CHAPTER I - Minor Disturbances

''Sorry if I look like I am withholding any sympathy but I got hurt pretty bad.'' Tyler makes his bandaged arm visible. ''well how about you Seth? Don't you want to know what her incredibly important reason was? Although'' Tyler said thoughtfully, ''Tom raises a good point. But why couldn't you at least help? My newfound friends and I had to deal with the situation all on our own.''

"Whitney." Seth said calmly. "We managed to safely secure the area from this particular disaster. We four did most of the work ourselves, and next time, we might not be there. There might be some trainers that would run off and help the town as we did, but on the other hand, it might not!" Seth then inhaled slowly to calm his tone. "I know you alone might not have doused this, but it certainly would've helped if you at least were there." He looked at her expression. She looked surprised and disgusted by their words. "I think you should try and at least help out if something else happens. Okay?"
Vela had been walking around the party while they were talking, feeling the tension towards Whitney, and staring at her with her big red eyes.

"As if YOU can tell me what to do!", Whitney snorted and walked into the gym again, leaving the group baffled. She turned around a last time. "And YOU'RE still not gonna get my job!" She disappeared and locked the door.

"Oh, this...", Meadow threw a silent tantrum and then sighed. "I guess you see why I didn't want to t..." Suddenly, her Xreceiver ringed. "Hello? Yes. Yes. Of course. Yeah, I'll tell them. Bye." She put away the phone again. "The hearing is tomorrow morning. I suggest we split up, do what we need to, and meet tonight at the Pokemon Center. Room 213, don't forget." She waved and walked off towards an alley, where she disappeared between the buildings. She needed some time alone, she knew that much. Gwen flew behind her, chirping happily.

[Aaand I'm off to Gamescom! Feel free to visit stuff inside the city (please don't go anywhere else). I'll be posting again Friday evening if everything goes according to plan. Please be inside the Pokemon Center Room or on the way there when I return Have fun! See you Friday!]

''Well umm.'' Tyler said after a long silence. Meadow had gone and, yet another silence passed before he said ''Hold on what? Meadow wanted her job?'' He said, confused. ''when she gets back I have to find out what she meant... Until then, with the doors firmly shut here we should go and see some sights''

''who is with me?'' Tyler asked. ''The places available for sightseeing are; The underground and its contents, The radio tower, the Goldenrod Department Store and the Game Corner.... Did I miss any? We could split up or go together. Definitely need items so the Dept Store is a Priority for me.''

He looked as Whitney replied to the group ~well, typical..almost..~ he thought to himself ~take my job...does meadow plan to become a normal type gym leader? that's wierd..~ he kept thinking and suddenly he notice meadow walking away, before he got a chance to say something.
He didnt say anything until Tyler started spoke.
Tom looked at Tyler "sure I'll come with you, I kinda prefer to be someone right now" he said and smiled.

Baffled by Whitney's rudeness, Seth just stood still for a while.
He then turned to Tyler with a response to his question. "I'd really like to go to the Game Corner." He then thought for a while. "Yeah that's where I'm off, you can come with me if you'd like, or if you'd prefer, just go someplace else." Seth then patted Vela on the head as he waited for a response, she purred with delight.

The trio walked down the street and arrived in the department store. ''Guys do ye want to Stock up on items or are ye fine? I need to conserve my cash for places like moomoo farms too, I'll just get some burn heals and super potions. Hmmm.'' Tyler said as he scanned the pokemon merchandise. ''See I always buy burn heals to be mindful of others' pokemon if i happen to burn them. Fire is a powerful force. It can hurt and should be respected.''

Tyler lined up in the queue ''Fellows I'm going to just go to check out this stuff. Where to next?''

"moomoo milk...I might get a discount on those for us" Tom winked "also, I dont really mind where we'll go, I am just sticking along" Tom said "sadly, I didnt get a chance to talk to the gym leader, but that's ok!" he said "anyway you guys can choose" he smiled

