A Dream Realized 4
#4 of A Dream Realized
Mist shoved her way out of John's hands and dropped to the ground as he straightened. Just ahead of them on the path was a Buizel. Both John and Rose froze, their pokemon stepping in front of them. Mist looked over her shoulder at John and barked. Finally coming back to himself he shook his head before looking at the wild pokemon again. "Well, I guess what pokemon we are going to be fighting first Rose." Rose laughed and nodded, both of them calling out to their pokemon. "Tackle." Both Orin and Mist charged the Buizel but were sent rolling back by it's water gun. John frowned slightly as he watched Mist get back up and shake the water from her fur. "You ok, Mist?" When she nodded, John spoke again. "Tackle again, but watch for it's water gun. Wait till just before it fires at you then dodge and go in for the hit." Again Mist nodded before charging across the grass again, lunging to the side as a water gun was shot at her again. Caught up in the fight, John didn't notice that Rose had sent Orin back into the fight and both he and Mist rammed the Buizel from either side, crushing it between them before retreating to their trainer's sides.
The Buizel shook itself and took a step back as it watched Mist and Orin. John smiled as the fight seemed to drain out of the pokemon. "Hit it again, Mist." She charged ahead again, paws held tight against her side and rammed the Buizel in its stomach, sending it rolling backwards into the taller grass. John stepped forward to look for the pokemon but by the time he reached the grass it had disappeared. "Well... That's a disappointment, it got away." Rose started laughing. "We just had our first battle and all you are concerned about is that the pokemon ran away." John shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for trying to get a second pokemon. I mean, a second before you even start your journey? It would help out alot." Rose just smiled and shrugged. After a second John knelt down and looked at Mist. "How are you feelin?" Mist gave a short bark and smiled, making John laugh. "How about Orin, Rose?" He looked over when Rose said he was fine to see Orin had gone back to pouncing on the grass again. With a chuckle he stood up and turned deeper into the forest. "If I remember right there is a pond just ahead of here. Will be a good place to sit down at." Rose nodded once and called Orin back to her side as they started walking again.
Within a few minutes they found the pond without encountering any more wild pokemon and sat down at the edge of water, watching as Mist and Orin looked at the water of the pond in curiosity. John watched them before kicking off his boots to relax. "Wonder if they will get in the water." Rose shrugged, laughing when Mist stepped into the water only to jump back out. "Maybe. But I bet the water is freezing." John nodded before laying back. "Thinking of ponds reminded me, I don't remember the last time I went swimming." Rose grabbed his arm suddenly and started to drag him toward the water, making him scramble for a spot to grab onto to stop her from dragging him in. "THAT DOESN'T MEAN I WANT TO!" Mist and Orin turned around to look at John when he yelled and Rose fell back laughing. "Scared?" John moved a bit further back from the water than before and shook his head. "I don't feel like walking home soaking wet. Made that mistake once before." Rose laughed again as he shivered. When they next looked at their pokemon they found them both wading out and starting to swim. John chuckled. "Well, at least we know they can swim." Orin stayed near the shallows, just swimming in a small circle but as John watched, Mist slowly swam further out. "Hey, Mist, come on back, don't go too far out." Ignoring his words, Mist continued swimming out and John stood, pulling off his socks and shirt. "Mist, get back here." Again she ignored him and John sighed. "This is not going to be fun." He ran and jumped as far out into the water as he could so that he would adjust to the water completely before swimming to Mist. Before he reached her, Mist slowly started to bob in the water and slowly he noticed she was having troubles keeping her head above water. John threw everything he had into his speed but even at that she sank under the water before he got to her. Luckily he was able to grab her before she sank too far and pulled her to the surface and set her on his back so her head would be above water as wall as her arms.
When he got back to the shore he sat against a tree and grabbed his shirt to dry Mist's fur. Once she was dry he set the shirt aside and started to shiver. "I was right. Water is like ice." Standing up he gathered his boots and and shirt. "Lets get back to my house so I can change before I freeze." Rose shook her head and followed him back through the trees, watching as John would jump and grumble every time he would step on a rock or sharp twig. "You could always put your boots on ya know." John shook his head, and his whole body shuddered. "Don't want to get 'em wet. Hard enough breaking them in once." Rose sighed. "Kinda figures that the first time we go to a pond with our pokemon, one of them nearly drowns." John chuckled as he shivered again. "Yea, I guess I should have seen that coming." As they stepped out of the trees back into their town, John noticed his father a little ways ahead of them leaving the pokemon center. "Hey! Dad!" Turning to face them his father frowned slightly at John. "What happened to you?" John smiled slightly. "Jumped in a pond." His father shook his head. "You should know the water is like ice even in the summer." John shrugged. "Mist went swimming and wouldn't listen when i called her back to the shallows. So I had to go in after her." His father chuckled. "Well, you make a good pair than, you never listened much to me either." John sighed, knowing that had been coming. "Yea, yea. Anyway, I need to get back to the house to change." His father fell in step as they walked by. "You haven't even started your journey and.." He stopped as John narrowed his eyes at him and just started to laugh. "I guess I don't need to say anything." John nodded and when they got to the house set his boots inside the door before heading to his room with Mist at his heels.
Rose waited by the door and a few minutes later John came back with a black T-shirt and dry jeans on. Rose couldn't help but smile. "So I am going to guess you won't be jumping in any ponds any time soon?" John shook his head in response and walked into the kitchen. "Not if I can help it." He lifted Mist up onto the table and went to the fridge, grabbing a couple glasses of lemonade. He handed one to Rose and sat at the table. "Hopefully Mist has learned her lesson about not listening." He looked at the small pokemon who looked down at her feet. Rose smiled. "Don't be so hard on her. She didn't know that she wouldn't be able to swim for that long." John sighed and took a drink of his lemonade. "I know." After a second he downed the rest of the glass and glanced outside. "It's getting close to dark, you should probably get home and get some sleep before we head out tomorrow." Rose nodded and picked up Orin. "Looking forward to gettin out of this town." John's mother stepped into the room as she said that. "Hey, I heard that." Rose's eyes widened and her face turned red. "I didn't mean I don't like it here, I just want to get out and travel to new places." John's mother laughed and looked at Rose. "I know." After a second Rose stepped to the door. "Well, I will see you tomorrow John." John said goodbye as she stepped out the door and closed it before turning to his mom. "What would you say if you thought I was going to travel alone?" His mother turned to him, her eyes narrowed. "I would say you aren't going. Why?" John smiled. "Just wondering. I had to go talk to Rose's parents in order for them to let her go. They thought she wouldn't be traveling with anyone."
After a second John stood up and Mist jumped onto his back, her arms wrapped around his neck as he set his glass in the sink and headed back to his room. "I'm gonna get to bed. Might be the last time for a while I get to sleep comfortably." All he heard in response was a laugh as he opened the door to his room and stepped in, letting the door close on its own. Sitting on the edge of his bed he allowed Mist to slide off his back before laying out on it and pulling a pillow under his head. He felt something curl up between his arm and his side and looked down to find Mist there. "You want to sleep here or in your ball?" Mist let out a soft growl and curled up even tighter, making John laugh. Laying his head back down he stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows crawl across the walls until it was fully dark and he finally fell asleep.