The Chronicles of Giselle Valentine

OOC: Glad I could help with the return of normality, Secad ^^ This chapter...if it conflicts with our shared universe, it may receive substantial edits.

The next day the trio found themselves at the registration center in Veilstone City. The center was located on the edge of the Battle District. The area looked very different in the daytime without the bright lights and flamboyantly dressed people. The center itself was very high tech and modern. Giselle saw newly registered trainers excitedly exited the building ready to start their own journeys. A group of young students and their teacher on a field trip passed them. Giselle wondered if any of those students had the same big dreams that she had when she was their age. She just hoped that they would get the opportunity to fulfill them someday.

“Man, being in this area makes me itch for a battle,” said Reina. “I’m headed to an arena when we get done here.”

“And they say I’m battle hungry,” muttered Carmen.

“Shall we go in already?” asked Reina impatiently.

“Of course,” said Giselle.

The inside was just as modern as the outside. It was full of computers and other machines Giselle had never seen before. Receptionists stood behind counters along the far wall.

“This is one of the larger registration centers,” Carmen explained. “Reina and I registered in Professor Rowen’s lab when we received our starters in Sandgem Town. You can use anyone of the computers by the way.”

They went to the nearest one. Like everything else in Sinnoh, it was touch screen. The screen displayed, among other things, options for new trainers and one for trainers that have registered in other regions. Giselle clicked on the latter and followed the instructions and answered the questions while Carmen and Reina looked on.

“Do you have a Pokédex?”

“Yes,” Giselle selected.

“Please insert it into the slot.”

A slot popped out at the bottom of the computer. Giselle pulled out her red Pokédex and put it in just like it said. She heard a few mechanical sounds and then all of her information was displayed on the screen: her name and hometown, her picture and finger print, how many badges she’d won (zero), how many Pokémon captured (two native, four non-native), and of course, the region she had been registered in. She used the fingerprint device to positively identify herself.

“Are you sure you want to register for the Sinnoh League?”

“Yes.”

“You will not be able to participate in a previously registered league. Is that okay?”

“Yes.” (Definitely)

“Congratulations! You are now registered for the Sinnoh League. Please take this voucher to a receptionist to receive your new Pokédex. All of your information has been transferred into the new Pokédex.” The voucher popped out of the side of the computer and Giselle took it. She assumed the voucher had a computer chip in it.

“Would you like to keep your old Pokédex?”

“Yes.” (Why not?) The Pokédex came out of the same slot it went in.

“Thank you for registering!” And with that the screen went back to its welcome screen.

“Wow,” said Giselle. “That didn’t take long at all!” She held the voucher up to her eyes, looking at it as though it was the golden ticket.

“I’m glad it didn’t,” said Reina. “I still want that battle.”

“Wait, does everyone that registers get a Pokédex?” asked Giselle.”

“No,” answered Carmen. “Only if you had one to begin with. But you’ll have to contact Professor Rowen to get it upgraded. I’m pretty sure this Pokédex will be programmed for Sinnoh native Pokémon so you’ll no longer be able to identify Charmander and Caterpie.”

“Oh,” said Giselle.

They walked over to reception counter that was full of newbie trainers, a few as young as ten. Giselle was mystified at seeing trainers this young. She knew that Kanto trainers had to be at least thirteen to register for the league and wondered what the minimum age for other regions were. Giselle looked for the receptionist with the fewest people in line and found her. She was just finishing up with her one person and Giselle, Reina, and Carmen took the chance. Giselle handed her voucher to the receptionist, almost shaking with anticipation. When the lady handed Giselle her new pink Pokédex she nearly died of happiness.

“Look at it guys,” Giselle said once they were out of the center. She kept toggling through all of the features of her new Pokédex. She made sure to have her money transferred to the Pokédex and the proceeded to check to make sure every dime was there.

“We see it, Giselle,” said Reina, slightly amused. “We have one. And now I’m going for a battle. Coming, Giselle?”

“Sure,” said Giselle. She wanted to test out her Pokédex too.

“You do that,” said Carmen. “I’m going for coffee. Meet me at that coffee shop down the street when you’re done.” Giselle noticed that all of Sinnoh seemed to be coffee obsessed, but she still hadn’t tried the stuff yet.

“We’ll see you soon then,” said Reina, brightly. The both watched Carmen as she walked away from them before turning back to the task at hand.

It didn’t take Reina long to find an opponent as the first person she asked said yes.

“Awesome,” the boy said. “I hope you’re a worthy opponent. My name is Carlos by the way.” He had long shiny black hair that reached to about the middle of his back and concealed one of his eyes, which were also black.

“My name is Reina and let me tell you. You have no idea. My friend here will just watch.”

“Fine by me,” he replied. “Why don’t we hit the open air arena?”

“Great,” said Reina, a battle-hungry look in her eyes.

They walked about five minutes to a circular, but otherwise unremarkable building—at least until they entered. Then, Giselle’s jaw dropped. There was no ceiling; the building just opened up into the sky.

“This is one of my favorite arenas,” Reina explained to Giselle. “Not only do you have to deal with what your opponent is throwing at you, you have to deal with what nature throws at you. You could be hit with rain, snow, burning sun, anything. It keeps things interesting.”

“It won’t be interesting today,” said Carlos, brushing his hair from his face. “The weather’s perfect.”

“And now let’s get this battle started already,” said Reina.

“Ooh, a feisty one!” said Carlos. “You’ll be fun to battle.”

“Just make sure you have that attitude after this battle,” said Reina as they walked to their respective ends of the battle field. Giselle sat on a bench that was far off to the side of the middle of the arena.

“Here we go!” said Reina. “Go, Acero!” Giselle was suddenly reminded of her fiascos at the Pewter City gym against Brock’s Onix.

“Come on out, Medicham!” Carlos called out.

Giselle was eager to use her new Pokédex. She pointed it at Medicham. “Medicham,” her Pokédex said in a feminine voice. “the meditate Pokémon. Through yoga training, it has honed its sixth sense. Its movements are elegant. It is the evolved form of Meditite.” Giselle squeed in her head.

“All right, Medicham. Let’s start this off with a Force Palm!” It lunged at Onix with its right hand glowing.

But Reina had the “I’ve got something up my sleeve look.”

“Acero, block that with Sandstorm!” The Onix’s midsection began to churn and sand was expelled from between the spinning segments. Medicham had no time to stop and hurled itself into the storm, taking damage.

“Nice one!” said Carlos, impressed. “But watch this! Medicham use Rain Dance!”

Medicham really was as elegant as the Pokédex said. It used psychic power to lift itself in the air where it did a graceful dance full of flips and kicks. Rain was summoned out of no where and it promptly stopped the sandstorm. Reina was bewildered in interested way.

“What are you planning, Carlos?” Reina called out.

“Only this,” he said. “Medicham use Hidden Power.” Blue orb encircled Medicham. Reina’s jaw dropped; she immediately knew what was happening. When the blue orbs made contact with Acero, they burst spilling water all over him. Acero roared in anguish at both the rain and the Water-type Hidden Power.

Carlos laughed. “I bet you didn’t see that coming did you?”

“I admit that was good,” said Reina. “But don’t count us out yet. Acero use Dig!”

The great rock snake burrowed deep under the arena. After a while, it was so quite, Giselle could hear a pin drop.

“Oh, and while you’re down there, use Rock Polish and then Harden!” Reina added easily. Giselle couldn’t tell if Acero could even hear her; there were no sounds emanating from underground.

“Ok, Medicham, time to put your psychic power to work,” said Carlos, enjoying the thrill of battle.

Medicham closed its eyes sat on the ground cross-legged before levitating. For a while there was nothing as the moments ticked by and the rain eventually stopped. Then suddenly Medicham’s eyes flew open—it could sense Acero, but before it could react, Acero exploded out of the ground in a shower of mud and rocks with amazing speed for something so large. He slammed into Medicham who went sailing across the room before hitting the ground hard.

“Hurry, Acero, before it can get up, use Earthquake!” Reina yelled.

The Onix slammed his tail onto the ground, creating an earth shaking shockwave. Giselle could almost see the ripples as they slammed one by one into Medicham. But neither Carlos nor Medicham nor were done.

“Heh, it’ll take more than that to beat Medicham! Use Hi Jump Kick!”

Giselle was surprised it could get up again, apparently Reina was too because her jaw dropped. Medicham leapt high into the air and aimed a kick right at Onix’s head.

“Acero use Sandstorm once more!”

Once again, the Onix’s midsection began to spin and expel grainy sand. Medicham flew through the grating sand but this time it wouldn’t be stopped. Though the sand absorbed some of the impact, Acero still took a hard hit. Medicham landed gracefully on its feet a few yards in front of its trainer.

“Wow,” said Reina. “It‘s a good thing I did use Harden, huh. Now, to make sure that doesn’t happen again, Acero use Sand Tomb!”

The very ground under Medicham began to turn to quicksand, and it sunk into a ground a few inches, immobilized. No matter how much Medicham struggled, it was completely trapped.

“Oh, dear,” said Carlos.

“Now it’s time to end this,” said Reina. “Acero, pick Medicham up!”

The Onix crawled over to Medicham, wrapped his tail around it, and snatched it out of the sand trap. Acero lifted Medicham up to his eyes,

Reina smiled. “Use Dragonbreath!”

Giselle cringed. Acero exhaled a stream of sickly green air directly into Medicham’s face and it promptly fainted.

Carlos looked a little shocked. He recalled Medicham from Acero’s grip. “Good job. We’ll have to train a little more later.” He then turned to Reina. “Good battle! As you can see, Medicham needs a little work”

“Yeah, I noticed it was a little on the slow side and its psychic abilities were off,” Reina noted.

“Medicham’s been having problems ever since she evolved,” Carlos explained. “We’re going to train a little bit north of the city for a while. Thanks again for the battle.”

“You’re very welcome,” said Reina as she recalled Acero.

Like a true gentlemen, Carlos held the door open to the arena for both Reina and Giselle. They bid farewell to each other before going their separate ways. And after a quick trip to the Pokémon Center, Giselle and Reina headed to the coffee shop. It didn’t take them long to find Carmen’s table, but she wasn’t alone. Giselle recognized Luz del Sol from Reina’s battle with her friend Carla on Carmen’s left. When Giselle set eyes on the person on Carmen’s right, she nearly died. Luckily no one at the table, including Carmen who was distracted by something on the table, spotted them, because Giselle snatched Reina back out of the coffee shop.

“Ow! What was that for?” said Reina indignantly.

“The girl on Carmen’s right!” Giselle said frantically.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“It’s Vivienne!”

Reina gasped, but Giselle knew what she saw. She had the same dark curly hair and nearly the same outfit that she had in Giselle’s vision--the pink bow and the lacy white.

“We can’t go in there,” whispered Giselle.

“Oh, come on Giselle!” said Reina. “That’s vision didn’t happen, remember? And how on earth could that girl be Vivienne?”

“I know it didn’t happen, but it’s her,” said Giselle, anxiously biting her lip. “And I still don’t want to face her.”

Reina promptly put her hands on Giselle’s shoulders and marched her back into the coffee shop. Giselle gulped. But Reina wasn’t done messing with Giselle.

“Hey, guys!” she called out. All three girls looked up. Indeed, Carmen looked slightly annoyed that Reina had shouted across a room.