Seth also bought some super potions at the mart, then after they stood outside he turned towards the game corner. "Alright I'm going to the game corner!" Slightly storming off he went.
Inside there was music booming from the roof, people were laughing and some of the adults were even drinking. Seth walked forward and sat down to play a game of Voltorb flip. Vela was walking around looking at the people. She didn't like these people, most of them were ridiculously loud and over-cheerful, almost at the brink of weird. After strolling around she saw a young girl who was sitting towards the wall. She walked up to her and sat down in front of her looking into her eyes.
"Who are you?" The little girl asked. Vela answered with a small and calm howl. "My name is Linda, my father sits over there, playing." She pointed towards the end of the room. Vela looked at the man, he was sitting on a tall chair in front of the machine while holding one glass in his left hand. A woman with a tray came up to him and talked to him. He then said something back and pointed away.
"He often comes here, and I have to wait for him to get done..." The little girl said and Vela turned back her head towards her. Vela sat and put her paw on the girls toes for a while, then leaning forward and bonking her head against the little girls. Linda started laughing and patted Vela on the head. "I wish I could have a pokemon like you." She said and looked at the purring Absol.
Meanwhile Seth had played a few games and saved up to 360 coins. "Alright that is enough for me I think." He then walked up to the price counter. "So do you have any pokemon here today?" "We got the usual." The guy responded with a small annoyed tone. "Well what do I get for 360 coins?" Seth then asked. "Well only an Abra." The guy said now with e definite annoyed tone. "Alright I'll have that one Abra then."
As the man gave him a pokeball Seth thought about this place and what it's doing, he didn't like the idea at all. Pokemon shouldn't be prices and be played for, but better get this one on the team then letting it be stuck here. If Seth had his way he'd take all the pokemon the guy had, but he couldn't do that.
After the purchase Seth walked around looking for Vela, he then saw her sitting by the little girl, she looked about 7 years old. The little girl was patting Vela and was also laughing. "I believe you found a new friend." He said to Vela as he came up to them both. The girl immediately shook off her laughter and looked into the floor hiding her face. "Oh I didn't mean to scare you." He said and sat down in front of her, the girl didn't move. "This is Vela, she is my faithful Absol, she is the most friendly Absol there is." He said smiling patting her head, the little girl was now looking carefully up against Seth. "If you scratch her right here.." He then pointed towards Vela's back. "..she loves it!" The little girl now looked at Vela which was looking at her, she thought it smiled at her even though her facial muscles wasn't moving. She put her hand on her back and scratched where Seth had said to. Vela immediately closed her eyes and let out a appreciative purr combined with a bark. She started to move her leg as if it was her scratching her back. "She just get crazy!" Said said and laughed. The little girl was smiling now and Seth saw a little chuckle.
After a while of sitting there scratching and patting Vela Seth said: "Alright Vela, we have to go. I have something to show you." He and Vela stood up and he took a few steps then turned towards the little girl who had stood up and was looked at Vela. "What is your name?" Seth said and smiled. She hesitated, but then let out a small stuttering squeak, "m...m...my name... is Linda." Seth looked at her smiling, and then she started to smile too. "Nice to meet you Linda, my name is Seth. I hope we meet again." He then walked out of the game corner with Vela.

Tyler waited outside the game corner. He was trying to save his money and gambling would be too tempting if he saw the flashy lights and prizes. He always found it peculiar how they let twelve year olds plus gamble away their savings without limits.

As the duo waited for Seth, Tyler let his pokemon out of their pokeballs. Shamo was looking much more energetic than usual. ''I really think she is going to evolve once she masters double kick.. OH! Yes that's right. As I was fighting the Houndour she was cornered and, with her last bit of strength somehow forced herself to learn Double kick. I'm so proud of her.'' Tyler said to Tom with a beaming smile.

As Seth exited the building Tyler said ''So would you like to go in and gamble Tom, or are you like me in the fact that you want to save your money? Also how lucky were you Seth? what did you get? Anything interesting happen?''

Tom looked at him "I am not gonna gamble, but I'll come inside too" he said "I dont feel very happy with people who use pokemon as prizes here.." he said a bit angryly but calmed down.
"and about Shamo, if you want I can help you train" he said "Vivi need a little warm up".
Then he looked at Seth "what's up?" he asked him.

