Story Notes:
Based mainly on how the game goes, but I'll add things to my own accord here and there. Still not sure if this will turn adult or not... Mentally debating with myself it if will. Rated R for language to come.
First Hurtle
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any other show/book/movie/etc I might mention in this story. This is purely made for entertainment purposes and I will not gain any profit from using said copyrighted material.
Chapter 3: First Hurtle
"What's taking so long...?" Tangi muttered to himself. He was currently sitting in the lobby of Sandgem Town's PokéCenter. His eyes kept drifting from the clock to the double doors that Nurse Joy was currently behind with Flint. An hour had pasted after his match with Hazru and Genbu...
~ "Don't EVER scare me like that again!" Tangi brought Flint in for a hug, hoping to show how scared for him he was. Flint blinked a few times, and then returned the hug. They stayed in this position even as Hazru walked over. He stood above the two with a scared but smug smirk on his face.
"Close one, wasn't it?" He looked down at Tangi and Flint as Genbu walked over to his trainer. Though he didn't say it, Hazru was enjoying the fact he made the brat lose in front of everyone. "Bet you're finding it a real shame you didn't wait though. Might have won-"
BAM! Tangi shot up and socked Hazru right on the left side of his chin, causing most of the crowd to gasp. "Actually, no. Though I bet you feel it's a shame now. Could have been you throwing the punch..." Hazru swung back, but Rowan grabbed his arm before it landed.
"That's enough!" He shifted his glare back between the boys. "The match is over and the results have been declared," looking at Tangi as he said this, making him feel disgusted at Rowan for thinking he started the fight. Shifting his gaze to Hazru, Rowan continued,
"And nothing should be said after the match that would prompt your opponent to slug you!" After a bit, both boys nodded, still staring at each other with eyes of hatred.
Plop. The three dropped their serious expressions; having been replaced with more questioning ones. They looked towards the ground. Flint had finally fainted from exhaustion. Tangi, panicking, scooped him up and ran him over to Nurse Joy. As they walked off stage, some of the people near the edge of the battle area patted Tangi on the shoulder. Some did it out of comfort for losing the match, while others were praising him for the right hook he just threw.~
As the doors pushed open, Nurse Joy walked out as she passed a medical chart to her Chansey. Tangi shot up from his chair and bolted right for the nurse. "Is he okay?"
"Just exhausted. Blast Burn tends to eat a lot of energy. Same could be said for trying to hold his ground against a Hydro Cannon right after his attack." Nurse Joy sighed, looked back at Tangi and could tell from the look on his face that this information wasn't detailed enough to calm him. "All he needs is a night's rest and a nice breakfast in the morning," she finished with a smile.
"I see... I better give the professor and my mother a call then." He tried to make his way to the phones, but was stopped by Joy.
"Why," she asked.
He turned around, facing her. "Well, I need to ask Rowan about what just happened and I need to tell my mom I won't be able to come home tonight and-"
"Why aren't you going home," Nurse Joy interjected. Tangi returned the question with a rather blank expression.
"Uh, because Flint is staying here? If he ain't coming home, then I ain't going home!" Tangi crossed his arms and turned away from her. Nurse Joy giggled, making Tangi look back around. "What?"
"He's still awake," she said pointing at the doors behind her. "And I just cleared him. Did you want to go take him-" Tangi sped past her calling his friend's name. "-home." She giggled again; making her way back to the front desk. "Just like a child..." Then it struck her. "I didn't tell him which room the Charmander is in..."
After finding the right room thanks to Nurse Joy, Tangi poked his head around the corner. Flint was sitting in a bed, staring at his feet. "Heya Flint!" Tangi waited for an answer, but nothing. He was about to call Flint's name again when he noticed it; Flint's pupils were narrow again. Remembering how he acted during their match, Tangi felt irked by that expression; his face wasn't terrifying, but those eyes... He walked out from behind the wall. Flint had either not notice this or couldn't care. Tangi began walking over to the bed; walking as slowly as he could. When he finally reached it there was still no change in Flint's behavior, he tried calling his name again. "Flint...?" Tangi placed a hand on top of the Charmander's head. Flint trembled slightly, making Tangi jerk his hand back.
