Embers to the Flame: Part 3

Ambre found the main road and walked towards Laverre City, slouching with her head down and arms limp by her side the entire way. Absol walked by her side, both keeping them on the path and looking up at his trainer to make sure she was alright. The path was clearing up to be only dirt, both Ambre and Absol were glad of that, which meant that they would soon arrive. As they rounded a turn and Ambre stopped. She looked up at the sky, filled with some white clouds but otherwise the clear blue skies and the sun not quite at its peak clearly visible. It was a nice day, perhaps a good day to continue training before the next gym. Or maybe a walk around the city would clear her mind a bit, Laverre was said to be a rather unique city from others in the Kalos region.

"Sol?"

She snapped back into reality. Absol was standing in front of her, watching. Having her attention, he then placed a paw on her right knee. "Sorry Absol, I guess I'm just distracted," she kneeled down and scratched the back of his head, "It's just, well, did we really need to leave him behind? Was there really no way we could have gotten him out of there?" Ambre then took a seat by a small stone by the side of the road, if only to rest for a moment. "I mean, he didn't seem that thrilled to go back with that man. He only did so because I was there," she continued talking to Absol. "But would it have been better if I wasn't there? If I wasn't there, he could have probably escaped, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about getting me out. If anything, I probably made it worse for him." The thought made her heart sink some more and her body ache.

Absol placed his head on her lap, looking up.

"Oh Absol, I wish this could have been easier," she said, embracing his head out of comfort, "If I knew that they were looking for him, I would have dragged him to a hospital or something."

Absol gently shook free from her grip and turned towards up the road.

"Yeah, I guess you are right," Ambre said as she pushed herself up. "Moping about it won't help us at the moment." With Absol by her side, Ambre walked up the path to Laverre City, looking ahead. "Still, I hope he's alright," she mumbled to herself.

Laverre City quickly came into view, though not immediately obvious. It was almost exactly what she thought it would be like: all of the houses almost looked like doll houses with natural colors but then vibrant colors for the trims. The path was still dirt, but was met on both sides by wooden fences and colorful flowers growing on both sides. There was also a lack of metal or concrete, save for a city clock in a tree near the center and the Pokemon Center that stood out like a sore thumb. Everything was made out of wood or something else that was natural.

Even the people seemed to match their city. The clothes they wore were bright and had many ribbons and laces to them else wore more earthly colors and more practical clothes. As she walked by the clothes store, Ambre down at her black and crimson dress. She definitely stood out from everybody in her more professional look, that was for sure, but the dress was also getting old and filthy from long travels.

"What do you think, Absol, think we have room in my bag?" she asked.

Absol looked at her then looked around, uninterested.

"Men," she giggled, "We better get to the Pokemon Center then."

It was surprisingly crowded inside the center. There appeared to be many trainers inside with random Pokemon out. Some were nursing their Pokemon, idle (and not so idle) chitchat, one table in a corner had many trainers huddled around a corner, playing some kind of board game. Ambre placed a hand on Absol's back, gently keeping him close to her as they walked through the crowd to the front of the desk. The nurse, Joy, was typing frantically on a computer below the counter with her focus away from everyone else.

"Um, excuse me?" Ambre stepped forward.

Nurse Joy shook and went wide eyed. "Oh, terribly sorry,, can I help you?" she asked.

"Um, yes, do you have any rooms available?"

"Well, not at the moment. But I will have plenty of rooms open by this afternoon around two o'clock. Will that be fine?"

"Yeah, that will be just fine."

"Alright then, I'll just need to see some ID." Ambre swung her bag around and dug through her front pocket. She pulled out a red device that popped open and handed it to Nurse Joy.

As she began typing on the computer, Ambre looked at the crowd again. So many trainers in there, most of them at least being older than her. What could possibly be the reason for all of them being in one city at the same time?

"Are you wondering why all of these trainers are here?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Yes actually, why would there be so many trainers here?"

"A guild had a tournament here apparently. They have been showing up from time to time, different trainers each time who come, have a few battles, then just leave. Personally, a few announcements and calls in advance would be nice, but it is not like this city doesn't greatly benefit from them. Alright, you are all set. By the time the room is cleaned out, we will have it ready for you," Nurse Joy handed back the device, "Will you need to be leaving any Pokemon?"

"Yes, just Delphox," Ambre exchanged the device with a Pokeball.

"Just one? Okay then," Nurse Joy accepted it, "See you this evening then."

"Thanks," Ambre left with a smile. She then turned to leave, walking slowly past the crowd. Some moved out of her way, though quite a few apparently didn't even know that she existed, making what was supposed to be a short walk out the exit rather long.

Someone knocked into Ambre, having her fall down. "Oh, sorry," a deep voice replied followed with a gloved hand in front of her, "I swear you weren't there a second ago."

"It's okay, I just need to get out of this mad house," she replied, taking the hand up, "Thanks."

The person was already gone. Ambre looked around for anyone, but everyone was talking with themselves. It was like the person just vanished. Something light brushed off the inside of her hand, a small slip of folded paper that had fallen. Still confused as to what had happened, Ambre kneeled down and picked it up. Opening was scribbled writing that read, "Find Rebecca Lewis." In the bottom right corner was a small, black circle with two thick sticks pointing out at a angle.

"Wait a second." She immediately closed the paper and looked around once more. Still seeing the same crowd, Ambre hurried out the door, crumbling up the paper in her hand to hide any evidence of it.