On the Road of Longex
Part 1
"Pikachu!" A small mouse Pokemon plummeted to the rock hard arena of the coliseum. Small electric sparks flew all around it, making his opponent take a step back. His trainer, a black-hair boy, looked the opposing trainer on the other side of the field. She had a huge smirk on her face, and she held her hand up to congratulate her Camerupt. It stood facing Pikachu with his head low, letting out a rumbling growl.
Pikachu struggled to it's feet, baring its teeth. It swayed from side to side for a little, then regained its balance. The battle wasn't over not for a long shot, he and his trainer had gotten way to far to loose now. Pikachu gathered all the strength left in his body and leapt into the dusty air. Camerupt was caught off guard when Pikachu slammed into it's head, giving off powerful volts of electricity. The fire Pokemon fell over instantly, throwing up loose dirt. Pikachu stood in front of it and waited for the dust to clear along with the rest of the people within the stadium. Finally a shadowy figure was starting to take shape, it was laying motionless on the ground. The smirk on the Camerupt's trainer’s slowly disappeared and she stared at her Pokemon in shock.
The referee held up green and red flags, "Camerupt is unable to battle. The victory of the Hoenn League Championship goes to Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet and his Pikachu!"
Ash waved his hands frantically in the air as people in the bleachers rose and cheered. He called to his Pokemon who turned around and leapt into his arms. A short, round man walked up to him carrying a sparkling gold cup and a white sash. Ash took the cup and held it high above his head. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and gave the camera a two finger victory sign!
There was a small click and the television screen went blank. I set the remote control down beside me and sulked into the couch. I sighed heavily and brushed my long brown hair from my eyes. I had a strong feeling that Ash would win the battle at the beginning of the week long competition. He has strong Pokemon and can think quickly on his feet getting out of some pretty tough spots at times. The most important quality Ash had, though was a strong bond with his Pokemon companions. They always worked their hardest to please him even if they were on their last bit of energy. That bond helped him and his Pokemon win many extreme battles that looked hopeless until the very last minute.
I sat up a little and pushed my thoughts away. "Hey dad," I called, "The boy from Pallet town won just like I thought. I want to be like him someday." My last sentence was less enthusiastic. I was 13 years old and still without a Pokemon to train of my own. I was behind all the other trainers and when I finally did get a Pokemon it’d take me a while to catch up.
When I was five years old when my family moved from New Bark town to here, Little Root town. When I was ten (old enough to get my first Pokemon) when we traveled to Pallet town and visited my dad’s old friend, Professor Oak. I tired out all of his Pokemon, but they sort of bored me. I had seen these Pokemon before and how they battled. I wanted something new, something fresh that I didn’t know anything about. The Professor told me that Professor Birch (the professor here) was getting new Pokemon from a region called ’Longex’, but that it would be a couple years before they arrived. That got me really excited. I’ve been waiting for two years for the Professor get his new Pokemon and tomorrow he’s going to be giving them out to new trainers!
"Don’t sound so low, Lena, you’ll get your Pokemon first thing tomorrow." My dad came into the room and sat down beside me, crossing his legs.
I looked up at him and he smiled. "I know," I sighed, "but I’ll be so far behind, and what if I don’t get there in time to get a Longex Pokemon?" My dad made a serious faced then relaxed it almost immediately. "Tell you what. I’ll wake you up extra early tomorrow to guarantee that you get there before everyone else."
I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, dad," I said before letting go. "I’ll go pack right now!" Feeling confident once again I left the couch and hurried up the narrow stair case leading to my bedroom.
I sat on my bed with a large backpack resting silently in my lap. I wasn’t too sure about what to pack, I knew that I’d be gone on this journey for maybe up to a year at a time. So, would I need to pack everything for each season for a year? Or would I just rough it out and buy things I needed along the way? Summer was well on its way after all with a few chilly nights here and there when I’d only need a sweat shirt to stay warm. I decided to pack two sweat shirts, some shorts, pants, and short sleeve shirts being sure to leave some extra room in the bag for items I bought along the way.
I set the backpack by the door, changed into my pajamas, and laid on my bed. I stayed on top of the covers putting my hands behind my head and just reaching to the lamp on my desk. When the room was dark I blinked my eyes slowly and took a deep breath. My mind was whirling with thoughts about the upcoming day. What would my Pokemon be like? What kind of people would I meet? What kind of places would I travel to? And most of all, what journeys am I going to have?
I finally closed my eyes, seeing many different Pokemon and places through my imagination. I dozed off while drifting into a deep dream.
**
I woke up fairly early the next morning hearing my dad thud up the stairs. I pushed my covers off as soon as the light flickered on. My eyes flew open and quickly shut again feeling the discomfort from the bright light.
My dad strode contently into my room, "wake up Lena!" He opened my window letting in a strong cool breeze that made me wake up. He came over to my bed and sat down showing my his hands that were full with small items.
"What are those?" I asked him as I sat up. He opened one up and revealed five small round balls that were positioned lightly on his palm. They sparkled in the dim light that poured from my lamp and I picked one up to examine it closely. It was purple with two small, blue, triangular bumps near the top.
My dad smiled and replied, "those are from the Longex region. They’re Pokeballs, ones made to catch ocean dwelling Pokemon. They’re called Pressure Balls because they can withstand the pressure at the very bottom of the ocean." He placed the others in my hand and brought forth his other hand.
