Chapter 21
“Okay, now take a right…and a left…and another left…keep going straight…go right…okay, here we are!”
When they all looked ahead, they saw a nice looking house with a dirt driveway. Outside, a little Psyduck and mini-sized Breloom were outside playing with each other. They Psyduck would use telepathy to throw rocks at the Breloom, who whacked it away with his tail, as if they were playing an endless game of baseball where no one was keeping the score.
When they got out of the car, the closing of the doors seemed to startle the Psyduck, who launched the rock straight at the window, shattering it. Both children seemed stunned, and the Psyduck began to cry.
Jack walked over to the little duckling. “Mary! Are you okay?”
Mary looked up with misty eyes. “We were just playing, and-and I broke the window. I’m sorry, papa. Please don’t spank me.”
“No, you’re okay. You both are more important than any old window. Can I get a hug?”
Mary quickly buried her head into her father’s shoulder. The little Breloom also joined the hug.
“There, do you feel better now?”
Mary sniffled a little as she cleared her eyes. “Yes, papa. Thank you.”
“There you go. Hey, would you and Toby like to have a snack?”
“Yes, please!” The two children chided. They rushed inside the house.
“Aww!” Claire exclaimed. “How cute! They must be your children?”
“Yep! We’ve got two, and we’re expecting another one shortly.”
“Wow! I hope I can have a family like that someday.”
They proceeded into the house, where they met with Sheilah. Mary and Toby were snacking on little bowls of Ice Cream that seemed to put a smile on their faces.
“Welcome to our humble abode! We’ll try to fit ye in, I’m sure we’ve got room somewhere for ye.”
“Oh, don’t worry about us!” Andy reassured. “We’ve got a tent and some sleeping bags in the car. Beautiful place to sleep under the stars, yes?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever works best for you!”
“Jack,” Sheila called from the table. “Can you come and confirm our plans?” Jack walked over and reviewed a list. His head nodded from time to time, until he suddenly burst a cheer.
“Yes! Good job! This is perfect! Thanks, love.” A peck was exchanged, and Jack moved to get up before remembering his guests. He leaned back down and whispered in Sheila’s ear. Sheila nodded, and Jack faced the group.
“We’re all planning a family trip to various landmarks of Australia. Since you’ve nowhere to go, we’d figure to let you come. Would you be interested?”
West looked exhilarated “That sounds gr-“
Josh cleared his throat. “Could you give us a moment to congregate?”
“Sure.”
The friends headed into the other room.
“I know this sounds great,” Josh said, sternly. “But you have to remember what I said when we started this trek; this isn’t a vacation.”
Andy thought this over, and was struck with an idea. “Do you think we could use this to find the next Time Gear?”
“My thoughts exactly, but what are we supposed to do with Pokextinction?”
“I don’t know. I guess we can just hope they don’t bother us too much.”
“I don’t like those odds, but…I can’t think of any other solution.”
“I guess it’s settled then.” West resolved. “We’ll hop along with them, and hopefully find the gear before the baddies find us. Does that sound accurate?”
“Yeah.”
They went back into the room to report their decision.
Jack seemed to jump out of his seat with their answer. “Alright! Let’s go off on an adventure!”
They continued good conversation until West excused himself to use the restroom. It wasn’t long until he called to his friends.
“Hey! Look in this room!”
Andy, Claire, and Josh all left the table to investigate the disturbance. When they entered, they found a small bed with a round lump in it.
“What is that?”
“It’s…an egg!” Jack and Sheilah entered the room behind them.
“As I’ve said,” Jack chided. “We’re expecting a third child.”
That’s right, I forgot. Andy thought. All Pokémon lay eggs.
***
Andy woke up in the tent. It was still pretty dark outside, and everyone else was still asleep. He remembered Jack and Shielah making plans on packing their belongings, but since they were the only ones that needed to do that kind of thing, the friends played with the kids while they got things ready.
Andy didn’t feel like sleeping. He wanted to go for a quick walk outside. Quietly, he maneuvered around the sleeping bodies of his comrades, still in sleep’s sweet grasp. As he opened the door, he was careful to unzip it carefully as to not disturb anyone’s sleep. He stepped outside, and zipped the door up again.
As Andy’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to walk down the road, away from the tent and the house. After walking around for so long, he decided to lie down on the grassy hill.