“Hello,” said Vivienne and Luz at the same time. Giselle and Reina walked up to the table to see that Carmen was on her phone.

“Oh,” said Luz, smiling, “I remember you now, Giselle. We were watching the battle that Reina was having with Carla.” She almost the same as she did when Giselle last saw her, except now her short black hair had a single lavender streak.

“I remember,” said Giselle. She was determined not to let the sight of Vivienne unnerve her.

“By the way,” said Carmen. “This is Vivienne Devereaux. She’s from the Sevii Islands of the Kanto region. I told her you were also from Kanto, Giselle.”

“Yeah,” said Giselle, who was uncomfortable aware that Vivienne was looking her with curiosity in her blue eyes. A look of shock crossed Reina’s face but it was gone in an instant.

“Did I just hear the sound of Reina yelling across a room?” said an unknown male voice. “I haven’t heard that in a while.”

“Ramón?” said Reina smiling. She walked over behind Carmen and looked over her shoulder and motioned Giselle to come too.

Giselle thought Carmen just had her phone on speaker mode, but it was actually on video mode. Ramón had black wavy hair, Reina’s brown eyes, and long gorgeous eyelashes. She couldn’t help but notice that he was very handsome and was trying not to blush. He was in an organized office area and holding a cup of coffee.

“Long time no see. How are you?” asked Reina. 

“I’m in Ecruteak City area doing some research on the two towers and the two legendary birds that are supposed to roost on them,” he explained. “Scoff all you want, Carmen, but they’re real, and if you come with me I’ll show you.”

“Whatever,” said Carmen indifferently.

“Err, Ramón?” said Reina. “Is that your office?” He nodded.”It’s a little too neat for you, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it is,” admitted Ramón. “But I’ll have to wait a little while to break it in. I have to leave right now, so I’ll talk to you later. Bye!”

“Bye,” both sisters said, and the screen of the phone went black.

“They say people known for their intelligence are supposed to be really organized,” chortled Reina. “But Ramón says he can’t concentrate if his workspace is organized. You should see him ‘break in’ in a work space.”

“It makes me cringe,” said Carmen. “He literally grabs stuff  like pencils, paper, books, and whatever else he can get his hands on, and starts throwing it around. The room is effectively demolished in about five minutes. When he lived at home, he used to drive mom crazy because he would never let her organize anything in his room.”

“Yeah, but none of that matters,” Luz interjected, because he is a totally hottie.”

They all laughed. Though Giselle didn’t know how she saw Vivienne in a vision, but she decided to act like she’d never seen her before. Vivienne didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. And that look she gave Giselle was probably for her white hair or something like that.

“In the time it took you two get back, I could’ve had three cups of coffee,” said Carmen. “At least I had Luz and Vivienne to keep me company.”

“You said you were from the Sevii Islands, right?” Reina asked Vivienne. “Giselle never told us about them.”

“That’s correct,” said Vivienne. “It’s an island chain south of the Kanto mainland. To be exact, I’m from Resort Gorgeous on Five Island.”

“It’s kind of like Valor Lakefront,” Giselle explained. “It’s just as swanky and probably just as awesome, even though I’ve never been there.”

“It was a nice place to grow up,” said Vivienne. “But I also had a lot of fun on my Pokémon journey in Kanto.”

“Did you take the Pokémon league challenge?” asked Luz.

“Yes,” answered Vivienne. “I finished in the top sixteen. You can’t imagine how happy I was, even if I didn’t win,” Vivienne finished with a nod to Carmen.

“Wait,” Reina interrupted. “How old are you?”

“How old do I look?” asked Vivienne mischievously.

“To be honest, I think you’re twelve,” Reina said bluntly.

Vivienne smiled broadly. “I’m actually nineteen.” Luz had to stifle a laugh.

“All righty then,” said Reina trying to change the subject. “Now what are you doing in Sinnoh?”

“After I’d competed in the league, it was time for a change of scenery, and so, here I am,” Vivienne answered.

Giselle wondered if she would let Reina live that little slip up down. Finishing top sixteen in the league was very impressive. Then she suddenly remembered the Luz said she’d spent most of her time in Hoenn. “Luz, did you challenge the Hoenn League?”

“Not yet,” she said. “I have all eight of my badges so I’m qualified, but I had to take a short break and come back home. I’ll be going back to Hoenn soon to take the challenge.”

“I want to go to Hoenn soon, too,” said Reina. “I want to find Steven and capture more Steel type Pokémon.”

“You’re on the search for Steven?” asked Luz, impressed. “I wish you the best of luck then.”

“Well, since you know Hoenn well…” and so began the Hoenn questions Reina had for Luz. For a while they just had conversations ranging from every subject imaginable. Hearing these conversations made Giselle want to start her journey—particularly her gym battles. The girls gave her plenty of helpful advice and told their own stories of gym battle fiascos and triumphs. After a while, the conversation turned back to what they wanted to do next in their Pokémon journeys.

“Hey, Carmen was Ramón serious about wanting you to come with him on his research mission?” asked Giselle almost casually.

“Yeah, he was,” said Carmen.

“Are you seriously considering going?” asked Reina.

“Actually, I am,” replied Carmen, but then she hesitated.

Giselle guessed that Carmen was starting to rub off on her because she picked up Carmen’s uneasy pause.

“What was that pause for?” Giselle asked tentatively.

Carmen sighed. “Well you see. If I do go with him, I’ll have to leave in two days.”

Last edited by Anonymous on Fri Nov 05, 2010 7:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

O. Ma. Fudge. This is amazing! Reina Carmen you are so awesome! *registers as fan-girl* I'll be watching... Always...

OOC: This chapter was long o.o Also, I did some minor edits to make it less silly but even people who've read it before may not notice the changes. It was just something that bugged me.

Giselle and Reina both gasped.

“H-how long have you been thinking about this?” asked Giselle dumbfounded.

I’ve been talking with Ramón for the past month,” Carmen answered. “But I kept changing my mind as to whether I wanted to go or not. Now I have merely hours to make my decision.”

Giselle was amazed. She didn’t think Carmen was the one to put off important decisions like that. It must’ve been a hard choice for her to make. Giselle could see nothing but contemplation in her silver eyes as she sat with her hand under her chin.

Finally, Reina spoke. “Just make a decision, already, yes or no. You’ve been thinking about this for much longer than a month. Well?”

Carmen turned to her sister in surprise. “You know for once in you’re life, you’re making sense. I’m going to go with my first instinct. My decision is yes—yes, I will go. I can download an electronic ticket from my phone now. I’m glad you can get those last minute.”

“Wow, Reina,” said Luz. “You reminded me of Tony just then.  He always urges me to make decisions on my first instincts. You can say he’s a carpe diem person.”

“Sounds like me and Tony would get along,” Reina said. “But we start for Canalave now, don’t we?”

“Yeah, I want to get there by six,” said Carmen looking up from her phone. “The reason that I need to leave in two days is because that’s when the ship leaves. It’ll take me about eight hours to get there, and Ramón said he wanted to start his mission as soon as possible. Plus, this is the time of year when ship rides will start getting expensive.”

“But, how will you get to Canalave?” asked Vivienne. “It took me ages to get here from there.”

“We’re taking the train,” said Luz. “OMG, did I just invite myself?”

Reina laughed. “It’s fine. We can all go together. Are you all right with that, Vivienne?”

“Sure, but what is the Underground Train?” Vivienne asked.

“Sinnoh has an extensive system of underground tunnels, so a few were used for the train,” Carmen explained. “We’ll be in Canalave in a few hours.”

Vivienne’s looked surprised. “And why did no one I asked tell me about this?”

“That’s Sinnoh for you,” said Luz. “The people here can spot non-natives from a mile away. You see, some people here like to screw with foreigners. Most likely whoever you asked spotted you as a foreigner and didn’t tell you about the train. It was expensive getting here too, wasn’t it Vivienne?”

“It was. It cost a fortune,” she said.

“And Canalave is the worst about that,” Luz finished. “Personally I think the people in Hoenn are nicer. Don’t get me wrong, Sinnoh is awesome. Every region has its faults.”

“Yes, you’re right,” said Vivienne. “Goodness knows Kanto has them.”

“Shall we leave out now?” asked Reina. “We can reach the train station fastest by a trolley. There’s one that goes directly to the train station with no stops.”

The all agreed and got up from the table after collecting their bags. Giselle remembered that Luz said she wasn’t very tolerant of cold weather. She grabbed her woolen black coat and put it on over her thick sweater. Vivienne wasn’t much more tolerant of the cold as she put on a thick pink coat. After spending a month in Sinnoh, Giselle was as used to the chill as Carmen and Reina; their sweaters were enough to keep them warm. They only had to walk a short distance to the trolley stop, and they had to wait only five minutes for it to come.

As they boarded the trolley, Giselle was thrilled to use her new Pokédex to pay her fare. Reina, Carmen, and Luz also used their Pokédexes to pay, while Vivienne used a card.

“Hey, Vivienne,” said Giselle as they sat down in the mostly empty trolley. “Did you find out before you came here that hard money is rarely used?”

“No, I didn’t,” she answered. “It’s amazing how much they don’t tell you about Sinnoh. But anyway, I was buying some items in Canalave and when I paid with money, the cashiers looked at me like I was some kind of alien. And when I asked what why they were looking at me like that, they didn’t give me an answer. So basically I threatened to send out my Tyranitar if someone didn’t give me an answer. They talked then.”

So this Vivienne had a Tyranitar too. Giselle didn’t let the shock show on her face. “I wish I had been that assertive then…” and Giselle once again told the story of her fiascos in Sinnoh. It provided good entertainment for the trolley ride. Carmen was silent as she watched the scenery go by and even Reina wasn’t as active as she usually was. Giselle noticed it but didn’t say anything.

If the trolley hadn’t stopped there or if she hadn’t seen the large amount of people entering and exiting it, Giselle would have never have noticed the train station entrance. She had expected a huge building but it was merely a couple of escalators. The quintet exited the trolley and got on the down escalator. Giselle wasn’t sure what she expected as she descended into the underground, but it wasn’t that. It was as though they had entered a giant mall full of bright lights, stores, and people in true Veilstone style. A giant sign carved out of stone welcomed them to Veilstone Station.

“I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about this place, Giselle,” said Reina. “It’s a train station, but it’s also one of the best malls in Sinnoh. There are four more entrances to the station besides this one if you want to bypass the mall to get to the train. But this is one of the hang out spots of Veilstone.”

Giselle could see that. There were plenty of teenaged students still in their uniforms either out for lunch or cutting class. Signs pointed out the south, east, and westbound trains. They almost had to drag Vivienne away from the stores, which Giselle has to admit were awesome.

They swiped their Pokédexes (or in Vivienne’s case, her card) to get through a gate that led to the westbound train.  Many people were milling around the platform, some looking down the tunnel, waiting for it to come. Giselle saw men and women in business and office attire who had presumably came through one of the other entrances. On the opposite rock wall—once again in true Veilstone fashion—was a giant bas-relief of a Lucario using Aura Sphere. Signs overhead stated that the train would arrive in five minutes.

“They actually just built this train not too long ago,” Reina explained. “At first I didn’t want it built—“

“You mean like Cycling Road?” asked Giselle, smiling.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Reina mockingly brushing Giselle off. “Anyway, Sinnoh has extensive underground caverns that are full of neat stuff. You can go into the caverns if you have permission to dig around. I thought the train would mess all that up because it had to go through portions of it. Apparently the underground is even more extensive than I thought because there’s still plenty of room for treasure hunting. You can still go down there as normal because it’s not like the train didn’t take up as much space as I thought.”