"So what else do you have?" I questioned still looking closely at the new Pokeballs.
He opened his hand slowly revealing a very small rectangular device. He flipped it open skillfully and showed me a small screen that was surrounded by tiny buttons. "Is that…" I trailed off and took it from him setting the Pokeballs down. "It’s a PokeDex isn’t it, dad?"
He nodded and smiled at me. "Take care of it. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get that thing."
I wrapped my arms around him tightly like I did the night before. "Thanks dad, I love you." I let him go and he left the room without another word. I quickly changed into my clothes for the day trying to push aside the troubling thoughts of leaving home. I clipped the Pokeballs onto my belt and I hung the PokeDex around my neck as a necklace. I last thing I grabbed was my backpack which I flung over my shoulder and I walked down the stairs.
I was very silent as I worked my through the house and to the entrance of the kitchen. My dad was near the sink washing the dishes from his breakfast. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach as I thought how lonely my dad would be now without me. My mother had died when I was very young, and my dad, being the kind of person he is, had raised me all by himself. Loosing mother though had hurt him so much that he hasn‘t dated since. The only women he knew that could bring happiness to his life was her, and he’d never forget that.
I frowned, blinked slowly, and turned away from the opening. I wanted to say good-bye, but I was so afraid that I’d break down so I didn’t. I walked quietly into the garage to get my bike that was painted a pretty metallic red. I got onto the bike and looked outside. The sun was just starting to appear through the thick trees and over the hill telling me that it was close to seven o’ clock.
We lived deep in the country very far from any town or city, but so was the professor’s lab. Which was a good thing for me. I started paddling my bike down the couple foot dirt driveway and turned down the padded dirt road. All around me I could hear small quiet chirps from the birds and scurrying from the tiny Pokemon.
The soft mid-morning breeze flowed through my loose hair and blew my bangs into my eyes. I was going at a pretty steady pace letting off the pedals when the bike could maintain a speed going downhill. I was surrounded by tall oak trees on either side of the road. They were growing so tightly together that the upper branches formed a strong canopy over my head.
I rode my bike for a good mile or two before the trees started thinning out and grass was more common. Ahead of me far in the distance I saw a small sign hanging across the road. As I neared it I slowed the bike down and brought it to a complete stop.
I stepped off and walked slowly over the dangling sign. It was attached to a chain that hung over the entire road. I kneeled down and narrowed my eyes trying to make out the small words. -Pokemon Gardens - Lab Ahead- That’s pretty much all my eyes would let me make out. I stood up, shrugged, and carried my bike over the chain.
I placed my hands in the handle bars and looked around me. I had a very strange feeling fall over me after crossing into what seemed an unknown territory. It lingered in my body like a strong case of the flu. I suddenly felt very nauseous as the earth seemed to spin and warp in all directions.
As I started to fall over and loose consciousness I felt my body suddenly fall into someone’s arms. I narrowed my eyes as much as I could trying to make out a blurry image before me. It looked like a head, but I blacked out as soon as I saw it.
The next thing I knew I was laying on my side with my face resting on what felt like grass. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked the blurriness away. I was laying in the grass which was pretty weird from the last thing I remembered doing. My nose was filled with the smell of fresh grass clippings and the bark of old trees.
I let out a heavy breath and forced my weak body to sit up even though I was still putting most of my weight on my arms. When I looked up after a short burst of dizziness left my head I saw a boy, looking about my age, leaning against a tree with a piece of tall grass sticking out of his mouth. His dirty blonde hair was brushed to the side of his face and he had very handsome blue eyes.
From my sudden stirring he looked over at me, smiled, and removed the grass from his lips. I gritted my teeth from my weakness and kept one eye closed. He stood up, strode over to me, and knelt beside me placing his hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" he asked in a semi-concerned tone.
I forced myself to move once again, but into a more comfortable sitting position. "Wh-what happened… to me?" I said pushing his question aside.
"Well," he stared going into the same position I was with his hands just behind his back and letting his arms hold him. "You crossed into the forbidden zone of the Professor’s lands and you fainted." He laughed a little, "what were you doing over there?"
I gave him a disgusted look for his last remark, "I was on my way to the Professor’s lab. How else can you get there?"
"Not that way, that’s for sure. If you don’t mind you could follow me on your bike. We could ride there together."
"I don’t want to get in the way. I mean you probably didn’t plan on finding me today." I replied plainly. I really didn’t want a visitor, I had a thing for traveling alone.
"I was on my way there anyway to get a Pokemon. Is that why you were heading there too?" he brushed his bangs from his eyes.
"Yes I was," I stood up no longer feeling dragged down from weakness, "and if you’re coming along, then let’s get going." I walked over to my bike that was laying safely in the grass. I looked around before picking it up and getting on. Judging from my surroundings, we were in the Professor’s lands already and we didn’t have far to go.
I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when he approached me with his bike at his side. "I never caught your name," he said coolly.
"I’m Lena, and yours?" there was a flicker of contentment in my voice.
"Austin." He walked off wheeling his bike just until it touched the road and got on. "We’ll be there soon," he called over his shoulder and we both took off down the dusty road.
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Like I said in the summary, if you’ve read the old version you know that the new one is going to be a lot different! Please review and watch for the next revised part!