Chapter 16: Skyarrow Bridge

The next morning, they woke up early. They had breakfast at the café. They said goodbye to Benjamin – he looked quite jealous that Harper was going out with Pedro, but she didn't care since she was in love. They drank their coffee – Brandon drank a V – and they then left, making sure to thank everyone for their hospitality. They got their Pokémon healed before leaving

"I’m going to be pretty sad to leave this town," said Brandon as he tried to put on his massive yellow backpack. "I wonder if the next town will serve V. That drink was the best drink I think I've ever drunk. It was like heaven! I heard there’s even a blue version."

"Brandon," Harper corrected him, "trust me, heaven’s much better."

"Then this has to be as close to heaven as is earthly possible," he announced to the world, waving his arms out. This caused him to fall over since his backpack was rather heavy. Everyone giggled, including Benjamin as he came out to wave them goodbye.

"It's my break, so I’ll use it to wave you off," he said. "I hope you can return one day."

"I promise I will," Harper said.

"Thank, great," he replied. "See you later then."

"Me too," she said.

They wandered out of Castelia City and back to the Pinwheel Forest. Unlike before, in which they walked off the path to take on the evil Team Plasma memes, this time they followed the main path down until they reached a bridge. A few cyclists were riding their bikes back and forth, enjoying the environment that the forest produced. There was a calm feeling about it. It was as if the leaves created toxins that relapsed the mind and freed oneself to the beauty of nature.

They watched the river as it flew through the forest. A group of kids were swimming in the lake, getting the most out of it. Harper would have loved to swim with them, but she didn't have the towel or the swim gear to do so. Brandon did since he kept a lot of stuff in his backpack, but Harper had already decided that they didn't have the time to do something like swimming in the river, even if it was going to be a lot of fun. They had to move on and fast since they wanted to get to the city as soon as possible.

They reached the end of the forest. There was some police lady standing there with a rack of bikes. She was stopping anyone without a bike from going onto the bridge. She walked up to them blowing a whistle.

"Hold on!" she demanded strongly. "My name is Jennie, and it’s my job to make sure people follow the law. You can’t pass without a bike."

"We don't have a bike," said Harper.

"Then you will have to hire one for now," Jennie explained. "They are only five dollars each. It's not that much if you think about it."

"Sure, of course," said Harper, as she handed the money over to Jennie before claiming the bikes which they were going to use to cross the bridge. Near the entrance was a bike rack, where about two dozen bikes were kept. Apparently, a lot of people came through here without a bike. So, it was decided by the local council to buy some bikes for trainers to borrow. "Thank you for letting us hires some."

"You’re welcome," said the police officer with a smile. "Now move along! Others are waiting to get their bikes too."

They left the forest and came to a balcony that gave them an awesome view of the city. Large towers, probably office buildings, could be seen far off in the distance across the stretches of water. Harper had never seen so many towers before, especially towers this tall. There was nothing like this back where she had come from. The bridge itself crossed the water majestically, the supports rising high into the sky – the clouds almost covered them.

"It's almost as good as the Golden Gate Bridge," Harper exclaimed with amazement. "I don't think I've ever seen anything as wonderful as this. I’m so excited that I get to cross it with my best friends."

"This is truly a breath-taking sight," said Pedro, hugging Harper as she looked at the city from the balcony. “Truly splendid.” Pedro kissed her on the checks, and she felt a little tingle inside her. She loved it when Pedro did this. She turned around and kissed him on the mouth, her hands on his hips. It was so romantic, and to see a sight with him was even better. It was a magical moment.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I love you," she said sweetly and overwhelmingly glad that Pedro had agreed to travel with them. "I don't want to ever leave you. Even when you leave just for a few minutes, like what you did yesterday when you went and battled that Team Plasma member, I feel all alone. Please stay by my side forever!"

"I promise you,” he said, kissing her again on the cheek.

"We better get going," Brandon annoyingly reminded them. Harper forgot that he was still there, standing lankily and rather awkward. Harper gave him the evil looks before deciding that it was about time that they crossed the bridge.

They walked through the gateway and onto the bridge – the walking path at first went around in circles before moving onto the main part of the bridge, which joined the traffic below. As they rode, Harper could feel the wind flow through her hair as it waved behind her. The feeling made her feel as if she was free to do whatever she wanted to do. She felt freedom – it was even better when she saw the statue of liberty, she felt very proud of whom she was. A few Wingulls flew beside her as she rode. It was an amazing sight.

