DPA: Rivals

Chapter 26: This Has Been Cameron With NBC

Riley, looking up at the starry night sky above him, closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep and entering the quiet land of dreams.

He was no longer in Lavender Town. Instead, Riley found himself in a place he had never been before, a cave, dark, damp, cold. This felt strange to him. Usually, his dreams were peaceful, calm, lackadaisical.  But something was different about this dream. There was a tension, a fear, so strong that it was almost tangible.

Unsure where to go or what to do, Riley took a walk through the cave, feeling an occasional droplet of water land on his hair, or the squeaking of wet stone beneath his feet. Every step felt like he was getting closer and closer to something that he didn't want to be around, but he couldn't stop himself from moving forward.

After a few minutes of walking, he saw it. Tall, taller than him, fur blue as a clear sky, eyes filled with hate. He didn't know what it was, but it terrified him.

"Wh-what are y-you?" Riley whispered, finding it difficult to speak.

This thing looked at Riley for a moment, silent, before "speaking," although it wasn't really speaking, as it never moved its lips. It was more like a voice in Riley's head, although Riley knew it belonged to the creature.

"I'm not sure," said the monster. "But I believe my name is Mewtwo."

Riley opened his eyes. He had woken up, back in Lavender Town. Despite the cool night air, he was drenched in sweat. He didn't go back to sleep that night.

Mudkip shot off a final Water Gun, knocking out the opposing Growlithe. A defeated Kevin congratulated Cameron on winning the Nugget Bridge Challenge, handing him a golden Nugget, about the size of Cameron's fist, pure, solid gold. This would be worth enough yen to pay for meals for weeks.

The group had arrived at Cerulean City the day before. After a good night's sleep, they had decided to explore the area before taking on the second Gym leader. In a coincidence of timing, the annual Nugget Bridge Challenge (NBC) was taking place at the same time they had entered the city.

"We should totally take on the Nugget Bridge Challenge!" Daryon exclaimed after reading about it on a poster attached to the side of the inn. "This could be a good way to warm up for our Gym battle."

"Daryon, we've been walking for almost two weeks. Can we please just take a day off?" Cameron pleaded, his feet still aching from the long trek through the mountains.

"Cam, you asked me to go to that museum in Pewter," Daryon explained. "And I went, because you asked me to. Now here's something that I want to do. So can we please do what I want this time?"

Cameron looked down at his feet, sighing. "Okay Daryon."

Daryon had competed first, defeating Cale, Ali, Timmy, Reli, and Kevin, the five trainers who hosted the NBC. Cameron fought these same trainers shortly afterwards, coming out victorious as well. These battles lasted most of the day, from the afternoon until sunset.

And a beautiful sunset it was, so much so that, rather than dine at one of the many restaurants that called Cerulean City home, the group decided to eat their dinner at the local Psyduck Lake, picnic style. Picking up some sandwiches from a local deli, Daryon, Cameron, Skye, Max and Ero, as well as Vince, sat beside the wide Psyduck Lake, shoes off, toes dipping in the water.

Cameron noticed a chunk of land in the center of the lake, with what appeared to be the entrance to a cave. Interesting.

After finishing their sandwiches, each member of the group went about having fun in their own way.

Max and Poliwag frolicked about in the shallow edge of the lake, splashing, laughing, and just having a good time.

Cameron sat in a circle with Mudkip, Kakuna, Pidgey and Charmander. Mudkip had buried itself in the sand, taking a nap with the warm sand acting as a blanket of sorts. Charmander, as shy now as it was when Cameron first met it in Mt. Moon, fidgeted with a stick it had found lying around. Pidgey flew high above the others, happy to stretch its wings and enjoy the sky. And Kakuna, who seemed to be the most like its trainer, simply rolled over to Cameron, whose legs splayed across the sandy shore, toes digging into the sand. Kakuna rested against Cameron's leg, letting out a satisfied "bzzt," eliciting a smile from its trainer.

Ero had gone off to do his own thing, Vince following out of curiosity. Having seen a strange movement in the lake, Ero had decided to investigate, which led to his encounter, and subsequent capture, of a wild Vaporeon, the last of the Eevee evolutionary line that he needed for his collection.

Skye, wanting to really get an opportunity to use the Bulbasaur given to her by Professor Oak, had taken a walk into the nearby route, training against wild Pokémon, and even catching a wild Pidgey.

As for Daryon, he was in the midst of training, specifically training Bulbasaur and Pikachu, two Pokémon he knew would be important for his upcoming battle against the legendary Water type specialist, the Cerulean City Gym leader, Misty.

Despite the fact that everyone had found their own ways of passing the time, all five humans, every Pokémon outside of its Pokéball, and the one Rotom-possessed Pokédex unanimously turned their heads at the almost-deafening explosion that occurred less than a quarter mile away.