Friends, Foes, Feelings, and Follies
The City of Rainbow Dreams
Days passed on the road. Jenn and Mige traveled well together, of course. It was a relatively calm trip, with only the occasional bout with a passing trainer or passing autumn shower to break things up. Not that Jenn was complaining. She enjoyed these quiet days.
About five days in, the two were packing up camp after breakfast as Mige tried to explain that Bill had literally become a Pokemon the year before, which Jenn assumed was an attempt to prank her or something. It was then that they came across a coordinator named Treavor Pearl and his Mightyena.
Mige and Trevor got along well enough, but Jenn and Trevor immediately disliked each other and her patience with Trevor was minute. To her dismay, Mige invited Trevor to join them, since they were all going to Celadon City. Mige seemed intrigued by the Contest stuff, which irritated Jenn, because that meant coordinating was to become the common topic of conversation. Jenn tried to hold her tongue but couldn't hide how annoyed she was.
It would be another three days at least to Celadon City, and it was a long three days for Jenn. Along the way, the three of them helped a guy named Orion protect a group of wild Houndoom and Houndour, with Mie capturing one of the Houndour pups.
Finally, they arrived in Celadon City. Jenn was grateful that Trevor would be going to do his own thing, but Mige told Jenn that he was actually considering entering the contest, too. Jenn groaned. Mige asked Jenn if she wanted to join with them and Jenn snapped at him. She was harsher than she'd intended, and she knows how it came across, but she wanted nothing to do with Contests.
She felt guilty about snapping at him almost as soon as the words were out. It wasn't Mige's fault, after all, and it wasn't even Trevor's. Mige didn't know about her childhood, or her mother, or the endless lessons, and the punishments that came with them.
While Mige and Trevor prepared for the Contest, Jenn did her own thing. In part this was because she just didn't want to hear about coordinating for the next two days, but she also felt guilty about how she'd reacted and decdied that self-isolating was the best way to handle it. It wasn't the best way, actually, but you know. Trouble at Celadon Mansion Over the next two days, Jenn spent most of the time by herself.
She'd only run into Mige briefly in the mornings or later in the evenings. Still, it wasn't the worst thing to spend some time by yourself in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. She walked down the streets, enjoying the parks and flower gardens, admiring the beautiful hedge sculptures, listening to live musicians play by a small park near the river.
On the second day, while she was wandering around town, Jenn came across an old man and his Grimer, who were struggling to deliver some goods into the local convention center. Jenn quickly offered to help and the old man gratefully accepted. She helped him load the boxed and bags onto a utility cart and pushed it into the convention center (known as Celadon Mansion).
It appeared to be gearing up for a convention about evolution stones, maybe? That thought was confirmed when she met the trio that the old man was delivering to: the famous Eevee Brothers! The famous siblings had come to town for the convention, and they were super cool and polite.
However, in the middle of things, the power began to fluctuate as black-clad gangsters flooded into the room: Team Rocket grunts led by Rocket agents Attila and Hun. They were there to steal the evolution stones that were to be on display. The old delivery man and other employees and vendors dove for cover, but the Eevee Brothers quickly stepped up to stop the Rockets. Jenn jumped in to help, as well. The brothers used their Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporean, respectively, and Jenn used her own Eevee. Atilla and Hun were tough and dangerous, but they couldn't keep up with four Pokemon at the same tiem. Once the police arrived, the Rockets fell back.
In the aftermath, the Eevee Brothers thanked Jenn for stepping up and helping the way she did. Jenn told them that they didn't have to thank her; she was happy to help. Despite this, the Eevee Brothers insisted. So as thanks, they offered her a VIP Pass for the convention. Jenn accepted (also getting a pass for Mige). In addition, they also offered to let her have one of the evolution stones for free, and she chose the Water Stone, having decided some time ago that she’d like to evolve Eevee into a Vaporeon if she got the chance.
As Jenn readied to leave, she was approached by one of the Eevee Brothers, who went by Sparky. He asked Jenn if she was free that night and wanted to get some dinner? Jenn went red and instead of answering just sort of blinked and ran away, diving out of the door. Sparky blinked and looked down at his Jolteon with a shrug.
“I guess that’s a no, then?”
Eevee vs. Eevee vs. Eeevee vs. Eevee
The next day, Jenn met back up with Mige and told her about the Contest. He had placed in the Top 8, which was pretty impressive for a first-timer, and Trevor had won the contest. Mige added that Jenn was lucky she didn't show up to the Contest.
"Why's that?" she asked.
"Ryu was there. The swimmer guy." Mige said.
Jenn winced.
"Yeah...definitely dodged a bullet on that one." she replied with a chuckle. Mige went on to explain that Trevor had disappeared after the Contest was over and he hadn't heard from him since. While Jenn wasn't going to miss him, a part of her felt bad for how rude she'd been and was a bit disappointed she didn't get to apologize to him.
Jenn glossed over the Team Rocket attack, but did mention that she helped the old man and had been gifted two VIP Tickets to the Evolution Convention that was starting the next day. Mige seemed pretty interested in going, so when the day came they arrived relatively early. The VIP tickets meant that they got to skip a bunch of lines, and they were to able to gain instant access to a few exhibits and a number of small panels of experts in the field of Pokemon Evolution. The Eevee Brothers were basically the headliner act.
They wandered the convention floor, did their best to avoid the B-Button League AND the Pokemon Fan Club, and marveled at the various evolution stones on display in the central display tent. In the tent, Mige was greeted by Lara Miyamoto-Pierce and Will Tahjiri. It was certainly a small world! They caught up a bit; Will was looking at purchasing a few stones, either for Poliwhirl or his Eevee.
While Mige and Lara looked at some stones, Will talked with Jenn about the various pros and cons of Poliwrath vs. Politoed, when she saw Sammy passing by. She went completely still, but unfortunately, he saw her too. Sammy gave her a smile and walked over, speaking to her like nothing was awkward or weird between them at all; he was very chummy with Jenn and asked how she’d been.
“Uh…I’m…I’ve been fine?”
“Good. That's good." Sammy said, "You feeling okay?”
"Yeah, just, uh...you know..." Jenn said, unable to think of a good excuse to bail in that moment. Luckily, Will Tahjiri jumped in.
“Hey, I just checked the time and we gotta go,” Will said, “Mige just texted me; we’re gonna find some seats for the stone talk panel.”
Sammy’s brow raised and he broke out into a toothy smile.
“Oh! Mige is here? Well I'll be damned!" he said with achuckle, "So are you two traveling together?” he asked.
Jenn shrugged sheepishly. Sammy clapped Jenn on the shoulder, which she didn’t like.
“Not surprising, really. You two really seemed like you hit it off,” Sammy said, “So where is he? I’d love to catch up with him and see how he's doing with the gym challenge!”
Despite Jenn's apparent discomfort, Sammy followed Will and Jenn to where Mige and Lara were looking at a display case, which contained a collection jewlery that had been made using Dawn stone fragments. They were discussing whether the shards could trigger an evolution--"How much do you need to count as a stone?"--when they approached.
"Mige! How are you doing, you son of a gun?" Sammy asked, smiling brightly. Mige seemed less than enthused about running into Sammy, but the latter remained oblivious to it. Sammy asked Mige how his training was going, and Mige simply relied that it was going fine.
