Pokémon: Leah's Journey {Rewrite}

Chapter 36: Thunderstruck... Quite Literally

Leah and her friends were sitting in the Pokémon Center, enjoying their breakfast when Spectre and Vespidae eventually decided to join them. Their Pokémon followed them, a look of concern was visible on their faces. The siblings sat at the table with the group, Vespidae spoke up, "I'd like to apologize to all of you for not mentioning anything about our parents' doings before it got to this point."

"You have no reason to apologize for this." Leah stated, then she tilted her head, "My question is, did you know about Mrs. Cuddletails?"

Upon hearing her name from Leah, Mrs. Cuddletails looked up from her bowl of food with her ears perked up. Spectre shook his head. Vespidae simply sighed, "I had a feeling that she might have been the notorious Vulpix that escaped, but I wasn't sure for certain."

"You say 'notorious' as though she was the only one that managed to escape." Adeline pointed out.

"Because she was." Spectre signed, "Ever since she escaped, they made sure the enclosures were secure enough to prevent another escape."

"We saw that you had a Vulpix and you told us that you trained under Gurkinn alongside Korrina so we figured that if we kept testing your strength, maybe one day we'd all be able to stop our parents. I just didn't think it'd be so soon."

"We can't change what's been done. Best to look forward and work towards a better future." Leah finished her breakfast, "I'm going to challenge Clemont's gym, y'all are free to come watch."

Mildred and Zayn followed their friend. Adeline shrugged and went after them. Spectre didn't hesitate, he followed Leah with child-like excitement, leaving his older sister alone. Vespidae decided to go with them, preferring to not be left alone. It was Bonnie that greeted them at the base of the Prism Tower, "You came back! And your Vulpix evolved!" The little girl was practically vibrating with joy as she pet Mrs. Cuddletails who was happy with the attention, "She's so beautiful and soft!"

Leah smiled, "We came to challenge the gym."

"Will Ninetales be battling?" Bonnie asked, giving Leah puppy-dog eyes.

Leah shook her head, "She's had a rather stressful day yesterday, I'd rather not push her too hard."

"Oh okay," Bonnie looked a little saddened, but she perked up just as quickly, "C'mon! I'll take you to my brother. He's working on something, but I'm sure he won't mind battling you."

Bonnie led them to an elevator and they ascended to the top of the Prism Tower where the arena was. True to her words, Clemont was in fact working on some kind of invention. Whether it will blow up in his face or not is up for debate. His Luxray was watching him work with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. Dahlia jumped out of Adeline's arms to bat at the Luxray's swishing, star-shaped tail. He looked up from his invention, "Bonnie! What did I tell you about walking in here when I'm working?"

"You have a challenger, Big Brother."

The moment his invention blew up, which was in no part helped by the two felines running about behind him, Clemont finally took notice of Leah, "You're Vulpix's trainer."

"Just call me Leah." Leah told him.

"Right, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leah."

Leah nodded, "Likewise."

Adeline picked up Dahlia and made her way to the side of the arena to watch. Mildred soon followed with Lady Lemeow walking beside her with an elegant strut. Vespidae and Spectre shrugged and followed the two girls. Zayn was the only one who stayed behind to give Leah a hug. He then elegantly spun her and brought her towards him. They shared a quick kiss before Zayn walked to the side of the arena to watch the battle.