Chapitre 22: Chapter Nineteen: Journey to Johto
Masaru and I arrive in Olivine City by nightfall. Cold wind kicks up off the water as we carefully make our way onto the docks.
I shiver as I wait for Masaru to finish with our passes. Once he's done he joins me on the docks and we walk briskly away.
It's a port town, which is made obvious by the decor surrounding us. Ropes and anchors charm every window and door.
"I'm starving," I complain.
"We'll eat at the Pokémon Center," Masaru breathes into his hands.
Salty air fills our lungs and I'm relieved when I see the glowing roof of the Center ahead.
We enter through giant automatic doors.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center! Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" Nurse Joy quips from the counter.
"No, thank you. We just need a room and to eat." I say with a sigh.
She obliges and hands us two cards; one for the Cafeteria and the other is for the living facilities. We make our way to the Cafeteria first.
We're served large steaming bowls of potato soup with chunks of crusty bread.
We eat them slowly, letting the warmth soak into ourselves.
"Tell me you have a plan, or someone gave us a plan." I say once I've finished my bowl of soup.
"I do," Masaru chuckles. "You sure waited until we were here to ask about it, though."
"Well tell me what it is then," I say impatiently.
"We're going in as Grunts first thing, then we just need to bring attention to ourselves." Masaru replies.
"Bring attention to ourselves?" I ask, incredulous. "That sounds like the last thing that I want to do!"
"Not in this case." Masaru stretches out his lean arms. I hear his back crack and suppress a shudder.
"You need to walk in there like a bad bitch and make everyone notice you." Masaru finishes.
I let out a laugh. He raises an eyebrow. I laugh again.
"What's funny?" He shoots.
"You, don't talk like that." I let out another laugh and he rolls his eyes.
"I mean it. You need to assert your power. Just follow my lead and do what I tell you to do." A grin hangs loosely on Masaru's face.
"Fine," I say. "Let's go to our room, I'm exhausted."
We exit the dining area and make our way down a long hallway, my boots clicking against the tiles. Our room is almost at the end, number 636.
Masaru flashes the key card and the door blinks open. We enter and are greeted with the smell of cleaning solution.
I collapse onto one of the twin beds, exhausted.
Masaru sits delicately on the other one, leaning down to untie his shoes.
I kick off my boots and they land in a heap in the middle of the room. Not caring I roll over onto my stomach and bury my face into a soft pillow. I turn over again to glance at him.
"You look comfy," Masaru unbuttons his over shirt and deflates some. His eyes look light and playful.
"I am. This bed is really soft," I roll around until I'm laying on my back.
He lets out a small chuckle.
"What time are we leaving for the Base?" I ask him.
"Early. We need to wake up at six." He stifles a yawn, which makes me yawn.
I glance at the clock, which reads 7:45pm. How am I this tired so early?
Masaru reaches over and sets an alarm for six.
"Riding on boats drains me," Masaru says as if reading my thoughts.
"Is that why I'm so tired?" I rub my eyes wearily.
"Probably so," Masaru taps his finger on his bed, I can hear it even though I'm not looking. What an annoying nervous habit.
"Are you nervous?" I ask, in an effort to make him uncomfortable. Taken aback by my own cruelty, I curse my own words.
He just lets out a small laugh, "I'm always nervous."
"Should we just go to bed now?" I change the subject stealthily.
"I feel like I could," I hear his bed groan as he lays down.
The next thing I know I'm waking up to the metallic shriek of an alarm.
I bolt upright in bed, heart pounding through my chest. I blink sleep from my eyes and watch as Masaru slowly sits up.
"I guess we fell asleep," he mutters and reaches over to turn on the lamp.
"Yeah," I push the blanket off myself and climb out of bed. "Fuck, that scared the shit out of me."
He laughs and starts to pull on his shoes.
I run a brush through my hair and quickly braid the frazzled mess. My back hurts from laying down for so long.
"We need to get to Mahogany Town," he stretches and I hear his bones snap.
"How are we getting there?" I finish braiding my hair, aware that his eyes are watching me softly.
"Most Rocket members travel by foot. We'll travel by car to Ecruteak City and then to Mahogany on foot." Masaru answers in a grumble.
"That kind of sucks," I complain while pulling on my boots.
"I have uniforms for us to change into. Are you ready to go in there and kick some ass?" Masaru collects the few things we left laying about.
"Is it going to be that quick? I just go in and do this?" My nerves are starting to go into overdrive.
"You go in and show the Grunts who the boss is. Then we work undercover for the next few weeks before I can figure out what comes next. We aren't taking down the real boss yet." Masaru allows me to walk out of the door first before he closes it behind us.
We walk out of the Pokémon Center and to our dismay it's raining. Thick sheets are falling down from the dark sky.
I stifle a groan and we stand under the overhang, awaiting our taxi.
A cold breeze cuts through us and I'm suddenly wishing I had worn a jacket.
By the time the Taxi pulls up we're both shivering and wet. We climb into the backseat and are greeted with the blow of hot air contained in the vehicle.
"Where to?" An older gentleman with a spiky mustache turns to look at us. "I'm Marvin!"