“Nice, nice.Things are going well for me, too. I’ve been training, you know; doing some tournaments here and there. I just got my fourth badge and I’m working on my fifth. Not sure if I want to go for the Marsh Badge or Soul Badge next. I feel pretty good about either...what do you think, man?” Sammy asked. Mige didn’t seem to care either way. The whole time, Jenn just sort of slipped behind Will Tahjiri and hoped Sammy forgot she was there.
The Eevee Brothers' panel began not long after and all five of them all attended. The panel was actually hosted and led by Erika Flowers herself; the local gym leader. She certainly had her opinion on stone evolutions! The three Eevee Brothers each seemed to have their own take, each of which was more nuanced than Jenn had been expecting, honestly.
After the panel, Will Tahjiri suggested that they go grab some food, but Sammy quickly interrupted to challenge Mige to a battle.
"We're rivals, right? So we gotta keep testing our skills against each other." Sammy said. Mige seemed hesitant, but Will made an interesting suggestion: since each of them happened to own an Eevee or Eevee-lution, they should have a sort of makeshift Eevee Tournament! Sammy thought it sounded like a good idea, and Mige reluctantly agreed.
Since there were five of them, Jenn quickly volunteered to act as a referee (beating Mige to the punch by a hair). Their makeshift tournament revealed that they had each made an evolution decision about their Eevees: Will had evolved his into a Flareon, Sammy’s was an Umbreon, and Jenn had Vaporeon (obviously), while Lara and Mige both kept their Eevees as they were.
They randomly determined who fought who (Will Tahjiri rolled a dice on his phone). Lara was paired with Sammy, and Mige was paired with Will. Mige and Will fought first, with Mige & Eevee quickly nabbing the win against Will and Flareon. Even Jenn was both surprised and impressed by the win--and she watched him battle fairly regularly! Next was Lara versus Sammy. Jenn found herself rooting for Lara to win.
(“Hey, that’s not very impartial-judge of you!” – Sammy)
Despite Sammy’s overabundance of confidence, Lara’s cool demeanor hid a fierce competitor and a cunning tactician. It didn’t take too long for her and Eevee to defeat Sammy. He was visibly shocked, and maybe a little angry, but after a moment resumed his normal, cheerful demeanor and congratulated Lara on her win.
The final round was Mige vs. Lara; Eevee vs. Eevee. It was a hell of a battle, but Mige ended up victorious. Mige and Lara shook hands. Jenn noticed something in the way that Lara looked at Mige then and she hated the way that look made her feel. Jenn did her best to ignore it. She had no reason to be jealous. That was stupid. After the tournament wrapped up, Sammy quickly departed. Lara offered to buy everyone dinner, an offer that Mige & Jenn gratefully accepted. Before they left, the Eevee Brothers approached and revealed that they’d been watching the whole thing.
“That was some seriously impressive battling!" Rainer said to Mige.
"We haven't seen a trainer handle an Eevee so well in a long time, have we guys?" chuckled Pyro with a good-natured grin.
"So we gave it some thought, and we figured that the winner of a tournament deserves a prize! Since you’re the winner, and a friend of Jenn’s, why don’t you pick out a stone? It’s on us!”
Sparky held out a Thunder Stone, Rainer held out a Water Stone, and Pyro held out a Fire Stone. Mige gave it some thought, and chose the Fire Stone. Pyro seemed pleased about that! After saying their good-byes to the Eevee Brothers, they all went to have some dinner. It was nice night. After dinner, when they had a moment, Jenn quietly thanked Will for stepping in back at the conference.
“No problem. That guy sucked.” Will said matter-of-factly. Jenn giggled and nodded in agreement.
"You're right on that one." Jenn said with a smile.
A Sommelier Shakeup & the Ferocious Flower Friend
Okay, seriously, what were the odds?!? Ami and Mige caught up and Jenn found that she liked the girl. As their Pokemon all played and relaxed over lunch, Ami explained that she was thinking of training to become a Pokemon Sommelier. She'd been working on it for a while now, and even evaluated the bonds between Mige and his Pokemon. After the display, Ami mentioned she was going to attend a seminar in Celadon City and invited them to tag along. During the conference, they found themselves in a pen where Sommelier can match up trainers and rescue Pokemon. It reminded Jenn of the pen at Professor Oak's lab where she'd first met Bulbasaur. Jenn vibed with a shy Vulpix. Ami watched them for a few minutes and commented that they really seem to be connecting.
However, things were cut short when the pen was abruptly overrun with criminals—not rockets, but thieves and poachers looking to follow Team Rocket’s basic playbook. Among them was a familiar, scarred face. When he saw Jenn, he cursed and groaned. “Seriously? You again? What do I gotta do to get you out of my way?” he demanded. “Maybe stop being a criminal?” Jenn suggested before throwing out her Vaporeon to battle the Poachers.
She, Mige, and Ami team up to drive the thieves off. They succeeded, but many of the rescue Pokemon had escaped in the chaos and confusion. The sommeliers were quickly despairing, so Ami, Mige, and Jenn volunteered to help track them down. It wasn't difficult to track down most of the escaped Pokemon; they were just scared and hadn't gotten very far. But it became clear that the Vulpix was still missing. They found it not long after. It was clearly panicking and afraid in the nearby park, and in its fear has caused a minor fire in the park. It was hurt, shivering and afraid; and lashing out with bursts of fire and smoke.
Even Ami and Mige were having trouble trying to get close to it. Having experience with this sort of thing, Jenn reminded herself of the Nidoqueen incident last spring. Slowly, she held out her hands in a gesture of peace and cautiously approached the Vulpix. It let out a shrill cry and belched fire at her. It burned, but Jenn kept her cool and didn’t move or run; she grit her teeth and took it, assuring the Vulpix that she was a friend and only wanted to help. Vulpix attacked again, but Jenn remained calm. She pulled out a berry and offered it to her. The Pokemon took it and Jenn gingerly sat by Vulpix's side for more than hour. Finally, after a lot of patience and careful work, the Vulpix inched closer until it was resting against her. Jenn gently pat the Vulpix and smiled, and after a few more minutes of building up trust, gently picked her up and carried her back to the rescue pen.
Due to her efforts and determination, the guy in charge of the Rescue gifted Vulpix to her. Jenn asked Vulpix if he wanted to come with her, and the Vulpix happily agreed! Ami would stick around for a couple more days, until Mige announced he was ready to face Erika at the Rainbow Gym. Before facing Erika, Mige had to defeat several of the Disciples. To everyone's surprise, he washed out on the last one before he could challenge Erika. Jenn and Ami both tried their best to cheer Mige up. Another surprise, Mige didn’t seem too bothered by it. He’d just train more and come back later to try again. Jenn suggested that in the meantime they could go to Mulberry Town to get the Blank Badge. Mige agreed, and after Ami bid a fond farewell to the pair, Jenn and Mige prepared for the trip ahead.
The Romantic, the Heartbreaker, and the Oblivious
They set up the camp and while Mige started to make some food, Jenn trotted over to the lake's edge with Vulpix at her feet. She was bundled up against the light wind coming off the lake with her fishing pole in hand. She took a deep breath of the fresh air, and Vulpix followed suit. However, right as she readied to cast her line, the water's surface began to ripple and a man leapt out of the lake, into the air, and then rapidly swam to shore. Jenn let out a sort of resigned and despairing sigh--it was Ryu Nakamura the swimmer.
