[X] My Assistant

[The Rose Crusade...]

"Well, Jaima and I were planning on heading east to Gigarte. I still hope he plans on coming with me." she told him. She took a quick look around but did not see him in the "But that's just how he rolls I guess. Maybe you two can battle another time, another place!" she said cheerfully, trying to boost Lemonade's morale. "Anyway, here's my Pokégear number, just so you have it to." she told him the number, and after cheking it again, put her Pokégear away. "Listen. I know that we will meet again someday, and until then, I wish you the best of luck," she smiled. "Really, I do. I look forward to battling you again as well." she said with a wink. "I'll catch ya later!" she said, skipping away from him and towards the center of town.

~Not long after in the middle of town~

Mindy looked hopelessly for Jaima, but he was nowhere to be found. She sat down on a bench and sulked. She took out her Pokégear to play a minigame, when she noticed a silent light was beeping. She checked it out, and it turned out to be distress signal. "No way!" Mindy thought to herself. She made the realization that all this time she had been looking, or at least for some of it, a part of Jaima's gear had begun to work again. She followed the signal around various corners and alleys with her Pokégear leading her. The navigation of the Pokégear ended, and she found herself in front of a Pokégearrepair shop. "Wow," shethought to herself, "I am that retarded" hitting herself on the head. Mindy decided to wait on the bench outside the shop and not disturb Jaima, who she could see clearly through the window. His back was turned, an he couldn't have known she was there. Melinda tried to be patient as best as she could, and waited outside the store for Jaima to come out.

This post has been edited by The Rose Crusader: Aug 30 2008, 03:46 PM

[Lemonade]

Lemonade watched as Mindy was skipping away to find Jaima. Ratty had been over by the tree enjoying the battle. Lemonade picked him up and said to him. "Buddy, I think it's time to move on. We've had a lot of fun here in Barley, but we've done all we can do here at the moment. So, where do think we should go next?" Ratty looked up at him then jumped out of his arms and seemed to point out that Lemonade's other pokemon were tired and needed rest.

▲At the Pokemon Center▲
Lemonade dropped off his pokemon with Nurse Joy. Ratty and him then walked up stairs to their bedroom to pack up. He found his clothes that he'd left on the floor and his tooth brush in the bathroom. He made his bed and made it looked nice and saw that Jax's bed was still messy. He went to go make the other bed and lifted up the pillow and saw a small luxury ball. He picked it up and examined it. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. He looked around to see if there was a note or something that explained what it was. Lemonade found nothing. He decided just to pocket it and see if there was anything in side later.

The room was now clean and Lemonade sat down on his bed to look at news through his Pokegear. Not much was happening in Furoh. He decided to see what was happening in Sinnoh. Team Galactic was causing havoc again and was trying to encapture a Darkrai. What the heck's a Darkrai? Lemonade thought. He still was looking at news but saw that the city of Petropolis was off the road from Barley. That's where I'm going next! After a little more news-watching Lemonade fell asleep.

▲2 Hours Later▲
Lemonade woke up and picked up his bag and left the room. He walked down the stairs with Ratty in his Pokeball and talked to Nurse Joy. He handed her the room key and she gave him his pokemon back and he left the Pokemon Center. He walked south and found the path that led to Petropolis. He started walking and turned around. He saw Port Barley and remembered the fun and sad times. This was going to be the last time he saw Barley for a while and it was time to leave.

Lemonade walked down the path and was ready for his next adventure.

This post has been edited by daxtertik: Aug 29 2008, 09:14 PM

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima had wandered aimlessly around the port town, thinking deeply. He was disappointed in himself, and had sunken into a deep funk. Upon noticing the repair shop, he went inside.

The place had a well used look about it. The floor was worn smooth in the aisles, where parts and add-in cards hung on racks. At the end of the middle aisle was a long counter, spanning from wall to wall at the back. Behind the counter were shelves of parts used for repairs, and a middle aged man, who had a kind and weathered face.

"Welcome," the man greeted enthusiastically. "Name's Kamon. What can I do ya for?"

Jaima looked the man up and down. He was older, perhaps in his forties, and had a comfortable look about him, much like the store itself. His hair was long and framed his face. It had obviously once been a brilliant red, but was slowly fading to grey. Jaima pulled the broken pokegear from his pocket and put it on the counter.

"Huh," Kamon said, looking at it with a critical eye. "Looks like it was hit with a pokemon attack. You get attacked, son?"

"It happened in a battle," Jaima said softly. Kamon cocked his head.

"Officer Jenny don't take kindly to trainers that have their pokemon attack the other trainer directly." He shook his head. "You should report it. The guy'd lose his license, I bet."

"It was an accident," Jaima said. "Can you fix this?"

"Well, the case is shot, so's the display. Your memory chip might be wiped, too. I got the parts, bu it'll take most of the day."

