Chapter 6: One Last Thing (Part 2)

Kubota and Quickstrike each reached into the fire and pulled out a handful of ash. The Tyrogue all split into two lines into two lines, one in front of each master.  “What’s going on now?” Seth asked. “The Tyrogue get to decide if they want to become a Hitmonlee or a Hitmonchan. The ones who wish to become Hitmonlee will train with Kubota, he will train them in such a way that their attack stat will high when they evolve. The others will train with Quickstrike and he will train them so that their defense stat will be highest.” Japi answered. “Why would any of them want to train with Quickstrike? Kubota is way more awesome!” Micah said. “You are basing your decision on bias feelings, but this is a cultural affair. It isn’t about who is cooler, it’s a very important decision that will alter the rest of their lives and is made in order to ensure the continuation of their race.” Japi replied. Seth and Micah nodded their heads and looked up to see Kubota and Quickstrike marking their respective Tyrogue with the char and ash from the fire. Kubota was using the ash to draw dark rings around the eyes of the Tyrogue in his line; it made their eyes resemble a Hitmonlee’s. Quickstrike was using the ash to color their hands, giving them the appearance of wearing gloves. “What about Hitmontop?” Seth asked. “Koichi doesn’t like Hitmontop as much, so he doesn’t raise them. There is a big colony of them in Johto, so don’t worry about them going extinct or anything.” Japi answered. “Why doesn’t he like them?” Seth spoke up again. “They don’t have hands, they like to stand on their heads, it gets dizzying watching them spin around, the list goes on and on.” Japi replied with a smile.

The ceremony was over and all of the Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan went up to congratulate the Tyrogue, so all of the people went inside. Snorlax and Hitmonlee stayed outside and chatted with the other Pokémon, but Ninja went inside with Japi. Zak was the last one in and CrimsonEye followed him, “Does anyone want to explain what was going on out there? How did Kubota make lightening strike, and an earthquake, or the thing with the fire?” Seth asked as everyone sat down.  “He has been favored by his lord, god of the fighting type Pokémon.” CrimsonEye replied as he turned towards Ninja, “As are his kin.” He added. “That’s right; Kubota and each son he fathers have great skill and power. That is where I get my special Hitmonlee; they are the lineage of Kubota. Ninja and Micah’s Hitmonlee are two examples. Ninja is Kubota’s son, and Micah’s Hitmonlee is Ninja’s son.” Koichi explained. Micah’s eyes widened as he stood up and looked out the doorway towards his Hitmonlee. “So he is Kubota’s grandson, which would explain why they all have the same coloration.” Micah said. “We bred Ninja especially to have a Hitmonlee for you Micah; of course, your father didn’t want you to have him yet.” Koichi said. “But you let me choose, what if I would have picked to have a Hitmonchan?” Micah asked. “We knew you would want a Hitmonlee, there was never a doubt in our minds.” Japi replied.

“So Kubota’s father was special too?” Seth asked. Koichi shook his head, “Kubota’s father was not special, he was as common as the ones I give away in the Dojo. Professor Oak told us that you were wondering about what Pokémon believe. Well according to Kubota’s father, the god of fighting type Pokémon appeared when Kubota hatched. He says that the lord smiled on him and placed his hand on Kubota’s head, saying that he would be unmatched by his peers and would forever have the gods favor.” Koichi explained as Kubota and Hitmonlee walked in with Snorlax behind them. “There are many Pokémon like this, they have unexplained strength and abilities far greater than the rest of members of their species. It’s a phenomenon I have deemed Pokémon of Veneration. Veneration is a word rooted from the Latin term venerare  , meaning to regard with reverence and respect.” Professor Oak explained. “So what is the difference between them and Legendary Pokémon?” Micah asked. “Legendary Pokémon are an entire species who have been given the burden of protecting or guarding certain parts of the world. These powers are divine, given to them by the gods to lighten the weight on their own shoulders. We are even more special, singled out after being chosen from an entire race. It is rare to encounter a Legendary Pokémon, but even more so to encounter one of us.” CrimsonEye spoke up. “Well it seems to me that if you are so rare that when you came across another Pokémon of Veneration you would treat them with a little more respect.” Japi said as Ninja stood by his side. CrimsonEye closed his eyes and the tense vibe that usually surrounds him fell, leaving everyone with a feeling of ease. “I am sorry for the way I have treated you Ninja, it was not until tonight that I realized what you were. I should have seen it years ago, the similarity we both share. I hope one day you will forgive this cocky old ghost for the torment he has put you through.” CrimsonEye said as he opened his eyes and extended his hand. Ninja bowed and then shook his old nemesis hand.

