*Author's note* This chapter is one of DanielPettingale's so please thank him for this one and if you like it go check out his own works on his account. *
“OK Ralts use teleport,” Dan ordered. It was mid-morning, two days after his encounter with Sanger and he had spent most of the time in Slateport City, having been given another lift across the sea by Mr. Briney. Out on the beach, in a little space clear of umbrellas and tourists, Dan had spent almost every free moment since his arrival training using a new technique that he had devised: first, Ivysaur would use vine whip and Dan would hold its vines taught, turning them into a sort of trip wire; Ralts would then take a position about two feet in front of this wire and face a headbutt from Mareep. At the last possible second, it would teleport onto Mareep’s back and Mareep would jump the vines and land on its feet on the far side. It had taken a few tries to get right, but eventually, they were able to carry the trick out flawlessly five times in a row.
“Perfect, well done,” said Dan, with some enthusiasm but in a perfectly steady voice. All three of the Pokémon smiled before disappearing in a flash of red back into their Poke Balls. With his training done, the main thought in Dan’s mind now was moving on. He had felt distaste to Slateport as soon as he had arrived there, and the constant presence of tourists in bathing costumes out here on the beach along with the noise and smell of the city had already made him hate the place. He made his way back up the beach, consciously averting his gaze from a number of beach-goers, who were just beginning to arrive.
“Ah welcome back, I was wondering where you’d gone,” said Nurse Joy with a friendly smile as Dan approached her: “out training again were you?”
“Yes. Sadly, when it’s full of half-dressed idiots who just want to lie around all day, the beach rather loses its charm,” replied Dan grimly: “how are they looking?”
“They’re just fine,” smiled Joy: “you should give them some rest though; you’ve been doing a lot of training lately.”
“I will,” replied Dan calmly, “I’ll be moving on soon though. Where is there near here?”
“Well the next city along the road is Mauville,” replied Joy, “If you leave soon, you should get there by tomorrow evening. Then it depends where you want to go.”
“That’s OK. Thank you,” said Dan.
Behind Nurse Joy’s counter was an escalator, and beyond that a passage leading to a number of rooms, presumably meant for waiting rooms for trainers with seriously injured Pokémon being treated. In one of these, to Dan’s delight, stood a piano, just like the one in Rustboro by which his Bulbasaur had evolved after his battle with Roxanne.
“OK, come on out,” said Dan aloud, releasing all three of his Pokémon at once. The three of them appeared blinking and looking around confusedly around the room, presumably expecting to see the beach again and to immediately start training. “Don’t worry, we’re not training for the moment,” smiled Dan, looking down at Ralts in particular: “Ralts, you haven’t heard me yet, have you? Come on.” With that, he sat down at the piano and began to play. The three Pokémon gathered around, each with their mouth slightly open and all of them listening intently, Ralts in particular. So the group remained until Dan was suddenly distracted by a white glow from the floor. Missing the key, he lost the tune and stopped playing, peering round the edge of the piano to search for the source of the light. He was just in time to see Mareep’s glowing body grow and stand upright on two legs. Almost before he had realised what was happening, a Flaafy stood before him on its hind legs, giving a high-pitched bleat. Ralts was almost bouncing with joy and Ivysaur’s mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. Dan smiled too, reaching down and patting Flaafy gently on its head. “Time to go, I think,” he murmured, rising from his seat.
