Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 24: The Rustboro Rumble!

"Here it is!", Seijo exclaimed as they finally reached the border of Rustboro. Lucas and Ellie followed close behind, excited at the prospect of the new town. But, Lucas's Pokeball wobbled in his pocket, reminding him of his need to check up on his Pokemon first. They continued walking, but Lucas still decided to search up the location of the Pokemon Centre, just to get there as soon as possible. Ellie peeked over his shoulder to see what he was searching for, then looked straight ahead.

"There's no need to search for where the Pokemon Centre is, Lucas.", she said as she pointed in the direction of the Pokemon Centre. It wasn't extremely noticeable, but from looking at it again, Lucas began to question how he didn't see it before.

"Thanks, Ellie.", Lucas said awkwardly, trying to hide his slight embarrassment. Ellie noticed it through the blush in his cheeks, but decided not to say anything about it, simply responding,

"Well, we're not going to get there quickly enough at this pace.", she said as she began to walk faster. Lucas matched it easily, as did Seijo, and in no time they were already comfortably stood outside of the Pokemon Centre. The automatic doors flew open, revealing the most crowded and busy Pokemon Centre that they'd seen in a while. Nurse Joy's desk was getting overwhelmed with a flurry of people, so much so that there was a second Nurse Joy, a young boy stood off the side assisting a few people.

"Does anyone know why its this busy?", Lucas asked the group and Ellie had absolutely no idea what could have possibly caused the influx in people. But, Seijo was ready with a guess,

"I think there's supposed to be an expedition match at the Rustboro Gym. I was invited, but I knew that I wasn't strong enough to stand up to any of the other gym leaders."

"So, the exhibition matches are between gym leaders? That sounds awesome!", Lucas exclaimed, but Ellie seemed slightly reluctant.

"Sounds like a lot of people though. If there are this many people in this Pokemon Centre, just imagine how busy it'll be in there."

"I suppose. And, tickets will definitely be sold out by now.", Lucas said, slightly disappointed but accepting of the fact that he wouldn't be able to do it. He just thought

"Maybe next time."

Then, a shout suddenly came from behind the desk,

"Next please!"

Lucas walked over towards the desk with Ellie and Seijo behind him, handing Shroomish's and Torchic's Pokeball to Nurse Joy. Then, Ellie and Seijo both placed their Pokeballs on the counter and the boy took the Pokeballs into the back without saying a word. Then, a person came out of the crowd and looked up at Seijo,

"Wait, you're the Petalburg Gym leader!", the small girl shouted out to the rest of the Pokemon Centre, which quickly caught everyone's attention. Soon, everyone was scrambling around to meet Seijo, much to the trio's dismay. Seijo managed to hold the first wave off but knew that Lucas and Ellie shouldn't be bothered like this for nothing, especially considering they were already getting looks from the wave of people. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three tickets. Ellie quickly grabbed them, as Seijo said to them calmly,

"Just go to the Rustboro Gym. I was going to surprise you with these when we got there, but I suppose this is as good at time as any."

Lucas stared starry-eyed at the tickets, which were VIP tickets, addressed to him and two guests. He looked up to Seijo and shouted,

"Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, you're welcome. Just, get out of here before it gets too crowded!"

Ellie grabbed Lucas by the arm, clutching the tickets in another hand, and they dashed out of the Pokemon Centre. Lucas managed to balance after the sudden pull from Ellie and started to run at pace with her. He looked to her and asked,