“The Underground is one of my favorite places in Sinnoh,” said Luz. “The treasure is so, like, awesome. Once I dug up a nice Dome Fossil and got it turned into a Kabuto in Oreburgh City. Eventually it evolved into the amazing Kabutops I have on my team now.

“Nice,” said Giselle. “How do you get permission to go into the Underground though?”

“You have to get it in Eterna City,” Luz answered.

Three minutes later, a light appeared down the tunnel; it grew larger and larger until the train came into full view. Giselle was amazed. The train, bearing the legend “Sinnoh Transit,” was lustrous and virtually silent. It was painted glossy black with a light blue stripe than ran the length of the train.  As soon as the doors of the train open, there was chaos as people both boarded the train and exited it at the same time. Giselle was surprised there was no pile up. To make sure she wasn’t separated this time, she grabbed onto Carmen’s backpack strap to keep up with her. They headed to the nearest door and entered onto the train, moving quickly to get seats together.

“Whew,” said Vivienne as she straightened her coat and dress. “That was worse than the Saffron Station. At least the trains here are nicer though.”

Giselle had never ridden a train before so she had nothing to compare it to, but she had to agree that they were nice. The blue reclining seats were nice and comfortable and there were plenty of cup holders. The group was fortunate enough to get seats facing each other so they didn’t have to yell across the aisle or turn around to talk to each other. Though, she could barely feel the train moving, Giselle could tell they were going fast. They settled down for what would be a calm ride despite the many people around them. Right when Luz was about to say something her phone rang.

“Excuse me,” she said before she pulled her phone, which resembled Carmen’s, out her bag and answered it. “Hello? Oh, hey Tony!” Luz’s face fell. “You’re kidding right? All right, I’m on the train now so I’ll be there soon. Bye.”

She put her phone back in her bag. “Bad news guys. Apparently Carla had some kind of freak out in the Hearthome City contest hall so I’ll be getting off at the station there.”

“I’m really sorry,” said Reina. “I was looking forward to hearing more about Hoenn.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Luz said. “I’m still coming to Canalave, but I probably won’t be there until after your sister leaves. Will you still be around then?”

“Most likely,” Reina answered. “I need to erase Giselle’s bad memories of the place.”

“It was very nice to meet you though,” Luz said to Carmen.

“You too,” said Carmen. “And I might tell Ramón that you said he was hot just to see how he takes it.”

“Go right ahead. I meant what I said. I may come to Johto just to see him sometime. But don’t worry: I’m not a stalker.” Luz’s eyes shifted in mock suspiciousness.

They all laughed. To pass time, Vivienne told the story of the story of her adventures in Canalave. She ran into a lot of the same stuff Giselle did, including the stares. The difference was that Vivienne stood up for herself despite looking like a twelve year old and probably wearing something pink and frilly and Giselle had to admire her for that. Including a brief stop in at the small Solaceon Station, it took about an hour to reach Hearthome City.

“Bye everyone!” Luz said. “I’ll see you later!” And with that, Luz got off the train.

Reina sighed. “It’ll be another two hours or so before we reach Canalave. By the way, Giselle, you’ll enjoy Hearthome City. Stop and watch a contest in the Contest Hall while you’re there.”

“Ok,” said Giselle. She began to imagine what it would be like to finally start her journey properly. What kind of things would she see and experience? And what kind of stories would she tell? Giselle thought of all her Pokémon and smiled to herself. She would end up spending the next two hours daydreaming. Carmen telling her about Jubilife when the train stopped there only fueled her dreams as she though of the technology wonderland. She prayed with all of her being that her hopes would not be dashed this time. It had taken a long time for her to even dare to hope in this manner again.

Finally, they arrived in Canalave, back where Giselle’s Sinnoh adventures had begun. Since this was the terminus, everyone had to depart the train. Instead of Veilstone’s rock walls, the walls here were beautifully tiled. Giselle could see the multiple exits that led to different areas of the city. The girls followed the stream of people up the main escalator, however. This Canlave Station entrance was above ground rather than entirely underground like Veilstone Station. There were restaurants and stores here too but nothing like Veilstone. However, the things here looked more expensive and it was even harder to drag Vivienne away.

They had arrived at twilight. Giselle was once again exposed to the canals, the sites, smells, and the people of Canalave. But this time it was different. Giselle had a more hopeful outlook on life so that the city seemed nicer than it was than when she’d first arrived in Sinnoh. She never appreciated how beautiful the sunset over the ocean was. All of the water was dyed with the reds, oranges, and yellows from the setting sun. Ships docked in the harbor off cargo and passengers. Already, the nightlife was starting as shown by the well dressed people. Giselle was attracting stares once more for her white hair, but they were looks of curiosity and admiration rather than looks of scorn.

“Ah,” Carmen breathed. “I love being back here. I had forgotten how good it smelled.”

“Speaking of,” said Vivienne. “Can we get something to eat? I’ve heard that the food was world class here.”

“Sure,” said Reina. “But not around here, the prices are sky high. By the way, since we’re going out—“

“No,” said Carmen flatly. “There will be no dressing up tonight. I don't feel like it.”

Reina muttered something that sounded like “killjoy” under her breath as they walked along. They passed by more clothing boutiques, and even passed the one Giselle had bought her clothes in her first night in Sinnoh. Finally, Vivienne couldn’t resist any longer and she had to stop at one of the stores.

“Well since we’re stopping anyway,” said Reina happily.

Carmen rolled her eyes.

“Vivienne, is what you’re wearing considered, um, normal in Kanto?” Reina asked delicately.

“No,” she answered as she shifted through the clothes rack. “It’s mostly a Resort Gorgeous thing. And even then, not everyone there dresses like this. Oh, this is nice,” she added as she picked up a nice gold top.

In the end they all ended up buying something and wearing it out of the store to Carmen’s dismay. Giselle found an (inexpensive) short black dress and blue leggings. Reina bought herself a pink dress that complimented her boyish figure. Vivienne got a pair of black pants to match her top. After Reina started whining, Carmen bought an emerald green shirt, jeans, and a black suit jacket.

“Oh, come on Carmen,” said Reina. “If you didn’t really want to buy it you didn’t have to. No one made you.”

“YOU forced me,” Carmen retorted. “And if I didn’t, I would have just listened to you whine the rest of the night.”

“Well you have point there,” agreed Reina. “And Vivienne you look so different without the dress. That’s a good thing by the way.”

“Thanks,” she said. She had also removed the ribbon from her hair, but she still looked about twelve. “Now, time to get something to eat.”

The restaurant they picked served the best tasting pasta Giselle had ever put into her mouth. It was either that or she was extremely hungry because she ate more than she’d ever eaten. Vivienne, Reina, and Carmen were amazed.

“I didn’t know you could put away that much Giselle,” said Reina in wonder.

“Yeah, well,” Giselle said after she swallowed a forkful of pasta. “This is good and I’m hungry.”

Vivienne took small lady like bites as she ate her food. “This is amazing,” she appraised.

“You know,” said Carmen. She looked really thoughtful. “I can’t believe I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. I’ve never left Sinnoh before.”

“You’re not having second thoughts are you?” asked Reina.

“No,” said Carmen. “But I am getting a little excited. I wonder what Johto is like.”

“I’ve heard stuff about it,” Vivienne said. “The people of Johto are supposed to more laidback. And Goldenrod City is supposed to be spectacular. It’s the largest city in the world, so it should be.”

“That’s where my ship will arrive,” said Carmen. “Ramón said it was cool. He hates cities so if he says it’s cool, it must be.”

“I can’t wait to visit Jubilife personally,” said Giselle. “It sounds like a lot of fun. Besides I want to get a phone like yours, Carmen.”

“I love this phone.” Carmen whipped it out again. “But my brother said that the ones in Johto are supposed to be even more advanced than here. Those kinds of phones are called Pokégear.”

“It always depressed me that Kanto was so technologically behind Sinnoh,” Vivienne said. “But as a trade off, we do have the culture.”

“You know, Giselle,” Carmen began. “You should go back home some day and explore your native region.”

“Maybe,” said Giselle skeptically. She wondered if she would ever return to Kanto at all.

When their checks arrived, Giselle was very much surprised to see that the prices weren’t through the roof. It was by no means cheap, but not impossible either. Carmen said that in Canalave that was a steal.

“We can stay at the Pokémon Center tonight,” said Carmen. “Let’s reserve a room before they fill up.”

Giselle was having major flashbacks now. She remembered how bad she felt back then. They had arrived in the same Pokémon Center as Giselle did nearly a month before. Everything was the same as before. The lounge was filled with trainers and still no smell of coffee. With what happened to Vivienne, she was slightly surprised that she didn’t see the boy with the Lucario. They crossed the lounge and went into the center itself. There was no one in line to see the receptionist (the same one that Giselle had snapped at the first night), so Carmen went straight to her.

“Excuse me, but are there any more rooms left?”

The receptionist smiled. “You got the last one!” she handed over a key to Carmen and throwing a curious glance at Giselle. “It is room number twenty.” Giselle tried to arrange her face to look like there was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Thank you,” said Carmen. And fortunately for Giselle, the receptionist didn’t say anything else.

They milled around the Pokémon Center for a while and let their Pokémon out for some air. It turned out that while Vivienne had a Tyrannitar, she didn’t have a Clefairy. In fact, it seemed like Vivienne had a thing for fierce looking Pokémon. She had a Nidoking, Gyarados, Persian, and a Pinsir.

“You just keep shattering those stereotypes don’t you, Vivienne?” Reina said.

“Well yes,” said Vivienne smiling. “Cutesy Pokémon aren’t my thing.”

Reina high fived her. “That is awesome! I can totally see we’re going to get along.”

“Thanks!” said Vivienne.

They decided to call it a night to avoid getting thrown out after Meilene and Paris got into another fight that nearly resulted in Meilene using Focus Blast on Empoleon. The room was just as nice as their bedroom had been in the trainer’s house. This time, they had a view of Canalave City from their second story room. The full moon had risen and was casting moonlight in through the skylight and onto the wood floors. There were comfortable bunk beds on either side of the room and a small dresser.

“Hey Reina,” said Giselle. “How many nights can we stay here?”

“Two night limit for obvious reasons,” she answered back.

Vivienne and Giselle took the top bunks while Carmen took the bunk under Giselle, leaving the last one to Reina. It took Giselle a while to fall asleep, so she just stared at the ceiling in the meantime. She could feel something inside her, could feel that something was about to move. Her journey in Sinnoh had come in a full circle of sorts. Though she couldn’t explain it, it felt significant. It did give her time to reflect on what the past month meant to her. She’d gained four Pokémon that she loved to pieces and had a wonderful relationship with Charmander and Caterpie. It made her happy just thinking about it. Slowly her eyelids grew heavy and she finally fell into a deep sleep full of sweet dreams.

~ ~ ~

Gray clouds rolled in the next day making it dreary and oppressive. Carmen was very pensive for most of the day, and Giselle and Vivienne had to admit that the clouds were getting to them as well.  But Reina was so uncharacteristically quiet that it was almost scary. All of them were worried about her, but she would talk to no one until about midday, when Carmen finally managed to get her to talk.

