The Theory of Grey | Pokémon X

Fourteen | Tower of Mastery

It was nothing but hard work for us.

A month had passed since I stayed behind in this city to properly train my Pokémon in order to defeat the gym leader and earn my second badge. When I stepped foot into his gym, Grant expressed nothing but the best from me so I wouldn't repeat the same outcome from our first match. I knew he had high expectations from me and I couldn't blame him; other challengers were able to defeat him flawlessly. Luckily, my performance was nothing but satisfactory for him.

As expected, I won the match with flying colors if I do say so myself. My newly evolved Combusken and Ivysaur certainly did not hold back their power. Their dedicated effort in training really paied off, and I couldn't have been more proud of them. Frogadier, being the most evolved among my Pokémon, was generous enough to help them both individually. Simple obstacle courses and exercise weren't going to be enough; practice battles had been more effective in terms of working with advantages and disadvantages.

Besides training my Pokémon during my month here in Cyllage City, I took the free time I had to finally study the geography of the region. While I appreciated the Town Map my mom gave me before I left on this journey, I was getting tired of relying on it. If I ever lost it, then what would I do? I would be the worst at finding myself back, especially with my awful sense of direction. Thankfully, I met a familiar someone who was kind enough to help me figure out where was north, south, east, and west. That helped me memorize the route for the rest of the gyms to Victory Road much more smoothly.

While I somewhat enjoyed my stay here in Cyllage City, I had to leave and get to the next gym. I hummed a random tune as I packed all of my things neatly. Clothes, food, and other supplies had taken up almost every single space in my messenger bag. The only thing I needed to put away was my sketchpad, but as I picked it up, something fell out.

I placed the sketchpad on the bed and knelt down to pick up what had fallen out. Curiously, I grabbed it and flipped it over, only to feel melancholic sentiment hit me. My eye softened as I recalled the picture in my hands. How could I ever forget something so precious? I brought it with me before leaving my new home.

The longer I stared at the picture, the sadder I became. It was the last picture we took as a family before it was all ruined when my dad became selfish. Him, Mom, Adam, and I all looked so happy here that it was hard to believe the tragedy that took place a few months later. God... we were actually a happy family here.

A knock at the door distracted me from the sentimental cloud I was stuck in when I kept staring at the picture in my hand. Biting my lip, I stood up and shoved the photo back inside the sketchpad before putting it away in my messenger bag. After I placed the strap of my bag on my shoulder, I made my way to the door and opened it.

My temporary traveling companion stood there with his oh so familiarly charming smile on his face. He was leaning against the door frame as his blue eyes looked down at me. His backpack was on his shoulders and his room key was sticking out of his pants' pocket, meaning he was ready to leave just as I was.

"Ready to go, Emilia?" he asked in his obnoxiously flirty voice. Rather than giving in and telling him to stop doing that, I looked over my shoulder at the seemingly vacant room just to double check I had everything. My Pokémon were resting in their PokéBalls, which were clipped on my belt. Everything else was in my bag, so I was good to go.

Grabbing the room key from the nearby table, I turned to the blond and said, "Let's get going, Jay. We've got a long road ahead of us."

I walked out of the room, closed the door behind me, and we both made our way to the lobby. Once we checked ourselves out of our respective rooms, we left the Pokémon Center and left the city altogether. Our next stop was Shalour City where my next gym battle awaited me. My confidence for that battle was high, especially when I show off a new member of the team.