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C hapter VI
The raging storm eventually pushed Glasorden's beat-up life boat onto land. He was slightly injured in the landing. When he woke up, he found a woman looking over him.
"Where am I?" Glasorden mumbled.
"You're safe now," the woman replied. She looked at Glasorden's carrying case. "May I see what you have in here?"
"Be my guest," Glasorden replied. He had nothing to hide.
The woman noticed the set of Aurora Badges that Glasorden was carrying around. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "Are those..."
"Badges? Yes, they are."
"You must meet our Gym Leader. The Gym's a short walk away. I'll run and get him for you."
"That's nice," Glasorden said.
The woman left the house. Glasorden felt well enough to stand up, so he did. After a few minutes, the front door opened again. Glasorden beheld a red-haired man with a beard who appeared to be middle-aged. He wore a work outfit with a cape. For a Gym Leader, he didn't seem too awe-inspiring.
"So Eldritch's gone and fished himself up a Gym Leader, huh?" the stranger began.
"Is this Altinea City?" Glasorden asked the man.
"I've never heard of such a place," he replied. "You're in Canalave City, stranger. This is a port town with a library containing works describing ancient Pokémon legends. I'm the Gym Leader here. My name's Byron."
"Canalave City," Glasorden muttered to himself. In all of his travels, he never heard of such a place. Not only did he barely survive a raging storm at sea, but he was now lost. His heart dropped. Fortunately, this Gym Leader seemed pretty friendly. "Nice to meet you, Byron. My name's Glasorden."
"The next boat out won't be here for a while," Byron said. "Until then, you might as well see what the nearby cities have to offer. For starters, Jubilife City, which is near here, has the only nearby TV station, a Pokétch company, and a huge trading center. I never wanted a Pokétch-that fancy new technology doesn't turn me on-but you might want one."
The Pokétch sounded interesting to Glasorden.
"South of that, there's Sandgem Town, where Professor Rowan is hard at work researching how Pokémon evolve. There's Oreburgh City, where a large mining operation and museum where they restore Pokémon from fossils lie. My son Roark is the Gym Leader there. In Floaroma Town, everyone's crazy about flowers and honey, and Eterna City is a huge tourist attraction with statues of ancient Pokémon. I've heard rumors that Professor Oak's there, too. I have a relative who lives there-you might want to meet him. He's crazy about digging up treasure underground. Of course, all the ancient history and treasure isn't what brings my son up there..." Byron began to trail off.
"Why does he go there?" Glasorden inquired. He was now curious.
"I don't want to get into that right now," Byron answered. "Anyway, Veilstone City has a large department store, and Pastoria City has the Great Marsh. Many people travel great distances to see the rare Pokémon that appear there. Hearthome City is well-known for its Pokémon Super Contests. I've never been interested in such things, though. Fantina, the Gym Leader there, is crazy about those contests. I've heard that her Pokémon are a wonder to watch. Rumor has it that she has never been defeated in a contest. In any case, you should rest up. That was quite a storm you were in!"
Glasorden had a flashback of Julia's death. It stung him.
"What's the matter?" Byron asked.
"Nothing," Glasorden answered.
"I better leave now," Byron said. "I never know when I'm going to have a challenger."
Glasorden knew how that felt. He especially hated it when he received challenges late at night. Byron left and the woman entered. "Would you like some tea?" she asked.
"No thank you," Glasorden replied. "I should be going now. Thanks for looking over me."
Glasorden grabbed his carrying case, fastened his Ball Belt to his waist, and filled his canteen at the local convenience store. Since this was unfamiliar territory, it never hurt to be prepared. He continued until he reached a large city. A man standing by the road stopped him.
"You'd be lady-getting material with one of our Pokétches!" he said. "They're cheap!"
Glasorden figured that it wouldn't hurt to get one. As he reached for his money, a gleam caught the salesman's eye. "You aren't recognized by the Pokémon League by any chance, are you?" the man said.
"I'm the Glacierbay City Gym Leader," Glasorden said, showing the man his Trainer Card.
