Chapter Pic: Snivey

 We settled in an inn when we got to WiseRock Town. It was a lot of walking, but we made it by late evening. Sean had already started to put Torchic to training. It wasn't like battling and stuff. He only made Torchic do like a million pull-ups with its scrawny chicken legs. Torchic did the exercise well too, maybe because it didn't want to fall on its ass as it did like a hundred times when it started. Sean just stared at Torchic, with this weird concentration in his red eyes. It was like a desire. The look made him seem like one of those old karate guys that put you through hell in training. It was awkward, especially for me. I couldn't take my eyes off Sean, and not for the usual, 'he's cute and sexy as hell' reason. I was confused and curious. "Why?" I asked. "Why're you putting him through training already?"

He didn't answer immediately, instead, the look in his eyes began to burn up, making the red seem to take over his eyeballs. "My dad always tells me, 'invest in something enough, and you'll reap the best rewards,' I believe that," Sean said, still looking at Torchic. The room fell silent. Only Torchic's occasional chirps could be heard. Sean turned his focus from Torchic, then put it on Snivey. Snivey was on my bed, fiddling with its leaves. Sean looked apprehensively at Snivey, and Snivey didn't seem to like it. Snivey got up and exited the room, that's when Sean seemed to go back to normal. "What's up with him?" He asked me. I shrugged. I had an idea of what was 'up' though, but I didn't want that weird version of Sean to come back. Snivey had left because Sean's staring was making him uncomfortable.

"Maybe he needed to use the bathroom," I said covering up. Sean nodded, then went back to looking at Torchic's exercise. Torchic was struggling then.

"Okay, that's enough," Sean said, helping Torchic off the railing. He cradled it into a hug then put it on the bed. "D'you wanna sleep in your Pokeball or with me?" Sean asked. 

With you of course! I thought. Damn! Why couldn't he have asked me that? 

Torchic chirped at Sean. Sean chuckled and curled up beside Torchic. "Jason, I'm gonna sleep now," Sean told me.

"Okay," I said. He looked at me as if he were waiting for something. "What?"

"I need the light to be OFF," he answered with attitude.

"Umm, okay then," I said. White boy didn't just put on a mouth and expect me to move. You might be cute, but I'll be petty as hell, you betta come right.

"So... Turn off the light."

"Not until Snivey gets back," I said, looking out the door to check if Snivey was there.

"Fine," he grumbled and folded himself inside his sheets, covering his face.

I waited a very long while for Snivey. He didn't come, and I was falling asleep. The last thing I did see was something like Snivey wobbling into my vision.

***

"He was what!?" I yell-asked the owner of the inn. "You were what!?" I turned and asked a guilty Snivey. The owner of the inn had just told me that Snivey was eating the berries in the kitchen for the whole night.

"Yes, Mr Shores, your Snivey did do all that, and I cannot allow this to be bypassed," the owner said, straightening his tie. I could do nothing but stare into the man's chubby face. I didn't have all the money to repay all those berries.

"What's up?" Sean said, walking towards the front counter where I stood, talking to the owner.

"This young man's Snivey consumed a large quantity of our berries and he can't pay for it," the man said, folding his arms.

"Really? You tell him this!" I said, "How d'you know if I even know this guy!? He could be some random person and you tell him my business!"

"When you came here, this young man bought a room for you both." The truth and plainness in his words made me shut up immediately. I felt so stupid.

"I'll cover it," Sean said, taking out his wallet.

I wanted to say thank you so many times to Sean, but after the last hundred, he begged me to stop. We were walking through the town, touring the place to get the feel of it. At least that's what Sean was doing, I was just following him. I really didn't know what to do. We passed a café and my heart sank.

I saw him. I saw that person again. That one guy that knew me, knew me better than anyone. The one that broke my heart, before he took it and washed with acidic hate!

Dre.

