They returned to the outside playground, where Roy and A.J. assumed opposite sides of the arena: a field of dirt and grass. Hope and Genny stood next to each other off to the side, with the children in front, eyes set on the two Trainers about to duke it out.

    “What took you so long getting here?” Roy asked. “You missed the class presentation.”

    “Heh. I have no care for the technical science and pointless details. Stuff’s all history. The skills about to crush you are ones I gained through years of practical training. Nothing against folks like you, it just isn’t how I roll. Perhaps this battle will teach you no amount of knowledge can beat first-rate real-world experience.” He turned to the class. “Watch and learn, squirts. A.J.’s gonna show you how to take out wimps.”

    The students laughed, apparently liking A.J.’s confident attitude. Among their cries and applause for A.J., Roy heard Genny’s lone cheer for him.

    “Let’s get this show on the road!” A.J. unhooked the whip from his belt and threw a Poké Ball high into the air. Light burst free and took the form of a meter-tall shrew with sandy golden skin. It wielded two long claws the size of kitchen knives on each hand, and big brown quills covered its back like spiked armor.

    “Slash!” the Pokémon cried.

    A grin curved across Roy’s face. A Sandslash. Squirtle would have an obvious type advantage over a Ground Pokémon like this.

    But a Sandslash? Oh, the challenge was begging him.

    Roy threw his Poké Ball and released Sandshrew, who adjusted his star-shaped sunglasses before striking a show-offy pose.

    “Heh! A Sandshrew. You thick up there? Sending a baby Pokémon up against its evolved state?”

    “Call it a test. We like pushing our limits.”

    A.J. grinned. “Now you’re speaking my language. All right, let’s get cracking! Sandslash, go!” A.J. cracked his whip, and the shrew sprung forward.

    “Dig!” Roy commanded.

    Sandshrew burrowed underground. A.J. cracked his whip twice and Sandslash dove into the hole after him. Two seconds later, Sandshrew burst out from below, Sandslash beneath him, driving a kick into Sandshrew’s gut that sent him flying upward and crashing down. A.J. gave another crack of his whip.

    Sandslash curled into a ball, spinning at rapid speeds as it came barreling down at Sandshrew with a Gyro Ball.

    “Sandshrew, get back!”

    At Roy’s command, he leapt away, landing on his feet and avoiding the Gyro Ball by a hair as it drove into the ground with meteoric force, spraying grass and dirt everywhere.

    Roy barely got Sandshrew to avoid that. He hadn’t seen the attack coming, for he never heard A.J. order it. Had the Sandslash acted on its own?

    A.J. cracked the whip twice and Sandslash uncurled, sprinting for Sandshrew with another surprise Slash.

    “Furry Swipes!” Roy yelled.

    Sandshrew met Sandslash’s claws in time, and the two exchanged a rapid series of several blows, claws clashing against each other like swords.

    “Sand Attack, Sandshrew!”

    A.J. gave a sharp crack of his whip at the air.

    Sandshrew kicked at the dirt, spraying it up at Sandslash, but the opponent was one step ahead of him, and leapt back to avoid it, with no command from A.J.

    No. It had received a command.

    They just hadn’t come from A.J.’s mouth.

    “You trained your Sandslash to obey the different sounds your whip makes!”

    A.J. smirked. “Now you’re catching on.” He whipped at the ground and Sandslash sprung straight up, coming down to slam its feet into the stage, sending a tremble through the arena in an Earthquake attack that split the surface. Sandshrew stumbled around, trying to regain its balance.

    Shit! This gave A.J. a distinct advantage. He could command his Sandslash without announcing his attacks to the opponent aloud.

    “Stay alert, Sandshrew!”

    When the Earthquake ended and the ground steadied, A.J. barked his first audible order. “Slash attack!” He punctuated the command with a triple crack of his whip. Sandslash charged Sandshrew, claws raised for a Slash.

    Why had A.J. announced the attack? Well, at least Roy saw this one coming. “Deflect it with Scratch!”

    Sandshrew obeyed, but Sandslash changed its Slash to a High Horsepower at the last second, barreling its entire body into Sandshrew’s and throwing it back.

    Fuck, Roy felt like an idiot! He should’ve expected that. A.J. had shouted a false instruction to throw Roy off while the whip crack was the true command.

    Another crack sounded as Sandshrew struggled to his feet. Unsure of what was coming, Roy played cautiously. “Defense Curl, Sandshrew!”