"Char?" He turned to his trainer, eyes wide and back to their normal Charmander state.
Tangi felt slightly confused, but continued. "Uh... how ya feeling boy?" Flint gave him a big grin. "Heh. Well, Nurse Joy said you could come home. Ya ready?" Flint nodded and jumped up to standing on the bed, then on to Tangi. Tangi gave him enough time to situate himself on his shoulder before walking out of the room.
Back outside, Tangi looked up towards Rowan's lab. It was nearing ten at night and, just as Tangi hopped, the lab grounds were empty; save a few people still cleaning up. "Sorry Flint..." Flint looked over at Tangi's face. "I have to go back to the professor's place." His face was nudged by the lizard Pokémon on his shoulder. Tangi didn't really pay mind too it. He was thinking too much about how to talk to Rowan about his 'Mon's behavior.
"Yes, it's good to see Flint unharmed," Rowan spoke as he poured Tangi a cup of tea. Flint was off sniffing around the laboratory, and Rowan had just heard the story of how things went at the PokéCenter. "Both of those critters nearly gave me a heart attack," he finished with a chuckle.
"Yea, about that. I thought they could only learn those moves when they were fully evolved." Tangi was pondering about that the whole hour he was waiting for the news from Nurse Joy. "Also, how did Hazru know that Genbu knew it?"
Professor Rowan took a sip of his drink before placing it down on the table between them. "Well, I do know that when Pokémon lay eggs, the infants tend to learn their attacks from their parents even before being trained. One move is a common one that all members of their species know since hatching. The second tends to be one that the infant can learn while training, or 'leveling'. Third tends to be a move from the father. We've noticed these moves to be ones that Trainers either taught their Pokémon with TMs/HMs or moves that could be taught with a TM. And lastly is any move that the father knew." He took another sip as Tangi just nodded to himself about everything he just heard.
"So you think Flint's dad knew Blast Burn? Wait, don't you professors normally catch the starters in the wild?" Tangi remembered that each time they sent trainers off on their journey, Rowan took a week trip to obtain three new ones for the next group that came once a month.
Rowan nodded. "Yes, yes. That is normally what we do. But sometimes trainers send us Eggs that we hatch. I spoke to him while you were at the PokéCenter by the way." Tangi looked up toward Rowan from behind his cup. "He did in fact hatch all of the starters he brought over for me to use. So it's possible even for Rebecca's Bulbasaur to know Frenzy Plant."
'Oh great...' thought Tangi as he rolled his eyes. "But," he continued, "How did Hazru know Genbu knew Hydro Cannon?"
"Ah." The professor stood up and walked over to his computer. He grabbed something and handed it to Tangi. It was a black PokéDex. "I passed those out when everyone showed up yesterday morning for their Pokémon. Sorry for forgetting about your's until now."
"Okay..." Tangi flipped the device around in his hand. "How does this answer my question though?" Roawn sighed.
"There's a new feature on these that allow you to 'scan' Pokémon for what attacks they know. Granted they're only programmed to work on ones you capture."
"Ah, that would explain it..." Tangi popped open his 'Dex and used the new function. He aimed it over at Flint and got the info he needed...
Flint/CHARMANDER
Ember - Scratch - Leer - Fire Fang - Blast Burn
"Hey, it works! Sweet..." Tangi wanted to fool around with the 'Dex some more, but that could wait. Though an idea had just struck him. "Does this list behavioral patterns in Pokémon?"
Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but only to a certain extent. Is there something particular that you wanted to know?" Tangi thought to himself, then looked at the professor and told him what he witnessed during the match and in the PokéCenter, causing his eyes to widen. He shot a look over a Flint, who was lying down on the couch there a few feet away from him. "No Tangi, that isn't normal..." Rowan kept staring at Flint before he turned to Tangi. "You said he responded to your calls still?" Tangi blinked.
"Well, to a certain point. In the match I called his name twice and got him to look at me. He obeyed every command up to the one where I said to run from Hydro Cannon. Then in the ER, he didn't answer his name till I touched his forehead." He grabbed his drink and started to take a sip while Rowan turned toward the Charmander... Then he spoke up.