"Jason? Is that you, man?" His deep, heavy voice called to me. He walked over to us and then held his hand out to Sean. "Hey, I'm Dre," Dre said. Sean took his hand and greeted him. "Jason, wassup?!"

"What're you doing here?" I asked in shock. Dre's appearance was surprising. I hadn't seen him since like... Holy shit, it's been five years!

"Nice to see you too," he said, dragging me into a hug. A bro hug. A very long bro hug. And it was a close - really close hug. It was close, and tight and SQUEEZING MY INSIDES OUT! When he finally released, I felt like play-doh. I scanned Dre's figure in the short space of time he disregarded my immobility. His chocolate-dark skin seemed much darker than it had been, giving him a mature look. The same chocolate colour was in his big eyes, but lighter, inviting you to continue staring at him. And speaking of staring, his lips were irresistible! They were perfectly arched, perfectly coloured. His frame was taller than I remembered and much, much, much thicker and buffer than five years ago.

"What're you doing here?" I repeated, still confused by his presence.

Dre sighed and placed his hands unto of his bleached hair that was cut into
a low fade. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?"

"Wha-wha what d'you mean?" I asked him. I really didn't know what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry again, I was being a jerk," he said, "I should've just accepted you and never try to change you."

Now I remember. This guy broke my heart, destroyed our friendship and made me have to move! "You were, weren't you?" I asked, straightening my face. I wasn't always serious, but when I had to be, it was trouble. Dre's face began pleading for what I thought was forgiveness. "It's been five years, Dre, and I still feel like shit!"

"Hey, mind your language there," Sean told me, indicating that our Pokémon were there.

"Sorry," I said, calming down a bit. Dre began to beam as he looked from Snivey to me, then Snivey again.

"You got a Pokémon!" Dre exclaimed.

"Yeah, I am fifteen y'know," I said resentfully. Dre didn't seem to notice the indignation in my voice and just picked up Snivey. He spun Snivey around like a little baby. Luckily, Snivey didn't take easily to random people. Snivey slid out of Dre's hands and tackled him unto the ground. Dre got up, seemingly not fazed by the attack and smiled creepily.

"It's great!" Dre said. "You just got it didn't you?"

"Yeah," I said, a bit confused.

"That explains why it only used Tackle. You wanna see mine?" Dre asked, but before I could answer, he whistled a wicked melody. Two things ran up towards us, two... Pokémon? "Sean, Jason, meet Jason Quilava and Squirtle." The two Pokémon he introduced to us weren't normal Pokémon. The Jason Quilava wasn't like the regular weasle-looking fire-type Pokémon, it was as tall as any of us, and it had hands like us, and instead of having fire activating patches on his fur, it had fire-red hair, kinda like Sean's. The only difference was that Jason Quilava's hair didn't spike up, it lay flat in a fade, just like Dre's. The Squirtle however, looked like any normal Squirtle, the only difference with it was - it spoke!

"Hey!" Squirtle beamed.

"Hey," Sean said, acknowledging the two odd creatures.

"Yeah, they're my best two," Dre said, rubbing both their heads playfully. Squirtle laughed, but Jason Quilava's hair turned to fire! Dre quickly withdrew his hand. "This one has an attitude problem."

Jason Quilava rolled his eyes and spoke, "And I'm not gonna be his Pokémon for long."

Dre gasped, looking a little offended. "The federation said they weren't going to allow it until you've proven your complete independence."

His what now? Who now? How now? Dre went into his pocket and took out a Pokeball. "You don't wanna have to go back into the Pokeball d'ya?" Dre threatened.

Jason Quilava rolled this eyes then sighed, "No."

The little meet and greet continued with all of us walking all over the town. The place was full of rocks. Everywhere. You barely saw the bluegrass that peeked in between some rocks and pebbles. The people were nice though. But for some reason, they all owned rock-type Pokémon. The only things we didn't see where the WiseRock Gym and The WiseRock. "We'll look at them tomorrow, now, we need to train," Sean said.