Ryu loudly proclaimed that he'd returned to claim Jenn's heart! Jenn tried to politely shoo him back into the lake, and Mige came over to see what was happening--he didn't seem any happier to realize Ryu had somehow reppeared. As Mige arrived and stood beside Jenn, however, Ryu let out a gasp!
"Jenn! No! My flower petal! Is this rapscalion a knave who has captured your heart?" he shouted, "He has---tried to steal you away! You are two are--a couple?!? This cannot be!"
“What? Us? Me and—no. No, we—we’re not—what? What? No, we—right?" Jenn stammered, face flushed, "Yeah, no, we’re just—yeah. I mean, not yeah, but I--right? No. Like, a couple? Us? Me and Mige? A couple? No, I--we're not--”
"This cannot stand! Jenn is my Queen of Beauty and I have spent countless days swimming and training both body and mind to finally prove worthy enough to win her heart!" Ryu said, pointing a finger at Mige. Jenn looked between them, feeling intensely awkward and unsure what to do. Mige sighed and tried to explain that Ryu needed to leave, but Ryu didn't seem to notice.
"I challenge you to a battle, rapscalion! A battle--for Jennn's beauty!"
Mige tried to reason with Ryu, but the swimmer was insistent. So, a battle started.
"The road here has been long and difficult," Ryu said, holding a Poke Ball over his head, "But now behold my power! Go, Goldeen!"
Mige tossed out Squirtle, who knocked out Ryu's Goldeen with a single Mega Kick.
"Hmm. Truly a worthy foe. Very well--you have forced my hand. Surge forth now--Magikarp!"
Ryu threw out Magikarp. Squirtle looked back to Mige in a way that seemed to say 'really?' and Mige shrugged. Squirtle just got Magikarp with a blast of water and Magikarp fainted.
"So you have defeated two of my Pokemon. Indeed, I had planned for just that the whole time! And now you have fallen into my trap! Now, Jenn, watch closely as I devastate this rapscalion and witness my true power! I choose you--Goldeen!"
Another Goldeen, which Squirtle once more defeated with a single attack. With that defeat Ryu let out a tormented cry to the heavens, both fists raised to the sky.
"How? How could I be defeated by--by such a rapscalion?" Ryu cried out. Jenn shifted her weight and awkwardly glanced up at the clouds. Even Squirtle seemed embarrassed.
"I see now what I must do. Training was simply not enough." Ryu said, "You are my greatest rival! I shall train and I shall defeat you at the Pokemon League! That will show Beautiful Jenn my courage and prove that I am worthy!"
"You really don't have to do that--" Jenn began to say, but Ryu then started crying and then leapt back into the lake. Jenn and Mige just idly stood by the lake in silence for several long minutes. Squirtle cleared her throat. Mige sighed. Jenn fidgeted with her hair.
"Well that's enough for one day." she said.
"Yeah." Mige nodded in agreement. He turned to her, "Want to never talk about it again?"
"That's probably for the best." Jenn replied with a slight grin. She giggled. The two turned and walked back to camp.
The next day, the pair came across a small section of road that had been heavily damaged. Remains of a battered camp could be found, and after a quick examination, Jenn was pretty sure it may belong to poachers. The silence was broken by the pained cry of a large Pokemon nearby, so they hurried to investigate it.
As it happened, a trio of poachers were trying to wrangle a shiny Onix and her young--who also happened to by shiny. The young was injured and the mother was defending the baby with her life. The poaches had wrapped chains around the Onix and were attempting to sedate it using gas.
Jenn and Mige wasted no time interfering; Mige threw out Pidgeotto and Jenn called on Vaporeon. They battled together, eventually driving off the poachers. Given that the Onix were both injured, Mige wanted to use a couple of potions to help. The mother Onix, predictably, was extremely aggressive. Jenn and Mige were able to calm the mother enough to allow them to approach.
However, just as Mige healed them they heard a rustling in the bushes. Ryu once more jumped out.
"A Pokemon!" he shouted, "I'm gonna catch it!"
"What the hell, man? You can't do that!" Mige protested. Ryu threw a Poke Ball at the mother, but Mige's Pidgeotto batted the ball out of the air. The Onix both grew angry with Ryu, chasing him away.
"I hope this doesn't keep happening." Mige remarked. Jenn just let out a resigned sigh and nodded.
Things started to return to normal for the next couple of days. They came across a rest stop area, complete with a Pokemon Center, a large field for sparring matches, a small river, a laundromat, and more. It was here that Jenn recognized a familiar face--Barnabush Rhames, from the tournament back in Cerulean City.
Jenn said hi but as Barnabus looked at Jenn and Mige, he suddenly began to cry. Jenn asked what was wrong and he explained that seeing a couple like Jenn and Mige together just reminded him of his own heartbreak! His girl was upset at him and he wasn't sure if he could fix it!
Jenn commented that she and Mige weren't dating, but since their Pokemon were being healed, they could do what they could to help him? Barnabus smiled weakly and nodded. He felt that would be real nice of them to try.
Barnabus explained his situation in more detail: he and his girl were in Mulberry Town and he'd made the classic blunder of scheduling a date at the same time as his gym match. He had got into a huge fight with his girl because he chose to earn a badge instead of going on the date.
Jenn felt that Barnabus was obviously in the wrong; he should apologize, and he ought to have rescheduled the gym match for another day. Mige, on the other hand, felt that Barnabus should just be honest and talk to her; gym matches can be hard to reschedule. and he needed to apologize and be honest.
They tried to help him come up with different ways to make it up to her, though Jenn and Mige were coming at it from different angles and offered somewhat conflicting advice sometimes. In the end, Barnbaus was unable to make things work. Jenn tried to cheer Barnabus up and convince him that he can find a way to make it work if he really tried. However, Barnabus didn't seem to pay her much mind; he saw a biker chick struggling to light a cigarette nearby and he grinned with a glint in his eye.
"It's like I've always said--I'm Barnabus. I'm a heartbreaker." he said, and after revving his bike, rode off to impress the new lady. Huh.
"At least he's happy?" Mige suggested. Jenn chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I suppose he is." she said with a slight chuckle. She watched the Heartbreaker ride off, suddenly feeling a bit thoughtful. Barnabus the Heartbreaker. She had never felt as hurt or broken as Barnabus seemed to have been when her own relationships had ended.
Mige asked Jenn if she was feeling alright, and she asked if Mige had ever had his heart broken before.
"No." he said with a shrug.
"Me either, I don't think." Jenn replies, putting her hands in her pockets. She looked over at Mige, her eyes flicking down to his hands and back to his face. They began to head back to the Pokemon Center together. After a brief silence, Jenn cleared her throat.
"So. Weird couple of days." Jenn said, "Seeing Ryu was awkward, huh? That was so weird. Right? Totally awkward."
"Yeah."
"Man, do you remember how he thought we were a couple? Totally awkward. Right? And then Barnabus thought the same thing. You know, that you and me were...you know. I wonder why they both thought that?" Jenn said, sort of stammering. She glanced over to Mige, trying to sort of gauge what he might think about the idea of the two of them as a couple.
"Yeah, it was pretty weird." Mige replied, "They're both kind of weird guys, though."
Jenn nodded as she sort of fidgeted with her hair as the two of them walked quietly across the rest stop.
"Yeah. Super weird guys. Totally..." she said. Her face flushed a little and she cleared her throat again.