“Wait, CrimsonEye is a Pokémon of Veneration?” Micah asked. “Yes he is, and he is also the most powerful Pokémon I have ever come across. Do you boys remember that Gastly I was telling you about?” professor Oak asked. Seth and Micah looked up at him, “The one that killed my granddad?” Micah replied. Just then Saya shot a glare at Oak, “You told him about that?” She said sharply. “It’s time he knew honey; he’s ready to hear this.” Japi said as he put his hand on Saya. “Ronnie was the trainer who they found dead in the Pokémon Tower all those years ago, he was killed by an especially powerful Gastly… CrimsonEye.” Oak said. Micah looked at CrimsonEye and briefly lost consciousness, but Snorlax caught him before he hit the ground. Snorlax sat down on the massive couch and set Micah on his lap while Micah opened his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

“Your Pokémon killed Japi’s dad? That’s why Japi was left abandoned as an orphan!” Seth exclaimed as he looked up at his father. “I didn’t own CrimsonEye when that happened; and besides, CrimsonEye didn’t mean to kill Ronnie. I caught CrimsonEye when I was thirteen, which was ten years after Ronnie was found dead.  I was the first trainer in 10 years who had been up to the 7th floor of the Pokémon Tower after Ronnie’s death. There wasn’t a single other Pokémon on that floor, and it seemed like the Pokémon on the lower floors were trying to stop me from going up. And what I found up there was an empty room with a sad lonely Pokémon in the middle of it. When I approached it I immediately tried to catch it with a pokeball, but it was a miserable failure. The next thing I knew I fell asleep, and when I woke up two days later I was still up there. I hadn’t told anyone I was going up there, so nobody came looking when I didn’t return. I woke up to find the Gastly hovering over me; its big white eyes were sad and bloodshot from crying. He thought he had killed me and he was devastated. I used an Ultra ball this time and he let me catch him, I named him CrimsonEye because his eyes were bloodshot.” Zak explained.

“I have no hard feeling towards CrimsonEye, and neither should any of you. If things hadn’t played out the way they did, we would not all be here together. I used to think about what would happen if my dad hadn’t tried to catch CrimsonEye. But if he hadn’t died than I would not have been taken under Koichi’s wing, and would never have met Saya at the Dojo. Maybe everything happens for a reason.” Japi said as he put his hand on Micah’s shoulder. “You boys were asking about beliefs today, but one person’s belief is a relative tem that holds almost no bearing on any other person’s belief. I can’t explain why these Pokémon of Veneration are so different, I have tried for years to study Kubota and never was able to find one shred of scientific evidence that he was any different from any other Hitmonlee. But he is, and the same goes for CrimsonEye. And they say that gods gave them these powers, but they don’t have any proof either. What I believe doesn’t change what they are, and the same goes for you boys. We can’t say for sure if everything happens for a reason, or if we simply try to apply reason to everything that happens.” Oak said before heading to the door. “It’s getting pretty late; this old man needs to go to bed. This is two days in a row I have stayed up late!” Oak said. “Yah, we better be getting to bed also. You boys bunking down here for the night?” Zak said as everyone stood up and met Oak at the door. “Yah, we’re all set to spend the night in Vincent’s room.” Micah replied. “Ok, well I think we are probably good with the goodbye’s we gave this morning, so we will just look forward to seeing later.” Japi said. “We love you boys, be careful out there.” Sara said before everyone went outside.

