Jump!

Part 18. Who Is That?

After what seemed like forever, Red and Fletcher finally got out of the crowd and into Nimbasa City, the afternoon sun hitting their faces in a warm greeting after the cool conditions inside of Join Avenue. Red looked around, from the station to Big Stadium and Small Court in the distance, and the amusement park to the east, with awe shining in her eyes. She seemed to smile widely as she took a few steps, unable to decide where to go first, which made Fletcher chuckle slightly.
"Seriously, you're like a kid in a candy store." Red's head whipped round, glaring at Fletcher.
"Don't laugh at me! I've never been here before!"
"Relax, I'm not laughing in a spiteful way. It's cute." At this, Red's face went bright and she turned away from Fletcher.
"Sh-shut up! I'm not cute!"
"That's a first, a criminal that gets shy-"
"Shut up!!" Red turned back around, glaring again despite her red face. "Do you mind not mentioning that!?"
"Sorry, B-"
"And the name is Red!" Fletcher sighed.
"Okay, fine, I'm sorry. But I think your name is the least of our worries. Or did you forget why we started travelling together in the first place?" Red paused for a moment before sighing.
"I didn't forget..."

Just then, a mini explosion came from the north of the town. Red immediately ran to where the explosion came from, with Fletcher not far behind her, to find two Pokémon in a heated struggle. One was a large, bipedal, black and white Pokémon with a small branch between its teeth, and it was currently being squeezed by an enormous, serpentine Pokémon with a body that looked to be made out of steel. After a few moments, the black and white 'Mon broke free and swung its arm, hitting the probably Steel type right in the jaw, causing a massive amount of damage.
"Great, Pangoro! Now, use Fire Punch!" As the black and white Pokémon, Pangoro's, fist became engulfed in flames, Red looked for its trainer, and found the red haired boy from Join Avenue, smirking to himself.
"Steelix, counter with Sandstorm!" The other trainer was a girl with long, brown hair, tied up in pigtails, and blue eyes, who looked a little bit worried for her Steelix. Steelix started to whip up a sandstorm while Pangoro charged at it, fist still aflame as it made contact with the steel body. The sandstorm soon cleared, and when Red looked, Steelix had fainted.
"Of course, Pangoro won. Your whole team is weak to it."
"Well I've never seen one before!"
"Because Pangoro are native to Kalos. Now, pay up, we made a deal." The girl huffed, before digging into her pocket and producing a small amount of money. She gave the guy the money before returning Steelix to its PokéBall and running off, presumably to the Pokémon Centre. As the red haired boy turned to leave as well, Red spoke up.
"Hey. I know you from somewhere." The boy turned and looked at Red. He was no boy at all, really, as he looked to be about five years older that Red. He also looked to be a mixture of surprised, confused and almost angry as he looked Red up and down.
"I doubt it. I don't associate myself with criminals." His voice was deep, his tone spiteful.
"What makes you think I'm a criminal!?" Red was getting rather angry herself now, her fists clenched.
"The way you carry yourself and the way you talk. Anyone who's met criminals in the past would be able to tell."
"So you lied to me just now, if you've met criminals before!"
"I didn't lie, I just tend to avoid lowlife scum like you." Red stormed up to him, grabbing the collar of his black jacket.
"What the fuck did you just call me!?"
"You don't scare me. You won't actually hurt m-" the boy was cut off by Red punching him in the nose, a rather sickening cracking sound accompanying the punch. The guy broke away from Red, holding his nose. "You bitch!" He exclaimed, as blood slowly seeped through his fingers. This was when something clicked in Red's mind.
"No way..." She took a couple of steps back. "You're his son, aren't you?"