In the distance, she saw two bike riders coming towards them from the other side. She was at first excited to meet new people. But as they came closer, she started to worry. They were wearing the Team Rocket uniform. Harper suddenly halted, causing her friends to stop as well. They waited as the Team Rocket members came closer. Harper recognized one of them. It was Havana – her worse enemy. They kept popping up all the time, trying to steal their Pokémon. It was obvious what they were planning – they wanted to steal their Pokémon again. At first, she thought the other guy was Toby, but he was wearing a mask – bloody lips and everything – as if he was trying to scare them off, or at least stun them so that he could have the chance to steal their Pokémon without having to battle them.

"Who's your new friend," Pedro yelled as they came forward. He was out in front; ready to protect Harper in a heartbeat. She felt the butterflies again – a tingle that made her feel better.

"My name is Hector and I like to hide behind abnormity. I’m a revolutionist and plan to overthrow the system. I like to hurt people without having to reveal who I am," he said. "But in reality, I'm just a coward. But whatever, anarchy shall reign supreme.”

"Well, we won't let you steal our Pokémon," said Pedro.

"I strong-heartedly agree," Harper added in. "We work very hard to earn our Pokémon. Never ever will we let you take them? Not over our dead bodies!"

"Then we will make you suffer!" laughed Havana in a maniac-like way, waving her arms about. She truly looked demonized. "Gengar – let’s cause some chaos!" Out of a Pokémon ball came some purple ghost Pokémon with legs. Its red eyes could scare anyone to an early grave.

"I will battle you too," said Hector, holding his Pokémon ball into the sky. "Reshiram, I choose you!" Out of his ball came the Reshiram, a white dragon-like Pokémon that had a tail for a nuclear turbine. It was a rather rare Pokémon, so it was obvious to Harper that it was stolen.

"Tepig," said Harper, holding up one of her balls also, "come and play!"

"Minun," said Pedro, standing proud and stung, "I choose you! Now go and kick some butt!"

The first thing that Minun did was shoot blasts of Spark at its enemy. Reshiram was able to sustain these strikes since it is an electric Pokémon, but Gengar was not so lucky. It hurt the Pokémon so much it couldn't take any more hits. This gave Tepig the chance to flame it, as it charged past. This knocked the Gengar out.

"How dare you knock my Pokémon out?" Havana cried out loud!

"If you were smarter, you would have not taken us on!" Harper replied.

"What’re you saying, you stupid tyke!" Havana splattered out. "You're calling me dumb? I've done more break-ins and robberies than you would ever do in your entire life! Now try and beat that!"

"I'm a good person! I’ll never succumb to such villainy!" Harper replied. "That makes me smarter and better. All criminals are dumb. You got to be stupid to break the law."

"As if I care," Havana said, with a tone of sarcasm – Harper wondered if she had a softer side that is hidden by her meanness. She decided not – Havana seemed like some crazy person that should be locked up.

Suddenly the Reshiram started to glow burning orange. It was about to perform Fusion Flare, with its tail's turbines turning faster and faster than ever before. Tepig managed to get out of the way of the attack, but Minun wasn't as lucky. The blast stuck Minun so hard that it knocked itself back towards one of the bridge’s pillars, knocking it out. Tepig, staring at the Reshiram felt really scared. If it didn't beak this Pokémon, then it along with the other Pokémon that Harper, Brandon and Pedro had would be stolen. Suddenly, the Tepig started to black fireballs from its mouth. Although Reshiram was able to dodge the first few balls, eventually this wore it out, and finally, a few of the balls stuck him, knocking the Pokémon out. The Reshiram suddenly turned into a Ditto.

"Jolly motley!" screamed Havana. "We better get out of here." Pushing peddles on their bikes, Hector and Havana rode back from where they came as fast as they possibly could. Hector's mask fell off, revealing a spotty young teenager who looked rather pale – as if his parents never fed him anything. It was obvious why he was crazy.

"Let's get going," said Harper as the night sky started to appear, revealing the amazing lights of the city. "I'm sure we'll have some fun in this new and exciting city." And so, they peddled off towards the city.

Unbeknownst to them, a familiar face was watching the battle from afar.

“Double-crossing people is so much fun,” Augusta smirked.

“Don’t get too confident,” Cynthia said as she approached the young girl. “The syndicate still has work to do. Hopefully, those Team Rocket grunts will distract our heroes before they truly find out what’s in for them.”