Seth and Micah went back to their room and got into their pajamas before brushing their teeth. “It’s crazy to think that our parents are still friends even though they have had all this stuff happen.” Micah said as he climbed into his sleeping bag on top of the bed. “I know what you mean; it’s crazy how their friendship had survived all of this stuff.” Seth said as he laid his sleeping bag on top of Snorlax and climbed in. Hitmonlee jumped up onto the bed with Micah and got comfy. “Don’t you want to get inside of the covers?” Micah asked as he pulled on them. Hitmonlee sat up and looked at what Micah was doing with a questionable look. He got back in bed and pulled the covers over himself while Micah put a pillow under his head/shoulders area. Hitmonlee rolled around and then just kicked the covers off, but kept the pillow.

“You boys getting comfy?” Koichi asked as he walked in with Kubota and took a picture with his digital camera. “Yep, I think it will work just fine sleeping in here.”  Seth replied. “How did that picture turn out?” Micah asked as Koichi sat on the bed and looked at his camera. “Frame worthy; I’ll hang it in here.” Koichi replied. “Good, it’s our first picture with these guys.” Micah said. “Other than the picture Emily took today.” Seth reminded him. “Emily, from Celadon City?” Koichi asked. “Yah, cute teenage chick! She took a picture with us and gave us her email.” Micah answered. “She’s not a teenager; she is twenty two years old. She went to school with Vincent, used to come over and play all the time.” Koichi said. “Does that mean they were the same age?” Micah asked. “Yes, Vincent would have been twenty two if he were still alive today.” Koichi answered as he got up and looked at the picture on the wall.

“He was twelve when he died; he was killed three weeks before I was going to give him his first Pokémon. That’s the reason I was pushing your parents so hard to get you boys your first Pokémon. I didn’t want your parents to wait until it was too late like I did.” Koichi started to say. Seth and Micah looked at each other with wide eyes and white faces, “He was killed…” Micah mouthed to Seth silently. Seth gulped and they turned back to Koichi. “I was going to give him one of Kubota’s sons when he turned ten, Ninja’s little brother. But then one day we had a shiny Tyrogue hatch out, so I decided to wait a few more years and give him a shiny Pokémon. It chose to train under Knuckles, my old Hitmonchan.” Koichi explained. “Quickstrike… he was Vincent’s Pokémon.” Seth said. “Yes, or at least he would have been if it weren’t for the fact that Giovanni got away the night CrimsonEye killed Team Rocket.” Koichi told them. “You mean Giovanni killed Melody and Vincent?” Micah asked.  Koichi took a deep breath and closed his eyes hard, cutting off a stream of tears. When he opened them up and began to tell the story he was immersed in a flashback, reliving the event as he told it.

 “Are we almost there dad?”  Vincent asked as he popped up from the back seat of Koichi’s old 4X4. ”Yep, there’s the police station down the street.” Koichi said as he pointed out the window, his headlights were just sweeping over the building. “I'm not sure why you insisted on bringing him alone; we should have left Vincent at home, its way past his bedtime. Plus, it may not be safe… all of this Team Rocket business scares me.” Melody said as she squeezed Koichi’s hand. “Just think how exciting of a story this will be for him to tell his kids and grandkids one day. And from what Japi said on the phone, it sounds like there aren’t any Team Rocket left.” Koichi answered as he found a parking spot. “Looks like they took some damage here.” Melody said as she opened her door and pointed towards a large gaping hole on the side of the building in front of a smashed patrol car. “Wow, do you think they crashed into the building?” Vincent asked as he stepped out of the car. “It’s hard to say, but that does look like an awful lot of oil leaked out… or maybe its gas.” Melody said as she started walking towards it with Vincent. Koichi stopped them and turned them towards the door. “That wall looks like it was broken from inside of the building, and that doesn’t smell like oil or gas.” He said. They walked to the door and went inside to find Japi and Saya talking to Officer Jenny. “Oh, thank goodness you came!” Saya said as she rushed to them and gave Melody a hug. Koichi shook hands with Japi and gave Jenny a nod. “This isn’t exactly the best place for children right now.” Jenny said as she watched Vincent run up and jump on Ninja’s back. “Why, are there any Team Rocket members left?” Koichi asked. “Not that I know of, but we do have the small issue of the dead Rocket Grunt smashed on the patrol car over there.” Jenny replied. Koichi looked over at the wall and walked over to have a look. “My goodness, was this you’re doing?” he asked Ninja as he looked at the body, it looked like a giant tomato that was thrown at the front of a car. Ninja shook his head and pointed at Saya’s Machamp, who was walking towards them. Koichi looked at Ninja and then took a double take. “What happened to your eye?” he asked right before he noticed Vincent at his side looking at the body of the smashed Grunt. “Wow, look at all the blood!” Vincent said before Machamp picked him up and carried him back to Melody.