"Train? Wait, you guys are planning on challenging WiseRock Gym?" Dre asked us. I nodded. Dre snickered. What's so funny?  "You guys just started, you can't challenge Damian. He'd pummel you." Now I remembered exactly how this guy was. Once a jerk, always a jerk. Sean didn't respond, which was strange. He's like the best trainer there is and he's just gonna stand there and let Dre insult him like that?

"Team, its worth a try," Sean said, gripping my wrist, I think to prevent my then balling fists from doing Dre any damage. "Let's go guys. It was nice meeting you, Dre," he said, as we all followed him.

I was baffled, I couldn't believe Sean let Dre belittle him like that. Me, I would understand. I had no expertise, no experience, no anything! But Sean was... like the best! We walked in silence. Sean walked, looking everywhere. For what? I don't know. We finally came to this open field. If you could call it that. The field barely had any grass. It was only dirt, and rocks, and dirt, and stones, and dirt, and pebbles, and uhh..... Dirt! The place was bordered by trees. Sean told me that was GizzForest. Haha, GizzForest. Sean stopped in the middle of the field and scanned the area with his eyes. I couldn't help but stare at his stature. Like I haven't done that before. Sean's eyes motioned around, the scarlet disks lightening and darkening in the sun. He stood straight, his tall body stagnant as the cool summer breeze blew steadily. His hair kept fidgeting on his head, the spikes rearranging themselves every few seconds. I still couldn't believe that this awesome, great, talented guy just let that jerk, Dre, diss him like that.

"I know what you're thinking," Sean said, a little over a whisper. His voice was low, if the wind hadn't carried it, I might not have heard. I stared at him, wanting him to explain. His eyes stopped and fell to the ground, and he hung his head. "You're wondering why I didn't tell him off when he said we couldn't beat the GymLeader, aren't you?"

"We-we-well ye-yeah," I stuttered. "I mean, you're an awesome trainer. You could beat him easily."

"My dad always says, it's better proven than claimed." I scratched my head, not knowing what he meant. He looked at me and sighed. "It means it's better to do something than to say you can do it." I meditated on the words and I was seriously mind-blown. "Anyway," Sean perked up with a dishonest smile, "If we're gonna get that GymBadge, we've gotta get the advantage." Again, I scratched my head.

"How d'you expect us to do that?" I asked. Sean stared at me like, really.

"Damian, the GymLeader, specializes in rock-type Pokémon. You already have an upper hand, because Snivey is a grass-type, and rock-types are weak against grass-types. But, we need more Pokémon, to build on our strategy." After Sean had finished speaking, I immediately felt my pants tightened. It sounded so sexy when he spoke like that. I would listen to his talks with older trainers day after day on his podcasts, talking about Pokémon and battling. He was just as he sounded on the tablet, fluent and passionate. Yup, I have a hard-on. Oh Arceus, I need help! 

Sean rolled his eyes at my blank gazing and turned around. "Problem is; there's no tall grass around here."

"So..." I tweeted, walking over to a rock on the ground. I pushed it and a Pokémon popped out of the ground, making me flinch and fall on the ground. The thing growled at me and I ran, like a man, of course. It's not like I was screaming like a little bitch with my draws in a bunch.

Don't judge me.

Sean snickered at me then ran over to the creature. He drew out his Pokédex and it booted up with a lot of whirring. 'Diglet, the disembodied ground-type Pokémon. Diglet-' the tablet was cut off by the appearance of another Pokémon. It was a water-type. It was a Poliwag, I could tell by it's rubbery skin and lack of arms. Unlike the usual shy tadpole, this Poliwag aggressively attacked Sean. I don't know, as if by instinct I commanded Snivey to tackle the Poliwag. Snivey hit it successfully, but it recovered quickly and used water gun on him. Snivey winced a bit but recovered quickly too. "Snivey, I want you to try something!" I yelled. "See that boulder?" I said indicating a tall boulder behind the Poliwag. Snivey nodded. "I want you to climb it, and tackle the Poliwag from above." Surprisingly, Snivey followed me immediately, jumping over the Pokémon.