Seth stood beaming at the two guys. "I actually got myself a new pokemon." With their surprised look he then quickly said "... I actually don't agree with them using pokemons this way, but I figured I'd get one away from there and raise it as my own." He then stood and thought for a minute, thinking that he kinda just did things he didn't believe in, as having pokemon as prices. But he then took out the pokeball and released the newly obtained Abra. The Abra was quite small for an Abra, but still quite muscular if you could call them that, it was sturdy for it's size. It sat calmly on the ground.... and woke up from it's sleep that it had enjoyed in the warm pokeball. "Hello there little guy." Seth said calmly to it. "My name is Seth and this is Vela. And this is Tom and Tyler." He said as the Abra was curiously looking at the two of them. "I hope you're gonna enjoy it with us." The Abra gave a long yawn, looking as if this change of scenery didn't bother it at all." Vela had looked curiously at the small Abra at first but now she was as calm as the Abra. "So what should I call you?" Seth then said to him. "What about... Steve?" He said and thought of this lazy guy called Steve from Fortree City. Steve yawned once more, not caring what Seth called him, and gave a small nudge towards his pokeball which Seth still hold in his hand. "Oh? You want to go to sleep? Alright, well I hope we can be friends." He said as he returned him into his ball. "Seems like I got a quite lazy one." He said and smiled. "I still hope he has it better with me than at the price counter."

''No thanks for now'' Tyler said in response to Tom's question. ''I think I will let her develop for now... on her own.''

As Seth showed them the Abra, Steve, Tyler was happy with the new member and also that he was taken away from that horrible place. He thought of his own new pokemon. In truth he was scared to let it out. He was forced to capture him as 3 houndour were all his pokemon could manage. ''Guys... I have a new pokemon too but...'' He trailed off, put his left hand on his injured arm and sighed. Finally he decided that he could handle whatever was going to happen next. ''I mean do ye want to meet him?''

Vela watched uneasily at Tyler as he asked them to show his new pokemon, she did not know why she wasn't coping with it. She gave a small howl. Seth on the other hand ignored her as his eagerness of new pokemon took over. "Oh yes of course! I'd love to meet your new pokemon!" He said and beamed.

Tom nodded as he got his answer and looked at the abra, remaining silent.
As Tyler asked if they want to meet his new pokemon, Tom looked at him "he's wild..so I'll just advice you to be ready, we dont know how violent he can get, espcially if he was caught unwillingly" Tom told him.

''OK, Smokey, Shamo, Buster at the ready!'' Tyler wanted to prepare for the worst. 'Eevee's anticipation made it shudder'. ''I think I will call him ... Grim. Ye will see just WHY in a moment.''

''OK here goes nothing...'' Tyler threw the pokeball, releasing the Houndour.

A loud, viscous 'Roar' omitted from the Houndour. The sound echoed and could be heard over half the district, even with the bustling crowed. ''Yep, that'll be the Roar attack I know him for'' Tyler said painfully. Buster hid behind Tyler's leg. The houndour barked and then stared at the group. Immediately The houndour's most Prominent feature became very noticeable. He had frightening yellow eyes that, if one could imagine looking at death, this would come pretty close.

''So how do you like your nickname Grim?'' Tyler decided to start things on a friendly note. Grim snarled and went for Tyler as if to finish the job. Shamo, seemingly full of bravery dashed and intercepted the Houndour with a double kick. ''GUYS! Don't fight!'' Grim went for Shamo this time, ignoring his new trainer's orders only to be stopped by Smokey and his rock solid defensive stance. ''As your trainer I command you to stop!'' Grim, looking a little well, shellshocked after his collision went into a confused rage. Tyler shook his head. ''Ah what will I do with this one?'' Tyler called Grim back into his pokeball.

''Well it could have gone worse?'' Tyler said with a grimance.

After the shocking events of Grim's appearance Seth stood baffled. He wasn't expecting this at all which made him quite embarrassed. Vela had stood growling in front of Seth waiting for a command, but didn't get one.
"Woah that was a quite... extraordinary experience. I think he'll calm down in time." Seth kneed down to Vela and whispered "I should really listen to you more often." She agreed with a bonk on his head. He smiled and stroke her neck and scratched her short fur.

Meadow returned to the Pokemon Center as soon as it started to get dark. She had no Pokemon with her and started to walk up the stairs. She was still stomping a little but she felt that her temper had cooled a little. She was still pretty annoyed, but she wouldn't yell at anyone who looked at her the wrong way. Sighing, she pushed the door to Room 213 open. All the beds were empty except the below at the window. A leather backpack was lying on it, marking the bed as her own. Meadow climbed on it and opened the window wide. She could see the sunset from her spot. She released Yuuta und Gwen who sat down on the sill happily. Then Fiera came out of her Pokeball. She saw it was getting dark, so she let herself be petted by her trainer and sat down in the corner next to the bed-head.
Meadow removed her vest and blouse, then only wearing a white tank top over her leggings. She hang the clothes over the bedframe and then took off her boots, putting them next to the bed. Once she felt comfortable, she jumped on the bed and looked out the window with her birds.