“What happened to Ninja?” Koichi asked as he walked back towards Japi. “Ask Sara’s boyfriend over there, his Gengar did it.” Japi said. “And that’s not all it did!” Arty said as he walked inside. “I just got back from helping the cleanup crew. Total count from the coroner’s office is sixty seven dead Rocket Grunts along with twenty three Golbats. Then we’ve got another thirteen live grunts at the hospital, but they can’t get them to wake up. I also dropped off four Vileplume at the Pokecenter. And they will be coming by here soon to scrape that grunt off the front of my car.” Arty said as he looked at his report. He sat down and rubbed his eyes for a second and then looked around. “Look people, we’ve got a mess on our hands. As much as I want to tell you all that there are no problems and you can go home, I can’t. I would love to be able to just say good riddance to Team Rocket and thank you all for taking care of them, but that isn’t how things work. Now I'm going to try my hardest to make this whole thing as painless as possible, I don’t want any of you to get in trouble. But Zak, I'm not sure if I can get away with letting you go. I appreciate your help, but I think we both know that the majority of this is your fault.” Arty said as he took his gloves off and unbuttoned his shirt.

“Let’s just say were holding him on bail, we can make it cheap and easy to pay. We would just need someone who was not a part of today’s escapades to be Zak’s Legal Guardian until court. That way you can all just go home for now, and we don’t get in any trouble.” Jenny suggested. “Ok, I will set the bail at five hounded dollars. That’s the lowest I can make it, but I'm not worried about you guys being able to pay it. The real problem here is that Giovanni was nowhere to be found.” Arty said as he filled out some paperwork and had Zak sign it. “How is it that he’s the only one who managed to escape?” Japi asked as he approached Zak. “I told CrimsonEye to finish them all off; you can talk to him if you have a problem.” Zak said as he pulled CrimsonEye’s ball off his belt and put his finger on the button. Just then Koichi took his hand firmly in his and shook it. “Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Koichi. I'm Japi’s boss, and I’m about to pay your bail.” Koichi said. Zak’s brow rose as Koichi let go of his hand and turned towards Arty. “I’ll pay that bail and volunteer to watch Zak until the court date.” Koichi said as he wrote a check and signed some papers. “Do you have room and board for everyone? I'm afraid things are more dire than they appear. It turns out that Giovanni has ties to another mob family, his brothers. Were concerned for everyone’s safety and obviously our facility is not safe.” Arty said. “I have room at my house and its remote enough that they shouldn’t know where it is.” Koichi answered as he wrote down his address and handed it to Arty. “Well I have a kid to put to bed, I think it’s time for us to go.” Koichi said as he picked up Vincent and headed for the door. “I’m going to head home as well; I’ll take care of the rest of this paper work in the morning. Plus, I have to go pick up Sam from the ER, he needs a ride home.” Arty said as he stood up and pulled his keys from his pocket. “Ok, I’ll probably go home after the EMS get here to pick up that body. Hopefully Michael will be here by then to take my shift, he text me a few minutes ago saying he was on his way.” Jenny informed Arty before he followed Koichi and the others out the door.