    The smaller shrew curled up, its body glowing with defensive energy, but A.J. only smiled. “You think that’ll be enough?”

    Sandslash blew through Sandshrew’s pitiful defense with a powerful Crush Claw, sending the poor creature tumbling backward head over heal, falling face first in the dirt. Sandshrew groaned. The unscathed Sandslash stood tall over him, but A.J. gave no further command.

    That was it.

    Roy hung his head in humiliation. “Return.” He fired the red beam from Sandshrew’s Poké Ball, calling him back to rest up.

    “That’s how it’s done.” With a final crack of his whip, Sandslash returned to its Trainer’s side. “Good work.”

    The students cheered and applauded for A.J. Stowing his pride, Roy joined his opponent in walking to the center of the field to shake hands.

    Hope stepped forward. “Excellent work, both of you. I’ve never seen a Trainer command their Pokémon in such a way. I imagine that must throw your opponents off guard.”

    “Only amateurs.”

    Row scowled at the comment, but A.J. laughed and gave him a lighthearted nudge in the side.

    “Well, that about does it for the time we have today. Do any of you have any last-minute questions before our guests leave?”

    The students asked a few more questions–mostly for A.J., until the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. “All right, class, let’s give our volunteers a last big thank you.” The students gave a unified thanks, and Hope turned to speak to Roy, Genny, and A.J. “Please, don’t be strangers. I’d love to have you back sometime for future classes.”

    “I’ll stop by anytime for a pretty lady like you,” A.J. said.

    “Oh, stop it,” Hope said with a dismissive wave and a frown as she tried not to blush in front of her students.

 

***

 

A.J. went his own way back to the outskirts along Route 4, while Roy and Genny left together. She still hadn’t returned Wishmaker or Graci to their Poké Balls and the two Grass Pokémon walked beside her.

    “Don’t feel bad,” Genny said. “Y’know, I love your Sandshrew’s sunglasses,” she added randomly. “He’s just the cutest thing.”

    Those sunglasses hadn’t helped him win.

    “Wait!”

    The two of them turned to find Hope rushing out to catch up with them. After taking a moment to lean on her knees and catch her breath, she straightened up and fixed her hair, addressing Roy. “Sorry, it’s just, with your speech, talking about how much you love science, your whole history of working for Professor Oak and all, I was curious. You’re familiar with Bill of course?”

    “Bill Sonezaki? Absolutely. The man’s a genius.”

    “Then you must know his home and lab are nearby. North of Cerulean, toward the end of Route 25. He recently returned after taking some personal time away, and the lab’s having a special reopening for the public tomorrow.” Hope pulled out a couple slips of paper. “As a Pokémon school teacher, I received extra tickets, but I’m too busy myself, so… I was wondering if you two might like them.”

    “Seriously?”

    Hope held the tickets out insistently.

    “I mean, if you’re sure.”

    “Of course.”

    Roy accepted the tickets, almost hesitantly. “O… Okay, then. Thank you so much.”

    “It’s the least I could do.” Hope’s eyes dropped to her toes, hands fidgeting in front of her. She took a subtle glance up at Roy. “Well, uh… g-goodbye then. And thank you!” Despite looking like she wanted to say more, Hope turned away with a light blush and scampered back to the school.

    Roy breathed out, feeling bad, but also a little relieved at not having to give a hurtful answer.

    Genny nudged Roy in the side.

    “What?”

    “Come on. That Hope lady has a thing for you!”

    “Oh… Yeah, uh… I don’t know.”

    “Why noooot? You should go talk to her! She was so nice and pretty. You both love studying Pokémon. She’d be a great fit for you!”

    “Look, she’s a teacher, I’m a Trainer. She has to stay here. You heard my reasons for being a Trainer. I could never settle down in a single place.”

    “I guess.” They walked in silence for a bit, Roy stirring in thought. Admittedly he would’ve liked a date or two, but preferred to avoid starting something he knew he couldn’t commit to. From the implied interest she’d shown, no date he offered would’ve been casual in her eyes, and he didn’t want to string anyone along.

    “That video presentation was cool,” Genny said, breaking the long silence. “Getting to learn from the professors at Mesagoza Academy. I always enjoyed videos when we were in school. But I’m sure you already knew all that basic stuff. I mostly worked out in the corral for the professor though, so some of that was new to me.”

