Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 36: Sign

Rustie couldn't sleep. When she sat up, she saw an open Poké Ball at the foot of her sleeping bag. Raboot was gone.

Salazzle and Serperior were awake, too. They sensed something, after being with their Trainer for so long, that no-one else could. Their eyes narrowed. They glared at Rustie. Maybe Chalcedony wasn't asleep. She didn't stir even when Dirk's snoring woke Zileh. Rustie crawled out of the tent. She had to find Raboot. She couldn't just let it run away.

She didn't have to walk far. Raboot sat on a rock, staring glumly up at the crescent moon. A concerned family of Numel surrounded it. Rustie sat amongst them.

'Do you want to go back, Raboot?'

Raboot ignored her. The Numel didn't exactly look angry. They looked suspicious. Was it not just about the trade, but what Rustie couldn't bring herself to admit to Chalcedony? Yet surely Wyatt would be fine. He was strong enough to beat Lyndon. Like all Gym Leaders, he used a weaker team for Gym battles, but if he didn't keep his strongest Pokémon close by, he was a little silly.

But it's not just about that... it's that she kept her word even when it hurt her, but I couldn't stop myself blurting that out to Jet... maybe that's why Raboot hates me. Pokémon sense these things...

Rustie returned Raboot to its Poké Ball. It burst immediately out and returned to its Numel friends. She didn't know what to do. She returned to the tent to gently shake Chalcedony. Zileh and Golbat giggled at a video of a drunken Wes dancing on her P★DA.

'Chalcedony...?'

'I promised.'

Zileh cast her P★DA aside. 'Just take him back, Chalcedony.'

'I'm working on my promises.'

'But Chalcedony... I'm not perfect.'

'No-one is.'

Bagon clung to its new Trainer. It admittedly stung Rustie that she dreamed of the Gym Challenge all her life, studying until she knew almost everything there was to know about Pokémon; yet Chalcedony just waltzed back into Orre and even Bagon didn't want to leave her...

Rustie never learned to hide her emotions. She didn't need to in her strange, but sheltered upbringing. Zileh read her face like a book.

'It's not personal. Chalcedony has been a Trainer for, like, 15 years. That's longer than I've been alive!'

Yeah, but she only had a pet Salandit that held an Everstone for edge value...

Maybe it was Chalcedony's acting experience that read even Rustie's silence.

'I would've caught more Pokémon. But my mom had five. Dad had two. They couldn't afford to feed more. I couldn't afford to feed more until I got tips from stripping. Zileh's right. It's just experience. It's not personal. I couldn't be a Trainer, but I loved my little Salandit. Trust me.'

That seemed a very 'Alfie' thing to say. He insisted he 'couldn't' be a professional Trainer. Rustie wasn't thinking straight. She was upset. She felt inadequate. Maybe a shared feeling of discomfort was how she could connect with Raboot. She returned to the circle of Numel to sit in silence. Her P★DA buzzed in her pocket. Why was her mom calling her at 3:39AM? Rustie hadn't even opened her last few messages.

'Mom, please stop calling me in the middle of the night.'

'Finally! I'm–'

'Just... please stop calling me in general. I'm not a baby.'

'Babe, this is real serious! I'm so worried. You don't know what you're getting yourself into!'

'With Jet? I can make my own mind up.'