Everyone retrieved their Pokémon and jumped into Koichi’s car, it was pretty cramped but Vincent lay across everyone’s laps in the back seat and slept the whole way back home. They got to the house and Koichi carried Vincent to his bed. He laid him down and pulled the covers over him before standing up to leave the room. “Dad?” Vincent said as he grabbed Koichi’s pant leg. “Yes, what it is?” Koichi asked as he knelt down. “Thanks for letting me go with you and mom tonight.” Vincent said. “No problem son. Now get some sleep, love you.” Koichi said as he hugged his son. “Love you too dad.” Vincent said before Koichi got up and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Koichi walked down the hallway and went into the living room to find everyone putting their coats back on. “Oh Koichi, there you are! Come on, we have to go!” Japi said as he rushed to the door. “What is it? What’s happened?” Koichi asked as he grabbed his keys. “Arty called, he said the police station is under attack!” Japi responded. Koichi ran to Melody and gave her a kiss, “Love you babe, be back later.” He said. “Love you too babe.” She replied as she got up and hugged him. “You be safe, I don’t want to lose you over something stupid like Team Rocket.” She said. “I will be, don’t worry. Here, take this.” Koichi replied as he handed her Kubota’s ball. “No, you take him. It sounds like you might need him.” Melody said as she pushed the ball away. Koichi looked down the hallway towards Vincent’s room, “Maybe I should stay here; I bet these guys can handle this.” He said. “Nonsense, we’ll be just fine here. You go, show those kids how a real trainer battles.” She said as she got one last kiss in. Koichi smiled and ran for the door as everyone was already outside waiting.

“So Zak, sounds like you have one hell of a Pokémon.” Koichi said as he drove. “Yah, my Gengar is pretty powerful.” Zak replied. “I saw what it did to Ninja, it must be better than just pretty powerful. And sixty seven dead Rocket Grunts, that’s impressive.” Koichi said excitedly.  “Well CrimsonEye didn’t kill all of them, Japi and the gang deserve some of the credit.” Zak said with an embarrassed look. “Yah, Sara’s Fearow sliced a few of them up along with a door and a wall.” Saya commented. “Yah, and your Machamp was the one who smashed the grunt at the police station.” Sara added. “Yah, I saw that one. Vincent was pretty amazed!” Koichi laughed. They all talked and made light of the situation as they drove back toward the police station.

“Ok gang, time to get into the game.” Koichi said as they pulled up to the police station. When they drove up Arty waved them down, he was helping Jenny stand up and she looked injured. “What happened?” Japi said as he jumped out and picked Jenny up into his arms. “They showed up right after we left. I dropped Sam off at his house and then noticed that I had a missed call from Jenny. They met Michael on the road and stole his patrol car; Jenny was waiting for him outside when they drove up.” Arty said. “I didn’t suspect a thing… ugh. I saw the car and walked out to meet him, they… they just ran me over.” Jenny said. Just then the ambulance showed up, it was the EMS crew who was coming to pick up the dead grunt. Japi ran over to them and helped them take care of Officer Jenny. “Where are they now?” Koichi asked. “I don’t know, they were still inside ransacking the place when I got here. I haven’t been inside; I wanted to get Jenny out of here first.” Arty said as he pulled his gun and started walking towards the door.

In an instant Ninja, Machamp, Kubota and Fearow were out of their balls. “Where’s your Gengar?” Koichi asked as they walked to the door. “I think I will retire him for a while, he’s gotten me into enough trouble already today.” Zak said as he released his Tauros. Machamp opened the door and everyone waited for a second until Ninja gave the OK to go in. They went inside and looked around when all of the sudden they heard tires screeching. “Dang, they got out the back!” Arty said as he holstered his gun and ran to his desk. “Now what?” Saya asked as everyone started looking around. The building was a mess, now there were papers and clutter scattered everywhere on top of the mess form earlier that day. “Oh no…” Arty said as he picked up a scrap of torn paper. “What is it?” Saya asked. “It’s the legal guardian form I filled out for Zak… Koichi’s address is torn off of it.” Arty said. “No…” Koichi said as he ran for the door. They all ran outside and split up between Koichi’s ride and Arty’s truck.