Jaima groaned. "I'm supposed to leave today. Can you sell me a new one?"

"Sorry, son," Kamon said, sounding apologetic. "Don't have a license to sell, just repair."

Jaima sighed in frustration. "How long will it take?"

"Got more bad news for you, son," Kamon said, looking sympathetic. "As you can see, I don't have a lot of business, so I can start now, but it's still going to take me a while. Close of business today, maybe even tomorrow."

Jaima's shoulders slumped. "OK, well, how much will it cost?"

Now Kamon was smiling. "I'll tell you what. I don't get a lot of Johto natives in here, and we got to stick together, huh? I'll do it for half price. Even throw in a map of Furoh. Made that one myself!"

Jaima nodded, his lips quirking at the repairman's enthusiasm. "Mind if I wait here?"

"Suit yourself. Won't make the job go any faster or slower." Kamon grinned and slipped a card out. "Let me check your address book before I take this to the back." He slipped the card into another pokegear and checked thew trainer numbers function. "Four," he said at last. "'Mom, twins, Prof. Elm'" he paused for a bit and said, "really?"

"I worked for him before I came here," Jaima said.

Kamon smiled wistfully, then went on. "'Mindy' is the last one. They all look clear, but I'll transfer them to a new address card anyway." At Jaima's dubious look, Kamon laughed. "No extra charge."

He took the gear to the back, and jaima spent a couple of hours wandering the aisles. He didn't shop much, though he did find a couple cards he'd like. Instead he thought. He thought of his sistera, just starting their journey. He thought of Lemonade, enthusiastic, almost to a fault. He thought of Mindy, eager and kind and... Pretty (he shook that thought from his head quickly, though.). He came to a conclusion.

He wasn't ready. It was, in fact, too late for him to start his journey. He should go home.

His heart ached at the thought, rebelled, but he couldn't shake it.

As if pulled, he looked up and saw Mindy sitting on a bench outside. He stepped out and sat next to her.

"Hey," he said, softly. "I know you wanted to lwave today, but my gear won't be fixed until maybe tomorrow." He swallowed as his throat clenched around his words. "Maybe you should just... Go on without me." He didn't look at he as he spoke, but felt her move on the bench next to him. "I think it's for the best."

This post has been edited by Jaima: Aug 30 2008, 12:24 PM

[The Rose Crusade...]

There was a long silence between them. The trees rustled loudly in the whistling wind. Mindy reached for Jaima's hand and held it tight. "Listen," Melinda spoke. She looked into his eyes, even when he ared not look at her. "I know things have been hard with your Pokégear's death and all, but that's no reason that you should stop here and not continue with me. I don't know, but it just seems there more to this than just your Pokégear issues." Mindy moved closer to him, but he just looked away. "What's really bothering you Jaima?" she asked. Melinda's voice was sincere, as she was genuinley interested on why he was so blue, and almost depressed.

[Master Houndoom]

"It's not that!" Jaima cried, looking at her. "I just know you wanted to go today, and I'll be stuck here until..."

The look on her face told him she wasn't buying it. He slumped back and sighed. "OK. Maybe I'm being stupid. It's just..." He reached up and pulled a dark brown and tan pokeball off the belt on his chest. The top was adorned with a flame. "I've had Ember for six years. I've never battled with her until I got here." He pulled a blue and black ball with a yellow star from the belt next, replacing Ember's as he did. "I caught Fang four years ago. My sisters and I saw him being attacked by a huge furret. He was injured, so I caught him to bring to my boss. I'd used an experimental Friendship ball by mistake, which bonded him to me." The next ball was Grondir's, a green ball with darker green vines. "Grondir was given to me a few years later. I'd stepped up and stopped a kid my age from giving an older guy a hard time. He gave me Grondir as thanks." He sighed, replacing Grondir's ball. "Shadow and Mercury are my newest kids, so I haven't cheated them, but the other three... I just feel like it's too late to start all this. I've been... Just a sucky trainer." He smirked. "Most kids start at 10."

[The Rose Crusade...]

Melinda listened carefully to every word Jaima uttered. As he finished, she realized it was her turn to talk. And yet, she didn't have anything to say. As the silence grew longer, Mondy knew that she had to think of something. "Okay," she started out with. "So what you're trying to tell me is that you are frustrated because you didn't start your journey at 10?" Jaima nodded. Melinda couldn't help it, but she started a silent giggle. "Jaima, I'm 16 and I just started!" she blurted out. "I've had Combee for eight years. Before two days ago, she had only been in a battle once before." she stopped. "I'm not saying this right." she corrected herself. "My philosophy is that in their lives, people will all do the same things. But, people will do these things all at different times in their lives, depending on when they are ready. True, most kids start their journey at age 10. . My Mom began her Journey when she was 22 for Christ's sake! And Jaima, seriously, the last thing you should be doing is thinking of quitting. Sure, your pokemon have waited a while for you to start your journey. And you could say that you owe it to them to continue your adventure. But I don't think that's true." Melinda looked away. The sun was at its highest point in the day. If she was going to leave, it would have to be soon. "If you owe it to anyone Jaima, you owe it to yourself. To give yourself the chance of an adventure. Because, I'm telling you this right out of my grandmother's mouth, if you don't do it when you have the chance to, you will regret the road not taken for the rest of your life." she ended her speech there. Mindy gathered herr things and stood up. "Whaddya say Jaima. Are you gonna keep on truckin'?" she asked, holding her hand out to him with a smile from ear to ear.

