Chapter 63: Unexpected  

Salamence and I landed by the Pokemon Center. His landing was smoother than it had been the night before and I decided not to give him any criticism on it- my best possible compliment.  

"Are you hungry?" I asked as I slid off his back.  

His eyes turned to stare at me and I heard his stomach rumble.  

"Flying burns a lot of energy. I'm not at all surprised," I stated. "I'll go get a new supply of Pokemon food and be back shortly." 

I wasn't sure where Dawn was, but I'd noticed that the Poke Mart was only a few stores away from the Pokemon Center when we'd descended. In half an hour, I had walked to the store, let Torterra out of his Poke Ball to help carry supplies, and gotten enough food for two full teams of Pokemon to eat for at least a week. Torterra had bags stacked on his back during our slow walk through Mauville.  

We approached the Pokemon Center, finding Salamence standing amidst a circle of admiring humans. 

"Wow, dad! A Salamence! Doesn't he look strong?" 

"Look at how red his wings are!" 

"I haven't seen such a Salamence in years. This one looks so well trained." 

Torterra and I stopped short as we watched Salamence crane his neck up mightily, grinning so people would comment on how sharp his teeth were. 

That did it. 

"Salamence," I said smoothly, just loud enough to turn peoples' heads.  

Salamence's grin diminished into a frown. The people parted so I could walk towards my Pokemon. I was glad they could at least tell I was his Trainer without me needing to explain. 

I walked until I was right in front of him and said through clenched lips, "If you dare make a fool out of yourself right now, you will be training for the next millennium to control your confidence." 

His snort was barely audible. 

"Funny, I thought you descended from the sky. I can't imagine why your head is still up in the clouds."

"Um, excuse me, sir?" 

I turned towards the little squeaky voice, noticing a boy that appeared to be about six years old approach me. His hands kept balling into fists nervously. 

"Yes?" 

"So you're Salamence's Trainer, right?" 

I grabbed Salamence's Poke Ball, held it up in clear view, and continued to stare at the child. I didn't want to explain myself when it was so obvious. 

"W-well, I just wanted to say he's really nice. He let me sit on his back." The little boy's warm, brown eyes met mine after a moment of hesitation. "Usually Pokemon aren't that nice to me. When I walked by him, he looked really scary, but then we ended up becoming friends!" 

I stared, having no idea what to say to this child. It didn't seem to matter, Salamence snaked his head towards the boy, who hugged the Dragon's muzzle. Salamence let out a satisfied growling hum and the boy laughed. 

Unsure what to think, I continued watching the two bond. Part of me felt a bit disgusted at the obvious affection they somehow had formed in about what I assumed was ten minutes worth of time. I was somewhat embarrassed as well that my fierce Salamence was being as cuddly as a Lillipup. That wouldn't do near the battle field where our opponents were supposed to fear us. And yet there was also a part of me that was curious, reminding me of how it used to be like when I was very little, before I knew that Pokemon were used for battles. Back when they were just friends. 

That was a long time ago. 

"Hey, do you think I could maybe play with Salamence today?" the kid asked, snapping me from my thoughts, "Please?" 

I hesitated. The kid was giving me Deerling eyes. I was normally immune, if not downright repulsed, by pouting and forced myself to keep a poker face as I debated my options. I wouldn't need Salamence at all tonight considering Dawn and I had plans. On the other hand, I felt this boy would have a negative impact on Salamence's toughness. I looked up at Salamence, holding back a scoff as I realized he, too, was giving me Deerling eyes. 

"Allow me a minute with my Pokemon." I tried not to hiss the words as my eyes narrowed on Salamence, who huffed impatiently. I began walking around the Pokemon Center and heard him following me. The boy didn't follow, which I was grateful for.  

I stopped and turned to face my newly evolved Pokemon, my eyes cold. "Enjoy making new friends?" 

Salamence shuffled his wings minutely, but didn't blink. 

"As a fully evolved Pokemon, you still have training to do. That does not mean you are now as strong as you can be. You're still in need of power and I don't want anything interfering with that." I crossed my arms. "I think that kid could be a problem." 

