Pokemon Heroes: Sinnoh Saga [Book 1]

Chapter 30: Family

"Family is an amazing thing. They're always there for you when you need someone, and even when you don't. They'll always support you and have your back. Many times, I called my friends my family; and they were truly like brothers and sisters to me—except Alyssandra, I've always loved her as something more, ha-ha. But it was the day I fought Gardenia that I realized family was more than just those I travelled with. All of your friends are your family, and I truly learned that lesson that day. All of my friends came to support me, and even those who couldn't be there in person were still supporting me. I am, and was, truly grateful to have them there for me, and even if some of them are no longer with us, I still count them as my family."

The group sat at the table, eating their food. There wasn't as much as they would normally have liked, but Eterna City was still trying to get everything back together again, and much of the food and reserves in this city had been used up or stolen by Team Galactic, and whatever was left was rationed out carefully while new shipments of food were on their way from all over the Sinnoh Region.

Sam beamed as he thought of his upcoming Gym Battle. "I can't wait," he said cheerily, "I'm going to do great."

"Have you even chosen which Pokémon you're going to use yet?" asked Niya as she finished her small plate of food.

"Well, I know I'm going to use Staravia," said Sam, also finishing his meal, "Staravia's been doing great since its recovery from the battle with Jupiter, and I think it can get me through the battle."

"Are you sure it's wise to use Staravia for three battles in a row?" asked Alyssandra.

"Lyss is right," added Jeremy, "That might be over doing it a bit."

The group stood up and walked towards the entrance hall of the Pokémon Centre.

"What choice do I have?" asked Sam defensively, "Empoleon isn't the right type to battle against Grass type Pokémon, and Luxray is still out of commission from its last battle; it won't be healed in time."

"Well you could use Empoleon," said Niya as they gathered their Pokémon from the front desk, "But you would need to plan your moves carefully with him."

Alyssandra frowned. "I still can't believe your Prinplup evolved into an Empoleon already," she said, "My Piplup hasn't even evolved into a Prinplup yet...of course I'm not even sure if I want to evolve my Piplup yet."

The Nurse Joy that was handing back the group's Pokémon suddenly intervened in the conversation. "Excuse me," she said softly, "You're Sam Accardi, right?"

Sam realized that she was speaking to him. "I am, yes," he said, "Is something wrong?"

Nurse Joy smiled. "Oh nothing, it's just that you have a call," she explained, "Well, had, he said to call him back."

"Who was it that called?" asked Sam, partly hoping that it was Professor Rowan, or someone from home.

They hadn't spoken to anyone from home since they left Floaroma Town. Storms and long amounts of travelling in the wilderness had prevented that, and the debacle in Eterna just a few days past hadn't allowed them much free time to call either.

Not to mention Sam had been too busy training the past few days to call home.

"He said his name was Roark," said Nurse Joy, "He said he had something for you and to call him back when you could."

Sam instantly knew what it was about; he was getting back the revived Skull Fossil that he had given Roark so long ago.

Sam dashed to the videophones and punched in the number to the Oreburgh Museum. He eagerly waited, while the call connected, and after what seemed like an eternity of rings, Roark's face appeared on the screen.