บท 15: Benevolent Rivalry
"Am I late?" Ren said as she sat on the opposite seat of Yoake and Kirlia's chair in the diner. Yoake looked at the time and saw that she was on time and decided to brush off her excuse and began chatting all the while Ren was putting her bag beside her.
"Nah, I guess you're on time," Yoake stated. Ren took a deep breath and looked at the two with a small smile.
"Hmm, Two gym badges huh? That's nice, seems you are on a good start." Ren complimented the two as she was amazed at how the two quickly got the badges, usually, it would take someone weeks but this trainer seems in a rush.
"Ohh it's nothing, how about you?" Yoake was flattered by her compliment and he decided to ask her about the badges she also has.
"Well, just one, for now. Pewter city seems like a good challenge, and I might take on Misty tomorrow." Ren stated as she revealed the boulder badge that was pinned in her bag. After the revelation, she was curious about where Yoake stored his badge.
"Say, where do you put your badges?" Ren curiously asked her rival. Kirlia was concerned by this since she is well aware that the trainer carelessly drops his badge into his pocket instead of using some casing or such.
"Oh… I just put it in my pouch, nothing bad about it." Yoake awkwardly showed the badges from his pouch. Ren and Kirlia synchronously sighed while Yoake scratched the back of his head after his excuse.
"You may be good at battling Pokemon but you're the worst at handling crucial Pokemon items." Ren ushered as she began to look at her bag, she took out a small rectangular plastic container with black plastic foam inside it, it has the Indigo league logo on it.
"Here, you might need this," Ren said as she handed the container to Yoake. He was amazed by this since this was the first time he received these.
"Woahh thanks." Yoake thanked her as he took the container, he decided to open it and placed the badges in their respective places in the container.
"I'm guessing that Professor Oakido forgot to give you one of those huh?" Ren hypothesized as she saw the trainer's reaction, both Yoake and Kirlia nodded, which caused her to giggle.
"Right, since you got a new badge, lunch is on me," Ren said as she insisted that she will take care of the two's lunch. Yoake noticed this and decided to persist that he will pay.
"N-N-No… you're too kind Ren, I'll pay for it." Yoake persisted, Ren decided to ignore his persistence and called the waiter.
"No, you two trained and fought very hard today, so it's my job to give you two some refreshments before you continue on your journey," Ren stated as she justifies her reason for paying the two's lunch.
"Now, what do you guys want for lunch?" Ren asked the two as she looked at the counter menu board.
"Fish and chips for me, and add some mashed potatoes with it, and Kirlia would have the…" Yoake stated his order, he looked at Kirlia, who was pointing at the Ice cream sundae.
"Woah, Kirlia, Ice creams are for desserts, we need to eat lunch first," Yoake advised Kirlia. He was acting like an adult at this moment even though he wasn't as old as the waiter nearby.
"Let her choose what she wants Yoake, she may be your Pokemon but she has her free will," Ren told him. Yoake sighed and slid off in the corner while Ren looked at Kirlia as she asked the Pokemon for their favorite flavor for the ice cream.
Ren returned with their lunch on top of a tray, she put it on the table and told the two to grab their chosen meal. Yoake took his fish and chips with Mashed Potatoes while Kirlia took the strawberry sundae while Ren took her chicken sandwich with fries and soda on the side. While they were eating, Yoake decided to ask Ren.
"So I'm guessing you support Civil Liberty huh?" Yoake asked Ren while he was eating his chips. Ren took a small bite from her sandwich and answered his question.
"Yeah, Pokemon, Humans, minorities… everyone deserves to have a right, and you?" Ren stated her opinion, then looked at Yoake.
"It all depends, besides, I'm still learning about Pokemon," Yoake said as he tried to dodge her question. Ren sighed and continued to eat but something was bothering her, she felt that something was missing, she realized that Yoake has somebody else besides Kirlia.
"Uhh I forgot to ask you this but what happened to the lady yesterday?" Ren asked Yoake as she recalled the lady that Yoake was with. She recalls her having a white hat, and something around the blue pallet of clothing, and such.
Yoake quickly realized that Ren was referring to Leaf, and so, he decided to answer her question while he was eating his food.
"Oh.. that was Leaf, she left me for no reason," Yoake answered her question.
Ren, who was very curious about the lady, decided to ask him more about her. Before asking once more, she took one piece of the fries, bit it, and continued asking.
"I see, do you two have any affiliations with her?" Ren asked him. He looked at her slowly, nodded, and ushered some few words.
"Yes, she used to be my babysitter two years ago," Yoake answered. Ren wasn't surprised by this since it was logical for a former babysitter to take care of the person they once babysit again, but she was more curious about what happened.
"What happened?" Ren asked him. Yoake raised his chin, looked around for a while, and looked back at Ren. Kirlia got curious as well, so she decided to listen along.
