Love in the Time of Trepidation

Chapter 10: A Tempest

Time for the Coastlands, baby! This is a pivotal section of the story, so please enjoy it, starting with Chapter 10! 

Chapter 10

A Tempest

Adaman was exhausted.

Trudging his way into Jubilife Village, he couldn't help but grumble. His arms had burns on them, his back hurt, his hair was nearly fried to a crispy sheen and worst of all, he hadn't laid on anything but a bed of leaves for the last week or so. His growl was so perfuse that even the gatekeeper flinched upon seeing him. More than a few people were pointing to his near barbecued state, and with a scowl in his direction, they backed off one by one.

"That idiot..." he growled, each step taking him further down the main street. "I'm his damn clan leader, so who does he think he is?!"

"Leaf..." Leafeon's lonely cry brought Adaman's attention to his eternal partner. He was looking more than sad recently, and his own burn marks, a gift from their clan's resident idiot, only accentuated it. Frowning, Adaman considered picking his poor Pokémon up, only to catch him staring back at the gate, like he would see someone come through it.

"Ugh, Leafeon...she's not gonna just appear out of thin air," Adaman said, folding his arms. That action alone hurt, his bandages doing little to stop the skin from being sensitive.

"Leafy..."

"Perk up. I'm sure Space Case will show up eventually. You can play with Glaceon then, even if I'd rather you didn't. For now, let's get some food. I'm famished..." Dragging his feet along the dirt, Adaman gave another groan. As usual, Jubilife was as busy as ever, a far cry from his own settlement. Not that he'd been there in ages. No, he'd been too busy running around trying to stop an idiot from exploding the mountainside. "Hope Mai can handle it..."

"Hope Mai can handle what?"

Adaman had barely realized he'd sat at the counter outside The Wallflower, almost completely passing his initial destination by. He supposed his nose was drawn to the delicious smell wafting from the establishment, and while he was still waiting on word of just what was going down at the Coronet Highlands at present, he figured there was no harm in grabbing a bite to eat. More surprising, however, was that Akari and her Dewott were on the other side of the counter.

"Akari... I thought you were trying to work for the Galaxy Team these days."

"On standby for whatever the next mission is," she said, turning around to pull some dishes from Beni and slide them down the counter to those who Adaman had joined. Ginter acknowledged him with a nod before drinking from his glass, his eyes scanning the street, waiting for something. "Truth be told, I'd rather be out there, but if I were to just run off, Kamado wouldn't be happy."

"That's the commander to you," Beni said, pushing down on the girl's head, like she needed to afford a bow. She scowled at him, while Dewott returned to helping Cyndaquil chop and mash more vegetables. "What can we get you, oh Diamond Clan Leader?"

"Sounding a little patronizing there, Beni." The older man scoffed, but awaited his order nonetheless. "I'll take whatever your special is today. Surprise me."

"Of course." The man shuffled to the back, while Akari flopped on the counter, looking bored. Adaman watched her, himself propping his head up in his palm. He watched her, the girl's gaze lazily drifting back and forth. It wasn't lethargy, though; that was evident by the way her fingers would twitch, antsy to get back into action. The longer he looked, the more he saw the fire that screamed she wanted to be out there, fighting something.