A Fresh Start

The Messy Way To Hammerlocke - 8

Your POV
Hop, Bolt, and I ran towards the entrance of Motostoke, seeing Victor and Gloria standing there already. "Hurry it up, you two!" Gloria shouted. We quicked our pace a bit and stood with the two brunettes. "Huh?" Hop mumbled beside me. "What is it?" I asked, turning my head towards him. Bolt barked and I directed my attention to in front of me, seeing Kabu jogging towards us. "You're the Gym Leader, but you still came all the way to see us off?" Hop asked the older man when he reached us. "Oh, I bet you can already tell that I'm the one who'll become the next Champion, yeah?" Hop continued.

"Hop! Don't get cocky, it's not good." I lightly scolded him. He chuckled before turning his attention back to Kabu. Kabu put a hand on his chest. "There are many Trainers who never manage to gather three Gym Badges, and they just give up on the Gym Challenge altogether...So I make a point to see off any Trainers who are able to defeat me." I heard Gloria scoff next to me. Milo and Nessa then ran up and stood next to Kabu. "Whew, we made it...Thank goodness for Flying Taxis!" The woman of the trio exclaimed, sighing in relief after.

"You four, congratulations! It's pretty amazing you guys defeated Kabu!" She continued to say. "Not a lot of Gym Challengers are able to get a Gym Badge from Kabu. We like to get together to see them off, as a way of showing our support." Milo said. "Well that's nice." I commented with a smile. The three smiled back at me for a moment before turning their attention back to all four of us. The Fire type Gym Leader then spoke again. "So, allow me to send you off with a proper, sporty chant!" He cleared his throat.

"Hustle, hustle, hustle! You can do it, you can do it!...The Gym Leaders you will face ahead are all tough opponents. But I believe that you will prevail! Believe in your Pokemon and keep pushing on!" He cheered. "Thanks, you all!" Hop, Victor, and I said, Gloria quiet as always. "We're gonna keep winning! We've got to if we want a face-off in the Champion Cup, after all!" Hop exclaimed. He then turned to my siblings and I. "Come on you guys! Let's head for Hammerlocke!" We nodded our heads. "Bye! Thank you!" I shouted to the Gym Leaders before running off with the other three.

Hop ran out energetically, my siblings and I walking out a bit calmer. "Hello again, Wild Area, my old friend! I've come back to you even stronger than before!" He exclaimed to nothing in particular. I giggled at his antics. "Hop, you'll scare the Pokemon. Mainly the Skwovet in the trees." I said, smiling as I tried to stifle a light laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Hammerlocke is up that way--but I'm sure you knew that since you've read so many books." The purple haired boy replied with his usual smile. "And, yeah, you could certainly rush straight there without a single detour...but now that you and I have a few Gym Badges, we should be able to catch stronger Pokemon!" He stated.

"So I know what I'm doing." He said. "I'm planning on just heading straight to Hammerlocke myself, I just can't wait another moment!" I answered with a wide grin. "I'm going to do a bit of detouring, as long as I'm farther from you, I'm good." Gloria commented. I'm pretty sure she said that last part quiet enough so only I could hear it...not surprised. "I-I'm just going to go with Gloria." Victor sputtered out. I saw her whisper something to him, I couldn't hear what, but I knew it wasn't good due to the look in his eyes. "I'll be catching myself some amazing Pokemon to fill in the next page in the tale of my legend!" Hop said, probably trying to lighten the mood, as it got a bit tense.

"Don't waste your efforts." I heard a familiar voice say. I looked over and saw none other than Bede. "It's not like either of you would ever make it through the Gym Challenge, anyway." I knew his comment was directed to Hop and I, seeing as he hasn't met Gloria or Victor...from what I know. "The Champion really must have been off his rocker to endorse the likes of you." Bede said. I noticed something strange though...his gaze was directed to mainly Hop and not me. Odd. "I mean, it seems Hop here can't even throw a pokeball properly." "Hey, now that's just rude! You can say something like that to me, but not my friend." I said, trying not to shout.