A Brighter Future

Chapter 10: Exploring Leafdew Village (Pt 1)

Italics: Thoughts or Sounds

Bold: POV or Time

Cleo's POV:

After I finally started to run in the right direction, it wasn't long until Ava and I arrived at the market.

Like the rest of the village, it was bustling with activity. Mons came and went, taking items such as potions and berries off of wooden shelves. I watched curiously as they all went up to a Rillaboom and handed them what appeared to be shiny pieces of metal. I nudged Ava, who was standing next to me. 

"What are those things everyone is giving to that Rillaboom?" I asked her.

"Those are coins called Poké. Mons use them to pay for things." She replied. I tilted my head curiously.

"Aren't Poké just pieces of metal? I feel like they should be worth less than more practical things like berries." I wondered aloud. Ava shrugged.

"I guess so, but that's not how things work in real life." She said. I frowned; it still didn't make much sense to me.

"Well, if we need Poké to get stuff, do you have any?" I asked Ava. She nodded.

"Not a lot, but it should be enough to buy some supplies." She said. "C'mon!"

I walked after her as she started looking at the items on sale.

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After a little while of shopping, we decided to buy Oran Berries, Sitrus Berries, a single Lum Berry (they cost a lot!), and a few Potions in case we needed them. Ava offered to carry them, but I declined.

"There." Ava said, looking at the stuff I was carrying. "That should be enough for a while."

"We can always get more as we travel." I said to her. She nodded.

"Let's go see if we can find Razor and Sarah." She said. I chuckled.

"If Sarah hasn't already ripped Razor's arm off." I said. With that, we started heading in the direction of the inn.

After a bit of walking, I saw a big wooden sign in the middle of the village.

"Hey Ava?" I said.

"What?"

"What's that big sign over there?" I asked.

"That's the information board." She replied. "All of the news in the town is posted there, as well as stuff about the weather and so on. We had one of these back in Honeysuckle Village."

"I'm going to check it out." I said, heading towards it. When I got near, I saw that it was indeed an information board. There was a map of the village that showed where I was and a bunch of papers tacked on to the board. Looking closer at the papers, one of them caught my eye. I gasped as I read what was on it.

Missing Pokémon Report

Name: Ava Voltage

Age: 13

Species: Pikachu

If found, please notify Surge Voltage in Honeysuckle Village

I stared at the poster, unbelieving. Ava's dad reported her as missing? Is it because he's worried about her? Or is it something more sinister... Looking at Ava, I motioned for her to come over, quickly. She complied.

"What?" She asked. I motioned at the piece of paper. She took a second to read it, then looked back at me. "No wonder the Sceptile earlier thought he knew me." She said, in a voice mixed with emotion.

"This isn't good." I said, worried. "Do you think he did this because he's worried about you?" Her eyes darkened. 

"Knowing him, probably not." She said. I felt a pang of sympathy for her. "I should have known he wasn't going to let me get away that easily."

"What did you even do to him for him to hate you that much?" I asked. I could see the hurt in her eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said.

"You have to tell somebody sometime." I said to her. "You don't have to carry your secrets all by yourself." She shrugged. I could tell that it was a sensitive topic for her, so I decided to change the subject. "We should probably go find Razor and Sarah now." I suggested. Ava nodded.

"They're probably done by now." She said. 

"Besides, all of this stuff is starting to weigh me down." I said. Ava chuckled and started walking. I followed her, pondering the new things I had discovered and thinking about the future.

Hey all! This is Chapter 10 of A Brighter Future! This chapter is shorter than usual, but it gets some stuff out of the way. As always, consider following if you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next chapter!