"Torchic, scratch!" I heard Sean. After, I heard the Diglet groan in pain. Then something else grabbed my attention, Snivey shouted from above. He charged straight for the Poliwag, who didn't seem to know where he was. I could see Snivey's energy streak down its sinewy body, and his eyes closed tightly. 

Crash!

Snivey tackled the Poliwag hard into the ground. Poliwag was completely unconscious. "You're supposed to catch it now," Sean said. A smile planted across his face. Torchic was on his shoulder, and he had a Pokeball in his hand. He must've caught the Diglet. I searched in my backpack for a Pokeball. I clumsily dropped it a couple times, trying to throw it. Sean laughed at me, then came over to me. "Here, let me help you, bro," Sean said. He walked over to me, then stood behind me, holding my right arm that had the Pokeball in it. His hand was oddly soft, for a guy like him I expected much rougher hands. He guided mine over my head. "It's like throwing a ball," he said, in a low whisper. The sound made my hair stand on end. It was affecting my already failing systems. His fingers ran down my forearm, then roughly jerked my arm, making the Pokeball spiral out unto the Poliwag. Red energy escaped the Pokéball and pulled the Pokémon inside it. After squirming a bit, the Pokeball made the ding sound that signified that the Pokémon was successfully caught. "And that's how it's done," Sean said behind me, his warm breath, crawling down my neck and sending a chill down my spine. A very nice chill. Sean withdrew himself from me and went for the Pokéball, and then he gave me. He smiled at me. Beautyflies, Butterfrees, all types of bugs in me flying around. I can't understand this little feeling, this tingle in my chest.

'Pokédex Reboot: Snivey is now capable of performing a new move; Vine Whip.' My Pokedex informed. Snivey looked at me with excitement, moving about frantically. Vines grew from its upper back, and slung at the boulder behind him, leaving a deep indent.

"Alright, Snivey!" I cheered, lifting my Pokémon. We squealed together, but Snivey quickly gnashed his teeth and whipped me to put him down. He folded his arms and turned his back at me. Sean fought back a chuckle, but I glared daggers at him before he dared to.

'Pokedex Reboot: Torchic is now capable of performing a new move; Ember.' Sean's Pokedex said. Sean smiled a bit, then looked at Torchic. Torchic opened his beak, and flames escaped unto the ground. "That's what I'm talking bout!" Sean said, high-three-ing Torchic. 

'Pokedex Reboot' Our devices said in unison, 'New data analysis: Pokémon humanoid detection.'

Sean gasped, while I scratched my head. "What does that mean?" I asked him.

"The Pokémon we just caught are 'special' too, like Jason Quilava," he explained.

'Diglet has learned a new move; Growl,' his Pokédex informed.

"Oh, nice. It says here, it already knows Scratch and Sand-Attack."

"Show-off," I muttered and turned away from him. I walked in the direction of the inn, Snivey using its vines to hoist itself unto my shoulder. "Oh, softening up to me, are we?" I beamed at the grass-type, but he huffed and chose to turn up his nose at me.

"Jason! Wait up," Sean said, running up behind me. When he caught his breath he said, "you jealous?" He nudged my arm teasingly, and I (tried) to push him away.

The time flew when we reached, and before we knew it, we were in bed, Snivey and Torchic by our sides. We'd brought Poliwag and Diglet to be healed, and they were in their Pokeballs.
"You ready for tomorrow?" I asked Sean.

"No."

"Me neither, my first real Pokémon battle."

"What about the one we had!" He exclaimed, sounding hurt.

"Too easy," I lied.

He threw a pillow at me and I returned the favour. This continued until the room was full of fluff. "Night, bro."

"Night," I said, snuggling Snivey's smooth, leafy skin. He was already asleep, so he didn't protest. I slowly shut my eyes, the image of Sean the last thing I saw. That red devil.