"I vote we stay the night here." Jenn said emphatically, "I mean, we're still a couple of days out from Mulberry and, um...you know. We might as well."
"Sure. I don't mind." Mige said.
"Do you wanna, like...hang out and watch a movie or something? I can get reception on my phone at the Pokemon Center, so..."
"Yeah. Why not?" Mige said and he smiled. Jenn couldn't help but smile, too, and she felt that little tug in her stomach again.
"Cool." she said, brushing some hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear.
Doom and Gloom Four more days passed after the incident with Barnabus. They finally arrived in Mulberry Town and discovered it was almost December. Frost and iced-over puddles covered the ground every morning. Jenn was grateful to have made it to the city when they did.
She texted Zoey to let her know they'd made it to Mulberry alright. From there, they checked in at the Pokemon Center and decided to get a bit of lunch before deciding what they'd be doing over the next few days. Training to face Naomi, the local gym leader, was obviously at the top of the list but Jenn insisted that Mige see some of the sights while they were in town. To her pleasant surprise, he didn't seem totally opposed to the idea.
They went to a small cafe that Jenn and Zoey had been to when they had been in the city earlier in the summer. Given that the place was crowded, mostly with trainers it seemed, Jenn and Mige elected to sit at a table on the sidewalk outside. Jenn commented that this was probably one of the last days they'd have tables outside until spring. It really was strange how fast time seemed to be passing these days.
As the two of them discussed their plans and Mige's strategy with the Blank Gym, a hot-headed young woman stormed out of the cafe and accidentally bumped her hip into their table, resulting in Mige spilling his drink all over himself and the table.
“Hey, watch it!” the girl snapped at them.
Mige didn’t seem too bothered by it, Jenn was incensed.
“Hey, what the hell?” Jenn replied with a frown, “It wasn't his fault; you should have been watching where you were going.”
The woman got real mad; her expression darkened and jaw clenched.
“Oh, so it’s my fault that he was in my way?” she replied and Jenn rolled her eyes.
“He was sitting at a table. Soooo, yes; it’s your fault that you bumped into him while he was sitting down. At a table.” Jenn said, her tone a little condescending. The woman’s fist balled and she took a deep breath.
“Okay. You know what, get up. On your feet, right now.”
“What are you talking ab—”
“I said get up right now! We’re battling.” demanded the woman, "You wanna talk shit and get in my face, then okay, get in my face and let's do this."
Mige tried to say something, but Jenn cut him off.
“I’m not going to battle you.” Jenn said. With an expression of simmering race, the woman swatted Jenn's cup to the table, spilling that drink all over Mige, too. Without thinking, Jenn reacted; her temper flared and she stood to her feet.
“What is your problem?” Jenn said.
"My problem is that you're an uppity-bitch getting in my business." said the woman.
"You're acting psychotic." Jenn said and the woman laughed.
"You wanna see psychotic?" she asked.
"No, we really don't--" Mige began but Jenn once more cut him off.
"Fine. If you wanna fight, then we'll fight. But when you lose, I want you to apologize to my friend and buy him a new drink."
"I don't think--" Mige began but the other woman laughed.
"When I win, you're gonna apologize for bein' a bitch and buy me coffee." she said. The two women stared each other down for a few moments.
“Let’s go.” Jenn growled. Mige sighed, a bit helpless at the unfolding aggression on both sides.
"This really isn't necessary..." Mige said mumbled to himself as he followed the girls to a nearby park where they would have their battle. Jenn was a good battler, but her skills in an actual battle against a trainer who actually knew what they were doing were...a little rusty. The other woman was actually pretty skilled, though Jenn held her own.
They each used three Pokemon; Jenn opened with Vulpix while the other woman opened with a Haunter. Jenn and Vulpix defeated Haunter, but the woman used a Sandslash next. Jenn used Staryu next, and Staryu managed a narrow victory against Sandslash. Too narrow of a victory.
For her third Pokemon, the other girl used Gloom. The Gloom knocked out Staryu relatively quick. Jenn considered her options: Butterfree hadn't battled in a while, Pikachu didn't have many moves that were effective against a grass-type, and Vaporeon was obviously not an option. So she went with Oddish.
Jenn and Oddish did their best, but Gloom was tougher and stronger, and knocked Oddish out. The other woman laughed!
"AHAHAHAHA! Suck it, preppy bitch!" she said, pointing at Jenn, before holding out her hand, "Now pay for my next coffee and tell me that you're sorry."
Jenn's eyes narrowed. She put the money in the woman's hand but she didn't apologize. The woman's eyes narrowed in return.
"Say you're sorry." she said. Jenn didn't say anything.
"You won and she gave you money. Let's just call that good, yeah?" Mige suggested. The other woman just glared at Jenn, before her mouth perked with a smirk.
"You're lucky your friend was here." she said, "Now fuck. Off."
With a laugh, the woman walked away and left Jenn just standing there in park, fuming. Mige asked Jenn if she was okay, but Jenn just let out a loud, frustrated yell.
"FUCK!" she shouted, and kicked a nearby trash can in frustration. It was bolted into the ground, though, so she just ended up hurting her toe and cursing more for that reason. Feeling overwhelmed, Jenn plopped down on a park bench and buried her head in her hands. After a few minutes, Mige sat with her. He asked if her foot was hurt bad and Jenn just shrugged.
After a few minutes, she got to her feet and they went to the Pokemon Center and Jenn turned in her fainted Pokemon. She plopped down on the couch and just stared at the ceiling. Mige sat beside her.
"I'm sorry you lost..." Mige said after a few minutes, "You okay?"
"No...I'm not okay. That chick, she--she was so mean. And she was rude to you, and--and--and just--all of it, Mige! That wasn't okay! And now she's just gonna keep on behaving that way and think that it's okay!"
"Well...what about a rematch?" Mige suggested, "I can even help you train for it, if you want."
Jenn sighed and shook her head. "I don't know..." she said, nervously toying with her hair. She considered trying to let it go. "I lost fair and square, didn't I?"
"Well...you did better than you think you did." Mige said, "What could it hurt? I mean, the alternative's just you feeling bad about yourself isn't it?"
"I mean...I dunno...usually, I'd just drop it and let it fester for a few months until it becomes a part of my mental illness." Jenn said.
"Well, maybe don't do it for you, then." Mige said, "I mean, I'm not telling you what you should do but maybe you battle her for Oddish's sake?"
"Oddish?" she asked. Mige nodded.
"She was trying really hard for you," he said, "I could tell how important it was to Oddish to win for you. She seemed really upset that she lost to her evolved form."
"Oh...I...I didn't realize..." Jenn said, her expression turning from angry to thoughtful and maybe even a little guilty, "I was so busy thinking about how it made me feel, I hadn't even considered Oddish and the others..."
"But if you fought that lady again, and Oddish could beat her Gloom, maybe you'd both feel better about it? Again, I'm not telling you what to do, but--"
"We'll do it." Jenn said abruptly, "You'll really help me?"
"Yeah. You can't match it in terms of power, so you'll have to come up with some kind of strategy so you can...like...outmaneuver the Gloom? You get what I'm saying, right?"
"Yeah...yeah, I think I do..." Jenn said with a small smile.
The next morning, Mige and Ivysaur helped Jenn and Oddish train. The training was difficult and tiring, but it pushed Jenn and Oddish to work hard and improve. At one point, Jenn and Oddish stood on tree stumps to do the crane stance.