"... Tangi, I want you to put off traveling for a while." Tangi spat the tea he had in his mouth back into the cup and tried to complain until the professor spoke up again.
"Tangi, Flint might some sort of genetic mutation. If he's truly acting like you said he did, it could mean trouble." He stared down the boy who still seemed ready to protest. "He could hurt someone or himself if his unresponsive behavior becomes worse."
'Damn it...' Tangi knew he couldn't argue with this. But still... He looked over at Flint, who turned from his curled up position to laying on his back. "... Alright sir, I'll put it off."
Rowan let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Now, both of you go home and get some rest. If you need some time before coming over again, I'll understand. Though we do need to run test on Flint and-"
"No." He turned. Tangi stared right at Rowan. "We're not doing any test on him." Rowan placed a hand over his eyes and massaged his temples with thumb and middle finger as he spoke up.
"Tangi, please... They won't harm him in any way." Tangi looked at the ground in thought...
"... What if I just observed him for a while, then tell you next time I meet with you about what I observed?" Rowan paused and grabbed his beard, tugging on it as he thought. "It couldn't hurt to study how he normally acts for a while at least. Then we'd have some information on his natural behavior."
"... Very well, I will let you do that." They both nodded to each other. Tangi stood up and walked over to grabbed Flint from the couch. He cradled his Pokémon as he walked to the door. Just as he turned the handle, Rowan spoke up. "Now just remember; you'll have to put the traveling off for a little while."
"Understood sir." He nodded then walked outside. '"... for a little while,"' Tangi muttered to himself when he reached the gate. A grin surfaced on his face. 'Seeing as I wanted to leave tonight, tomorrow morning should be "little while" enough.'
Tangi walked up the porch steps of his home and unlocked the door, pushing it open. He looked around the front room seeing that it was all clear. He was glad his mother wasn't still up waiting for him. Tangi walked past the kitchen and towards the dinning room, freezing in his tracks as he noticed his mother there. Luckily, she was fast asleep at the table next to a sewing machine. He stared, smiled to himself, then headed upstairs. He placed Flint in bed then went and grabbed a cover for his mother. Sneaking back down the steps, Tangi placed it over her and looked at the table. There, right between her and the machine, was some shirts and a pair of shorts that Tangi thought looked new. He picked them up and walked up to the bathroom upstairs.
He stripped to his boxers and tried on his outfit his mother apparently had been working on. The shorts were slightly longer on the legs then his other pair, but they were much roomier. He figured he'd need a belt to hold them up and realized his mother must have made them that way since he had to wear one anyway to hold his Pokéballs. The undershirt was loose, but not so loose as if it looked like it was a few sizes too big. It was just a plain gray, comfortable t-shirt. The other shirt however was an orange-brown mixture with black along the front sides and back.
Tangi looked himself over in the mirror and liked the outfit a lot. 'I really wish I could thank her properly... But I have to wake up early to avoid the professor.' He decided to go ahead and sleep in his new outfit, giving him one last thing to worry about in the morning...
_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BE-smack!_ Tangi rolled over and stared at the clock. 'Five past seven. Good.' He rolled out of bed, found his backpack and went to his closet to grab a belt, only to find that it has been removed. "Damn it," he swore. "Where did it..." And then he thought his mother might have packed it. He opened the pack and was surprised how everything his mother put in there had fit so well. 'Damn, at least wanted to take one book...' Tangi looked around and grabbed his copy of "Mythologies and Legends of the World", stuffed it in the spot he pulled the belt out, and zipped the bag close again. When he was finally ready, he shook Flint awake, grabbed him, and they both headed downstairs. Tangi looked over at the dining table and his mother was gone. Curious at first, he just decided that she had woken up during the night and moved to her bedroom. He smiled and pushed the door open going to the kitchen. He ransacked what he could fit and put the food in the pockets of his bag his mother left empty to serve just that purpose. "Better leave her something since I'm taking a lot of food," he thought out loud as he handed Flint some pieces of leftover bacon. Pulling out half of his savings (about 8000 P) he laid it on the counter with a note about him leaving. "Okay, you done?" Flint nodded, jumped and climbed up to Tangi's shoulder. "Let's be off-" WHACK!