“I don’t know why I feel like this,” she confessed. “It’s not like we haven’t been apart before…” she trailed off.

“So that’s what this is about?” said Carmen in mild surprise. “For some reason I didn’t expect that of you.”

“I didn’t expect it either,” Reina admitted. “I mean, I was fine yesterday.”

Giselle had a sudden inspiration. “I know! Why don’t you two spend the rest of Carmen’s last day together? You can get some sisterly bonding time.”

Reina seem to brighten at once. “If that’s okay with you and Vivienne…”

“It’s perfectly fine with me,” Vivienne said at once.

“And it’s good to me,” said Carmen.

Reina had that mischievous glint in her eye. She smiled at Carmen in a way that slightly worried her sister. “Well let’s get going,” she said as she pulled on Carmen’s arm “After all we have stuff to do.”

“Hey wait! What are you doing?!” They heard Carmen protesting as Reina dragged her off.

Giselle and Vivienne laughed. “Have a good time!” Giselle called after them.

But the day wouldn’t just be fruitful for Reina. By talking to Vivienne back in their room in the Pokémon center, Giselle figured out a major mystery about her mother’s past.

“Wait, your mom is Monique Valentine? I knew your name sounded familiar.” Vivienne said incredulously when Giselle was telling her the story of her family.

“Yeah?” said Giselle curiously.

“My mom is Genevieve Devereaux! She’s a former model too. She used to tell me all about the catfights she go into with your mother.”

“No way,” said Giselle in realization. “So that must be the Genevieve my mom is always muttering under her breath about! My mother never went into detail about any of that stuff.”

“Then I have a story for you,” said Vivienne. And so began the scandalous story of the two former models and bitter rivals. Vivienne told her everything from the catfights, the man stealing, the backstabbing, and the legendary Pokémon battles between the two. She also went into detail about what happened to her mother once the younger models appeared on the scene. “After a bad period, Mother reinvented herself as a coordinator and even won the Ribbon Cup. She’s retired now, but she still offers advice to anyone who asks. What about Monique?”

“Let’s just say it wasn’t so pleasant,” said Giselle lightly.

“Ouch,” said Vivienne.

Giselle and Vivienne had so much to talk about they didn’t notice the hours pass by or when it began to darken, so it was a surprise when Reina and Carmen walked into the room. Both sisters looked much more cheerful than before.

“I take it you’re feeling better Reina?” Giselle said.

“I am,” she replied. “And I promise there won’t be anymore emo moments.”

“Um, what’s an emo moment,” asked Giselle and Vivienne at the same time.

Reina and Carmen laughed.

The girls’ day ended on a happy note, but Giselle found she couldn’t sleep nor apparently could Carmen. Giselle could hear her digging through her bag for something in the bunk under her but because the room was dark, she couldn’t see what she was doing. A cold heavy rain was falling outside Vivienne and Reina were fast asleep and their light snores fill the room.

“Carmen?” Giselle said quietly.

“Oh, Giselle,” she said. “I didn’t know you were still awake. Are you feeling all right?”

“Well, it’s just taking me a while to fall asleep. Are you feeling excited?”

Carmen sighed. “I am actually. And I was thinking about you and how much you’ve changed.”

“I was thinking about that too, and it still feels like some sort of dream,” said Giselle.

“Just a month before, you ran up to Reina and me carrying a poisoned Charmander and had a breakdown shortly afterward.”

Giselle grinned in the darkness. “It’s all thanks to you and Reina that I changed.”

“We won’t take all the credit. It was in you all along,” Carmen said. “We just helped bring it out.”

“I just want to say thanks for all your help and for being a good friend.” Giselle meant all of it from the bottom of her heart.

“You’re very welcome,” Carmen replied back.

“By the way, what are you doing?” Giselle asked. Carmen was still digging around in her bag.

“Just getting a little something ready for tomorrow.”

“Oh,” sighed Giselle. Afterward, she just left Carmen in silence. She regarded both Carmen and Reina as something like mentors and would greatly miss Carmen. Feeling a bit more drowsy than before, Giselle waited for sleep to come as she stared at the ceiling once more.

~ ~ ~

Giselle was relieved to see that the clouds had rolled out by the next morning. The weak sunlight bathed the whole room in soft yellow light.  The rain had made everything much chiller than before, so that everyone needed a coat today when they went out. They could see their breath as they walked to the harbor to see Carmen off. Everything was wet and soggy but the air was clean and refreshing rejuvenating everyone. They followed the signs to the right ship which was the total opposite of the ship Giselle took the Sinnoh. It was sleek and clean with no rust in sight.

“Well, this is it,” said Carmen. “The decision I made to go with my brother on a research mission has finally hit home. But I can’t wait to see what my mom’s native region is really like.”

“That’ll be some adventure,” Reina said. “Make sure to call me whenever something interesting happens, all right?”

“All right,” Carmen agreed. “And Vivienne it was very nice to meet you.”

“It was a pleasure,” said Vivienne, bowing slightly. “I hope we’ll see each other again.”

“I’m sure we will if you stay in contact with these two,” said Carmen. She then turned to Giselle. “Giselle, Giselle,” she shook her head. “I can’t say anything that hasn’t been said or thought about. I have something for you though.” She pulled out a black draw string pouch from her bag and gave it to Giselle. “Just consider a gift. Wait till later to open it.”

Giselle wanted dearly to open it right then, but she resisted. “Thanks so much.” Giselle was sure whatever it was, it would make her happy.

Suddenly, a horn on the ship blasted and a warning alarm sounded to alert everyone to get off the drawbridge up ahead. They saw the bridge slowly open up across its middle to get ready for the ship that would pass through.

“That’s my cue to hurry,” said Carmen in a very non-rushed way. “Bye guys.” She gave Giselle and Vivienne a hug. When she got to Reina, they just stared at each other for a moment, exchanged unsaid things between them, before hugging each other. They saw Carmen mysteriously whisper something in her sister’s ear before turning and giving one last wave to them all before running on the ship.

Giselle didn’t know what that feeling was in her chest. Simultaneously, it was sadness and happiness. Sadness because she was saying good bye to a friend, and happiness because she knew then that she had made a friend for life and knew they would see each other again. Soon the ship began to lurch into motion. Slowly, it moved forward out of the harbor and into the canal where it picked up a bit of speed. Some people had stopped to look at the ship make its journey up the canal. Reina, Giselle, and Vivienne watched the ship until it was out of sight.

OOC: The first of two~

The girls continued to stare out over the deep blue ocean for a while after that. To Giselle, it felt so strange not to have Carmen with them, but it was something she would have to get used to. She knew it was going to happen someday, but that knowledge in no way lessened the impact of Carmen’s leaving.

“I noticed something,” Reina said suddenly. “Carmen seemed like she was missing something but I can’t figure out what it was.”

Vivienne frowned slightly. “You’re right but what was it?”

Giselle was silent because she hadn’t noticed a thing and for some reason, she felt embarrassed for it. They were all quiet for a while and therefore jumped at the sound of a shout right behind them.

“HI GUYS!”

Vivienne, Reina, and Giselle whipped around and found themselves facing Luz. In her absence she had added a thick burnt orange scarf and matching hat and gloves to her familiar black wool pea coat. “I didn’t expect to find you this soon!” she exclaimed.

“I was wondering how we were going to get in contact with you,” said Reina. “We forgot to ask for your number.”

Luz looked toward the ocean. “It looks like I didn’t get here fast enough,” Luz observed. “Carmen is already gone.”

“You just missed her,” said Giselle.

“Ah well,” she said. “That was my bad luck. And right now, what I require is coffee or hot chocolate to warm me up.”

“Sounds good,” said Reina.

“Is all of Sinnoh really obsessed with coffee?” Giselle asked as they began to walk.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘obsessed,’” said Reina. “But it is very popular here. You’ve never had it before, have you Giselle?”

“No, but I’d love to try some today,” Giselle said.

“Have you Vivienne?” asked Luz.

“Actually I haven’t,” said Vivienne. “Tea was always the thing in Kanto.”

“Which is really ironic because I really hate tea,” Giselle responded.

“Well coffee is popular in Hoenn too and is actually where most of the world’s coffee is imported from,” said Luz. “Well, here’s a coffee shop!”

Giselle shouldn’t have been surprised that they had come upon one so quickly. This coffee shop in particular looked as though it was made of the same wood that made up a rowboat. On the inside, however, it looked and smelled like a regular coffee shop (even though Giselle had only seen one other). People sat at the tables chatting with friends or working of laptops over a cup of coffee and some kind of pastry. Soft acoustic music played in the background to create the serene atmosphere. Luz led the way up the counter to order her coffee.

“Hihowareyoutoday!MayItakeyourorder?” the cashier said very quickly and crisply. Giselle raised an eyebrow. It was apparent that the cashier had had way too much caffeine.

Luz took a deep breathe and delivered her order. “Iwouldliketohaveasmallhalfcafdecafmochafrappachinowithashotofcherryflavoringandashotofsoymilk.”

At this, Giselle's eyes widened. Reina delivered her order for a smalldoubleshotexpressocappuccinolattewithtwoshotsofvanillaflavoringandwhipcreamontop just as quickly as Luz did. Vivienne tried valiantly to order in the same rapid fire pace, but she kept it simple with her smalllattewithwhipcream. When it was Giselle turn, she felt as though she had been asked to give a public speech. She knew that she should keep it simple with something she’d never had before, but she still felt like a Stantler in the headlights.

“Um, I think I, um, just want a….plain coffee,” Giselle said shakily. She heard Luz and Reina gasp behind her.

Now it was the cashier’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Areyousureyoudon’twantanythingelsewiththat?”

“Nope, that’s it!” said Giselle with a bit more confidence.

The waitress shot her a dirty look before handing her a bright blue cube to put on their table. Luz picked a table in the corner and they all sat down. Reina sighed.

“Giselle, I hate to say it, but your coffee is not going to be good,” she said gravely.

“Why not?” Giselle asked. “Did I totally mess that up?”

“Well,” began Luz. “You ordered black coffee with nothing in it. It’s not going to taste very good.”

“Oh,” said Giselle. No wonder the cashier had looked at her strangely. She was a little disappointed that her first coffee drinking experience would be bad, but there was nothing to be done now.

A little while later, a waitress brought them their coffee in black cups. Luz’s, Vivienne’s, and Reina’s coffee were various shades on brown whereas Giselle’s was solid black, as black as the cup it was in. As Giselle lifted her cup of coffee to her lips, Reina and Luz both held their breath. Giselle cooled it for a few seconds before taking a sip. She instantly flashed back to the Durin Berry Sneasel had given her. The hot bitterness spread throughout her mouth perking her taste buds.

“This is quite good,” Giselle said.

“Are you serious?” asked Luz incredulously.

“I sure am,” said Giselle earnestly. “The bitterness reminds me of a Durin Berry!” Luz cringed at the mere mention of the berry. Giselle knew all about the berries of Sinnoh now because her Pokédex had a berry identifier as well.

Reina laughed. “So I shouldn’t be surprised that you like the stuff.”

“Mine is pretty good too,” appraised Vivienne. “It’s sweet!”

“Yeah, but now I wish I had gotten the shot of vanilla like Reina did,” Luz said. “The cherry’s okay, but I think Vanilla would’ve been better.”