"Are you sure the dancing is necessary?" Jenn asked as she and Oddish went through the steps in the park.
"It's part of the process!" Mige and Squirtle replied. Jenn sighed, shrugged, and kept on dancing. Mige was in charge here.
After a while, they hit what Jenn felt was a pretty good groove and before long, Jenn thought up a really good strategy. She and Oddish both felt super pumped and ready for anything! Together, there was no way that lady would beat them a second time.
The next morning, Jenn waited in the lobby until she saw the ace lady. Jenn approached her and challenged her to rematch.
"What, you didn't get enough of a beating last time?" she chuckled.
"You're a bully." Jenn said, "I really don't like bullies and I'm gonna beat you, because you can't just treat people the way that you do."
"Seems to work for me just fine. Now fuck off." said the girl, who pushed past Jenn as she made her way to the doors.
"Whatever you say," Jenn said, "I understand if you're scared. I mean, you only barely won the first time anyway..."
The ace lady stopped in her tracks and turned toward Jenn.
"What did you say?" she asked. Jenn smirked.
"You heard what I said." Jenn said and stepped toward her, "One on one--your Gloom against my Oddish."
The woman stared her down a moment. "You're on."
Jenn and Mige met the girl at the same park where they'd fought the first time, and Mige acted as the referee. The battle started, and this time Jenn had a plan. She and Oddish started off with a Flash attack! Oddish's leaves began to shimmer and glow with a teal bioluminescence, which rapidly grew bright and brighter until, for just a moment, it was like staring into the sun. They did this again and again, and before long Gloom was almost totally blinded and unable to locate Oddish.
That's when Jenn and Oddish pounced; Oddish rushed over to use its Cut attack, and Gloom's counterattacks almost all missed. Thanks to the Flashes and the swift and strong cuts, Oddish not only emerged the winner, but she also evolved into a Gloom!
They didn't have much time to celebrate, however, as the ace woman wanted to keep fighting and demanded Jenn throw out her next Pokemon. Jenn just shook her head.
"No. I'm done." Jenn said, "We both won once. I'm done."
"Like hell you are." said the woman but Jenn remained steadfast.
"Look...when you beat me, I was really angry. But I didn't realize that my Pokemon were just as upset as I was because...they felt like they failed me. I know you're mad, but like...maybe just chill out? I don't know if you even realize how mean you are, but...that doesn't change that you cause people pain. Maybe get some therapy?" Jenn suggested.
The woman furiously stormed away, but Jenn didn't pay her much mind. Instead, she just gave Gloom a big hug and thanked her for fighting so hard for her. She promised Gloom that she would be a better trainer from then on, but Gloom didn't seem to think Jenn was a bad trainer at all. It was quite the touching moment.
After the battle, Mige and Jenn got dinner--Jenn bought as a way of saying thanks--and they went to the gym so Mige could sign up for a match with Naomi. While they were there, they witness Naomi's Vigoroth knock out an enemy Machoke. She seemed really good. Jenn asked Mige if he was ready and Mige nodded; training with Jenn didn't just benefit her, after all.
That night, the ace lady sought Jenn out and apologized for the way she'd behaved. It was true, she was so angry and caught up in her own stuff that...well, she knew she wasn't being nice, but she didn't really realize how mean she actually was, or the effect it had on other people and even on her own Pokemon. She thanked Jenn for helping her see that. The two shook hands.
"You know...we each won once and lost once," Jenn said, "How about we meet up again one day and have one last rematch?"
"Loser buys coffee." the ace lady said with a grin.
"Heh. You're on."
Nothing Boring 'Bout Blank, and Other Adventures
Mige had three days to get ready to fight Naomi; given the time of year, the gym was quite busy. Jenn remarked that this would probably be the standard for the rest of the season. They'd have to sign up for a battle as soon as they got to town from now on.
Jenn did her best to help Mige continue with his training; she sparred with him, talked through some basic strategy, and the like. Mige eventually swapped out Houndour for Geodude. Jenn felt that was a good idea; a strong rock-type should be good in a Normal type gym. Of course, Jenn pointed out that one of Normal-type's biggest advantages were the versatility of moves they could learn through TMs and such; Mige should expect Naomi's Pokemon to have fighting, ground, or even water-type moves.
The morning of the battle, Jenn got Mige up early. He'd been training hard over the last three days and felt that he should do something to relax before his battle, so he didn't let his nerves get to him or overthink things. She brought him to Mulberry Park.
They just walked through the park, and Jenn admired the park in its current state. The last bits of autumn were nearly gone and winter's grasp had just about settled in. Jenn sighed with a small smile.
"It's so beautiful here." Jenn said, "I really love Mulberry Town. I always wanted to see the cherry blossom trees..."
"That sounds nice." Mige replied.
"It's kind of wild to think that...you know, that you and I have been traveling together for about four months. The time's really flown by, huh?"
Mige nodded in agreement. Jenn looked over at him with a small smile, and admired how he looked in the morning light.
"I'm gonna miss autumn." she said, "I like winter just fine, and it's so green in the summer, but I think I like autumn best."
"I'm more of a spring guy." Mige commented. Jenn giggled a little.
"Spring is good, too." she said, "Spring is definitely really nice, too."
They were at the Blank Gym by two in the afternoon, where they were met by Naomi, the young woman who was serving at the new gym leader for Mulberry City; it was her first season. However, she'd already made something of a name for herself and she seemed quite confident.
Mige's battle with Naomi was harrowing, but Jenn cheered him on from the sidelines. When Mige ultimately woman, Jenn let out an excited cheer! Naomi presented Mige with his badge and the two celebrated with dinner. They discussed their next step--which would obviously be going back to Celadon City and challenging Erika again.
They decided to take another day or two to resupply--maybe earn a little more money through some battles--and plan their route back. Mige figured they'd just take the same route back, but Jenn wondered if they wouldn't be able to take a different way that might prove useful in some way?
An Unexpected Offer
She and Mige visited Naomi at the gym, who explained to them that there was an...incident going on at the local orchards. None of her disciples were able to help her out with it, considering none of them seem to trust or respect her very much. Jenn assured her that she and Mige could help.
At the orchard, they found dozens of trees uprooted and most of the harvest gone or otherwise spread across the barns. The farms mentioned something big was moving through the orchards, making horrible wailing sounds at night. One such noise emanated from deeper in the orchards. Mige, Jenn, and Naomi went to investigate and found a Slaking in what appeared to be some kind of frenzy.
Mige figured out that the Slaking was actually afraid of something--specifically, Slaking was being "chased" by a small group of Applin and the Slaking appeared horrified of them; whenever they got close, Slaking would scream and run away, pushing down and tearing up any trees that were in his path. Naomi worked to try to calm Slaking while Mige and Jenn tried to figure out what to do with the Applin.
Together, Jenn and Mige figured out that the Applin actually saw Slaking as their 'mama'; Slaking must have been near their nest when they hatched, and the baby Applin imprinted on Slaking. Naomi was able to convince Slaking that the Applin didn't mean him any harm, and Slaking even seemed to actually take a bit of a liking to them once it calmed down and got to meet them. Naomi promised to give Slaking and the Applin a good, safe home--away from the city's orchards! She thanked them both for their help and wished Mige luck with his next gym battle--she'd be rooting for him at Indigo Plateau!
