Heart of Steel [Pokémon Fanfiction]

18| Clouded Truth

"Congratulations, you won," Mako said, recalling his fainted Camerupt to its Poké Ball. "And with your victory, you've also earned the Heat Badge." He handed something to Flannery and she ran over to me, an excited spring in her step and Chi running after her.

"Here you go!" she exclaimed, holding out a red, flame-shaped badge to me. "I told ya you could do it."

"You were right, Flannery. Thank for helping me," I replied as I took the badge from her. I couldn't believe this was even happening. I walked into the Gym this morning, and not ten minutes later I was holding my fourth badge. It was almost surreal.

"Don't thank me, thank Chi!" Flannery said.

"Quiii!" the Cyndaquil squeaked from his spot near his Trainer's feet. I gave the Fire Mouse a smile and a "thank you" as well. It was true, he was as much a help as Flannery was.

"Please tell Winona I said hi and goodbye," Flannery said. "I had a lot of fun talking with her."

"I'll be sure to tell her you said that, then," I assured her. I wish I could have given her something more than a simple "thanks," but I didn't think I had anything she would appreciate. An idea popped into my mind, and I dug around inside my bag until I found what I was looking for.

   The edge of some item I had in my bag pressed into my palm while I searched, causing a dull pain to make its presence known. Despite not being too badly burned from holding Chi, I still had to have both my hands bandaged, and Meteor decided to be my impromptu hands by using his telekinesis until they healed. It didn't matter now because I had found what I was looking for.

   I withdrew my hand from the bag and looked at the brilliant red-colored stone in my hand. It was a Fire Stone I had found a few days ago and had pocketed for no reason other than that I couldn't bear to abandon my love for collecting rocks. "You can have this," I said, giving the stone to her. "Think of it as payment. You can use it on certain Fire-types to evolve them."

"Really? I can have this?" She looked at the stone in wonderment, mesmerized by the yellow flame in the stone's core. When she saw me nod, her face lit up. "Thanks!"

"It's the least I can give you," I said. Thank you, Flannery. Really, thank you.

   The doors of the building parted before me and I felt the cool morning breeze strike me as I exited. Wallace and Winona stood nearby and I waved to them, catching their attentions almost immediately.

   "So how did it go?" Wallace asked me.

   "What do you think?" I replied, pointing out the Heat Badge pinned on my jacket next to my other badges. Wallace gave me a congratulatory pat on the shoulder and Winona looked like she wanted to high-five me. But with the way both my hands were bandaged, she put her own hand down rather quickly. I made a mental note to give her that high-five as soon as my hands healed.