Salamence glared, shaking his head. 

"Really? So you're going to train harder if I let you go off and play make believe with the toddler?" 

"Actually, I'm seven." I turned to see the boy walking hesitantly up to us. I frowned and he seemed to realize I was upset with him as he said, "Well, you said you only needed a minute... so I counted." 

Salamence snorted in amusement and I stuffed my hands in my pockets, annoyed. 

"So are you going to let Salamence play?" the boy asked. 

"I don't know. He's a handful." I eyed Salamence. He gave me a sour look. 

"No he's not." The kid laughed. "He's the nicest Pokemon ever." 

Ok, that did it. 

"Listen, if you're going to be hanging out with my Pokemon, you need to make sure you both look presentable." 

"Presentable?" 

I sighed. Too big of a word. "You have to look good enough to be seen by people." 

"Oh, well I did take a bath yesterday-" 

"No," I said, my patience gone. "You have to both look like the toughest Trainer and Pokemon in the world, or else you can't be together." 

"Oh, well why didn't you say that?" 

I did, you idiot, I seethed. I'd never liked kids. Even when I had been a kid, I hadn't liked kids. That was the extent of my dislike. So this "seven year old" was really getting on my nerves by forcing me to talk to him. Of course Salamence had chosen this scrawny one to become friends with. 

The kid ignored my silence and hugged Salamence's leg. "Yay! We get to spend the day together." 

"No 'yay's' if you're a Pokemon Master." 

"Well what do Pokemon Masters say?" 

I thought about it. "Absolutely nothing." 

"Nothing?" 

"Nothing." 

The kid stared at me, mouth agape. "Well that's boring." 

"I guess you don't want to play with Salamence then." Ok, at least being sadistic with kids was fun. 

"No! I'll say nothing." 

"Good." I held back a smile before turning to my Pokemon. "Salamence, behave yourself. If I hear any bad reports, you get extra training. We'll have to begin learning Fire Blast this week." 

"Cool!"

"What'd I say?" 

"To say nothing."

"Exactly." 

I began walking back to Torterra when I felt something pull at my jacket. I stopped and stared down, frowning at the little happy brown eyes. 

"You know, you're a lot like Salamence. You might look all tough, but you're really nice." 

"I thought I told you to say nothing." 

The boy grinned and let go of my jacket. I kept walking, not sure if I should frown or smile at his description.

Hey guys!

Well, this chapter was a blast to write. I absolutely love Paul and Salamence. Truthfully, I think they're the perfect partners. I mean seriously, if you think about Paul being a Pokemon, what would he be? He even looks like a Salamence with his scowl, doesn't he? 

Ok, this chapter is dedicated to ninjadragons. Congrats on knowing my reference! Plus he's such a cool guy with loving Pokemon and has great drawing skills and can apparently read my mind when it comes to what my characters look like in Next Gen? Yeah, a little creepy, but still, he's great and absolutely deserves the chapter dedication! :P

I'm not sure when my next update will be, so I'm making no promises on next Friday. Sad, right? I'll end up editing my status on Friday I'm sure to let you guys know what's going on, so check my profile if you're curious. Or obsessed. Or enjoy stalking me.

Alright, let me think up a quote for my chapter dedication contest thing that you'll only get if you're weird like I am: "Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas."    Whoever guesses what that's from first wins the next chapter dedication.

Let's see... I think my announcements and what not are finished. OH and my tater tots are done in the oven! And I just went to put cheese on them. Give me some of your tots. GOSH!

Pokemon Question of the Day: What idea for a Pokemon design are you just done with? You just want to say "NO MORE BUTTERFLIES!" or something like that to the designers. What animal or whatever just gets on your nerves so much that you don't care that there are hundreds of species of them, you want Pokemon to stop making them?

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, make sure you vote, comment, tell your friends and your grandpa and talk to your socks about it... no... don't do that. Don't tell your grandpa. (I'm hungry and saying crazy things) Have an awesome night!

-Flips