“Mine is just perfect,” said Reina as she enjoyed every sip.

“Oh, by the way, Reina,” Luz said suddenly. “I have a business proposition for you.

“Oh?” said Reina intrigued.

“You see, I managed to get two plane tickets to Lilycove Airport in Hoenn for $150.”

“What?  It costs like $300 per ticket this time of the year! How did you manage that?” Reina asked, amazed.

“It was a discount,” said Luz brightly. “But the only thing is, two people have to be present the day of the plane’s departure or I’ll have to pay full price for a ticket. So….I’m wondering if you would like to come with me?” she added quickly.

It didn’t take Reina long to make her decision. “There’s no way I can pass up a deal like that. When does the plane leave?”

“One week from today!” Luz said excitedly, thrilled that Reina had said yes.

Giselle was shocked and a little sad that Reina was also leaving, but was relieved that she had a week to say goodbye this time.

“You know what means, right Giselle?” Reina asked with deviousness in her eyes.

“Um, no?” said Giselle uncertainly.

“We have one week to erase all of your bad memories of this place!” Reina said boldly.

“Considering I spent less than twenty-four hours here last time, don’t think that’s a bit much?” asked Giselle.

Reina was looking as though Giselle has a point. “Well, anyway, we should still plan to do something everyday for the rest of this week!”

“I like that idea,” said Luz. “I just wish it wasn’t so cold outside.”

“By the way, Giselle,” Reina interjected. “Wait to open Carmen’s gift until our very last night here. It’ll be the climax of the week. Don’t you agree?”

Giselle was eager to see her gift that very night, but she agreed to it anyway. Besides it sounded as though Reina would have them very busy so she wouldn’t dwell on the gift.

Vivienne drained the last bit of her coffee and sat her cup down on the table. “So what are we doing today?”

“I was thinking we could go down to the docks. I’m sure Paris would like to be in the ocean again,” said Reina brightly. “He loves cold water.”

“Nice,” said Luz. “I’m a water type trainer, so I try to get to the ocean as much as possible. That’s not a problem in Hoenn.”

“You never said you were a water Pokémon trainer,” said Vivienne. “What Pokémon do you have with you?”

“I guess I forgot to mention it,” said Luz shrugging. “But I have my starter Swampert, Mantine, Lanturn, Walrein, Ludicolo, and Sharpedo and a few others in storage. I keep saying I’m going to nickname them some day, but I haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Wow,” said Reina. “I’ve never seen some of those before. Let’s get to the docks!”

“But wait,” said Vivienne frowning. “What about Kabutops?”

“I had to switch him out for Ludicolo,” Luz explained. “I forgot you had a liking for fierce looking Pokémon.” And Vivienne indeed looked disappointed at not being able to see a Pokémon with scythes for forearms.

They paid for their coffees and headed out. Along the way, Reina explained her steel trainer aspirations to Luz and Vivienne as Giselle just listened. Giselle had no idea what it would be like to train a single Pokémon type. She didn’t feel she had an affinity toward any type like the ones Luz and Reina had for water and steel types respectively. Giselle looked up to see a small empty beach and an extensive system of docks that led to a small island a short distance away. Luz ran out onto the beach as the other followed.

“You have no idea how weird it feels to be on beach with winter clothes,” she called out.

As far as the weirdness went, Giselle was neutral on that matter. But as Luz was used to region with a much warmer climate, it was understandable. The girls released their Pokémon onto the beach. Paris, Vivienne’s Gyarados, and Luz’s near entire team headed to the ocean. Only Ludicolo stayed with Luz and it was one of the strangest Pokémon Giselle has ever seen. It greatly resembled a walking Pinap Berry with a duck bill with a cheerful expression to boot. Onix, Persian, Nidoking and Charmander stayed as far away from the water as possible. Magneton and Beldum drifted along aimlessly, while everyone else played at the water’s edge.

Luz’s Pokémon were very fascinating to Giselle. Swampert was the joker of group and got along well with Paris. Walrein looked very king-like and very content in the freezing water. Lanturn was a very good natured Pokémon who played with Giselle’s Pokémon close to the shore. Sharpedo looked nothing short of vicious, but Luz said he was sweet with her Pokémon. He only went berserk when he saw someone harming them or Luz herself—rather like Sneasel was becoming. Mantine was a huge, much bigger than a normal Mantine and was pretty fast. He practically flew underwater and did high, graceful jumps out of the water. Luz said she often rode on his back in Hoenn’s warm water.

But Ludicolo took the cake. He was perpetually happy and enjoyed entertaining the girls. Giselle thought she’d seen it all until Luz took a small radio out of her bag. When the music started so did Ludicolo. It pop locked, wind milled, and did all kinds of dance moves Giselle never thought possible of something shaped like a pineapple shaped Pokémon. Reina, Giselle, and Vivienne laughed their heads off when Luz and Giselle’s Duskull joined in—even though Duskull only spun in circles.

“So he’s always like this?” Giselle choked through the laugher.

“Basically,” said Luz, breathless from the dancing. “He always puts a smile on my face whenever I’m feeling down.”

Luz hit the off button on the radio and Ludicolo’s dancing stopped but he was still as happy as ever. Duskull was too dizzy to levitate and promptly fell on the ground. Giselle picked him up and held him until he regained his sense of balance.

“Hey, Giselle,” said Reina out of the blue. “Can I see your Pokédex for a second? I want to show you something.”

“Sure,” said Giselle, still cheerful over Ludicolo’s and Duskull’s (would be) dancing. She handed it to Reina who immediately began pressing buttons on the touch screen. Giselle was determined to spend this last week with Reina being positive. She would greatly miss her but she knew she would be all right.

“Look up, Giselle!” Reina said suddenly.

Giselle barely had time to look up when a bright light blinded her. She grimaced and lights now danced in front of her eyes. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Oops, I forgot to turn off the flash,” said Reina guiltily. “I didn’t think it would be that bad in the day time. Anyway, the Pokédex also has a trainer card option. It’s sort of like a trainer ID. I took your picture for it.” Reina looked down at the picture she took and cringed slightly—something Giselle didn’t miss.

“What’s wrong with the picture?” said Giselle.

“Oh, nothing,” said Reina as she pressed more buttons.

“Let me see,” said Giselle in a low voice.

Unwillingly, Reina handed over the Pokédex and Giselle nearly died when she saw the picture. She had one eye closed and the rest of her face was in a scowl. It was the ugliest picture she’d ever taken, and that included that disastrous school picture in the third grade. She looked at Reina in horror.

“How do I delete this?” she asked urgently.

“Well you see,” said Reina as she slowly backed away. “I tried and I don’t know how. Apparently the Pokédex has locked in the picture.” And with that Reina promptly took off running, laughing along the way.

“REINA!” yelled Giselle and she chased after her. “THIS ISN’T FUNNY!”

Vivienne and Luz laughed as Giselle ran after Reina along the beach. Sneasel, however, thought Giselle really needed help and ran in front of Reina who didn’t see him. She tripped over him and fell face first into the sand. Sneasel then jumped on her back in a self-satisfied way, apparently proud of himself for bringing down a supposed enemy. He looked at Giselle for her approval. She had managed to stop short of the pile up and began to laugh at Reina and Sneasel.

“Oh, Sneasel, I didn’t really need help! We were just playing around!” she said giggling.

“Sneasel,” he looked disappointed in himself for not being able to see that Giselle wasn’t in danger.

“Don’t look so down,” said Giselle warmly. “It’s good to know that you’ll come to my rescue when I’m in trouble.

Sneasel looked slightly happier as she jumped down from Reina’s back.

“Ugh,” came Reina’s muffled voice from the sand. “Why does this keep happening to me?” She raised her face from the ground and everyone saw that sand was clinging to her eyebrows and laughed.

“That reminds me of something Sharpedo did,” said Luz as Reina brushed the sand from her face. “A boy was trying to ask me out, but Sharpedo was a wee bit over protective, thought I was in danger, and nearly Skull Bashed him. Poor boy, he nearly wet himself in fear.”

“Your Pokémon really are something,” said Vivienne as everyone laughed.

“Tell me about it,” Luz said happily. “We’ve had some fun times…”

They spent the rest of that day on the docks as they began to fill of with people. All four of the girls had a battle and all of them except Giselle won their battles. But Giselle wasn’t upset—after all, the battle was good and she did her best.

“What’s this?” asked Reina mockingly. “Did Giselle lose a battle and yet didn’t fall to pieces?”

“Nope,” said Giselle happily.

“Our little Giselle really is growing up,” said Reina.

~ ~ ~

True to Reina’s word, they had an activity for every day for the next week. The day after the docks, they visited the Canalave Gym leader and were permitted to watch a battle between Byron, the gym leader and a challenger, a girl from Hearthome City. Reina swooned over every move Byron’s steel types made. He was a very formidable trainer and had some of the most powerful Pokémon Giselle had ever seen. He defeated the challenger with relative ease and she had to run to the Pokémon Center after her Staravia was slammed with a Gyro Ball from Byron’s Bronzong. Afterward, he greeted Reina and gave her a Metal Coat as a gift.

“Was that not the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?” said Reina as they left the Gym.

“To tell the truth, I’m a little afraid of what it’ll be like when I battle him,” said Giselle nervously.

“He’s powerful,” Reina agreed. “And you’ll have to be clever to find a way around his Pokémon’s defenses.”

“Yeah,” said Giselle distantly.

On day two, they decided to take it easy and do a little shopping. Luz found out that she could but Net Balls and Dive Balls in Canalave so she loaded up on them. As she only captured water types, it was really all she needed. Giselle bought a few more Pokéballs and more supplies. After they went shopping, they went on a restaurant tour of the city and ate so much good food, they nearly burst. Vivienne used a video phone to call home to her mother. Genevieve Devereaux still had her model looks with her blonde hair and blue eyes. She was happy to see her daughter.

“I’m glad to see you’re safe,” she said. “How is Canalave? Do you like it?”

“It’s great, Mother,” said Vivienne. “I tried coffee for the first time a couple of days ago. And by the way, I’m with Monique Valentine’s daughter now.”

At the mention of the name, Genevieve narrowed her eyes slightly, but she recovered almost immediately. “Really?” she asked curiously.

Vivienne pulled Giselle beside her. “This is her!”

Giselle was a little awkward as she said hi. “I’d also like to say that I’m nothing like my mother,” she added just in case the thought had crossed Genevieve’s mind.

Genevieve laughed. “So she hasn’t changed at all, has she? I’ll have to talk to you later,” she said to Vivienne. “I have a young model and coordinator that I’m meeting with tomorrow on the other line named Isabel Lopez and--“

“You mean, my sister Isabel?” Reina interrupted.

“Oh, is she your sister?” asked Genevive. “Let me put her on then. Immediately the screen split and on the left appeared a young woman of striking beauty. She had long straight black hair, Carmen’s silver eyes, and a commanding expression that could alternatively drive people away from her or draw them to her.

“Hey Isabel,” Reina said.

“Oh, hi,” said Isabel. “I was wondering why I got put on. But where’s Carmen? Don’t tell me she actually went with Ramón on his research mission.”

“She sure did,” said Reina and Isabel sighed.

“I didn’t think she’d actually go considering how weird she thinks his missions are,” Isabel said shaking her head. “But then again, they are a lot alike so maybe she’ll be all right. Well, it was good seeing you, little sister, but I have to go. Hugs and kisses!” Isabel did a virtual kiss on each of Reina’s cheeks. Vivienne said good bye to her mother and the phone went black.