Later that same night, Jenn called Professor Oak and updated him on what happened. She apologized for not sending him an Applin; Naomi had her own plans for them and--
"That's quite alright, Jennifer," Oak chuckled, "Thank you for investigating and resolving that issue so promptly. I knew I could count on you."
"Thank you, Professor...I really appreciate that..." Jenn said.
"So I take it things are going well, otherwise? Bill tells me that Mige is collecting badges. Are you making good time?"
"I think so." Jenn said, and told the Professor a little bit about their adventures over the last few weeks.
"I'm happy to hear that you're doing so well." Oak said.
"Thank you," said Jenn.
"But you know, that isn't the only reason I called you, you know." Oak said. Jenn's heart sank.
"Oh...I'm sorry, I--what did I do?" she asked.
"No, no, nothing like that!" Oak replied, "You aren't in trouble, I promise! In fact, quite the opposite..."
"What do you mean?" asked Jenn.
"Well, I received a call yesterday from an old student of mine; Professor Aurea Juniper. She's the regional professor in Unova. Have you heard of her?"
"Yeah, a little. I've heard the name."
"A brilliant woman," said Oak, "And she called me because she's in need of a new aide. A field aide, specifically. I told her about you; your name was actually the first that I brought up!"
"I--really? It was?"
"Of course! I've been very pleased and impressed with your work over the last year. I specifically told her about the Kakuna nest, the Clefairy colony, your work with the Pokemon Daycare, and the incident with the Scyther."
Jenn was at a loss for words. Oak paused to let her speak, but when she didn't he continued.
"Professor Juniper seemed to be as impressed as I was and asked if you would be interested in going out to Unova and working with her. It sounds like it would be very similar to what you do for me already, so you know the basic routine, I think."
"In...in Unova? You mean I'd...I'd have to move." Jenn asked warily.
"Well, of course." said Oak, "But it's an excellent opportunity."
Jenn thought about it a moment. Moving to Unova. That was very far away...
"I...thank you, Professor. I...it means a lot that you think so highly of me. But, um...well, I...I don't think...I mean, I love this job! But moving to Unova, that...I mean it's...I'm not sure if...that's really where my heart is right now." she said.
Oak seemed a bit disappointed in that answer.
"Well, I understand." he said, "But I do think that you should think it over a bit before you decide for certain. She wouldn't need you until the start of next season, which would be around June, so you have a bit of time to think it over. But I do implore you to give it serious thought."
"I will. Thank you, Professor." Jenn said, and she hung up.
She laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as Pikachu settled in beside her. She gently pet him as she mulled over that conversation. She just wasn’t sure about that. On the one hand, she really did love that sort of work, but…she couldn't just ask Mige to go with her, right? And that, the thought of going there without Mige? She hated that.
Was she being pathetic? Maybe. Maybe not. Was there something wrong with doing something that would make her happy? On the other hand, should she really be betting so hard on a boy? She grabbed her phone and did a basic search on Professor Juniper. She seemed to be every bit the genius that Professor Oak said she was, and her research seemed legitimately fascinating. A step off from the biology and environmentalism she was used to, but fascinating.
She let her phone drop onto the bed beside her. Working with Professor Juniper was obviously a great opportunity. What else was she doing next year? She supposed...maybe Mige would travel to some other country and do gyms there. Somewhere like Johto, or Sinnoh, or Kalos. She smiled a little thinking about it her being able to go with him, seeing more of the world with someone she cared about. She rolled onto her side, adjusting her pillow as Pikachu scurried around to lay against her back.
If Mige wanted her to, she'd follow him wherever he wanted to go next. She let out a sigh. She supposed that's where her heart was, then.
The Scizor Sting
Winter had properly arrived and that meant traveling between towns was going to be trickier. Despite Mige's desire to hurry back to Celadon, they ultimately decided to delay leaving for a day or two and properly prepare; better jackets and hats, insulated tents, and other gear that would help them make it more easily through the wintery landscape.
They spent the day traveling from store to store across town. They made small talk and Jenn had a lot of sun just enjoying the town that neither of them called home together.
While stepping out of a sporting goods/camping supply store, Mige spotted an old friend of his: Conner, the same ranger that Jenn and Zoey had helped to fight against the poachers who had been hurting those Scyther so long ago! Jenn was surprised to see that Mige knew Conner, and Mige was likewise surprised that Jenn knew Conner, too! They said hello, and while Conner was pleasantly surprised to see them, he wasn't able to make small talk; he was in Mulberry Town on business.
Jenn asked if it was ranger business and Conner confirmed that it was. In fact, it was the same group of poachers that had been giving the Scyther such a difficult time in the summer. Jenn was shocked, and Conner explained that the Scyther operation was only the tip of the iceberg. The full scope of their operation was only just coming to light: they had captured hundreds of Scyther from across Kanto and were forcing them to evolve before selling them on the black market.
Mige and Jenn were appalled, and they volunteered to help. Conner told them that he'd be happy to bring them along, given that he'd worked with them both and trusted them, but he wasn't in charge of the operation and, in the end, didn't have the final say over whether or not they would be allowed to help. However, he did offer to introduce them and try to get them involved as "civilian specialists". That was good enough for them.
They traveled to a roadside motel where Conner introduced them to Detect Kat. She was a prodigy; not much older then Jenn or Mige were, but someone who had already attained the rank of Marshall. Conner explained who Jenn and Mige were and vouched for them. Kat seemed hesitant to include civilians, but evidently all it took was a conversation with Mige to change her mind.
Detective Kat explained the plan: based on evidence she'd found in an earlier investigation, Kat believed that the syndicate the poachers were working for was centered in Mulberry Town. Specifically, she believed the local casino was where the Scizor were being held captive. Mulberry Town had a Game Corner, much like Celdon City did (albeit smaller). Kat decided that Mige would go with her into the casino in disguise, where they would gather evidence and confirm that the Scizor were being held on site. Once they did that, they would radio the SWAT, who would be waiting nearby, to descend on the casino and make the arrests.
While they were inside, Jenn would stay with Conner outside. There, they would monitor activity, keep in communication with the SWAT officers, and be ready to assist should the operation start going sideways. With that out of the way, they spent the rest of the day getting ready for the sting; Mige went with Kat to get disguises and get a crash-course in undercover work while Jenn stayed with Conner, who showed her how to operate the surveillance gear.
As night settled in across Mulberry Town, Kat and Mige made their way inside. Jenn and Conner sat in a surveillance van, disguised as a florist's van. Jenn had headphones and was monitoring a listening device while Conner watched the exits, kept an eye on who was going in and out of the casino, and radioed some SWAT officers that Jenn couldn't see, despite being assured that they were out there.
Jenn drummed her fingers nervously against the dashboard. Conner replied that she didn't need to worry; Mige was in good hands with Kat. Jenn smiled, grateful for his easy confidence.
"Shouldn't they be outside by now?" Jenn wondered out loud after an hour. Conner shook his head.
"Gotta be patient. You rush things, that's when things start to get bad. Just relax; things are fine." he said. Jenn nodded and sighed.
"Relax. Right. Not really my forte on the best of days." she said with a dry chuckle, "I don't know how you can do this so easily."
"You get used to it." Conner said.
"But don't you ever...I don't know, get freaked out?" Jenn asked. Conner nodded.
"Absolutely. It never stops being scary." he said, "But it isn't about not being scared. It's about letting yourself be a little afraid and then doing what you've gotta do to work past it."
