Chapter Five: Lovely Kiss Due to the noise in the chopper, there wasn't much chance for conversation. Uiru got Matt's attention and pointed. They were flying over Turcott Park. A few hours later, they landed in Turquoise Lake, the city renowned for it's Water, Electric and Ghost type Pokémon. "All right everyone, listen up. The ship's gonna be here in an hour, so don't go anywhere," Booster announced. Showers came up to him and whispered something in his ear. "What? Damn! I knew that idiot would screw up somehow." He turned to the trainers. "All right, never mind. The ship's busted, it won't be here until tomorrow evening. Be back here tomorrow afternoon, got it?" The trainers nodded. "I havn't caught a new Pokémon in a while," Uiru said to himself. "Besides Exeggcute, but that wasn't for me." "Let's go look for some new ones," Jessica suggested. "I'll come too," Allison decided. "Matt?" Matt was busy chatting with Patrick and Curtis. "He just got a new Pokémon, he won't want a new one for a while," Uiru said. "Besides, there's no Grass types around here, and that's all he's interested in." "Okay," Allison decided. "Where should we go, Jessica?" "Yeah, where are some good Pokémon?" Uiru added. "The Sea Caves are the best spot," Jessica told them. "It's got a few types of Water Pokémon, as well as a few Magnemites." "I already have an Electric Pokémon," Uiru said to himself. "But I could use a Water one." "I already have a Water type," Allison said. "I'll look for a Magnemite." "I'll get a Water type too, it'll help in the battle," Jessica decided. When they reached the Sea Caves, they were presented with a comical scene. A Magnemite was bullying a Staryu and a Squirtle. The two Water Pokémon tried to battle it but the water washed right off Magnemite's shell. "Aww, aren't they all so cute? Kabuto, I choose you!" Allison summoned her Kabuto. "Kabuto is weak against electricity," Uiru warned. "Why are you using it?" "Because I happen to know a few things about Electric Pokémon. One is that Magnemite does not learn any Electric attacks until it's almost ready to evolve. Kabuto, Scratch attack!" Magnemite tried to dodge it but Kabuto got it with it's claws. Magnemite then attempted to Tackle it, to no avail. The Squirtle and the Staryu tried to run, but Uiru and Jessica stopped them. "Hold up for just a second," Uiru declared. "Pikachu, go! Thundershock!" Pikachu blasted the two Water types with a jolt of electricity. "Now we capture them! Poké Ball, go!" Uiru caught Squirtle! Jessica caught Staryu! Meanwhile, Kabuto had sufficiently weakened Magnemite. Allison threw a Poké Ball, and caught it! "We're done! Let's go back to the others," Jessica decided. "And heal our new Pokémon." "Water types? Good plan!" Booster said when they told him what they were up to. "Your Sandshrew and Cubone are strong against Fire too." Booster had gotten them some lodgings at a nearby hotel, and the trainers were gathered in the lounge. "Hey, Booster," Patrick shouted. "What are me and Matt gonna do? All our Pokémon are weak against Fire." "I've been thinking of that," Booster said. "The Flame Force isn't stupid, they know someone might show up with a ton of Ground type Pokémon." "What about Water?" Nick asked. "There aren't any Water type Pokémon where we're going, so they don't consider them a concern. However, there are a lot of Ground and Rock types. So, they're bound to have a few units with Water types that they imported from other parts of the world in their ranks. And your Grass and Bug types are just the thing to deal with them." "Good plan!" Thunders piped up. "So battle your Pokémon conservatively until they appear, then go for them," Booster suggested. By now it was evening. Jessica stepped outside to get some air. Uiru took a deep breath, smoothed down his hair and followed her. "You know, I'm starting to get tired of all this talk about battles and fighting," Uiru said. "Yeah, me too," she agreed. "How did we get involved in this anyway?" "We're helping Allison," Uiru replied. Jessica nodded. "You hungry?" he asked. "Kinda," she answered. "We never did get any dinner, did we?" "Let's go get something to eat." Jessica grinned. "Uiru... Are you asking me out?" "Depends. Do I have to pay for it?" "Yes." "Oh, forget it then." She knew he was joking. "Come on," she said, taking his hand. "I know where we can go." From the window, Matt laughed. "What's so funny?" Nick asked. "Isn't that sweet. Uiru's taking Jessica out," Matt replied. "You mean that little cutie? Damn," Curtis swore. "I was gonna ask her out later on. What's the other's name? Allison?" "You stay away from her," Matt fake-warned. "Or my Grass Pokémon'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget." "Okay, I hear you," Curtis laughed. "I'm sure they've got girls wherever the hell it is we're going," Patrick spoke up. "Yeah, but we'll be too busy fighting," Nick replied. "You never know. We might boot the Flame Force out of Charteruse really quick," Curtis stated. Showers and Allison came into the room. "All right people, hit the sack. Tomorrow's a big day," Showers announced. "Where's Uiru and Jessica?" Allison asked. "Out," Matt answered. "Where?" "*OUT.