Endless Odyssey: A Pokémon Story

Chapter 2: A Flying Lizard Steals My Food

(Third Person)

"I've decided, from this point on, YOU, will be my RIVAL!"

"...What?..."

Stoke carefully pushed her finger away from his face like it was a loaded gun.

"My rival! You know? My opponent, adversary, foe, my rival!" Nemona swung her hand through the air as she painted her vision in her mind. "Together, me and you will push each other to new heights! You can help me become a better trainer and I can help you with, um... what did you say you wanted to do again?"

"...I didn't."

Stoke wore a vague expression, what did she mean "what did he want to do"? He was just ticking off the boxes to graduate and make his mom proud. He didn't have any grand plans.

"Bravo, that battle was absolutely splendid!" The director approached the two young trainers with a golf clap. "Stoke, you possess significant potential to become an exceptional trainer, and based on your current progress, it seems you could even surpass our esteemed champion trainer, Nemona!"

Not sure how to perceive the situation, Stoke looked over at Nemona expecting to see her hurt by the statement. Instead, he saw the complete opposite. Her expression was lit up like the forth of July as she stared at him like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

"Hah, tha-thanks for the complement director, but I just wanna focus on passing the classes and getting good grades. Don't get me wrong! I enjoyed the battle, really! But..." Stoke scanned the area, "I'm not sure that's what Spring wants." The feline was no where to be seen.

The director just smiled and gave a small nod. "I understand."

Nemona on the other hand didn't look as pleased. "WHAT! BUT–YOU–HE–DIRECTOR!" Nemona cast a pleading glance at Stoke, her eyes wide and desperate, "Stoke! You can't just not battle with a skill like yours and a partner like Spring! You have a talent, a gift! One that not everyone get's to have! C'mon director, help me convince him!"

(Chuckle) "Nemona, I find it would be wiser that we leave Stoke to make his own decisions. Plus, his choice is respectable and selfless. It's not often you have a trainer who puts his pokémon's thoughts before his own, I have no doubt that you're the right trainer for Spring."

With a few glances back and forth between Stoke and the director, Nemona deflated. "I can't believe this."

Clavell clapped his hands together, "Now, we should probably star-"

"I WON'T BELIEVE THIS!" In a blurred motion, Nemona was in front of Stoke and had quickly wrapped her hands around his. "I won't just let you throw away this opportunity!"

(Sigh) "Nemona, you should let Stoke deci-" Nemona shot the director a serious look with a blazing inferno in her eyes. "Never-mind."

Stoke peeped at the director, hoping for some backup, but the old man only gave him a "sorry" kind of shrug.

"You can do what you want Stoke, I won't stop you (Yet). But, I won't stop trying to convince you to become a league trainer!"

Just wanting to get out of the awkward situation, Stoke communicated with a swift nod. That seemed to be enough though, as her gaze softened and her grip loosened. She let go of his hands, took a step back, and threw a thumbs up.

Bzzzt Bzzzt. A rotom phone came out of the director's pocket and flew right up in front of him. His eyes scrolled the screen before the phone zipped back into his pocket. "It seems that something rather urgent has come up. Nemona, I trust you can help Stoke get to Cabo Poco? From there, you should be able to catch a flying-taxi service." As he walked away, he took a moment to pause before he turned back around and said, "Ensure you can locate Spring; it would be unfortunate to spend excessive time searching for her." And with that, he sped to his parked car in the drive way and took off.