"Oh, leaving already dear?" Tangi, knocked down by the door that just smacked him in the face, looked up and saw his mother carrying groceries. "Aww, I was hoping you would look good in that outfit! I had to guess on the shirt measurements since I lost the paper with them written down." She walked pasted him placing the food on the counter.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh" was all Tangi could manage to get out of his stammering mouth.
"What am I doing up so early? Oh, I was just getting things to stock up on since I figured you'd raid the fridge and cabinets for food." All Tangi could think of was how predictable he must really be. She looked over at the fridge door. "Why is Flint hanging like that?" Tangi shot a look up; Flint had jumped off Tangi's shoulder to avoid being crushed and was now dangling from the freeze door's handle" Tangi, panicking, shot up and grabbed Flint. "And what is this for," Tangi's mother asked as she waved around the money he had left on the counter.
"Well, I didn't just wanna take food and leave you without anything to replace it with..."
"Oh nonsense! Just take this back," she said while handing him the 8000 P back, "And get a move on it!" She winked at him, then turned away to unload. Tangi stared for a moment, Flint feeling about as dumbstruck as he was.
"Uh, o-okay." Tangi turned for the door, but then turned to his mother again. "Oh, mom. If the professor comes asking for me or calling me I'-"
"I already talked to him on my way home from the mart." He stopped, waiting on what would come next. She sighed and turned to him. "Are you certain you should be going?"
He looked down at the ground trying his best to avoid eye contact. Flint nudged his face after a while which finally cleared Tangi's thoughts well enough to answer.
"No, I'm not sure. But I have to. It just feels like I have to." He looked up, trying to give his most honest face to his mother. She stared at him momentarily, then smiled back.
"Then get going." Tangi and Flint both nodded. Tangi opened the door bolted out of the house. She walked over to it and watched as the two disappeared into the morning fog coming from the beach, heading for the road leading to Route 202. Soon they'd be in Jubilife City.
"Where... Am I?" All it could see were bright lights overhead and three voices shouting. It didn't know what was happening, and it didn't care. Right now, all it wanted was sleep...Chapter End Notes:Footnote(s): Chapter three complete! Review if ya want! Also...
Foreshadowing; am I doing dis rite?
Chapter 3: First Hurtle
"What's taking so long...?" Tangi muttered to himself. He was currently sitting in the lobby of Sandgem Town's PokéCenter. His eyes kept drifting from the clock to the double doors that Nurse Joy was currently behind with Flint. An hour had pasted after his match with Hazru and Genbu...
~ "Don't EVER scare me like that again!" Tangi brought Flint in for a hug, hoping to show how scared for him he was. Flint blinked a few times, and then returned the hug. They stayed in this position even as Hazru walked over. He stood above the two with a scared but smug smirk on his face.
"Close one, wasn't it?" He looked down at Tangi and Flint as Genbu walked over to his trainer. Though he didn't say it, Hazru was enjoying the fact he made the brat lose in front of everyone. "Bet you're finding it a real shame you didn't wait though. Might have won-"
BAM! Tangi shot up and socked Hazru right on the left side of his chin, causing most of the crowd to gasp. "Actually, no. Though I bet you feel it's a shame now. Could have been you throwing the punch..." Hazru swung back, but Rowan grabbed his arm before it landed.
"That's enough!" He shifted his glare back between the boys. "The match is over and the results have been declared," looking at Tangi as he said this, making him feel disgusted at Rowan for thinking he started the fight. Shifting his gaze to Hazru, Rowan continued,
"And nothing should be said after the match that would prompt your opponent to slug you!" After a bit, both boys nodded, still staring at each other with eyes of hatred.
Plop. The three dropped their serious expressions; having been replaced with more questioning ones. They looked towards the ground. Flint had finally fainted from exhaustion. Tangi, panicking, scooped him up and ran him over to Nurse Joy. As they walked off stage, some of the people near the edge of the battle area patted Tangi on the shoulder. Some did it out of comfort for losing the match, while others were praising him for the right hook he just threw.~
As the doors pushed open, Nurse Joy walked out as she passed a medical chart to her Chansey. Tangi shot up from his chair and bolted right for the nurse. "Is he okay?"