*" "Oh..." An hour and a half later... Uiru and Jessica were heading back to the hotel. "Don't you want to visit your family?" Uiru suddenly asked. "Pardon?" "This is your hometown, isn't it?" Uiru asked. "Don't you want to see your family before we leave?" Jessica looked down. "No... Not really..." "Oh... I'm sorry, should I not have asked that?" "No, it's all right." They walked along in silence for a while. "I hate them," Jessica suddenly blurted. "Hate who?" "My... *family*..." she answered. "I hate them." "...May I ask why?" "Sure, go ahead." Uiru grinned. "Okay. Why?" "Because. My idiot parents are the types who think that little girls should wear dresses and have long hair and cook and clean and above all, stay as far away from Pokémon as they can." "Why do I get the feeling you would have none of that?" "I hate dresses, my hair's staying the way it is and I can't cook toast. And I'm going to keep training for as long as I like." She grinned. "You should have seen them freak out when they found out I had spent all my money on my Gastly." "You bought it?" "You didn't think I caught it, did you?" she asked. "No, some salesman was selling Pokémon and I said I wanted something cool. He said 'I normally don't sell these, but for p500 you can have this Ghost Pokémon I found a while ago'. I said 'Gimme' and I got my Gastly." "How long ago was that?" "About a year. When my parents found it, they tried to make me get rid of it, but I told Gastly to vanish and not reappear until they left me alone. They gave up after that." "Ah." "Then one day, they had company over. They had a boy a few years younger then me. He had a Charmander. I brought him out back and challenged him to a match. He lost. Big time. He ran to his mommy crying 'Mommy, mommy, that girl's nasty Ghost Pokémon hurt my Charmander'. I didn't even do that much to it. Gastly only Licked it and used Night Shade. It must have been a lot weaker then I thought." Uiru nodded. "Night Shade does damage equal to the user's EXP level," Uiru said. "If Gastly was at a much higher level then that Charmander, one Night Shade would probably finish it." "It finished it all right," Jessica replied. "Anyway, my parents' friends were upset, so my parents are like 'Jessica, we thought we told you to get rid of that awful Pokémon' and I said 'Yeah, and I thought I said no' and then they completely flipped out and went off like 'Get it out of our house this instant!' and I said 'Fine! I'll take it out, and go with it!' and left." "Did they ask you to come back?" "They *ordered* me a few times, but I ignored them." "And you don't miss them at all?" "Nope. All they did was crab at how 'unladylike' I was. It was miserable. Training Gastly was the only fun I had, and they tried really hard to stop that. I've been having a blast with you and Allison and Matt though." "That's good. You sound like you deserve a good time." "Well... I've been having a good time tonight." She took his hand. He turned red. She smiled, and blushed slightly as well. "I'm having fun too," Uiru answered. "Good. Oh damn, we're almost at the hotel. I'm not done talking yet." "We can walk around the block." "This is a big city. It'll take us half an hour to get around the block." "Fine with me." "Me too." She smiled again. "So I took off towards Persimmon. I passed through Turcott Park, but only stayed long enough to heal my Gastly. I looked in a cave and found a Cubone there, so I caught it. And when I reached Persimmon, I found a Machop that someone had abandoned. I caught it, took it to the Center and cured it. I hung around Persimmon for a while, learning more about Pokémon and training my three. Then I decided to go to Cobalton, and I ran into a young trainer and his buddy, whom I soundly trounced." She laughed. "And then an Abra showed up and saved that young trainer's Pikachu, and when I tried to catch it, that trainer took it instead." "Oh, you mean ME," Uiru laughed. "Yes, you," Jessica replied. "Ah. Just checking," he grinned. "Some guy gave me that Pikachu. He couldn't get it to evolve, so when he tried to leave it at the Pokémon Center I offered to take it. I found a Caterpie and in one day it turned into a Metapod and then a Butterfree. It's a real fighter. And after it evolved- by beating Pincir, which I told you about already- I found a Sandshrew." "Ah." They walked in silence for a few minutes. "Uiru..." "Yes?" "What happens... What happens if something happens to us at this battle? I think it's a lot more serious then any of us realize." "Hmm, I think you're right," Uiru stated. "I mean, Fire Pokémon are dangerous, and if their trainers are as bad as Booster's been saying... None of us even has a full compliment of Pokémon yet, and we're going to fight in a war?" "Don't worry... We won't be alone. We're in Fire Strike unit, right? Booster says there'll be at least two dozen units like ours working to take back Charteruse City. And he said we won't even be on point, we'll be helping defend territory taken by other, more powerful units." "Oh... That's a little different, but it'll still be really dangerous," Jessica replied. "Booster's got this all planned out. When units land, their choppers are going to stay, and if the unit gets in trouble they can hop in and leave. The Flame Force has no air offence or defence. Then the chopper flies to the small base they've already got set up, the Pokémon are cured and trainers who can still fight are back in action in 15 minutes." "Well, I'm still a bit edgy. It IS a war, after all." "It is, but don't worry. Remember, we've got the mighty Fighting Abra to protect us." They laughed. "Oh, we're back again. I think we should head in now," Uiru said. "Yeah," Jessica agreed. "We must do this again." "Yes, we must."