"Right. And what is it that you do to work past it?" Jenn asked.
"I take a deep breath, count to five, and promise myself a beer if I make it out in one piece." Conner said with a playful grin. Jenn giggled.
"At least your priorities are sorted." she teased. Suddenly, a loud, droning hum came in over her listening device; it was enough to make her wince and throw the headphones off. Hearing the sound, even as tinny as it was, Conner sat upright, cursed, and got out of the car.
"Silent alarm!" he said, "They may have been made!"
Jenn felt like the air was knocked out of her lungs when Conner said that, and she scrambled out of the van, not even bothering to put on her jacket. They ran across the street toward the alley with the side entrance. Conner radioed for backup and as they approached the side door, it burst open to reveal three burly men in dark suits; bodyguards, protecting a curvy woman in a low-cut, glittery silver dress. They seemed surprised to see Conner.
"Hi there." he said with a friendly nod, "You wouldn't happen to be involved with the shady poachers who have set up shop here, have you?"
"Shit!" the woman snapped, "Don't just stand there; take them out! We need to get out of here!"
The three burly bodyguards lunged at them. Conner pulled Jenn out of the way and tossed out an Absol. Together, the two started to fight the bodyguards as the woman in silver began to run down the opposite end of the alleyway. Without hesitation, Jenn sprang off after her, calling out for her to stop.
"Like hell!" she hissed, "Carnivine, teach her a lesson!"
The terrifying vine Pokemon began to lunge toward Jenn, who ducked to the side and nearly slid onto the ground thanks to the ice. Jenn used Vaporeon, whose Aurora Beam made short work of Carnivine. The woman cursed and threw out a Pidgeotto. Again, Vaporeon battled excellently; she was graceful and fast and fluid, and the Pidgeotto was defeated.
In desperation, the woman in the silver dress threw out a Scizor. It was too big, seemed too heavy. Its hide was stiff, covered with scuff marks and discoloration. It looked like Scizor was in pain. Jenn felt a surge of anger well up in her chest. Jenn had Vaporeon fall back to her side and threw out Butterfree. The woman in silver laughed, taunting her for using "such a weak Pokemon".
The Scizor wasn't used to its own weight, letting Butterfree easily outmaneuver it. However, instead of fighting the Scizor, Jenn called out for Butterfree to instead use Stun Spore on the woman herself. The gambit worked and the woman's muscles stiffened, spasmed, and stung, forcing the woman to the ground.
"No! Scizor, defend me!" she screamed, "I am your master! Defend me!"
The Scizor seemed to hesitate, until Jenn called out that it didn't have to listen to her. She promised Scizor that she could find him help. The Scizor thought for a moment and ignored the woman in the silver dress. Jenn smiled as Scizor, putting a hand on its quivering pincer.
Conner and Absol arrived then, with the police not far behind. He slapped cuffs on the woman and Jenn asked if he could arrange for Scizor to be sent to Professor Oak's lab. Conner replied that he'd make that happen.
As the police hauled the terrible woman away, Conner gave Jenn a proud sort of smile.
"You know, you didn't do half bad back there, Jenn." he said, "You're kind of a natural at this."
"Oh, pssh, no way." she said sheepishly.
"I'm serious." Conner insisted, "You've got real good instincts. You ever thought about getting into this line of work for real?"
"What, a ranger or cop?" Jenn asked with a slight chuckle.
"Either," Conner shrugged, "Maybe even just something conservation?"
"No. Not really." she said, her attention drawn by Mige and Kat coming out of the casino. She smiled a little and glanced down at her feet. "I, um...I don't know. I'm happy doing what I'm doing right now, I think."
Conner grinned as he looked from Jenn, to Mige, and then back again.
"Well. If you ever change your mind, you should have my number." he said. Jenn nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks, Conner." she said with a genuine smile.
Detective Kat declared that the sting was successful. Even though a few people got away, enough were captured that they'd have the names of the stragglers soon enough. The operation was halted, but Kat didn't seem satisfied.
"Something feels...off. There's something more at play here." she said. Conner suggested she just celebrate the win, but Kat insisted that there'd be time to celebrate when the syndicate was stopped once and for all. Conner chuckled. Mige offered that if they ever needed help in the future to let them know, and Jenn agreed.
Kat thanked them for their help and as they parted way, it began to snow in earnest. Jenn smiled up at the sky, watching the fat snowflakes began to settle across the sidewalk. On the way back to the Pokemon Center, Jenn told Mige that she was happy that he was okay. Mige thanked her and offered to buy her a coffee. She sheepishly accepted.
That night, back at the Pokemon Center, Mige received a call from Bill. Their conversation was relatively brief but it ended with Mige assuring Bill that "he'd be there". Jenn asked if everything was okay, and Mige told her it was fine; Bill was apparently gathering the whole family out in Saffron City for the Christmas holiday and had invited them. He accepted of course, and Jenn had agreed to go with him before he'd even finished asking the question.
Mige wanted to get there sooner than later; they had time, but he was worried that with the weather being what it was, it would take them too long to get all the way back to Saffron City. The trains were all full to capacity, but they were told the bus lines still had openings. Mige asked if Jenn would mind taking the bus, and Jenn told him that of course she didn't mind.
So, they grabbed tickets on the next Boltund Express bus bound for Saffron City.
Road Trouble
Until they weren't.
Jenn was shocked awake as the bus lurched; it was caught in a spin across the expressway. Everything was shaking, a blur of motion, lights, colors, screams, honking horns, and a thundering, deafening cacophony outside. Jenn clung to Mige, screaming and burying her face in his shoulder. It all happened so fast, and then it ended just as abruptly. Nobody seemed quite sure of what exactly had happened at first, but they quickly gathered that they had just been hit by a freak avalanche. Tons upon tons of snow had crashed against the expressway, bringing a rockslide with it. The road was impassable, covered in debris and crushed cars. Their bus had been struck by the avalanche and pushed off of the road and partway down the hill. The bus was buried, except for the back window that was sticking up and out of the snow.
Thankfully, besides some cuts, bruises, and a concussion or two nobody seemed mortally injured. Jenn hugged Mige tight and sobbed for a moment, just so overwhelmingly grateful that they were both okay. The bus driver was able to contact the Mulberry Ranger station. Rescue workers were on their way out, but things were pretty hectic; apparently an earthquake had caused the avalanche. Which was weird, Mige commented, because earthquakes were rare in the Low Mountain District. That thought aside, it would be several hours before the rangers arrived to help.
The bus would weather it, but one of the other passengers pointed out that there were other cars and other people trapped outside. Not to mention the aftershocks might cause another avalanche, and what happened to those people then?
The discussion of what to do was brief; a few people on the bus made the decision to venture out there the shattered back window and do what they could to locate others and bring them to safety. Mige and Jenn both volunteered to help. Together their group climbed out through the window--careful not to cut themselves on the glass--and carefully waded through waist-deep snow. Mige used Ivysaur's vines to keep him and Jenn from separating. A few times, Ivysaur's vines dragged people to their feet and kept them from slipping back down the steep hill.
The scene back up on the street was difficult. Cars were on their sides, crushed beneath large stones, battered and broken. Sometimes, they could only locate cars because the people inside were flashing their brights or sounded their horns. As hard as it was, though, they all got to work. Luckily, others had similar ideas; a few dozen people were roaming across the snowy roads, using poles, shovels, and even brooms to clear snow and locate others. Some were using trucks or Pokemon to try to pull people or even smaller vehicles to safety. It was actually kind of inspiring, seeing all of these strangers coming together to help.