"Let's say, there are things that should have been Left Behind." Yoake ushered Ren, who doesn't like the semi-cliffhanger words that the trainer told him. She frustratedly grunted as she wanted to know more.
"I'm not here for phrases, just tell me, what happened?" Ren grunted. Yoake sighed while rolling his eyes and decided to tell his rival a backstory about him.
"Well, it all started when I was around six (6) years old…"
----
"You're Father and I will be having a date night tonight, and since you and your sister are still too young to take care of yourselves, you will be having a babysitter." Yoake's mother informed the young boy. He was playing his Blaziken action figure on the sofa while his five (5) year old sister was drawing on a piece of paper on top of the living room's coffee table.
"Honey… we'll be leaving before eight." Their mother stated to the father, who was still preparing himself.
"Just a minute." The father replied to the mother's statement. While waiting, a ring from the doorbell was heard.
"Oh, here she is." The mother said, the Father dashed into the living room, he was wearing a stylized outfit, he was ill-prepared for tonight but it seems he just had a long time fixing.
"Yoake, Yugere, I want you to meet your babysitter for tonight. Her name is Leaf." Their mother introduces a fair young lady in the scenery, she has long brown hair, two long ones in the front that touches her shoulders while most are in the back, she wears a blacked turtleneck sleeveless top, and a black skirt. She had a yellow satchel on her side and was wearing black shoes.
"Hi…" Yoake greeted the young lady. Yugere on the other hand decided to give a small greeting to her as well and continued to her drawing.
"Hi there… you must be Yoake huh? The child prodigy?" Leaf asked him as she walked toward him. He gently nodded for a sign of a yes, she gave a soft small to the young boy and continued.
"Right, you two behave okay and listen to what Leaf has to say, okay?" The mother asked the two, on which they nodded. While the mother was talking to her kids, the father was wondering if he'd met Leaf before due to the familiarity of her facial features.
"Don't you think she kinda looks like the trainer a few months ago? You know, the three trainers." The father ushered as they left.
"Hmm is that your favorite Pokemon?" Leaf asked the little boy as she saw the Blaziken action figure, the boy promptly nodded as an answer.
While the sister's part of the story was quiet, the brother has the most interesting one. As time goes on, the more frequent Leaf takes care of the two, and most of the time, she has a big eye out for Yoake, she helps him from time to time, from doing homework or improving his skills but one day, something changed.
"So, how was the summer camp?" Leaf asked the young boy as they walk home after visiting the Pokemon summer camp that Professor Oakido hosted.
While walking, she noticed something new to the boy, there was a black scarf tied to his neck. It wasn't there before but now, he is holding firm to this long black cloth that is wrapped around his neck.
"Leaf… I want to become a Pokemon trainer." The young kid announces to the young lady about his ambition.
"Oh really? That's cool." Leaf complimented the kid's ambition, at that point, she felt very nervous about the idea but she decided to listen on.
"I'm guessing you're going for the Indigo League?" Leaf asked him.
"No- I want to become the World champion, the master among masters in the realm of Pokemon, the absolute." Yoake enthusiastically said. Leaf's eyes widened after hearing those words.
'Master among masters.' was the three words that echoed throughout her head. It felt like something at home, a deja vu of some sort but it wouldn't happen again, right?
---
"Wait… masters among masters?" Ren cut him off as she busted a huge load of laughter.
"Awww man, not even the best of the best trainers would say that, and here you are, an ambitious kid being naive and think the world would revolve around you." Ren stuttered. Yoake sighed as he knows that this would be her response after those few words.
"I know…. I was a dumb kid back then, you, me, we said some cringe-y stuff when we are kids, and those things still haunt me in my sleep." Yoake groaned as he tries to balance things out so that they can continue with the story.
"Right... Right… let's continue."
---
"World champion? Don't you think that's being too ambitious?" Leaf logically asked him. During those days, it is accepted that starting from being a trainer to becoming a master takes a lot of skills, time, and a lot of willpower and determination since training Pokemon isn't that easy as compared to the current situation.
"I know but I believe that I can do it." Yoake hopefully ushered as he looks at the scarf, at that moment, Leaf took a keen look at this weird scarf that he got but she didn't take it from him or ask something about it since the kid takes care of this cloth, and it is doubtful for her to even try to touch it.
-
Yoake celebrated his tenth (10th) birthday, it was all fun and cheers, many presents and stuff were being handled but there was one gift that Yoake has been waiting for, his Pokemon license. The birthday boy was filled with joy and excitement on that day, and it doubled when he finally got his wish.
"Here's your license kid, you can come down to my laboratory tomorrow to get your starter and start your journey." Professor Oakido invited the boy as he gives the plastic card to the boy.
"Danke, Professor." The boy thanked him.
