.:Seeing Black and White:. (Cross Rhodes and Eileen_Wolf)

[A_Midnight_Stroll]

Elli Grandor, a strange teen with an interest in the dark and wicked, lay sprawled out on the lounging chair up on the deck. Her pale skin burned under the intense rays of the summer sun as she drempt away. Cressa her life long partner sat calmy in the nearest chair watching the gentle rise and fall of her fragile cheast. "... No! Not the-the...." Elli mumbled in her sleep causing Cressa to giggle a bit.


They were on their way to the Unove region-Her, Cressa, and her life long friend Evan-where they would begin their journey together as pokemon trainers. Maybe someday even pokemon masters. The excitement of finally leaving the house with her two best friends had kept her up all night causing her to crash in the middle of one of her beloved reading sessions. The book now sit trapped between her lightly grasping fingers that hung off the edge of the chair.

 

[Cross]

Evan picked at the lint on his jacket. He tried to calculate how long it would take to travel the rest of the way, got so far, and then gave up. He wondered what his mom thought about him traveling with two girls across the Unove region. He pushed up his glasses farther up his nose and sighed. He thought they should be comparing types of Pokémon or training strategies or something.


"Shouldn't we. . . ?" Evan trailed off. He had always been more of the academic type and had seriously considered going into Pokémon research instead of training. He had somehow missed out on all the excitement that Elli seemed to have and gone straight to being nervous about it.

 

[A_Midnight_Stroll]

Elli's eyes fluttered open. She felt groggy from sleep and instinctively wiped the sleep from her eyes. "What time is it...?" She yawned as she glanced around realizing she was still in the lounging chair, book in hand. Her face turned a light shade of red and she let her gaze rest on her friend Evan.


Cressa simply snickered some more before jumping into her trainer's arms. She nuzzled at Elli's soft, pale hands signalling that she craved attention.

 

[Cross]

Evan brightened at Elli, happy to have someone better at conversation than Cressa. He had a list of issues to bring up to her--all internally laid out in his head but they all vanished. "Uhm. Good morning." He stood up, realized that Elli might require more time to prepare for continuing on their journey, and piled back down. "Did you want breakfast or something?" He didn't know how to cook, that thought only occurred to him afterwards. Evan stood up again. But who would he ask about something like that in the middle of nowhere? He thumbed his jacket zipper. The sun hung heavy and sweat collected under his bangs.


"Uhm. I was thinking. . . " He announced. "What if we're going through a city and someone tries to kidnap us?" He remembered the missing children posters outside of the last town they visited. Lost trainers never to return home. . . "Or what if Team Rocket tries to take our Pokémon or something?" He didn't' necessary believe that this could happen to them but an astronomical chance was still a chance.

 

[A_Midnight_Stroll]

The red in Elli's face faded as she smiled a warm greeting to evan. "Ya'know..." She began signaling with a hand gesture to a banquet hall behind her, "We are on a ship. And they DO have meals for purchase. She giggled a bit before letting Cressa climb her arm to her shoulder where she sat down and made herself comfortable.


Elli then approached Evan and lightly punched his shoulder in a playful matter. "Oh don't worry so much! We'll have Pokemon with us." She pointed out and then slipped her hand into her pocket to retrieve some sort of shiny device-a cellphone. "Besides, I've got a phone. Now c'mon, let's go get something to eat. I'm starved!" She beamed as she grabbed hold of Evan's arm and pulled gentley on it in the direction of the banquet hall in hopes he would start moving.

 

[Cross]

Evan nodded and suddenly felt like he might have blown everything out of proportion. He returned her smile with a sheepish grin of his own. "Oh, of course." He said. They did have food here. But did Elli really want to trust it? Evan resolved to ask her as much when he noticed a silver haired kid watching them. Evan glanced down and then back up and the guy was still staring at him and Elli. At Cressa.


"Do you see what I see?" Evan asked in something of a whisper. The guy had already started to approach them. He wore poke balls attached at his side and reached behind him as he got within speaking distance. Evan disliked him almost on sight before he even started speaking in that over-confident tone of voice.


"You guys looks like newbies." He pulled out a red case and flipped it open. "I'm coming home to show off all my Pokémon badges. What do you think?"

 

[A_Midnight_Stroll]

"Do you see what I see?" She heard Evan ask lowly, almost like a whisper. Elli turned her head slowly to peer in the direction Evan's attention had been drawn to. Her heart fluttered a bit. A tall, thin kid around their age with such perfect yet delecate silver hair had begun to approach them. His eyes were a soft, soothing brown yet something about them made him appear just the opposite. He seemed like a perfectionest, full of himself. Just the type of boy Elli hated with a strong passion. Yet... Something about him had called out to her, he was just so charming.


"Home?" Elli murmered staring in awe at the shiny badges placed delicately within the red case. "You live in Unova?" She asked. Maybe he could help them find the lab when they arrived? Elli was too anxious to get lost, she wanted to begin her pokemon journey as fast as she could manage.

 

[Cross]

Evan glanced between Elli and the stranger. Something in her gaze made him uncomfortable. Evan studied his badges and acknowledged, at least to himself, how much work must have went into them. He reached out and took the case, curious about what might be in his own future. Evan allowed himself to imagine being a Pokémon master. The kind that Elli talked about that he only half-listened to. Someone elite. "These are pretty impressive." Evan said.


"I know. My name's Chris by the way." Chris shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced at Elli.


The boat shifted under their feet, caught on a wave that rocked everything a foot in the air. Evan winced and shut his eyes. The badges fell out of his hands and overboard the ship. Evan only heard the splash afterwards. His violet eyes widened. The silver haired trainer had the same expression and they watched each other unblinking. "I'm so sorry." Evan managed. He stopped himself from motoring off a hundred more apologies. The trainer's expression had shifted from shock to anger and that seemed to make it worse.


"You did that on purpose." He said through his teeth. Chris reached for a poke ball at his side and resized it. He tapped the center at unleashed a massive pigito onto the ship's deck. Evan stepped back from him. He had no Pokémon on him and he glanced at Elli for help.