“You know, it’s horrible when she does that in person,” said Reina. “The sophisticated kiss. I dodge it whenever she does that. It’s cool that she’s in Kanto now.”

“Just how weird are Ramón’s missions?” asked Luz blushing slightly.

“I don’t think they’re weird at all,” said Reina. “Most of his missions involve proving the existence of legendary Pokémon, which of course, Carmen doesn’t believe in.” Reina shook her head, disparaging over her sister’s disbelief. “They are real and Ramón and I both know it.”

“They really are real,” said Luz. Reina’s ears perked. “I saw a legendary dragon Pokémon in Hoenn called Rayquaza.”

Reina inhaled sharply. “Do tell!” she said eagerly.

“Well, I was surfing on a route outside of Pacifidlog Town, and there was a pop up thunderstorm with some awful lightning. And while I’m praying I don’t get struck, I see a shadow ripple across the water when lightning flashed across the sky. As suddenly as that storm appeared, it was gone. I looked up to the sky and I see something retreating high in the sky…”

“That was definitely Rayquaza,” Reina agreed. “And that was near the Sky Pillar which is Rayquaza’s roost.”

“I’m really missing Hoenn right now,” said Luz longingly.

“Well, we’ll be here this time next week,” said Reina. “I wonder if I’ll get to see Rayquaza. By the way do you believe in legendary Pokémon, Vivienne?”

She looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure. At times I thought I’ve seen things, but when I investigate it turns out to be nothing. So honestly, I’m open to the whole idea, but I’m not totally convinced.”

“One day you will be,” said Reina satisfactorily.

“I really want to see one now,” said Giselle eagerly.

Reina smiled “If you stick around long enough you will. Sinnoh has more stories about legendary Pokémon that any other region.”

Giselle smiled at herself at the thought of seeing a legendary Pokémon for herself. She was looking forward to the next day for whatever Reina had planned. And she didn’t disappoint. They headed back to the docks to go Pokémon fishing. Giselle had never been before and was therefore very excited. Giselle was able to rent one while Reina, Vivienne, and Luz had their own rods. Everyone had a different lure. Reina had one shaped like a smiley face; Giselle had a Yanma lure; Vivienne sported a Goldeen shaped one, while Luz had one in the shape of a human index finger, which freaked everyone out.

“Hey, don’t knock it till you try it,” said Luz, waving the finger lure at them. “You wouldn’t believe how well it works. I’ve even caught a Gyarados with it once.”

The lure turned out to work extraordinarily well. She kept catching Pokémon after Pokémon, mostly Finneon and their evolution Lumineon. After a while though, something gave a huge jerk on Luz’s line, nearly pulling her into the freezing water. Her Sharpedo, who was swimming nearby, immediately went on high alert to be ready to help his trainer. Luz had to stand up to put more muscle into pulling the line, but what ever it was had a lot of fight left in it. She insisted on doing it on her own, however, and turned down the others’ attempts to help her.

“Wow, this is a big one,” grunted Luz. “Is it another Gyarados?”

Without warning, the Pokémon on the end of the line jumped out of the water an attempted to attack Luz. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Octillery and she immediately pulled out a Net Ball from her waist and enlarged it. Giselle immediately took out her Pokédex and identified it, but there was something different about the Octillery on her Pokédex screen and the one that was struggling with Luz. When he saw Octillery, Sharpedo lunged with his teeth bared. Octillery realized it had bit off more than it could chew when it caught sight of Sharpedo’s brutal fangs. It practically jumped in Luz’s Net Ball when she threw the ball at it. It twitched three times before becoming still. Within a few seconds, the ball and the Octillery disappeared to the Pokémon storage system.

Everyone was stunned. “Luz,” breathed Reina. “That was a shiny Octillery!”

“Oh, so that’s what a shiny Pokémon is,” said Giselle excitedly. She had heard of them but had never seen one because they were supposed to be very rare. The Octillery in her Pokédex was red while Luz’s was a brownish color.

“I wasn’t going to let him get away, but I didn’t think it would be that easy. Sharpedo basically scared him into the Pokéball,” said Luz grinning. “I’ve always wanted an Octillery and now I have a shiny one. So lucky!”

Iron Island was next on Reina’s list for the week. According to Reina, Iron Island is an abandoned mine that was full of wild Pokémon and was an excellent place to train. It was very cave like but Giselle could see the last vestiges of the mining that once went on there. Abandoned mine carts littered the landscape every now and then and Giselle could see metal drums all over the place. The silence in the old mine was periodically punctured by the sounds of wild Pokémon.

Vivienne’s Nidoking impressed them all with his immense strength. He smashed apart any boulders and any other obstacles that were in their way. Luz decided to do some training with her Octillery. His attacks were powerful, but he was a bit of coward. He completely freaked out when a Golbat flew by. However when Luz encouraged him, he gained a bit of courage; enough of it to use an Ice Beam attack on the Golbat and knock it out. Out of Giselle’s Pokémom, Duskull enjoyed being in the cave most—just as Giselle thought. She also made a mental note to come back whenever she challenged Byron to a gym battle.

Reina’s next adventure was a little odd to Giselle.

“Erm, a library?” said Giselle uncertainly. “You want to visit a library?”

“Not just a library. The Canalave  Library,” Reina corrected her. “You can learn all about the legendary Pokémon around Sinnoh, and other fascinating stories. Ramón used to take me there all the time when he was here. It’ll be an interesting experience.”

Giselle still wasn’t convinced. When they first entered the library, it didn’t look remarkable at all—at least until they got to the top floor. The very atmosphere was different from the rest of the library. It felt very mysterious there, almost as if time itself had stopped. Some of the books there were very old and were almost too faded to read. Reina, however, made a beeline straight for a certain book as if she’d done it a million times. She pulled it off the shelf and set it on a nearby table as everyone gathered around.

“These are a collection of all of my favorite stories of the Sinnoh region,” said Reina. “This only gives a shortened version of them, but it’s still really good.”

“So it’s a book of myths,” said Vivienne, interested.

“No, not myths,” Reina corrected again. “Myths aren’t real. These stories are.”

Vivienne looked as though she wanted to dispute that, but she decided against it. Giselle found all of the “stories” in the book very interesting. The one that stuck out to her most was a Sinnoh Folk Story. It said that at one time there was no distinction between human and Pokémon and that they even ate at the same table. She had a flashback of the restaurant in Veilstone where Meilene ate at the same table with them. Giselle wondered how many other aspects of these stories were in Sinnoh daily life. By the time they left the library they knew all of the supposed legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh from Uxie to Arceus.

The next and final adventure was one of the creepiest experiences that Giselle had ever had. Reina had said that she was going to prove the existence of the legendary Pokémon Darkrai. By this time Giselle knew that Reina was a little too obsessed with legendaries for her own good, but even she wanted to know if Reina could actually do it. She waited until it was dark to tell them the story.

“Okay, there have been all kinds of stories of people in Canalave who have fallen asleep only be plagued by nightmares they couldn’t wake up from,” Reina explained in a mysterious tone. “The only thing these people had in common was that they were all near the Harbor Inn at some point before they fell asleep that night. It just has to be the work of Darkrai, but everyone seems skeptical. So we’re going to walk by that old inn and then when we go to sleep Darkrai will torment us. Now, let’s head to the Harbor Inn now!”

By then both Giselle and Vivienne were starting to feel uneasy despite Reina’s and Luz’s cheerful conversations. Why on earth would someone be excited about possibility of being tormented with nightmares? Giselle had a shrewd suspicion that Vivienne was hiding the fact that she shared Carmen’s beliefs about legendary Pokémon. But both Giselle and Vivienne went along with the plan. As they neared closer and closer to the inn, Giselle began to believe her imagination was playing tricks with her. It sincerely felt as though an ominous feeling was growing more intense by the second. The number of people began to dwindle as they got closer and closer…

Soon they found themselves in front of the inn. The sign out front was faded and the words “The Harbor Inn” were barely legible. It looked like an old run down wooden building. There was no sign that told people to stay out, but it was locked up tight—Reina couldn’t even turn the doorknob. Giselle felt the menacing presence, but no one else seemed to. Vivienne now looked skeptical instead of uneasy, and none of the girls besides Giselle were remotely afraid. If she didn’t get away from that place she was likely to lose it.

“I think we should go now,” said Giselle hurriedly.

Reina didn’t seem to notice anything. “I think you’re right. We’ve spent enough time here. Why don’t we camp out since we’re not so far from the city’s boundaries?”

Giselle didn’t like the idea of spending the night outdoors after that creepy experience, but she didn’t say anything. She feigned calm as she said, “I can open the bag Carmen gave me too.”

“Goody,” said Luz brightly. “Off to the woods!”

Glad to leave the presence of the Harbor Inn, Giselle followed right behind Reina who was leading. The further they got from that place the better Giselle felt. The moon was in that not quite full phase where it was still just as beautiful and gave off plenty of light. They decided to set up camp in a clearing in the peaceful woods. Reina was so eager to get to sleep she convinced them all to set up there tents. Reina and Luz eagerly ducked into their own tents eager to see if Darkrai would haunt them as they slept. Vivienne sighed and bid Giselle goodnight as she climbed into her own pale pink tent. Just that quickly, they all had forgotten about the gifts.

Giselle didn’t want them to disturb them even though she knew it was too soon for them to fall asleep. There was also a part of Giselle that wanted to be alone to see what Carmen had left her. She quickly entered into her tent, but it was too dark to see of course. Giselle released Charmander to use his tail flame for light and he was happy to be of use to Giselle as he always was. She dug around her waist bag until her hands found the soft felt bag. Giselle opened it and poured the contents, which included a beautiful shining stone, a gray hooked claw, a piece of gray cloth, a pink Pokétch, and a note, onto the floor of tent.

The note was the first thing that Giselle went for. She seemed to hear Carmen’s voice in her head as she read her neat handwriting.

Dear Giselle,

I thought I would leave you with some useful items for your Pokémon journey. Three of these items, the Shiny Stone, Reaper Cloth, and Razor Claw, help with evolution. I’ll let you figure out when to use these items and on which Pokémon. I’m also giving you my Pokétch because you can now make better use of it than I can. It already has a lot of applications on it and you can always add more when they are released. However I want you to remember that “belonging” in Sinnoh is more than just the clothes we wear or the stuff we have.  I wrote my number on the back of the note so you can call me whenever something major happens.

Love, Carmen

Giselle smiled to herself. The letter was as to the point as Carmen was in person. She had finally discovered what it was that Carmen was missing when she left. She had taken her own Pokétch off her wrist and gave it to Giselle who put it on right then. Carmen was right about the belonging though. She belonged in Sinnoh because it was her escape from a horrible situation that could have crushed her. It wasn’t all about her clothes, her things, or the slang she used. It was with a shock that she realized that Reina and Luz would be leaving tomorrow…

“Thanks for your help, Charmander,” said Giselle as she recalled him. Starting when Reina left, her own journey would officially begin. It gave her a heady feeling, but this time she felt she was ready. When morning returned, she would as Vivienne if she would like to accompany her. Giselle had already learned that she was not to be trusted to be alone for long periods of time. With a positive outlook on the next day, she fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

Giselle was walking in a beautiful, serene forest. Though it was dark, Giselle had no trouble seeing things. How strange… There were no Pokémon in this forest, only the soft breeze playing with the trees. Giselle’s feet followed a well-worn, winding path without having to think about it. Pretty flowers grew along the path and on the some of the trees adding color among all the green. It had just rained recently because the smell was still on the air. Up ahead, Giselle could see what looked like earthbound moonlight. Instinct told her it was nothing bad, so she followed the light. She came upon a small pond that appeared to be reflecting the light that was being given off by a beautiful creature. Could it be? Giselle walked closer but the light grew larger and larger, overcoming her…

Giselle could tell that morning had arrived when before she had even opened her eyes. She was, once again, the last one up as she could hear voices outside. Giselle emerged from her tent to repack it.