    “That video barely scratched the tip of the iceberg.”

    Genny smiled. “Here we go. Roy’s entering theory mode!”

    “No, I won’t bore you with all that.”

    Genny gestured insistently. “No, no, you obviously love talking about it. Go on.”

    “Okay, well, why is it Pokémon can only speak their name? If their mouth structure allows them to pronounce that much, they should be able to say other things, yet they don’t. And why do only some Pokémon say their names? Take Charizard for example; it just roars.

    “You could make hundreds, if not thousands, of videos covering the mysteries of Pokémon. Komala is born sleeping and spends its whole life asleep. But how? Mudbray eats mud, Steelix is made of solid steel yet weighs only 760 kilograms. And have you seen Dragonite? A Pokémon that large should not be able to fly with its tiny wings. Yet, not only does it fly, it’s one of the fastest Pokémon in the world. Magcargo’s outer body temperature exceeds that of the sun. It should incinerate its surroundings… except it doesn’t.”

    Genny laughed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

    But Roy’s tone remained serious. “No. It doesn’t. But somehow, it’s reality. And don’t even get me started on the mysteries of Pokémon reproduction.” Roy sighed. “Pokémon have baffled scientists for centuries. And they do so in such bizarre ways, it’s become a running joke in the science community that Pokémon were created by a child. Or that Arceus has the mind of one.”

    Genny giggled. “Pokémon sure are weird creatures, huh.”

    “Are they, though?”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Have you ever considered that humans are the weird ones? Think about it. Of all life forms on this planet, we’re the only ones–aside from most plants–that are different. The only ones with no ancestors on the phylogenetic tree. They talked about evolution at the Pewter Museum of Science. All living creatures should share a single common ancestor if you go back far enough. But plants seem to have their own separate phylogenetic tree. And humans… we have nothing. No common ancestors to anything and no fossil evidence of anything we might’ve evolved from. Pokémon and plants both trace back millions of years, but our history stretches no further than four-thousand years with nothing to show where we came from. There are some Pokémon that resemble us, but even primates like Machoke are still more closely related to a Bellsprout than a human when you look at their genes.”

    “So that’s it then? That’s the big discovery you want to make?”

    “Pokémon are shrouded in baffling mysteries that defy all logic. Puzzles that have gone unsolved for thousands of years. If I could answer just one of them…”

    Genny opened her mouth, but her phone rang and cut her off. “Sorry. Gimme a sec.”

    Probably a good thing. Roy might’ve rambled forever otherwise. She pulled out her phone and a look of doom clouded her face when she saw the caller ID. “G-give me a moment,” she said in a timid whisper, then hurried off, Wishmaker and Graci going with her. She moved about twenty paces away, but still remained within earshot.

    “H… hi.”

    Genny jerked her head away as if struck, holding the phone at arm’s length from her ear. Roy couldn’t make out the words on the other line, but even from this distance heard the person shouting through the phone. Roy tried not to listen, but found it impossible.

    Genny’s voice quivered. “Well, uh, I’m in Cerulean City… What? I can’t just… No, I’m… Well, I’m eighteen now, and… I mean, come on, you knew I was… I’m a Trainer now. Like I always said I wanted to be…”

    A long string of indistinguishable shouts came through her phone. Genny huddled closer and closer, her form shrinking and becoming small under the force of the screams. As if every word kicked her in the stomach.

    “It’s not nonsense… N-no, I’m not playing. I’m serious. I… I’m a real Trainer now… No, really, it’s been great. I’m meeting lots of wonderful people and Pokémon… Yes. My Bulbasaur, Wishmaker, is here with me. I have an Oddish now too. Her name’s Graci.” Roy could hear the genuine joy in her heart from the way she spoke about them. She tried to put as much of that happiness into her words, but simultaneously was on the verge of tears, looking like she might crumple in on herself at any moment.

    Shouts came from the phone.

    “Please don’t say that. I’m sure you’d love them. They’re really wonderful. They’re… they’re my family.”

    More shouting.

    “What? No, of course you are. You’ll always be…”

    A long string of yelling. Genny opened her mouth at multiple points, but got cut off each time. Finally, she was forced to talk over the other person.

    “I… I’m not coming home, Dad! I’ll talk to you later, goodbye!” She quickly hung up the phone, nearly dropping it in the process. Genny huddled by herself, oblivious to Wishmaker and Graci snuggling up to her legs, trying to comfort and keep her from hyperventilating.

