all looked at him with a worried expression on their face, except Lucario, who was clinging onto the side of the pool as though she would fall away never to be seen again and whose expression was only a reflection of her apprehension. Riolu was having a grand time though, and splashed her mother with every pass that Vaporeon made around the pool.
"I see it! I see it! Look! There it is!" came a cry from the deck. A patron was pointing off the side and waving to someone Jack couldn't see, but he followed the direction of her arm and there it was. Cinnabar Island. The only landmass in sight. Even from so far out he could make out the tall rocky faces of numerous volcanoes and cliffs and the unmistakable ring of smoke that perpetually surrounded the peak of its most famous volcano, 'Mount Fire.' Its populous wasn't known for their naming conventions.
"They say that when a Pokémon trainer comes to Cinnabar Island it's for their 7th badge," began Jack, "That they climb to the top of Mount Fire to prove that they're ready to meet any challenge, that they're ready to take on the final gym in the league and go for the Champion's title."
"They say that," said Lucario, "But no one bothers anymore." She paused a long moment to look at the growing mountain. "You wouldn't make it."
"Is that a challenge?" asked Jack, "What makes you think I can't?"
"It's not a challenge. I know you can't."
Jack was a little put off by her attitude, but he didn't let it get to him. "Okay, then, I bet you I can make it." He said, kneeling beside her. "And if I make it, you have to show me the form you've been hiding from me." This got the others' attention. They had just assumed that he could perceive all of them that way.
"And if I win?"
Jack paused, looking deeply into Lucario's eyes. "If you win, you can name whatever you want from me, and I'll do it."
"Even if it's freedom? With my baby?" The others stared at her agape, shocked she would even consider it.
Without even a moment's hesitation he said, "I am as good as my word Lucario. But only if you win." He held out his hand to shake and she stared hard at him before taking his hand.
"You should not make bets you can't win Jack," was all she said after that. And it gave them all a lot to think about.
When they were nearing Cinnabar the sound system blared for a moment alerting all passengers to their arrival and to make sure they had everything before they departed the ship. Jack collected everyone in their Pokeballs and made one last trip to their room to get his pack and then disembarked with only a single thought on his mind, climbing Mount Fire. Now that he was on the island though, and standing in front of the tourist sign describing the mountain. How the hell was he going to get all the way up there?
"Every journey starts with the first step, so they say," he said to himself.
"That they do young man," came a gruff old voice from behind him. "Thinking of taking the Mount Fire challenge eh?" Jack turned to see an elderly man in khaki shorts and a white golf shirt standing behind him. He wore hiking boots and tall socks that made his legs look like spindly twigs and huge sunglasses that hid the wrinkles around his otherwise youthful eyes. He had with him a walking stick whose end had been whittled down from use and a small backpack and water sac hanging from his shoulder. "Indulge an old man if you might. Are you a Pokémon trainer?"
"Um, yeah, I am, yes, a Pokémon trainer. Of course," replied Jack, still a bit unsure of the man.
The old man laughed a healthy and vigorous laugh that almost had Jack in chuckles as well. "If you'll pardon me boy, could I see the badges you've collected? It's been such a while since I saw some fresh new ones." The man reached up with one wrinkled hand and swept some of his thick white hair out of his face. Jack opened his small leather booklet and revealed his set of three. They glittered in the bright sunlight and Jack was almost as entranced by their glow as the old man seemed to be. "Three eh? No small feat if I recall. But most boys your age who come here are on their way to seven. Just how it goes. What made you come here so soon? Can't be for the weather. Ha! I'm afraid we don't get much of it around here. Ole Smokey here," and he pointed with his walking stick at the Mountain, "Sees to that. Chases away all the storm clouds."
"Seems more like a protector then," answered Jack, though he had forgotten the original question.
The old man laughed again. "That she is kiddo. That she is. I like you kid. How's about I show you the way up this here mountain. I could use the company anyway." The old man began to walk up the sloped pathway and Jack turned to regard the man.
"You're climbing the mountain? But you, you're..."
"Old? Ha! I've got life left in these limbs yet kiddo. I could show you a thing or two about this smoke pot too if she weren't so darn stubborn. Come on, we both want to see the top, and people give this old lady too much of a hard time. She's not so tough once you get to know her slopes, if you know what I mean, eh?" He laughed and started walking again. Jack, hesitant at first but insistent on going up the mountain followed after him.
"What should I call you? Since we're going up together and all."
"Me? Oh. The people here call me Mr. B. You can too. It's sort of a nickname I suppose."
"I'm Jack," he said, catching up to match the old man's stride.
Mr. B. only turned a knowing eye at Jack and held out his hand. "Good to have your company."
After a little while, when the slope became a little more tedious Mr. B. turned his head to Jack and asked, "So Jack. Do you like trivia?"Chapter End Notes:Don't forget to read, rate and comment on my previous chapters as well. I always love the feedback I get and appreciate all the comments. Thanks