They drove like mad men all the way to Koichi’s house, where they found Michael’s patrol car parked outside. The door was broken down and they could see Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan roaming about inside. They ran in to find a few Hitmonchan tying up two men in the Kitchen. There were bullet holes scattered across the walls and a group of Pokémon circled around something. Koichi ran to the group of Pokémon and started pushing his way to the middle while everyone else split up. Zak and Japi made their way down the wall towards Vincent’s room, there was a trail of blood and more bullet holes down the hall way. They looked at each other and shook their heads before two Hitmonlee walked out of the room. The Hitmonlee had sad eyes and tears were rolling out of them.

Koichi got into the center of the Pokémon and found an injured Hitmonlee, it had been shot multiple times. Saya and Sara ran to its side and started trying to help, “It must have been the first one to get inside and confront the gunmen.” Koichi said as he squeezed its hand and patted it on the shoulder. “Koichi…” Japi said as he approached his master. Koichi turned around and stood up. “What is it, did you find Vincent and Melody?” he asked. Japi’s face was wet from tears as he looked at Koichi and nodded. Koichi’s eyes flared and his face grew pale. “In Vincent’s room…” Japi said quietly. Koichi ran down the hall and slowed down at the door. He took a deep breath and walked in to find Zak and the two Hitmonlee standing in front of the door. He walked to the bed and found Vincent and Melody‘s body’s huddled on the bed, it was soaked in blood. Zak and the two Hitmonlee backed out of the room as Koichi walked to the side of the bed. His strength abandoned him as he fell to his knees and struggled to breathe. His heart seemed to skip a beat and his body grew pale and cold as he leaned on the bed. He got on the bed and took their bodies into his arms. As he embraced them he rubbed his fingers though their blood soaked hair, his face writhed in the pain and a river ran from his eyes. His teeth chattered as he took short gasping breaths. He closed his eyes and kissed their foreheads before his arms started to quake. His strength returned and he slowly clinched his hands into fists, his whole body was tense and trembling as he flexed every muscle he could. As the color returned to his face; he grinded his teeth and his lips quivered.

He stood up slowly and walked out of the room to find everyone looking at him. He walked to the Kitchen and looked at the two men tied up, they were barely conscious. “The Ambulance is on its way.” Arty said as he put his hand on Koichi’s shoulder. “I'm afraid that, much like us, they will be too late to save my family.” Koichi said. “Well what should I do with these two?” Arty asked. “When you write your report… just say they were dead on arrival.” Koichi replied as he walked into the kitchen. Arty grabbed his shoulder and pulled, “You know I can’t do that.” He said. Koichi swatted Arty’s arm away and looked into his eyes. Arty rubbed his arm and his eyes softened, “DOA it is…” He said as he turned around and headed for the door. Koichi took his shirt off and untied the men, “Everyone get out, bring that Hitmonlee out to the ambulance when it gets here.” He said.  

Koichi walked back to the bed and sat down. “I should have followed my gut feeling about staying, if I had just been at home I could have stopped them from being killed. That’s the reason I don’t like that picture on the wall; I don’t deserve to be in the picture because I wasn’t there for Vincent and Melody when they needed me.” Koichi told the boys before getting up and walking to the door. “You kids have a goodnight; I’ll see you in the morning.” he said as he shut the door. “Hey Koichi…” Micah said right before the door shut. Koichi stopped and turned back towards the door. “Sorry for bring that up.” Micah finished.  Koichi leaned back into the room and looked at the boys with their Pokémon.  “You have nothing to apologies for. I should have told you long ago, the fault is mine.” Koichi said as he stepped in and took a quick bow. “Sorry about your son Koichi.” Seth said. Koichi took a deep quivering breath and approached the boys. “It’s ok boys. I may have lost my son, but I have you boys in his stead. I want you boys to know that all of the good that is left in me was born here.” Koichi said as he put his hand on each of their hearts.  “I was a wreck after my family was killed; it felt like my whole life fell apart. Your parents kept me together; but I still felt like I had drifted far away from myself, I was lost. But when you boys were born I found myself. Your parents let me babysit each of you all the time and I finally felt whole again.  You brought joy back into my life and helped me feel like myself again.” Koichi explained. He stood up and walked back to the door. “Goodnight Micah, goodnight Seth.” He said. “Goodnight Koichi, love you.” The boys replied simultaneously. Koichi closed his eyes and grabbed the door handle. “Love you too.” He said as he pulled the door shut.

