Heart Of Ghost {Pokemon Action Adventure}

Chapter 3 - Trick

Days passed without a word said to each other about their encounter or their abilities. Floyd's failure to mention the events made Saffron feel uneasy, but not surprisingly, she tried to hide her emotions from those around her.

The schoolhouse bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Saffron was going through her junior year of high school, having come back to reality after her ten year old self had gotten as far as she could adventuring. Like many at that age, she discovered that she was not a part of the elite 1% that could make pokemon training their career, and was forced back into the schooling system to become a functioning member of society. She got alright grades, but even at this point in her schooling she had no idea what to do with her life.

At the signal of the bell, she stood up from her plain wood desk and picked up her backpack from the off-white tiled floor. Classmates grouped together and talked of afternoon plans, then walked out of the room and building as if on auto-pilot, just like they did everyday.

"Hey Saff," called a female classmate as she stood in the doorway. "Are you coming to the Pokebase game tonight?" Her face glowed softly and sincerely.

Saffron shook her head. "No... Sorry." Her face conflicted with her tone of voice by showing urgency and purpose. "I already have plans."

The classmate paused for a second. "Okay, maybe next time then." She exited the room, jogging briefly forward to catch up with the rest of her group.

Saffron shrugged her backpack's strap closer to her neck for support. When am I going to finally tell them that I don't want to go to sports games? Should I just go anyways to talk to people?

She sulked out of the room and into the already emptying halls. Down the stairs she went, then finally out the main entrance, where a friendly face greeted her.

"'Sup?" asked Floyd, stopping his pacing and starting a suspicious grin.

Her eyes become slits as she glared at her friend. "I know that face; what is it this time?"

He lit up. "Go drop off your bag at home; I know what we're going to do today!"

-----

The two of them leaned against the side of her house on the back patio.

The orange soda can hissed satisfyingly in Saffron's hands as she opened it. "So," she said, "what do ya' want to do?"

Floyd gulped down some cola and let out a quick belch. "You know that small-ish casino downtown? Let's go to it."

Her eyebrow rose. "Even if we wanted to, you know we're not old enough, right? You have to be 18."

"Check your ID," he said with a smirk.

Still suspicious, Saffron pulled out her trainer ID and looked at it. "Hey, wait a second! This has your birthday on it!" She thrust it in his face to show him the anomaly.

He laughed and pulled out his own. It had Saffron's birthday instead of his. "Don't worry though, I can change them back with my Trick." He took their IDs and pressed them against each other. When he pulled them apart again, they were back to normal.

"What? You can do this sort of thing?"

"That's right," he said. "And it's how we're getting in!"

-----

"I can't believe we're doing this," exclaimed Saffron with a grin. "I haven't felt this excited since my gym battle here in Laverre!"

"Calm down!" Floyd shushed. "Just act natural." He stuck his hands in his pockets and treaded forward. He looked into the crowd of people beyond the entrance checkpoint and picked out a few people. Yep, they look like they're about 18.