“Good morning, Giselle!” Reina and Luz greeted. Reina took one look at the Pokétch on Giselle’s wrist and squealed.

“So that’s what Carmen was missing when she left! She gave her Pokétch to you!” Reina gasped again. “Oh no! We were supposed to open your gifts last night and we forgot!”

“Don’t worry. I opened them before I went to sleep last night. Carmen also gave me a Reaper Cloth, Shiny Stone, and a Razor Claw, but she wanted me to figure out what works on which Pokémon,” recounted Giselle.

“Yeah, it’s more fun that way,” said Reina. She looked up to the sky. “In two hours I’ll be on at the airport waiting on a plane to take me to Hoenn.”

“Later today we’ll be in the sun kissed region of Hoenn,” said Luz, glowing. “I can’t wait to hit the ocean!”

“Oh, Giselle,” said Vivienne suddenly. “I meant to ask you something. Since I want to see Sinnoh, and you’re going to be traveling around Sinnoh collecting your gym battles, may I accompany you?”

“Sure,” said Giselle at once. “I was just going to ask you the same thing!”

“Nice,” replied Vivienne.

“By the way, Giselle,” said Luz. “I assume you didn’t have nightmares from Darkrai.”

Giselle thought back to the beautiful creature in her dreams and decide to keep it to herself. “Nope. Not at all.”

“Ah, well,” said Reina looking disappointed. “None of us did then.”

“My dream did have darkness though,” said Luz. “Only I was in the Dewford Gym battling Brawley…” Luz trailed off with a dreamy, faraway expression.

“You really are boy crazy,” said Vivienne shaking her head.

“And I don’t deny it,” said Luz winking.

“Why don’t we have one last cup of coffee before we leave?” asked Reina smiling.

It didn’t take them long to get back to Canalave. Fortunately for Giselle, their chosen path didn’t take them anywhere near the Harbor Inn. They went to a different coffee shop than from a week ago. However the cashier was still just as put off when Giselle ordered only plain black coffee.

“That will never stop being funny, Giselle,” said Reina laughing. “You never cease to amaze me.”

Too soon it was time for Reina and Luz to be off to the airport. According to Luz, the airport was built away from the city and on a manmade island to avoid noise pollution. Because of that, they had to take a covered foot bridge to reach it. Like Veilstone Station, Canalave airport was rather like a mall on the inside. Huge plasma screens displayed the departure and arrival times for planes that came from all over the world. The airport itself was huge and they had to do a lot of walking. They also had to watch out for people pulling rolling suitcases or small children to avoid causing pile ups. Giselle saw people who had had long flights sleeping on the benches that line the walls.

“We’d better say good bye here,” said Reina. “It gets kinda crazy beyond this point.”

For the first time, Giselle throat begin to close and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. Reina looked in disbelief.

“Giselle, are you serious? You’re going to start getting all emotional on me now?”

“I’m sorry,” said Giselle as she tried to keep her voice steady. “It didn’t hit me until now.”

“Well, now is not the time to fall to pieces,” said Reina. “I know I’m a difficult person to get over, but you’ll be all right.”

“Yeah, Giselle,” agreed Luz. “I felt the same when I had to leave Carla and Tony behind. But technology is a wondrous thing,” she added holding up her phone.

“Oh, yeah,” Reina said as she pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag. “Besides, you’ll have Vivienne with you. As you travel through Sinnoh, she can tell you all the good things about Kanto for when you return.”

“As if,” said Giselle smiling slightly.

“Way if,” said Reina. “Now here’s my email address. Whenever I stop a Pokémon Center or any place with a computer, I’ll remember to check my email.”

Luz looked at one of the screens. “Our flight will be leaving in about an hour. Good thing the line isn’t long. It won’t take us long to get all checked in.”

“Now it really is good bye,” said Reina as she hugged Giselle. “Vivienne make sure you take good care of Giselle!”

“Will do,” said Vivienne with a slight bow.

Giselle and Vivienne watched as Reina and Luz gave one last wave before turning and walking away. A crowd of people blocked their line of sight, and by the time the crowd dispersed, they could no longer see Reina or Luz. Giselle sighed.

“Where to now?” she asked Vivienne.

“What do you mean?” Vivienne inquired, her blue eyes widening. “We need to prepare for your first Sinnoh gym battle!”

“Oh, yeah!” said Giselle, she took out her Pokédex to see if it had any information. “According to this, the first gym is in Oreburgh City! We should start heading there now.” Slow but surely, Giselle could feel the excitement rising.

“But first let’s get out of this airport,” said Vivienne.

As they tried to find there way back out, Giselle began to think of the future for the first time. She pictured herself standing in a stadium with powerful trainers as she was getting ready to compete in the Sinnoh League. But she would have to take it one day at a time. They had arrived back at the bridge once more and they began to cross it.

“Vivienne?” said Giselle.

“Yes?”

“How did you feel when you were standing in Indigo Plateau, getting ready to compete?”

“Like I was on top of the world,” she replied smiling. “All of my struggles had led to that point and it was so worth it.”

They had reached the end of the bridge. Giselle suddenly remembered that she had a map of Sinnoh that she’d long forgotten after meeting Reina and Carmen. She wanted to go through Jubilife City on their way to Oreburgh City. Giselle took a deep breath.

“Are you ready to hit the road, Giselle?” asked Vivienne.

“You bet.”

The sun was high in the cloudless sky as they struck out on their journey. Giselle already knew she would most definitely miss Carmen and Reina but she had learned a lot from them. She was going to have an adventure of a lifetime. Maybe one day she would help a trainer just like Carmen and Reina helped her, but for now she was focused on her next gym battle. Giselle stopped and took one last look back at Canalave where it all began and where she would return again. Giselle turned and ran after Vivienne with the cold ocean breeze blowing through her white hair.

OOC: This is the final chapter of The Chronicles of Giselle Valentine. Moving On will be posted next, but it may be a little while as I want to finish it entirely--I only have two chapters to go and I'm half way done with one of them. Thanks again to everyone who read this! Re-posting this was extremely therapeutic.

Epilogue

Giselle and Vivienne traveled westward from Canalave City toward Oreburgh City. Along the way they finally hit the colorful high tech wonderland that was Jubilife City. It was beyond amazing, but they didn’t stay long, but both girls had eventually picked up phones there. Giselle and Vivienne agreed to return after Giselle’s gym battle which Giselle thought was a win-win situation. If she lost her gym battle, it would cheer her up. If she won, it would be a nice victory treat. When they got to Oreburgh City, they found it was different than the fast paced world of Jubilife.

Oreburgh City was a mining town, but was a lot different that Giselle’s idea of one. She expected mining towns to be grimy and gritty and the people would be bitter, but in Oreburgh’s case that couldn’t be further from the truth. The city had its grimy places but was for the most part very clean. Oreburgh’s citizens were very pleasant, welcoming, and very energetic. They were enthusiastic in explaining everything about their city and the town’s pride and joy which was the mine. Like the rest of Sinnoh, the mine was technologically advanced. Giselle and Vivienne were having a good time there, but the time had finally arrived. They were heading toward the Oreburgh Gym for Giselle’s gym battle and she was slightly nervous in an excited kind of way.

“You’ll be fine,” said Vivienne soothingly. “We’ve been training for this for a while now. I think you’re more than ready for this battle, Giselle.”

“I hope so,” Giselle said quietly. She adjusted the yellow hard hat that both she and Vivienne had bought from the gift shop at the museum. It seemed to be a fashion item among the people in Oreburgh City and Giselle and Vivienne wore them for fun. She’d actually met the gym leader earlier that day as he was leaving the mine. When she mentioned that she wanted a gym battle, Roark enthusiastically agreed to it. He said he’d be back at the gym later that day. Giselle already knew that he specialized in Rock types like Brock of Kanto so she prepared carefully…

It wasn’t at all hard to find the gym. It was as famous as the mine was because Roark was also the mine’s supervisor. Signs and people eagerly pointed out the gym which greatly resembled the rest of the buildings in town. Giselle had walked through the doors of the Pewter City gym more times that she would have liked but she didn’t let herself think about all those failures. After all it was a new day, a new region, and a new gym. Giselle took a deep breath and entered the gym. Just as she had expected, Roark was waiting.

The large interior of the gym reminded Giselle of the mine only without the darkness. It had rock walls and the floor of the gym resembled the ground inside the mine. There were boulders here and there and the high ceiling’s beams were exposed. Vivienne immediately went to sit in the stands that surrounded the arena. Roark, who had red hair, a bright red hardhat, glasses, and a modified version of the uniform the workers wore, was at the other end of the gym smiling.

“Finally,” he said eagerly. “I was wondering when you’d get here! I’m not one for a lot of talk before a battle, which will be a three on three. Shall we start?”

He was nearly as to the point as Carmen was. “Yeah, we should,” replied Giselle. She pulled out a Pokéball. “Go, Sneasel!”

Sneasel came out of his Pokéball with a somersault and landed gracefully on his feet, displaying his claws which glinted in the light. Sneasel had a weakness to Rock type attacks but there was a chance that Roark’s Pokémon might have a Ground subtype.

Roark looked in mild interest as he pulled out his own Pokéball and sent out Geodude. It was total déjà vu for Giselle. She remembered facing down a Geodude in the Pewter City Gym but things were going to be different this time. Giselle took a deep breath as Roark made the first move. “Use Rock Throw!”

Geodude raised its arms and as it did so numerous rocks seemed to rise out of the ground under its command control. The Rock Pokémon made one fluid throwing motion and the rocks began to hurl themselves at Sneasel who was now on the run. All of the training in the mine had paid off.  He jumped, ducked, and dodged all the rocks with amazing speed that came to him, but Giselle knew they couldn’t dodge forever. Sooner or later Sneasel would be hit and potentially knocked out. Suddenly she noticed the large boulder right behind Sneasel.

“Sneasel, jump behind that boulder and then climb on top of it!” Giselle had learned that Sneasel could hook his claws into just about anything and climb on. Sneasel hoisted himself onto of the boulder so he could look down on Geodude. “Now use Icy Wind!” Even though Sneasel liked using physical attacks more, he wasn’t bad at using long range ones. Geodude cowered as it was hit by the subzero winds of the attack. Giselle could hardly believe she was doing so well when her last gym battle ended so badly. The thought of that calmed her down more than anything.

Not to be outdone, Roark had a way to bring Sneasel back down to earth. “Geodude, unleash an Earthquake attack!”

“Uh, oh,” said Giselle under her breath.