At first Tyler was speechless, shaken by the event. After Seth spoke he finally said ''Well isn't he just a charming fellow'' Tyler said with a surprisingly upbeat tone considering what happened. ''He BETTER warm up... So It's kinda getting dark. I bet Meadow is at the room already.''I propose we go back to the pokemon center...'' Tyler recalled his pokemon except for Buster whom he normally carried around with him for company. ''Smokey, Shamo return! You can come out now Buster.'' Buster came out from behind Tyler's leg cautiously. ''So guys let's go.''

Tom sighed because of what happened with the houndour "it will take time" he said, mostly to himself and looked at the skies "yeah I guess we should head back" he said and then looked at sophie and hold her in his hands "go to sleep dear" he told her softly and smiled, she smiled back and closed her eyes. (if you could see them, anyway)
Tom looked at Tyler and Seth, ready to walk when they are.

The group walked to the pokemon center, discussing random things. As they walked in the door of the pokemon center Tyler inquired ''Yo so what's the procedure with our pokemon? Do we put their pokeballs somewhere or do they stay in the room with us? I usually camp see.'' Buster hopped on to a table and then on to Tyler's shoulder. ''Well I don't see any reason for them not to be able to stay with us'' he said as he walked in room 213. He immediately saw a viable answer to his question. Down on the floor slept this gargantuan metal bird that Tyler knew as Meadow's Fiera. A thought came to him, if everyone's pokemon were out the room would be incredibly crowded.

''Yo Meadow'' he said walking in the door. ''Did we keep you waiting?'' He said with a smile. There WAS an ulterior motive behind his smile. He wanted to know what the deal was with her and Whitney. He would try to find the right moment to ask her.

Tyler took a bed by a window ''I call dibs on this one!!'' Tyler said in a childish voice. He is only a LITTLE younger than the rest but it was becoming more noticeable despite his advanced maturity in other areas for his age. He could thank his mentor for his maturity.

"Nah, I've not been here for long", Meadow said while still looking out the window. Gwen chirped to greet the trainers when they came in but quickly turned her attention outside as well. "Did anything special happen?", Meadow asked and stretched before she inquiringly looked at the rest of the group.

Tom took one of the last 2 beds that remain.
"Nothing special" he said ~well..yet...~ he thought to himself, putting Sophie on the bed and cover her small body in the blanket.
Tom sighed and then turned to the other trainers "tommrow is the hearing huh...ok, well, it's gonna be a bit tough..so everyone should tell them the same thing, dont skip even 1 detail, even if it seems unecessary, we gotta let them know first and know that WE werent the ones who set the pack on a rampa-" he suddenly stop ~but..who WERE the ones that did it? no..it cant be 'them'...highly unlikely, maybe a trainer? but..a whole pack...hmm..~ he kept thinking, doesnt noticing he havent finished his sentence.

Tyler waited but when nothing else came from Tom's mouth he said playfully, ''You OK there Tom?'' Noticing the look on his face that was unsuited to the mood he thought to himself 'Did I misread the mood? I seem to do that a lot.' Making his tone serious he said ''Tom, I agree with you. From my four years of travelling I know that the world is FULL of trainers that just want to create trouble to ease boredom.''

Speaking to Seth he said happily ''Luckily none of us are those types of trainers, my Eevee can usually tell. Seth I guess the other ones yours.'' He pointed to the remaining bed.

Then, facing Meadow he said ''Well! Meadow, my Houndour has made an impression on us, and possibly the windows of nearby buildings.... For that reason, among others I called him Grim.'' After that lighthearted piece of information he switched tones back to his usual friendly tone and decided to inquire about Meadow affiliation with Whitney. ''So, Meadow I understand that you had a run in with Whitney earlier?''

Seth was patting the sitting Absol while Tyler talked to him and pointed at the last free bed. "Oh right." He said and walked over to it and laid down. He started thinking of home, of his father. He looked at Vela who was laying down beside his bed with her eyes shut, he could see her chest move up and down in a soothing rhythm.
He then turned into the conversation the others were having. "Yeah Meadow, I'd like to know what happened between you and Whitney too." He then brushed his hand through his hair and let the arm rest under his head. "But you don't have to tell if you don't want too, I'm just curious."