The next morning the boys woke up when Snorlax stood up and headed for the door. Micah rolled over and noticed that Hitmonlee was gone. Seth pushed himself off of the floor; he had fallen when Snorlax got up. Micah walked to the window and looked out at the colony, the sun was just about to rise over the horizon and Hitmonlee was out meditating with the rest.  Seth and Micah threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and made their way down the hall towards the kitchen. They found the doors wide open, “Looks like Snorlax went outside to find some grub.” Seth said.  “Well it’s a good thing he didn’t look in the fridge.” Micah said as he handed Seth a note that he found on the counter. “Made you boys some grub, it’s in the fridge just heat it up.” Seth read aloud. They opened up the fridge and found some breakfast burritos.  

Koichi sat in the inner ring of circles with all of his Pokémon and took a deep breath, feeling the sun touch his face as he meditated. Just as the sun peeked up he heard a crashing in the woods. He let out a long slow breath and peeked one eye open, he saw Kubota pointing over his shoulder shaking his head. He turned and looked back to See Snorlax meandering around the outer circle of meditating Pokémon picking berries off of the lush vegetation. He let out a small smile and shook his head before returning to his breathing. Snorlax walked loudly around the circle and paid no notice to all of the little Pokémon sitting in circles with their eyes closed.

Just as Micah and Seth finished their burritos Sara walked in the door. “Mom?”  Seth said as she put his plate in the sink. Sara gave each of the boys a kiss and started washing their plates. “I noticed you left all of your winter clothing at home, I brought you a hoodie and a sweat shirt.” She said as she started scrubbing the plate. “Put the plate down, I’ll take care of those dishes.” Koichi said as he walked in and gave Sara a hug. “Oh come on, you can’t tell me that it doesn’t bring you a bit of joy to have a woman doing dishes in your kitchen again.” Sara replied. “I get to enjoy that every time you girls come over, but this time I think I’ll pass.” Koichi said with a laugh as he grabbed the dishes. “Besides, sounds like you have some important business to attend to with Micah and Seth.” Koichi added. “Mom, I don’t have room in my backpack for that stuff.” Seth said as Sara sat down next to him. “I just have a feeling that a cold front will be coming through and I don’t want you to be unprepared.” Sara said. “Cold, it’s the middle of summer?” Micah replied. “It never snows in this part of Kanto, that would just be a waste of room in my pack” Seth said. “Seth, just please trust me on this. It’s about to get very cold, now take the cloths.” Sara insisted. “It’s going to be hard for these boys to become self reliant if their moms won’t pull their tits out of their mouths. No offence Sara, but maybe it’s time to let the boys live and learn.” Koichi interrupted as he sat at the table and took a sip of Pineapple Orange juice. Saya frowned and nodded her head before getting up. “I love you boys; please make sure to keep in touch.” She said as she handed the cloths to Koichi and walked out of the door. “I’ll take your things shall I?” Koichi said as he held up the clothes.  “You can have them, I don’t need them.” Seth said as he got up and ran out the back door to find Snorlax. “You kids have fun, see you later.” Koichi said as he brought the cloths to his Vincent’s room. Micah walked outside to find Seth on Snorlax’s back with Hitmonlee at their side. “Let’s get this adventure on the road!” Seth said.