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

Chapter 50: A Little Inspiration...

The lobby of the Pokemon Centre was silent, other than the occasional work of Nurse Joy in the background. A serene area, where a few Pokemon ran about without any intervention from any other person than Nurse Joy. It was early in the morning, so it should be expected that it was almost completely empty, but just as the clock reached eight, Ellie, Lucas and Harry all walked down the stairs. They were all united with the goal to train on Jagged Pass. Harry wanted to improve his team's power before his battle against Flannery, while Ellie and Lucas both wanted their newest Pokemon to begin to listen more, rather than being as stubborn as they were previously. And, since Flannery was supposed to be on Jagged Path often to practice for gym battles, they hoped to meet her when she got up there at around midday.

"Are we not waiting for Seijo?", Harry asked, curious as to why he was being left behind.

"He said he wanted to sleep in last time I saw him.", Ellie commented, "Besides, he won't mind if we're gone for a bit to train our Pokemon."

"Only if you take all the blame if something ends up going wrong.", Harry said with a smirk, which Ellie answered back with a nod. Lucas then decided to take the lead, walking to the automatic doors and shouting,

"Then let's move, people! We want to train for as long as possible, so we should get there as early as possible as well!"

The duo of Harry and Ellie nodded, and they all ran through the lobby. And, within ten minutes, they were in Jagged Path. A scorched and steep land with cable cars flying overhead, and a few caves engraved into the steeply sloped land. But, it was perfect for training, especially with the abundance of Pokemon that lived around the area. And, there wouldn't be any trainers to contest their area and steal any Pokemon from them to battle. Or, at least, that's what they thought.

In fact, there was a trainer in the short grass that Harry could spot to the side. They were throwing out any assortment of moves against any Pokemon or landscape that could bear to take the hits. And, as soon as Lucas and Ellie were told, they began to move closer, until they could recognise the person standing in front of them. It was none other than the Lavaridge Gym Leader, Flannery, fighting against a Machop with a flurry of powerful Fire attacks.

"Overheat!", Flannery commanded her Torkoal, who let loose a spout of flames from the back of its shell. The flames were initially blocked by Machop but then began to suffocate the Pokemon with their frequency, eventually leading to its downfall. Flannery did a small fist pump and then felt the trio's gaze upon her and asked,

"What are you guys doing here so early?"

"We could ask you the same thing.", Harry replied as he folded his arms.

"Well, I left at seven last night, so I just haven't went back home."

"You've been up here for thirteen hours?!?", Ellie asked with severe shock, as the bags beneath her eyes now became apparent when the sun shone on her face. Flannery laughed awkwardly and asked,

"It's been that long? Well, I was never good at maths, couldn't work that out myself."

"Shouldn't you get some rest?"

"Come on, what sort of gym leader sleeps in?"

"Well, Seijo does. He's doing it right now.", Ellie answered quite bluntly, and Flannery finally understood who the people in front of her were.

"Oh, so you're the trainers that are travelling with Seijo!"

"Well, they are.", Harry said as he pointed to Lucas and Ellie, then at himself, "I'm travelling by myself, mostly."

"Oh, well that's great! I should ask for your names really."

"I'm Lucas. Nice to meet you!"

"Harry's my name."