He lay back, and meeting his eyes was the lovely Milky Way. As he took in the sights, he remembered going on campouts like these when he was younger. He was never able to sleep all through the night on campouts, for whatever reason the night provided. He remembered how he would sneak out of his tent, like he did earlier, and stare up at the sky, seeing the Milky Way in all it’s nighttime glory, unpolluted by light.
The best part about that, Andy thought, was the fact that I had this view all to myself. It was like my secret life I didn’t want to share.
He continued to study the stars until, almost instinctively, his paw was raised, and with a little bit of finger twisting, left a beautiful little aura wisp. He guided his hand to connect the stars to create the constellations of the night sky.
When his fun was done, he returned to the tent, now feeling a little tired.
***
The next morning, the group was greeted with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and orange juice for breakfast. It was a perfect breakfast. Everyone was so happy to be awake and to set out on the adventure, but for the four, it was for the added purpose of collecting their second Time Gear.
After they helped cleaning up breakfast, the friends took down their tent and put it in their car. It was revealed then that the family had a car of their own, as well as humanizing rings for each of them. After a little bit of discussion, they set out for the journey.
“Now remember, Andy, we’re gonna need you to be attentive to your surroundings,” West reminded. “If you see a trail of Aura, let us know. We’ll think up an excuse.”
***
The trip was a lot more fun than anyone suspected. During their travels, they went to the Great Barrier Reef, the Sidney opera house, Kangaroo island, and loads more landmarks.
They had almost forgotten their real mission, but they still enjoyed their journeys well.
While traveling, Claire decided to strike up a conversation.
“So…these people are nice, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” West agreed. “They are very polite to let us roam the place with them.”
They continued their discussion until, out of curiosity, Andy checked the surrounding aura. To everyone’s amazement, he found a slight trail! His charm was once again reacting to the Time Gear’s aura. He exclaimed his excitement to the others.
“Alright. Let’s make it look like we blew something, yeah?” Josh was beginning to pull over to the side of the road, but Andy stopped him.
“I think…yes, we’re going to right way.” Andy’s unsettled feeling grew the closer and more intense the readings were. If this Time Gear had a guardian similar to Kyurem in the Antarctic, how much danger would this poor family be in?
They kept driving until they came to a stop. The surrounding area was an old town that had everything falling apart.
Jack exited his car.
“We’re here! The mining town of Ballarat!”
Chapter 22: Next
“Okay, now take a right…and a left…and another left…keep going straight…go right…okay, here we are!”
When they all looked ahead, they saw a nice looking house with a dirt driveway. Outside, a little Psyduck and mini-sized Breloom were outside playing with each other. They Psyduck would use telepathy to throw rocks at the Breloom, who whacked it away with his tail, as if they were playing an endless game of baseball where no one was keeping the score.
When they got out of the car, the closing of the doors seemed to startle the Psyduck, who launched the rock straight at the window, shattering it. Both children seemed stunned, and the Psyduck began to cry.
Jack walked over to the little duckling. “Mary! Are you okay?”
Mary looked up with misty eyes. “We were just playing, and-and I broke the window. I’m sorry, papa. Please don’t spank me.”
“No, you’re okay. You both are more important than any old window. Can I get a hug?”
Mary quickly buried her head into her father’s shoulder. The little Breloom also joined the hug.
“There, do you feel better now?”
Mary sniffled a little as she cleared her eyes. “Yes, papa. Thank you.”
“There you go. Hey, would you and Toby like to have a snack?”
“Yes, please!” The two children chided. They rushed inside the house.
“Aww!” Claire exclaimed. “How cute! They must be your children?”
“Yep! We’ve got two, and we’re expecting another one shortly.”
“Wow! I hope I can have a family like that someday.”
They proceeded into the house, where they met with Sheilah. Mary and Toby were snacking on little bowls of Ice Cream that seemed to put a smile on their faces.
“Welcome to our humble abode! We’ll try to fit ye in, I’m sure we’ve got room somewhere for ye.”
“Oh, don’t worry about us!” Andy reassured. “We’ve got a tent and some sleeping bags in the car. Beautiful place to sleep under the stars, yes?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever works best for you!”
“Jack,” Sheila called from the table. “Can you come and confirm our plans?” Jack walked over and reviewed a list. His head nodded from time to time, until he suddenly burst a cheer.
“Yes! Good job! This is perfect! Thanks, love.” A peck was exchanged, and Jack moved to get up before remembering his guests. He leaned back down and whispered in Sheila’s ear. Sheila nodded, and Jack faced the group.