Jenn had Vulpix and Pikachu work on melting the snow in small patches. Gloom helped Ivysaur with its vines, and Vaporeon helped Mige's Eevee and Growlithe to sniff people out. Butterfree helped Pidgeotto and a bunch of other aerial Pokemon to scout and maybe spot people they would otherwise miss from the ground. They all worked tirelessly, freezing and wet. Tremors caused more wisps of snow to fall and drift across the street, but nothing terrible quite yet. Mige was busy physically pulling people to safety with Geodude's help, and Jenn was trying to help with first aid at a truck where someone was collecting resources like blankets, bottled water, and first aid supplies.
Pidgeotto and Butterfree came back with urgency. Jenn and Mige followed them and found a compact car in the snow; it was stuck on the hill in a precarious position. If they weren't careful, it wouldn't just slip and slide but actually fall down the rest of the hill. What made things even worse to Jenn was the "Baby on Board" sticker. Mige called out to them, and a terrified woman signaled that she could hear them. It took a few minutes for them to figure out something to do (thankfully, they had a guy who drove a tow truck there to help them with suggestions).
In the end, Mige's Ivysaur, Jenn's Gloom, and the tow truck driver's Onix would use vines and their large bodies to brace the car and minimize the risk of it slipping. Mige approached the car with Geodude, the pair trying to pry the car doors open. They were jammed shut from damage. Suddenly, the ground shuddered--another tremor. However, this one was stronger than the others. A low booming sound plunged the area into silence. Another avalanche, more debris. Not as big as the first, but it would certainly drag away anybody holding on to something. And it would definitely be enough to plunge that car, and the people inside, to the bottom of the ridge. They had to either abandon the car or die with it.
However, it seemed that Geodude had a different idea. He had Ivysaur use his vines to slingshot him back to the street. Mige called out for Geodude, but the rock Pokemon ignored him; Geodude grabbed the hitch of a damaged and abandoned truck and dragged it to the edge of the road, and Jenn suddenly realized what Geodude was doing: he was trying to act as a sort of wall or barrier to keep the next wave of snow from pounding into them, maybe buying them enough time to get the people out of the car. Mige called out to Geodude again, but Geodude just turned around to Mige, gave him a thumbs-up, and then braced the truck.
The avalanche started to bear down on the street and people began to scream. The snow and debris began to pound into the truck that Geodude was holding back. Mige, in a sort of frenzy, kicked down on the driver's window, shattering it. The woman handed Mige the baby, before crawling out. Jenn grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her to safety. The tow truck man reached out for Mige and the baby....right as the rumbled caused the the snow beneath them to give way, causing the car to lurch forward...and began to plummet down. Jenn screamed, with Mige and the baby disappearing in the new drifts of snow that surrounded them.
Thankfully, Ivysaur had managed to grab Mige's leg at the last second. Mige held the baby close to his chest. Both Jenn and the woman were ugly-crying happy tears as the tow truck man pulled them to safety. Mige gave the woman her baby and Jenn once again threw her arms around Mige and just cried into his shoulder. As the cloud of powder snow cleared, Mige and Jenn were shocked to see that in order to hold the car steady enough to save them, Geodude had evolved into Graveler! Mige thanked Graveler, who began to help with hauling multiple cars and people to safety. Graveler was a hero, though it soon collapsed with exhaustion and started to loudly snore.
Jenn and Mige returned to work, though Jenn's hands never stopped shaking. The rescue workers arrived soon after. Jenn and Mige and the others who had been working so tirelessly finally got a moment to sit down. Conner was among the rangers who arrived to help. Mige asked how bad things were. Conner replied that they were dire, but they'd be a lot worse if people hadn't acted so quickly. Casualties would be minimal. Somehow, the word 'minimal' didn't make Jenn feel better. Conner assured her that it was much, much preferable to the alternative.
As the sun began to set, it became clear that it could take days to clean up the damage and open the roads--though that didn't keep some people, who were driving particularly sturdy vehicles--from continuing on regardless. Conner suggested that they try to find a way to the nearest village. Deciding that it would probably be prudent to follow the ranger's advice, Mige and Jenn started to head over to the small school bus that had arrived to start shuttling people to the nearest village when, out of the blue, they heard this:
"Mige! Heya, Mige!"
They turned to look, wincing through the headlights suddenly on them, and Mige seemed a bit surprised and taken aback: it was an RV, being driven by none other than Steve the Hiker!
"Steve? Wha--what are you doing out here?" Mige asked.
"Oh, you know, I'm just headin' over to see my family fer the holiday in style!" laughed Steve.
"Is that your RV?" Mige asked.
"You betcha! Won it in a game 'o cards!" Steve said proudly, "I'm still a hiker at heart but sometimes even a fella' like me has to admit that it's nicer to have a pair 'o wheels! Looks like you got caught up in this whole mess, huh?"
"Kinda, yeah." Mige said, "I was headed to Saffron City for the holidays, but the avalanche--"
"Say no more, kiddo! Say no more! I'm passin' on through Saffron on my way home! I'll be happy to give you a ride if you need one!" Steve offered.
Jenn's eyes went wide! She and Mige looked to each other, and then back to Steve, both nodding furiously. Steve bid them to come on in and promised to have them in Saffron City the next day! Jenn and Mige climbed on, and Jenn immediately relished the warm air that greeted her. Steve directed them to the small table in the back--it turned into a bed, he said, in case they wanted to lay down--and showed them where towels and blankets were.
The RV rumbled back to life and started down the expressway. Despite being just soaked to the bone, Jenn and Mige plopped down at the table. Mige asked if Jenn was okay and she confirmed she was.
"Cold. Super cold. But okay. You?" she asked.
Mige just smiled a little and shrugged. "I'm good." he said.
After a moment, Jenn excused herself; she needed to get into something dry. She went into the little bathroom and changed out of her wet clothes. She examined herself a moment; she had a few bruises and even some lacerations, likely from the bus crash. Her cheeks and hands were bright red, and her hair was sopping wet. But she was okay. She took a deep breath and dressed into her pajamas. She came out and sat back at the table, before Mige got up to do the same.
She let Vulpix out and let the little fire fox snuggle into her, radiating warmth. She pet Vulpix, a little lost in thought and maybe even a little in shock from what they had just survived. She was shaking.
"You okay? Do you need anything?" Mige asked her.
His voice snapped her out of it and she just nodded with a forced, though sincere, smile. Like her, he was still damp, his hair soaked and his cheeks and fingers red. He was exhausted. She realized after a second that she was just gazing into his eyes and looked away, biting her lip.
"I'm okay. I'm just a little cold." she replied sheepishly, and the red in her cheeks wasn't from the cold anymore.
Mige grabbed her a blanket from the spot that Steve had showed them and held it out for her. She accepted it with a small smile, the adoration clear in her expression. Her fingers brushed against his when she took the blanket, and she once again averted her gaze--but peaked back at him a moment later. She watched him as he dried off Eevee, praising the help he was able to provide. Jenn pulled the blanket around her a little, just quietly watching him with Eevee for a minute or two. She sighed.
"I'm so in love with you." she thought to herself.
Within another ten minutes, they were both passed out on the couch.