"Just exhausted. Blast Burn tends to eat a lot of energy. Same could be said for trying to hold his ground against a Hydro Cannon right after his attack." Nurse Joy sighed, looked back at Tangi and could tell from the look on his face that this information wasn't detailed enough to calm him. "All he needs is a night's rest and a nice breakfast in the morning," she finished with a smile.
"I see... I better give the professor and my mother a call then." He tried to make his way to the phones, but was stopped by Joy.
"Why," she asked.
He turned around, facing her. "Well, I need to ask Rowan about what just happened and I need to tell my mom I won't be able to come home tonight and-"
"Why aren't you going home," Nurse Joy interjected. Tangi returned the question with a rather blank expression.
"Uh, because Flint is staying here? If he ain't coming home, then I ain't going home!" Tangi crossed his arms and turned away from her. Nurse Joy giggled, making Tangi look back around. "What?"
"He's still awake," she said pointing at the doors behind her. "And I just cleared him. Did you want to go take him-" Tangi sped past her calling his friend's name. "-home." She giggled again; making her way back to the front desk. "Just like a child..." Then it struck her. "I didn't tell him which room the Charmander is in..."
After finding the right room thanks to Nurse Joy, Tangi poked his head around the corner. Flint was sitting in a bed, staring at his feet. "Heya Flint!" Tangi waited for an answer, but nothing. He was about to call Flint's name again when he noticed it; Flint's pupils were narrow again. Remembering how he acted during their match, Tangi felt irked by that expression; his face wasn't terrifying, but those eyes... He walked out from behind the wall. Flint had either not notice this or couldn't care. Tangi began walking over to the bed; walking as slowly as he could. When he finally reached it there was still no change in Flint's behavior, he tried calling his name again. "Flint...?" Tangi placed a hand on top of the Charmander's head. Flint trembled slightly, making Tangi jerk his hand back.
"Char?" He turned to his trainer, eyes wide and back to their normal Charmander state.
Tangi felt slightly confused, but continued. "Uh... how ya feeling boy?" Flint gave him a big grin. "Heh. Well, Nurse Joy said you could come home. Ya ready?" Flint nodded and jumped up to standing on the bed, then on to Tangi. Tangi gave him enough time to situate himself on his shoulder before walking out of the room.
Back outside, Tangi looked up towards Rowan's lab. It was nearing ten at night and, just as Tangi hopped, the lab grounds were empty; save a few people still cleaning up. "Sorry Flint..." Flint looked over at Tangi's face. "I have to go back to the professor's place." His face was nudged by the lizard Pokémon on his shoulder. Tangi didn't really pay mind too it. He was thinking too much about how to talk to Rowan about his 'Mon's behavior.
"Yes, it's good to see Flint unharmed," Rowan spoke as he poured Tangi a cup of tea. Flint was off sniffing around the laboratory, and Rowan had just heard the story of how things went at the PokéCenter. "Both of those critters nearly gave me a heart attack," he finished with a chuckle.
"Yea, about that. I thought they could only learn those moves when they were fully evolved." Tangi was pondering about that the whole hour he was waiting for the news from Nurse Joy. "Also, how did Hazru know that Genbu knew it?"
Professor Rowan took a sip of his drink before placing it down on the table between them. "Well, I do know that when Pokémon lay eggs, the infants tend to learn their attacks from their parents even before being trained. One move is a common one that all members of their species know since hatching. The second tends to be one that the infant can learn while training, or 'leveling'. Third tends to be a move from the father. We've noticed these moves to be ones that Trainers either taught their Pokémon with TMs/HMs or moves that could be taught with a TM. And lastly is any move that the father knew." He took another sip as Tangi just nodded to himself about everything he just heard.
"So you think Flint's dad knew Blast Burn? Wait, don't you professors normally catch the starters in the wild?" Tangi remembered that each time they sent trainers off on their journey, Rowan took a week trip to obtain three new ones for the next group that came once a month.