The parent's, the sibling, and other family members were celebrating that day, as well, but there was one person that is gloomy in the corner. She felt something has to be done, even if it is done very ugly. While the party was continuing, she decided to fix her white hat and left the scenery, knowing that the thing she's gonna do, would forever damage a relationship that was built for half of the decade, and that break-up would cause an earthquake whose tremors can be still felt till this very day.
It was nighttime at the young Pallet City, the boy was sleeping in his room, dreaming of the future events that might happen to him alongside the journey ahead but these dreams were cut short as he heard something move in his room.
He woke up, and heard a loud thump as something fell to the floor, he quickly looks for the light switch of his lamp, pulled it, and looked around. He saw a long greenish vine that came from the window in his horror and was reaching out to his drawer. In a mixture of fear and panic, he quickly tried to grab something from his drawer but it was no use, the vine already took something from his drawer, and return from the window.
Yoake quickly jumped from his bed, ran downstairs, and headed to the apartment's backyard without even calling his parents. The guard at that time was unaware of what happened but the boy was in a deep panic, he went to the backyard and was shocked to see a familiar face.
"Yoake?" a female voice called out his name. Yoake can see the person under the darkness, it was Leaf. She was wearing a white hat, a black shirt under a sleeveless and neckless cyan dress, and a red short skirt, it was her new outfit, she recently wore this after getting tired out from her black dress.
"Leaf…." Yoake ushered in dismay as he saw her holding a white card in her hand, it was none other than his Pokemon license.
"Listen… You don't understand what you're entering to." Leaf told him as she tries to justify her action but Yoake wasn't all in it.
"No. I know what I'm doing so give it back!" Yoake angrily shouted as he runs to Leaf and tries to grab the card from her.
"No Yoake! I can't allow you to become a Pokemon trainer!" Leaf argued as she began to pull the card away from him. The two were in a tug of war, and the card was their rope. One side wants it back and the other was trying to stop the former to continue to his hoped adventure.
"No, give it back!" Yoake barked at her. The two weren't giving in and continued to the tug of war.
"JUST LET ME EXPLAIN!" Leaf snarled as she tries to explain to the young kid about the current situation, but the kid was too blinded for his dream to become a Pokemon trainer.
"JUST GIVE IT BACK!" Yoake shouted but it was no use.
The two fell to the hard and solid ground and felt nothing in their hands, but as they looked at one another, they saw something between them. Between their two feet was the Pokemon trainer card but in dismay, it was torn apart, and far unrepairable.
Yoake and Leaf were shocked by this, but instead of facing the consequences, Leaf decided to withdrew Venusaur and left the scenery as she calls out her Dragonite and left the young boy in the backyard with his Pokemon license on the ground.
-
"And what happened afterward?" Ren asked him. Yoake sighed and decided to conclude his backstory, Kirlia on the other hand was also listening to the store while eating Yoake's fries.
"After that, I decided to close myself from the rest of the world and banned anything related to Pokemon, but a year later, I decided to play some Pokemon games to improve myself," Yoake answered her question. She was a bit satisfied with the backstory by there was something else that bothers her.
"So why didn't you took another license after it was being destroyed?" Ren asked him once more as this was bothering her.
"Well, Professor Oakido said that I'm only allowed to get one per year, but since I've closed myself, I didn't bother to get a new one," Yoake answered. Ren giggled as she realizes how dumb her rival is.
"Right…. So are you planning to reconcile with Leaf?" Ren asked him.
"No… I think I've met someone else to have a better friendship with." Yoake smiled as he remembers the day that allowed him to open his doors to view the outside world once more.
"And that is???" Ren hesitated as she was very curious, she playfully looked at Kirlia.
"Well, it's Erika, the Grass-type specialist," Yoake answered as he remembers the day he met her. It was odd for them to meet up in the sunset and talked about some story, but it was enough for Yoake to decide that he'll go Pokemon training.
"Oh.. isn't she one of the nicest specialists out there? You know, she might help you in reconciliation with Leaf by her being the mediator?" Ren suggested as she can see hope for the two to return from before.
"Nah, she's an asshole for doing it, I won't be forgiving her at any time." Yoake ushered as Ren sighed and decided to sip the last drops of her drink and decided to give him an update.
"Right… so I heard that the new gym specialist for Vermillion City, he's from Unova and you might learn something from him," Ren said as she stands up and took her bag.
"Cool, where are you going?" Yoake asked her.
"Going home, I'll take on Cerulean Gym tomorrow, and you?" Ren looked at him as she cleans their mess on the table.
"Continuing and possibly go to Vermillion City as well," Yoake stated as he was planning to continue his day and stop once it was nighttime.
"Okay then, good luck, See you tomorrow I guess," Ren said as she says her goodbye and left.
To be continued in, The New Guy
A/N: Welp, got lazy and decided to add some new content in this chapter since the last update feels so short, so yeah, more content but just a weekly update. So here's a trade deal, you receive a weekly chapter but it has more content while I receive nothing, good enough. See you in the next chapter and expect that it's as long as this one.
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