Geodude, who was fairly close to Sneasel’s rock, rose straight into the air and then slammed to the ground creating an intense shockwave. The boulder Sneasel was standing on started to morph before it cracked on its bottom and began to fall to pieces. Sneasel had to jump again to avoid the dust and debris from the falling boulder and Roark seized the opportunity.

“You won’t beat me that easily! Use Rock Throw again, Geodude!”

As Sneasel was in mid air, it was very difficult to evade. Giselle once again used the technique of attacking to defend.

“Sneasel, use Icy Wind again!”

Sneasel took a huge breath and exhaled frigid air again. While it was effective at deflected the worst of the attack, Sneasel still took damage. He hit the ground hard but was able to get to his feet. Geodude, unnoticed by Giselle or Sneasel, had drawn up very close to Sneasel. Giselle clenched her teeth: Geodude was a lot faster than she thought.

Roark smiled. “Geodude use Brick Break!” Geodude balled its fists in an attempt to slug Sneasel.

Giselle caught it in the nick of time. “Sneasel dodge and then use Ice Punch!” Sneasel loved using this attack. His claws were enveloped by a layer of ice. With Geodude so close, Sneasel had no trouble punching Geodude and sending it flying. Gleeful that Ice Punch worked so well Giselle called out, “Go after it Sneasel, and use Metal Claw!”

Sneasel had finally perfected this attack by watching Charmander. His claws went metallic as it charged at Geodude. Roark smiled mischievously and both Giselle and Vivienne knew she had made a huge mistake.

“Geodude, Self Destruct!” 

Everything seemed to move in slow motion before Giselle’s widened eyes. Geodude began to glow white and it exploded with a huge bang. Sneasel had no time to stop and took the full brunt of the attack. Giselle hoped against hope that Sneasel had somehow managed to make it out of that, but she knew it was futile. And sure enough, when the smoke cleared, Geodude and Sneasel were both blackened and knocked out. Giselle sighed. She had battled enough Geodude to know that they could explode but it was a blow none the less. Giselle closed her eyes for a second. We both just lost one Pokémon so we’re still even. Don’t give up, Giselle thought to herself.

The next match up was Budew and her pink scarf versus Onix. At first, Giselle was a little concerned that Onix would have the upper hand just because its sheer size. It was a lot bigger than a normal Onix. Somehow, Giselle had never realized just how small Budew was until now, but it turned out that size didn’t matter at all. Onix had managed to use Bind on Budew, but her Poison Point ability took effect and Onix was poisoned. One Extrasensory and a Mega Drain later, the mighty rock snake crashed to ground like a ton of bricks, brought down by something that was just a foot tall.

“I’m really surprised,” said Roark as he recalled Onix. “Most trainers generally go with Budew that have the Natural Cure ability. I really should’ve exercised more caution.”

Budew was overjoyed at her victory and did a little dance, making Giselle laugh which broke some of the tension of the battle. Giselle took a deep breath. She had the upper hand—for now anyway.

“Time for my strongest Pokémon,” said Roark. “Go, Cranidos!”

Giselle wondered if it would be rude to pull out her Pokédex in the middle of a battle, so she decided against it. She had read about Cranidos anyway. The Pokémon had a gray body, short arms, and the top of its head, its back, and its tail were blue. Spikes protruded out of the back of its head. Giselle knew it was a pure rock type but wasn’t sure what was in store for her, but she didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“Cranidos, use Zen Headbutt!” Roark called out.

“Oh dear.” Giselle remembered Carmen saying that a variety of Pokémon could use Psychic attacks but for some reason she didn’t expect it from a pure rock type.

The top of Cranidos’s head began to glow with a pinkish color as it began to charge at Budew. Giselle immediately learned how strong Cranidos was. It only took one attack and Budew was knocked out cold. As she recalled it, Giselle realized that she was down one Pokémon. If she lost this, this gym battle was lost. In the stands, Vivienne crossed her fingers. Truthfully, she wanted desperately for Giselle to win this because losing would be a huge hit to her confidence…

Giselle took a Pokéball from her waist. It was a massive gamble but something in her told her to do it.

“Go, Charmander!” Roark looked puzzled while Vivienne simply looked dumbfounded. Giselle couldn’t even explain to herself exactly why she did it. Maybe it was because Charmander had been with her throughout everything she’d gone through and deep down wanted to win her first gym battle with him. And after all, Charmander had learned some new tricks.

“Well that certainly is interesting,” said Roark. “I know type matching isn’t everything but that’s a huge risk. Let’s see how well your Charmander stands up to Stone Edge!”

A giant stone with a lethal pointed tip rose out the ground and Charmander was forced quickly dodge to keep from being gored. Both Giselle and Charmander were slightly unnerved by the strength of that attack but she quickly regained composure. But before either of them could do a thing, Roark and Cranidos had sent another Stone Edge at them and took to using the attack repeatedly.

“Now it’s your turn to use Brick Break! Try to destroy the rocks as the come!” Charmander’s fists glowed white as he aimed precise punches to the rocks that rose out of the ground while making sure not to remain in one place to long to become an easy target.

“While we have it occupied, use Take Down, Cranidos!”

Giselle took action. Charmander didn’t have much time to dodge the attack, but she had to do something. “INCOMING! Charmander use Metal Claw on Cranidos!”

Charmander’s claws glowed with a metallic sheen as he broke into a run toward the charging Pokémon. He slashed Cranidos across the chest as Cranidos slammed into him. Both Pokémon were dealt heavy damage and both flew backward a few feet. However, to Giselle’s horror, it was Cranidos that rose first to its advantage.

“This is it!” Roark called out. “Finish this with Zen Headbutt!”

Charmander was still down when the attack hit…and after Cranidos head butted Charmander in the stomach, he didn’t move at all. Giselle held her breath, not daring to breathe. Was it? Could it really the end?

“Well,” said Roark. “It looks like this is ov—

Suddenly Charmander began to struggle to his feet, determination etched into his face. Then something odd happened: Charmander began to glow bright red. Giselle first thought that it was just his Blaze ability, which wouldn’t be much help against the rock typed Cranidos, but this glow was a much more vivid red than Giselle remembered. Suddenly, the red glow was replaced as Charmander began to glow bright white, so bright that the gym was illuminated. His extremities and tail began to grow longer as he grew taller. Then the white light dissipated…

“Charmeleon…” he said in a low voice.

Giselle put her hands over her mouth to stifle the squeal. Charmander evolved! Her Charmander actually evolved! Charmeleon was a rich crimson color and his claws were far more pronounced now. The look in Charmeleon’s eyes was as fiery as his now bigger tail flame. Giselle was so overcome with happiness that she almost forgot she was in the middle of a gym battle. Roark brought her back to the situation at hand.

“Looks like things have gotten interesting,” he said. “But is it enough to help you win this? Cranidos, use Stone Edge!”

Charmeleon was now faintly glowing red again indicating that Blaze was still in affect. Giselle was eager to see how much more powerful Charmeleon was than his pre-evolution. “Dodge the attack and use Brick Break!”

Charmeleon evaded the sharpened stone and lunged for Cranidos. He was much faster than he was as a Charmander, so the attack missed Cranidos, who was miraculously able to dodge, by mere millimeters. But then Giselle had just remembered she had used a TM on Charmeleon the day before. She realized it would be perfect with all she’d read about Charmeleon all those years ago…

“Charmeleon use Iron Tail!”

Charmeleon’s tail turned to steel and he slammed Cranidos with one ferocious swing of his tail. Cranidos was sent backwards and it smashed into a boulder that was behind it before falling to the ground, knocked out. Charmeleon didn’t need to utilize Blaze after all.

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. She had won. After all her failures, she had finally won, and Giselle was as far beyond elated as a person could possibly get.

“You did well Cranidos,” said Roark. “Take a good rest.” He looked up at Giselle. “I have to hand it to you, Giselle. You did well this battle. You have a loyal Pokémon there, so take care of it.”

I will,” said Giselle as she high fived Charmeleon. “Charmander, I mean Charmeleon, you were awesome.”

“Char,” said Charmeleon as thanks. The look in his eyes was different than when he was a Charmander. The sweetness was gone and was replaced by toughness, but he still had the same loyalty that Charmander had.

“As your prize for defeating the Oreburgh Gym Leader, here’s an official Coal Badge,” said Roark, holding it out to Giselle. “There’s a computer chip in Sinnoh badges so if you have a Pokédex, you can scan that badge and it’ll be recorded there. And thanks for the battle by the way.”

She took her first gym badge ever with shaking hands. “I should be thanking you, Roark.”

“You’re welcome then,” he replied. “The road to the Sinnoh League only gets tougher from here. You’re going to have to train much harder.”

“I will,” said Giselle as she tipped her yellow hardhat. She looked around and saw that Vivienne had already left the stands to join her.

“Is it time for us to get going once more?” asked Vivienne.

“Yeah,” said Giselle. “Thanks again Roark!”

“Anytime,” he said. “And say hi to my father. He’s the gym leader in Canalave.”

“All right,” Giselle said happily.

After they were outside the gym, Giselle was still in disbelief. Charmander evolved and she got a gym badge. She once again felt as though she were in a dream or someone else’s life. But there was one thing that bugged her. “Vivienne, do you know why the red glow that Charmander had when the Blaze ability activated was so, well, red?”

“I think it was because it was so close to evolution,” she said slowly. “Blaze was feeding on the extra energy that Charmander’s body was building up for evolution. As I’ve never seen it happen before, that’s my only guess.”

“Wow,” said Giselle. She looked down at Charmeleon, whom she still hadn’t recalled. “Hey, Charmeleon, why don’t we get to the Pokémon Center to give you and the rest of the team a rest? You can have all the Pecha Berries you want when we get there.”

“Char,” said Charmeleon eagerly.

“And I can’t wait to call Reina, Carmen, and Luz to tell them the good news!” said Giselle enthusiastically. She thought of all of them and wondered what they were doing right at that very moment.

“Well, Giselle, all I can say is that I’m proud of you,” said Vivienne warmly.

“Thanks,” Giselle answered. At that moment she had the same warm feeling that she had when she and Charmander had connected for the first time in the woods that day. With that Coal Badge she had already exceeded the expectation of her parents and everyone else in Pallet Town. But whenever Giselle thought about Kanto it was as though it were a part of a different lifetime. Reina seemed sure that she would return someday, but that was still up in the air. For now she just enjoyed being in the present with Vivienne, Charmeleon and the rest of her Pokémon by her side. The road ahead really would be hard, but with friends both near to her physically and the friends that were with her in spirit, Giselle knew she’d be all right just like Reina and Carmen had always said.

And for your viewing pleasure. Art by Virgil of Giselle's Budew and Duskull! \o/

Carmen, I just spent the day reading this.

And I'm so glad I did! It's absolutely incredible! You've inspired me to pick up a pencil once more. So, I must say, thanks so much -- for everything. For a fantastic read (I was literally overjoyed when Sneasel hatched, and saddened when Carmen had to leave) and for inspiring me to take up writing once more.

I always knew you were a phenomenal writer, and this restores my faith in that

I hearts this fic <:3! I read it before, and for some reason (a reason I cant explain), Its even better than before! ;D ;D ;D

But what about Veilstone diarys? That was one of my favourites! Why is it not posted?! >:( >:(

Wow, I got three angry faces XDD Diaries will be posted after I finish with Moving On. Rest assure it'll be posted and it'll have some edits as well. Hopefully it'll be better than before as well!

Also, thanks for reading <3