"Ecruteak, please." Masaru answers through chattering teeth.
"Great!" Marvin swivels around and we're off, water sloshing up beside us.
Beads of water slide slowly down the window as I stare out. My breath fogs a small portion of the glass, my opaque reflection flickers back at me.
I watch as lightning pulses across the sky, sending blinking fragments of light dancing across my vision.
I glance towards Masaru, he's looking out his window. Lost in the landscape and most likely his own thoughts.
Feeling my gaze he turns and meets my eyes. His, brown and almost honey-colored meeting my hot green ones. Warmth and sadness dance there as he looks into me.
I wonder what he sees reflected back?
I smile at him and he returns the gesture.
For a brief moment I feel a strange desire, to move closer to him. To feel his heat against me, to lay my head on his chest…
What the fuck?
I blink with surprise and shift my attention back to my window. A hotness creeping up my neck.
What was that? I bristle and stuff it away, into the back of my mind. I've felt strange since I woke up. Groggy and not quite with it. I'm sure that's all that was.
He doesn't say a single word. Surely he couldn't tell what I was thinking?
What a ridiculous thought!
Soon I can see another Pokémon Center ahead. Through the dark rain it looks like a faint red orb in the distance.
The windshield wipers are going so quickly I feel as if they'll fly off the car at any moment.
I really don't want to walk in this…
Masaru hands Marvin a few bills and the old man smiles at us through the mirror.
We pull up in front of the Pokémon Center and scurry inside, shaking water out of our hair.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" Nurse Joy greets us.
I look up at the clock. It's eight in the morning already…
"Do you know when the rain is supposed to stop?" I walk closer to the counter to speak.
"Not until morning I'm afraid. Do you need a room?" Nurse Joy cocks her pretty head.
I look over at Masaru who is squeezing the bridge of his nose. Displeasure is written across his face. "Is there rain gear we can purchase or rent?" He finally asks.
"Of course! I just need your sizes." She looks at us patiently.
We give our sizes and she shuffles to the back to collect the rain gear for us.
I'm also aware that we need to change into our Team Rocket attire.
Nurse Joy comes back with two yellow hooded raincoats, two pairs of rain boots and lumped pocket warmers. I marvel over these. They look like large chunks of wool but they radiate heat.
We both change into our Team Rocket uniforms and pull the rain gear on over them.
It's almost nine now and we hurry outside. I feel like it's raining even harder than it was when we arrived. Wind shrieking and raking water across the ground.
I let out a sigh and pull my hood to cover my hair. Masaru does the same and we step out into the downpour in tandem.
Water sloshes up, splattering our coats. This is going to be a miserable walk. Route 42 lies to the east of the city.
Plodding down the sodden path we push through the driving rain, towards Mahogany Town. It's going to take us almost double the anticipated time at this rate.
I really wish we had a Pokémon that we could ride into town but Arrow can really only carry one person on his back.
I put my hands behind my head, blinking through the blowing droplets.
I hear Masaru muttering curses in front of me as we walk. I mirror his disgust. Rain hadn't been in the forecast and I'm filled with disappointment.
Mud squelches underneath my boots and I slip down the path. A car races past us and I throw up my arm in defense against a wall of water.
It doesn't help. Sediment filled water sprays over me and aggravation bubbles up in me.
"This is literally terrible," I complain.
Masaru slows his pace so that he's walking beside me instead of ahead. "Believe me I know," his voice is cold.
"Why didn't we just wait until morning?" I object.
"Because today is Thursday. Thursday is when Team Rocket members check into the Base. It's a security feature." Masaru blinks rain from him eyes.
"Is it the same in Johto?" I worry out loud.
"It's in Akio's notes. So I hope we can trust them." I notice that he's tapping his own leg with a finger while we stride.
"How long is this going to take?" I groan.
"The walk? At least a couple more hours." He lets out a sigh.
It does take hours. Four more hours to be exact. A terrible, awful, horrible four hours. Both of us fell at least twice.
Small flooding had started to form over the road and it had pushed and shoved against us the whole way.
We arrive at Mahogany Town soaked to the bone and ready to collapse.
"I don't think I can do this." I say bitterly.
"Do what?" Masaru looks at me with a worried expression.
"A Pokémon battle. I feel like I'm going to die." I don't care how dramatic I sound. I fucking mean it.
"I understand. But you're going to have to." He answers.
"Why can't you do it? You're stronger than I am, anyways." I catch myself saying. Immediately regret fills me when I see the look on Masaru's face.
"Oh yeah?" He says.
"Ugh don't look so pleased with yourself." I roll my eyes.
"It needs to be you. It's going to be fine." He rubs his hand across his brow to clear it of rain.
Suddenly he reaches out, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me into him. I'm taken aback and let out a yelp. My face growing hot.
"Watch where you're going!" He shouts as a cyclist races past us.
I break contact with him, shoving myself away slightly. He seems embarrassed and looks away.
"Sorry, I don't think Silver would approve of you being flattened."
"Whatever," I say hotly. "Next time warn me that you're going to grab me." My face is still flushed and I pull my hood to cover it.
"Of course, I'm sorry." He also pulls his hood down further over his face.