Rowan nodded. "Yes, yes. That is normally what we do. But sometimes trainers send us Eggs that we hatch. I spoke to him while you were at the PokéCenter by the way." Tangi looked up toward Rowan from behind his cup. "He did in fact hatch all of the starters he brought over for me to use. So it's possible even for Rebecca's Bulbasaur to know Frenzy Plant."
'Oh great...' thought Tangi as he rolled his eyes. "But," he continued, "How did Hazru know Genbu knew Hydro Cannon?"
"Ah." The professor stood up and walked over to his computer. He grabbed something and handed it to Tangi. It was a black PokéDex. "I passed those out when everyone showed up yesterday morning for their Pokémon. Sorry for forgetting about your's until now."
"Okay..." Tangi flipped the device around in his hand. "How does this answer my question though?" Roawn sighed.
"There's a new feature on these that allow you to 'scan' Pokémon for what attacks they know. Granted they're only programmed to work on ones you capture."
"Ah, that would explain it..." Tangi popped open his 'Dex and used the new function. He aimed it over at Flint and got the info he needed...
Flint/CHARMANDER
Ember - Scratch - Leer - Fire Fang - Blast Burn
"Hey, it works! Sweet..." Tangi wanted to fool around with the 'Dex some more, but that could wait. Though an idea had just struck him. "Does this list behavioral patterns in Pokémon?"
Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but only to a certain extent. Is there something particular that you wanted to know?" Tangi thought to himself, then looked at the professor and told him what he witnessed during the match and in the PokéCenter, causing his eyes to widen. He shot a look over a Flint, who was lying down on the couch there a few feet away from him. "No Tangi, that isn't normal..." Rowan kept staring at Flint before he turned to Tangi. "You said he responded to your calls still?" Tangi blinked.
"Well, to a certain point. In the match I called his name twice and got him to look at me. He obeyed every command up to the one where I said to run from Hydro Cannon. Then in the ER, he didn't answer his name till I touched his forehead." He grabbed his drink and started to take a sip while Rowan turned toward the Charmander... Then he spoke up.
"... Tangi, I want you to put off traveling for a while." Tangi spat the tea he had in his mouth back into the cup and tried to complain until the professor spoke up again.
"Tangi, Flint might some sort of genetic mutation. If he's truly acting like you said he did, it could mean trouble." He stared down the boy who still seemed ready to protest. "He could hurt someone or himself if his unresponsive behavior becomes worse."
'Damn it...' Tangi knew he couldn't argue with this. But still... He looked over at Flint, who turned from his curled up position to laying on his back. "... Alright sir, I'll put it off."
Rowan let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Now, both of you go home and get some rest. If you need some time before coming over again, I'll understand. Though we do need to run test on Flint and-"
"No." He turned. Tangi stared right at Rowan. "We're not doing any test on him." Rowan placed a hand over his eyes and massaged his temples with thumb and middle finger as he spoke up.
"Tangi, please... They won't harm him in any way." Tangi looked at the ground in thought...
"... What if I just observed him for a while, then tell you next time I meet with you about what I observed?" Rowan paused and grabbed his beard, tugging on it as he thought. "It couldn't hurt to study how he normally acts for a while at least. Then we'd have some information on his natural behavior."
"... Very well, I will let you do that." They both nodded to each other. Tangi stood up and walked over to grabbed Flint from the couch. He cradled his Pokémon as he walked to the door. Just as he turned the handle, Rowan spoke up. "Now just remember; you'll have to put the traveling off for a little while."
"Understood sir." He nodded then walked outside. '"... for a little while,"' Tangi muttered to himself when he reached the gate. A grin surfaced on his face. 'Seeing as I wanted to leave tonight, tomorrow morning should be "little while" enough.'
Tangi walked up the porch steps of his home and unlocked the door, pushing it open. He looked around the front room seeing that it was all clear. He was glad his mother wasn't still up waiting for him. Tangi walked past the kitchen and towards the dinning room, freezing in his tracks as he noticed his mother there. Luckily, she was fast asleep at the table next to a sewing machine. He stared, smiled to himself, then headed upstairs. He placed Flint in bed then went and grabbed a cover for his mother. Sneaking back down the steps, Tangi placed it over her and looked at the table. There, right between her and the machine, was some shirts and a pair of shorts that Tangi thought looked new. He picked them up and walked up to the bathroom upstairs.