    Roy moved forward on quiet steps and placed the gentlest hand he could on her shoulder. She flinched by instinct, as if expecting to be hit. “Hey, hey, it’s me.” Roy spoke as softly as possible, and Genny relaxed, seeing it was only him. “Are you okay?”

    Genny immediately perked up. “Yeah, I’m fine. Mom and Dad are just…”

    He gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “You stood your ground. That took strength and courage.”

    Genny smiled and wiped her nose. “Thanks.”

    Wishmaker and Graci rubbed her legs and finally got her attention. Genny squatted to pick Graci up, hugging the Oddish tight in her arms, the way a scared child might hold a favorite stuffed toy.

    “Anyway!” Genny put on a happy face. “It sure was nice of Hope to give us these tickets.” Roy went along with her changing the subject as she held up her ticket to read it. “The grand reopening of the Sea Cottage Research Lab. I’m a little confused though. I thought it was always open.”

    “The lab is always working,” Roy said, “but they used to have monthly showcases open to the public to present their latest work. Bill would come out to meet and interact with guests. Then he disappeared to work on a secret project, and the place has been closed since. But if he just got back, maybe this grand reopening will be about everything he’s been doing in private.” The realization of his own words struck. “Actually… this event could be huge. Who knows what he might show us.”

    “Wonderful! Let’s get going!”

    “I have always wanted to meet Bill. He’s Kanto’s second greatest Pokémon researcher behind Professor Oak.”

    “The ticket says his lab is up this way.” Genny pointed north, toward Route 25. “Past the outskirts of Cerulean.”

    “Yeah. It’s pretty close by. I have my Gym battle, of course, but the Gym’s not going anywhere. Who knows? Maybe I can learn something useful at the lab first.”

    “It’s settled then. Let’s go together!”

    Genny skipped ahead across the Nugget Bridge, but Roy stayed where he was, watching her. She always amazed him at how quickly she could bring back her energy and positivity, even after a call like that. Then again, how much of it was genuine and how much was a mask? He knew she bottled up a lot of pain, but… she wasn’t suppressing too much, was she? Roy wished she could at least see how strong she was to have remained so kind despite all she’d dealt with.

    He watched her with a smile until she got ahead of him and Roy picked up the pace to catch her. They walked through the fields of Route 24 and into 25, watching and pointing out Pokémon along the way until they reached the halfway point through Route 25 by evening, where they decided to camp out for the night.

    Roy released his Pokémon and had Ponyta start a fire while he and Genny pitched a pair of tents. He knew any fire she breathed was blue, but it curiously stayed that color long after the campfire got burning on its own.

    Beedrill found a spot in a tree, looked around to make sure he had a decent 360 view, then laid down in the branches to relax.

    As they set up camp, Roy overheard a word here and there of Genny talking to her Pokémon. His as well as hers. Pokémon understood human speech, so seeing people talk to them was normal, even if humans couldn’t understand their words in turn. Still… she spoke to them with the same casual, everyday tone she might use with any human. Roy smiled. That was so like her. She seemed particularly fond of talking to Ponyta. It was good to see Ponyta getting along with someone else. Odd though that he only caught Genny talking to her when Roy was out of earshot. What really stunned him though was when he saw Genny petting Ponyta’s mane without being burned. They’d barely interacted for five minutes. Ponyta trusted her already?

    They cooked and ate around the blue glow of the campfire, making conversation like they always did growing up, talking about their adventures and their days in Pallet.

    At several points, Roy had to return something Sandshrew took from Genny–a tent spike or piece of silverware. Genny laughed it off every time, but Roy lost his patience when Sandshrew tried taking the bracelet Roy’s mother gave her. He knew Genny prized that. Roy tried to scold Sandshrew extra hard for that, but struggled to do so without raising his voice. (He’d have yelled at Sandshrew normally, but Genny was present.) She thanked him but insisted it was okay. Sandshrew couldn’t hurt it more than the Meowth back at the corral.

    Conversation carried on late into the night, and before Roy knew it, his mouth had grown sore from the warm smile he’d held the last few hours. Just him and Genny talking like they used to. But this time, out in the world, around a campfire, with all of their Pokémon together.

    This was the life.

    He never knew the exact moment they fell asleep.

​

​

​

To be continued...

​

​

​

Previous chapter          Next chapter

​

​

​