“We’re all planning a family trip to various landmarks of Australia. Since you’ve nowhere to go, we’d figure to let you come. Would you be interested?”
West looked exhilarated “That sounds gr-“
Josh cleared his throat. “Could you give us a moment to congregate?”
“Sure.”
The friends headed into the other room.
“I know this sounds great,” Josh said, sternly. “But you have to remember what I said when we started this trek; this isn’t a vacation.”
Andy thought this over, and was struck with an idea. “Do you think we could use this to find the next Time Gear?”
“My thoughts exactly, but what are we supposed to do with Pokextinction?”
“I don’t know. I guess we can just hope they don’t bother us too much.”
“I don’t like those odds, but…I can’t think of any other solution.”
“I guess it’s settled then.” West resolved. “We’ll hop along with them, and hopefully find the gear before the baddies find us. Does that sound accurate?”
“Yeah.”
They went back into the room to report their decision.
Jack seemed to jump out of his seat with their answer. “Alright! Let’s go off on an adventure!”
They continued good conversation until West excused himself to use the restroom. It wasn’t long until he called to his friends.
“Hey! Look in this room!”
Andy, Claire, and Josh all left the table to investigate the disturbance. When they entered, they found a small bed with a round lump in it.
“What is that?”
“It’s…an egg!” Jack and Sheilah entered the room behind them.
“As I’ve said,” Jack chided. “We’re expecting a third child.”
That’s right, I forgot. Andy thought. All Pokémon lay eggs.
***
Andy woke up in the tent. It was still pretty dark outside, and everyone else was still asleep. He remembered Jack and Shielah making plans on packing their belongings, but since they were the only ones that needed to do that kind of thing, the friends played with the kids while they got things ready.
Andy didn’t feel like sleeping. He wanted to go for a quick walk outside. Quietly, he maneuvered around the sleeping bodies of his comrades, still in sleep’s sweet grasp. As he opened the door, he was careful to unzip it carefully as to not disturb anyone’s sleep. He stepped outside, and zipped the door up again.
As Andy’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to walk down the road, away from the tent and the house. After walking around for so long, he decided to lie down on the grassy hill.
He lay back, and meeting his eyes was the lovely Milky Way. As he took in the sights, he remembered going on campouts like these when he was younger. He was never able to sleep all through the night on campouts, for whatever reason the night provided. He remembered how he would sneak out of his tent, like he did earlier, and stare up at the sky, seeing the Milky Way in all it’s nighttime glory, unpolluted by light.
The best part about that, Andy thought, was the fact that I had this view all to myself. It was like my secret life I didn’t want to share.
He continued to study the stars until, almost instinctively, his paw was raised, and with a little bit of finger twisting, left a beautiful little aura wisp. He guided his hand to connect the stars to create the constellations of the night sky.
When his fun was done, he returned to the tent, now feeling a little tired.
***
The next morning, the group was greeted with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and orange juice for breakfast. It was a perfect breakfast. Everyone was so happy to be awake and to set out on the adventure, but for the four, it was for the added purpose of collecting their second Time Gear.
After they helped cleaning up breakfast, the friends took down their tent and put it in their car. It was revealed then that the family had a car of their own, as well as humanizing rings for each of them. After a little bit of discussion, they set out for the journey.
“Now remember, Andy, we’re gonna need you to be attentive to your surroundings,” West reminded. “If you see a trail of Aura, let us know. We’ll think up an excuse.”
***
The trip was a lot more fun than anyone suspected. During their travels, they went to the Great Barrier Reef, the Sidney opera house, Kangaroo island, and loads more landmarks.
They had almost forgotten their real mission, but they still enjoyed their journeys well.
While traveling, Claire decided to strike up a conversation.
“So…these people are nice, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” West agreed. “They are very polite to let us roam the place with them.”
They continued their discussion until, out of curiosity, Andy checked the surrounding aura. To everyone’s amazement, he found a slight trail! His charm was once again reacting to the Time Gear’s aura. He exclaimed his excitement to the others.
“Alright. Let’s make it look like we blew something, yeah?” Josh was beginning to pull over to the side of the road, but Andy stopped him.
“I think…yes, we’re going to right way.” Andy’s unsettled feeling grew the closer and more intense the readings were. If this Time Gear had a guardian similar to Kyurem in the Antarctic, how much danger would this poor family be in?
They kept driving until they came to a stop. The surrounding area was an old town that had everything falling apart.
Jack exited his car.
“We’re here! The mining town of Ballarat!”
Chapter 22: Next