He stripped to his boxers and tried on his outfit his mother apparently had been working on. The shorts were slightly longer on the legs then his other pair, but they were much roomier. He figured he'd need a belt to hold them up and realized his mother must have made them that way since he had to wear one anyway to hold his Pokéballs. The undershirt was loose, but not so loose as if it looked like it was a few sizes too big. It was just a plain gray, comfortable t-shirt. The other shirt however was an orange-brown mixture with black along the front sides and back.
Tangi looked himself over in the mirror and liked the outfit a lot. 'I really wish I could thank her properly... But I have to wake up early to avoid the professor.' He decided to go ahead and sleep in his new outfit, giving him one last thing to worry about in the morning...
_BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BE-smack!_ Tangi rolled over and stared at the clock. 'Five past seven. Good.' He rolled out of bed, found his backpack and went to his closet to grab a belt, only to find that it has been removed. "Damn it," he swore. "Where did it..." And then he thought his mother might have packed it. He opened the pack and was surprised how everything his mother put in there had fit so well. 'Damn, at least wanted to take one book...' Tangi looked around and grabbed his copy of "Mythologies and Legends of the World", stuffed it in the spot he pulled the belt out, and zipped the bag close again. When he was finally ready, he shook Flint awake, grabbed him, and they both headed downstairs. Tangi looked over at the dining table and his mother was gone. Curious at first, he just decided that she had woken up during the night and moved to her bedroom. He smiled and pushed the door open going to the kitchen. He ransacked what he could fit and put the food in the pockets of his bag his mother left empty to serve just that purpose. "Better leave her something since I'm taking a lot of food," he thought out loud as he handed Flint some pieces of leftover bacon. Pulling out half of his savings (about 8000 P) he laid it on the counter with a note about him leaving. "Okay, you done?" Flint nodded, jumped and climbed up to Tangi's shoulder. "Let's be off-" WHACK!
"Oh, leaving already dear?" Tangi, knocked down by the door that just smacked him in the face, looked up and saw his mother carrying groceries. "Aww, I was hoping you would look good in that outfit! I had to guess on the shirt measurements since I lost the paper with them written down." She walked pasted him placing the food on the counter.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh" was all Tangi could manage to get out of his stammering mouth.
"What am I doing up so early? Oh, I was just getting things to stock up on since I figured you'd raid the fridge and cabinets for food." All Tangi could think of was how predictable he must really be. She looked over at the fridge door. "Why is Flint hanging like that?" Tangi shot a look up; Flint had jumped off Tangi's shoulder to avoid being crushed and was now dangling from the freeze door's handle" Tangi, panicking, shot up and grabbed Flint. "And what is this for," Tangi's mother asked as she waved around the money he had left on the counter.
"Well, I didn't just wanna take food and leave you without anything to replace it with..."
"Oh nonsense! Just take this back," she said while handing him the 8000 P back, "And get a move on it!" She winked at him, then turned away to unload. Tangi stared for a moment, Flint feeling about as dumbstruck as he was.
"Uh, o-okay." Tangi turned for the door, but then turned to his mother again. "Oh, mom. If the professor comes asking for me or calling me I'-"
"I already talked to him on my way home from the mart." He stopped, waiting on what would come next. She sighed and turned to him. "Are you certain you should be going?"
He looked down at the ground trying his best to avoid eye contact. Flint nudged his face after a while which finally cleared Tangi's thoughts well enough to answer.
"No, I'm not sure. But I have to. It just feels like I have to." He looked up, trying to give his most honest face to his mother. She stared at him momentarily, then smiled back.
"Then get going." Tangi and Flint both nodded. Tangi opened the door bolted out of the house. She walked over to it and watched as the two disappeared into the morning fog coming from the beach, heading for the road leading to Route 202. Soon they'd be in Jubilife City.
"Where... Am I?" All it could see were bright lights overhead and three voices shouting. It didn't know what was happening, and it didn't care. Right now, all it wanted was sleep...Chapter End Notes:Footnote(s): Chapter three complete! Review if ya want! Also...
Foreshadowing; am I doing dis rite?