"Why didn't you say so?" the man said. "You can have one for free!"
With that, the salesman thrust a Pokétch into Glasorden's empty hand. Glasorden spent some time admiring the various features, like the Move Tester (which was actually redundant in his case) and the Friendship Checker, before fastening the Pokétch to his left forearm. He thanked the salesman and left.
After working in the mines underneath Glacierbay City, Glasorden wasn't sure that he could stand another mine, but ancient Pokémon statues never hurt anything. He hoped that they would help him take his mind off Julia's death. He also wanted to meet Professor Oak, not to mention the fact that he was still curious about what Roark did there.
A good walk took Glasorden to two giant Pokémon statues. They appeared to have weathered from age, but that didn't make them any less impressive. Although Glasorden had seen many species, these two Pokémon were new to him. The plates at the bottom were almost unreadable. Glasorden asked a bystander what the Pokémon were.
"See that one on the left?" the man said, pointing to the one that looked like it had shards coming out of its body. "That's Dialga, who controls time." Pointing to the one that looked like it had shields on its arms, he said, "That one's Palkia, controller of space." Dialga and Palkia seemed more impressive than any Pokémon that Glasorden ever saw before as their likenesses towered over the city.
After observing the statues for a little while, Glasorden decided to check out the rest of the city. He passed a strange spiked building that gave him the creeps. It looked abandoned. Eventually, he came to something that caught his eye.
It was a garden. Not just any garden, either-by the looks of things, every flower and tree in it was cared for by the hand of a master. Although ice flower gardens were popular among the citizens of Glacierbay City, they didn't prepare Glasorden for the medley of colors and aromas that presented itself to him. He noticed something unusual.
It was a red-haired man peering through a window.
"Just a little more-," he said quietly before hearing Glasorden's footsteps. He let out a quick "Ack!" and said "Please don't tell anyone that I was here!" before running for it.
The garden seemed like a good place to take a rest. Glasorden released his Pokémon from their Poké Balls. They took in the pleasing aroma that was still permeating the air.
Glasorden was examining one of the fruits closely when a dark-haired girl carrying a Sprayduck rounded the corner.
"What do you think you're doing?" the young lady demanded, waving the Sprayduck.
"You have a nice garden," Glasorden replied.
"Are you hitting on me?" The girl was now enraged, and her face was visibly reddening. "I have an older brother, and I'm not afraid to have him teach you a lesson, you insufferable pedophile!"
Glasorden thought, "This girl must not know who she's talking to."
"No, this must be a misunderstanding!" he responded. "I-"
"Are you being mean to our visitor?" a sweet female voice called out from around the corner.
Glasorden was mesmerized by the voice and suddenly forgot about his scuffle with the girl, who was still standing next to him. A woman followed the voice around the corner. She had reddish blonde hair and a gardening outfit. She seemed even more imposing to Glasorden than the two statues that he saw only a few minutes earlier.
"Hello, stranger," the woman said.
Glasorden was observing her carefully. She looked back at him through her golden eyes.
"Hello," he replied. "I'm Glasorden."
"I'm Gardenia," the woman replied. "I apologize for my Junior Trainer's misconduct." Glasorden half-expected her to look down at the girl in admonishment, but she just smiled at him.
Junior Trainer? She wasn't just cute and friendly-she was a Gym Leader! Being unable to say anything more, Glasorden opened his carrying case and revealed his set of Aurora Badges. Gardenia giggled and winked at him. Neither one of them could say anything in response, but they didn't have to because there was one thing that Glasorden didn't count on.
Lapras was allergic to pollen.
With a big sneeze, the entire garden was covered in ice and frost. All of a sudden, the mood was broken. Glasorden could feel his heart dropping like a lead weight.
"You better get out of here," the girl said to Glasorden before escorting him out of the garden. She ran back to Gardenia, who was wailing at this point. Glasorden could feel his own tears burning inside him. He came to a small house.
A sign said, "Prof. Oak's House."
Chapter VII
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