We walk in silence for the remainder of the journey. At last a great brick building stands in front of us. It's painted an almost-black with a weathered "R" drawn in red across the front.
At last.
We enter through massive doors, both of us saturated.
A short man greets us from within the entrance. He scans the cards we provide for him. He's stone faced as we move forwards into what appears to be a lobby.
I can tell who has come in recently by how wet their clothes are. Nobody looks welcoming and we move quickly through the lobby.
"There ought to be somewhere to battle down on the next level." He tosses over his shoulder as we come up to an elevator.
He presses the down arrow and we wait for the doors to open. When they do we clamor in and he pushes a button.
Soon we're on the lower level and I hear the cheer of people. We walk in through large doors and see two Grunts engaged in battle.
"Swift is unbeatable!" A young Grunt is shouting.
A young man with brown hair is using a Machamp. I assume he's this Swift fellow. As he's engaged in battle with a woman.
Her Koffing lands on the ground in defeat and the rest of the Grunts erupt in a victory cry.
"I think that's the guy you need to beat up." Masaru whispers into my ear. It sends a tingle down my spine that I choose to ignore.
"Obviously," I assess the crowd. Everyone seems to think this guy is a monster.
Just another Grunt.
In stride into the middle of the arena and extend a Pokéball at the man. "My name is Jun." Is all I say.
"You wanna challenge me?" He scoffs.
I say nothing, only give him a nod.
This time my uniform consists of a Team Rocket skirt and crop top, complete with thigh high black boots. Instead of the baggy pants and shirt.
Swift eyes me hungrily. "I'll enjoy this."
Rage flickers up in me and I realize that this should be an easy match.
"Machamp stay out." Swift grins and nods at me. "Go ahead."
"Ninetails I choose you!" I toss her ball into the air.
She emerges, snarling with her tails extended.
"Battle begin!" Someone shouts.
"Close Combat!" Swift commands, his face calm.
"Use Extrasensory and end it!" I shout.
His face looks confused when he hears me tell her to end it. "Don't underestimate me, wench!" He howls.
Ninetails dodges the barrage of hands and feet Machamp was launching at her.
With hard eyes she lets a ball of light grow in her mouth. Snarling she exhales the blast and strikes Machamp full in the face.
He stumbles backwards, a dazed look plastered across his face.
"Don't just stand there! Use Bulldoze!" Swift yells.
Machamp doesn't respond, it's already fainted while standing up. Ninetails lets out a cry, her fur bristling with heat.
Machamp collapses and Swift rushes to it's side, incredulous.
Deafening silence falls on the battlefield… I'm not sure if that's a good sign.
A hear a single cheer rise up. It sounds suspiciously like Masaru's voice. Afterwards others follow suit. Until everyone is shrieking and screaming with jubilance.
"That was fucking insane!" I hear someone cry out.
"She one hit KO-ed Swift!" Another voice.
Beads of sweat are running down my neck from nerves. That had gone off without a hitch. Thank Arceus…
Masaru is beside me now. He's grinning from ear to ear. "Hell yeah! Just like that! Just like that!" He says, clapping me on the back.
Team Rocket members surround me, reaching out and grabbing at me. My skin crawls as they pick me up and start pushing me through the crowd. I'm surfing over them. Terrified.
Eventually they set me down and I hear the sound of bottles popping. Smoke starts to fill the room in a mix of tobacco and marijuana.
"They fucking love you! This is exactly what we needed." Masaru looks disheveled, his hair is damp from sweat.
Something about it is terribly appealing. Ack another strange thought, I shove it away.
"Let's go get some fucking sleep." I shout over the crowd.
We exit the muggy space and breathe the fresh air filling the hallway. My ears are ringing from the noise and my body is radiating heat.
"Can we stay at the Pokémon Center?" I beg. I really don't want to stay here.
"Oh, definitely. Fuck staying here. I'm starving and they don't have food for shit." Masaru takes off his hat and his hair bounces back into spikes.
Soaked again from the rain we stagger into the Pokémon Center. I order a bottle of Sake and we drink it with bowls of rice and vegetables.
We finish the bottle and make our way into our room. We both lay on our separate beds and I start to unbraid my hair.
It falls in dark waves past my shoulders and I roll over to face Masaru. He's staring at the ceiling, tapping his finger idly on the bed.
I feel a sudden wash of loneliness and almost sadness overcome me. I pull off my boots and go into the bathroom, where I change into shorts and a white Koffing T-shirt.
I come out and Masaru has also changed into shorts and a solid black shirt. It looks striking against his blue hair.
I lay on my bed. Still awash in loneliness.
"Hey," I say idly.
"Yes?" He asks.
"Will you do me an odd favor?" I roll over so I'm looking at him while he lays in bed.
"Uh, okay?" He seems nervous and starts tapping his finger.
"Will you… come over here?" I hear his breath catch, mine catches too. "Just to like, be over here. It's nothing like that…" my face grows hot.
"Of course I will." I hear his bed groan as he gets up and sits next to where I'm laying.
"You can lay down, too." I swallow the nervous lump in my throat. I hadn't expected him to actually have the nerve to come over here…
Fuck. Now what?
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone