Chapter 15 - Adriana

"Celadon? Are you sure?" I asked Brandon for the hundreth time as we packed up our things. "Yeah, they have this big game corner there where you can win Pokemon! & let me tell you, I am good at slots games," Brandon smirked.

I sighed. Going to Celadon would mean we had to go back to Saffron, then head West. It would probably take a week, minimum to travel the distance between those two cities. I was not thrilled at the idea, but the previous night I had told Brandon I would do whatever he wanted just to comfort him, so I pretty much had to do this. & I would get a lot of time to train, so that was good.

As we left Vermillion & ventured back to Saffron, I had Cinder walking alongside me, with Brandon's Growlithe close by. I was suprised that Cinder wasn't pregnant the way those two followed each other around.

For some reason, when we traveled Route 6 this time it took much longer. Probably because we ran into more wild Pokemon, which we battled, for experience.

Brandon didn't catch any of them, even the Pidgeotto we ran into. "Weak against electric-types," he answered before I could even ask why he didn't catch the bird-Pokemon. Now that I think back to it, I regret not catching the Pidgeotto myself.

We ran into Meowth's, Rattata's, & Pidgey's mostly. The wild Pokemon weren't much of a match for ours.

As for trainers, we ran into a few of them. They were all interesting people.

I enjoyed being able to battle against them, & I won all my battles, except for one in particular.

This trainer was very strong. Her name was Adriana. She already had all eight badges, she was just going around training while she waited for the Pokemon League to start.

Adriana had purple colored hair, with blue tips. It was a bit unusual, but interesting & looked good on her. Anyway, enough about her hair color. Her Pokemon were strong!

We had a three on three battle. Whoever won two out of three rounds was the winner.

I don't know why she chose to battle me, & not Brandon, but she did. There was a sparkle of some kind in her grey colored eyes. Everytime I looked into those eyes, I felt like she was looking 'through me'. It's difficult to explain.

Her first Pokemon was a Bayleef. This Pokemon was not the main problem for me. Cinder, being a fire-type, was able to take out the Bayleef, but just barely! Bayleef actually did well, almost beating a fire-type.

Her second Pokemon was a Nidoqueen. You already know I lost against this one. I used Relic here, because he knew a ground-type move, which is super-effective against Nidoqueen, who is ground & poison. This did help us, Relic did his best & kept his calm, even when he knew he was gonna lose. Before Nidoqueen could pummel Relic, I forfit this match & returned him. He would not win anyway, there was no need to put him through such pain.

Her third Pokemon was even stronger, if that was possible. She had a Lapras. I used Venus in this battle. He worked hard, & even used his big brain to trick Lapras & counter moves with strategies I would have never thought of. Sometimes without instruction, Venus would use certain moves or dodge, because he was smart. But when I did give an instruction, he would listen well, even if he didn't agree. Venus did well, but he was not able to defeat Lapras. In fact, Lapras had not taken much damage.

At the end of the battle, Adriana approached me. We told her we were gonna settle down for lunch, & she suprisingly asked if she could join us.

"It's awfully boring waiting for the Pokemon League to start. We've been traveling around doing nothing for two weeks already," Adriana frowned & pet her Vaporeon, who, was expecting to lay eggs soon. "How long has your Vaporeon been... Erm..." I didn't know the correct way to say it. "Pregnant? I don't know, but Pokemon pregnancy doesn't last long. She'll be laying her eggs within the next month, probably even by next week," Adriana stroked Vapoereon, & it closed its eyes, clearly enjoying the affection.

"It must be boring to be traveling around by yourself... Doing nothing..." Brandon bit his lip nervously for some reason. "It is," Adriana assured her.

"But at least I have something to do for the next week or so. I'm going to Celadon City, to meet my sister, because she wants her Jolteon to be there when Vaporeon lays her eggs." "We're traveling to Celadon, too. But, we're kinda just going so we can train some more. To battle Lt. Surge," I informed her.

Her eyes went wide. "You're kidding right? You mean you only have two badges?" I nodded shyly. "Well, you're really good for only having two badges," she smiled at me warmly. Her grey eyes twinkled with happiness.

"Thanks. You're an excellent trainer yourself," I shot back with a wink.

To have lunch, we released all our Pokemon, as we always did. Luckily, I had Potions for my injured Pokemon. Adriana even gave me a revive for Venus. When all of our Pokemon were healed properly & fed, we ate.

It was nice to eat & watch how all of our Pokemon got along.

As always, my Vulpix was with Brandon's Growlithe. The two skipped off alone somewhere, but I warned Cinder not to wander off too far, & she nodded at me.

Charcoal was with Adriana's Marowak & Phantom. Phantom seemed to be telling them a joke, because they grinned.

Venus, for the first time was not exploring. This time, he seemed to be having an arguement, or a debate, with Adriana's Noctowl & Bayleef. By the looks of it, Venus was winning too. He swung his vines around dramatically & spoke to them, but I had no idea what he was saying.

My other Pokemon, Relic, & Brandon's other three Pokemon, Anorith, Poliwag, & Squirtle, were playing with Lapras. They jumped on her back, & seemed to be enjoying themselves very much.

Nidoqueen & Vaporeon were near us, both laying on opposite sides as Adriana pet them both. "Lemme guess, Vaporeon was your first Pokemon?" I asked when I saw how attatched the two were. "How'd you know," Ariana grinned. "I can tell. You two are very close," I smiled.

She returned the smile. "Let me guess who was your first." She scanned around my Pokemon. "Was it Haunter?" she asked, suprisingly. "What makes you say that?" I asked, wide eyed. She took a deep breathe before explaining. "Well, you two seem very connected. & by the looks of it, he's extremely fond of you. The way he cuddles against you like a puppy, & plays with your hair, I just assumed he was your first."

"Actually, my Vulpix was my first," I corrected her & she seem suprised. "You're first was Growlithe," Adriana turned to Brandon, taking him by suprise. He jumped up at the sound of her voice.

"H-How'd you know?" he stammered. "I can tell," is all she said. We talked about our Pokemon for a while. We even lost track of tine talking & soon it was night time. "We're gonna have to camp out & get to Saffron by tomorrow," Brandon announced.

"Yeah, I guess so," I replied. "Hey, guys?" Adriana's voice sounded timid, for the first time. "Yeah?" She ruffled her hair & pulled a few tint strands of it in her face. "Well... I was gonna ask if I could kinda... Travel to Celadon with you guys? It's boring traveling alone & you guys are pretty cool," she cleared her throat after speaking & her eyes darted from Brandon, back to me. Her grey eyes were full of hope.

"Well... I don't see why not," I shrugged. I turned to look at Brandon for his approval. As I thought, he agreed with me. Adriana was cool.

The next morning, I was waken up by my Haunter. He was snuggled against me, but then he removed himself from my grasp & began to run his fingers through my hair softly. As if massaging me. "Hey Phantom," I said sleepily as I woke up. "Haunter!" he cried, embracing me once again. "Do you see now why I thought he was your first Pokemon? I've never seen a Haunter so affectionate with a human before. They're usually mean, & cold," she glanced at Phantom, who was still rubbing his head like a kitty against my stomach region.

"I thought that about Haunters, too. Until I met Phantom," I stroked his head.

We had breakfast & then decided we'd head to Saffron City. As I usually did before we walked somewhere, I asked my Pokemon,"Who wants to walk with me?"

This time, it was Relic who wanted to. He had never insisted much to walk along me before, but now, he cried out to tell me that he wanted to. Of course I wasn't gonna say no, besides, I needed some bonding time with him.

He scimpered & crawled around beneath my feet as we walked. Ariana recalled all of her Pokemon, so did Brandon. Relic was slow, he was behind us all, so I picked him up & carried him. He seemed to like that. If Kabuto's could smile I knew he would be doing that at that moment. We were a bit tired, but off we were, to Saffron City.