[Master Houndoom]

Jaima looked up at Mindy. She was smiling brightly, looking at him half expectantly, half challengingly. Finally, after a moment, he took her hand and stood. They stood like that for a few moments, then Jaima leaned over, looking into her eyes, watching them intently. Just as her eyes widened, he leaned left, whispering in her right ear, "I'll be right back."

He walked into thw store, snickering, while Mindy tried to figure out what had just happened.

Kumon was screwing the back onto thew pokegear as he walked in. The older man smiled as Jaima made his way to the counter. "I just finished. It wasn't as damaged as I first thought, either. Hell, about a half an our in the homing signal kicked on. Near scared me to death!" He laughed, and Jaima laughed too.

"Looks like you got some things sorted out, son," Kumon said, smiling. "Tell you what, I got it fixed, a new case on it, and new cards to replace the old. I can refurbish the old ones. Why don't you buy som-" he stopped, seeing that Jaima had put some cards on the table. "You got the idea, kid." Kumon rung the six cards up: two radars, two news feeders for swarms, and two training helpers. He pointed out an item finder and a step counter. "We get those from Jublife in Sinnoh. Guy gives 'em away for free, so I do too."

The price came to 25 poke, which Jaima paid willingly. 15 minutes after he'd walked in, he came out, handed Mindy a bag with half the cards he'd bought or was given, and nodded.

"Let's keep on truckin' Min."

[The Rose Crusade...]

When Jaima reappeared out from the shop and spoke, Melinda's eyes lit up with excitement. She ran over to him and squeezed him with a big, friendly hug. "Yes! You won't regret this! I promise!" she yelled with joy. Mindy took the PokéGear cards he bought, thanked him, and inserted them into her PokéGear. Melinda made he decision that she would wear her PokéGear on her wrist, like a watch, instead of carrying it in her pouch. Mindy decided this because if there was ever an emergency, it would be more accesible to her. Melinda's attention was grabbed by a glare on her PokéGear's screen that blinded her for a second. Mindy gazed up and saw a beautiful, vibrant blue, cloudless sky. Matched with a gleaming golden sun. It reminded her of her mother, and her days back in Floaroma Town. On days like this, with the sun gleaming down on all of the flowers, it almost seemed unreal. The colors and aromas of all the flowers, and the happy people. It was all so very surreal. And yet, it was always very real. The sun was just beginning its descent, and Melinda turned her attention back to Jaima. "I think its time Jaima. Come on!" she yelled, dragging him to her. Jaima and Mindy ran down the street laughing and giggling. People stared at them strangely, but they didn't care at all.

~A Few Minutes Later~

"This is it." Melinda spoke. They were standing on the beginning of a long dirt road. To their backs was a sign that read, 'Welcome to Port Barley!'. Ahead of them was the main road leading out of Barley. The dirt road seemed infinite, to go on forever. But Jaima and melinda both knew that they could conquer it. It passed through many forests and plains, and eventually, it would end in Gigarte. "Just think Jaima. Soon, we'll be in the Gigarte Arboretum!" Mindy exclaimed. There would be many new things for the young adventurers in Gigarte. They would make new friends, and new foes. They would even challenge the Gym Leader there. But their first challenge began here. Here was where their pokemon adventure really began.

"Let's get going Jaima!" Mindy shouted excitedly. Jaima simply nodded and they began their trek. Melinda set a brisk pace, and Jaima followed right next to her. Melinda had made sure to set up her PokéGear's Navigation card before they left. She knew they would be fine if they just followed the road, but Mindy didn't want to take any chances. On the way, they told each other more about themselves. Among other topics, they explained how life was like back home, . They shared many jokes and laughs along the way as well. Melinda really enjoyed the company on the long trip, and she could tell that Jaima had the same feelings. They both made a promise to never look back on opportunities not taken, and she reassured Jaima that he was making the right decision when he questioned his resolution about being too old to begin his adventure. The two friends also made another promise. That if they ever did something that questioned their first promise they would never go through it alone; but together. No matter what, Jaima and Melinda would always be there for each other as friends. The best of friends.