Aspendragon

A Starry Runner - Part 3

"How much further?" Amber asked. Wing pulled out a folded map and unfolded it. His eyes moving back and fourth.

"About twenty more miles," he answered, Amber groaned. Firefly and Moondancer neighed. Saying they felt worse due to the continuos walking then trotting than walking again routine. And it was five hours more before sun up.

"I wish we could set up camp, if there was anything to set up!" Amber shouted.

"Relax, at least we’ll be in the next town in five more miles," Wing explained.

"I didn’t know there was a town between Viridian and Celadon," Amber said quickly, leaning over to see the map in his hands. "Rosemond Town, a newly built town!" she gasped, Wing smiled.

"Great," Wing said. She nodded. Firefly and Moondancer heard this news and started cantering then went at a gallop.

"Geez! What’s the rush!" Amber asked loudly. Wing suggested that they were being nosy and heard what they said. Firefly snorted in agreement. They laughed as they stopped and Moondancer asked for directions.

"That way!" Wing shouted, pointing to his right. Moondancer and Firefly nodded and took off once again.

The two trainers smiled as the breeze hit them in the face. Amber adjusted her hair as the wind died down. Below them, Amber saw, was several pansies, daisies, roses, tulips, petunias, and she thought she saw bluebells! Firefly watched her footing as she galloped across the plain. Moondancer was obviously having a hard time imitating her footing; he was squashing a lot of flowers. Firefly scolded him.

"Oh boy…" Amber mumbled, "Maybe you should gallop on that clear field that’s coming up," Wing nodded, as he moved Moondancer to the left, edging towards the non-flower field. Amber frowned.

"So much for moon-dancing…" Amber said to Firefly, she snorted. Soon, the flowers ended and they were galloping next to Wing again.

"Two more miles!" Wing shouted, he explained that a sign was on the field saying that. Amber smiled as she urged her ponyta on.

"Beat you there than!" Amber laughed, Wing growled. Moondancer galloped as fast as he could. Amber could hear them pounding into the ground seventeen feet away.

"Hey! Moondancer! Take it easy won’t you!" Amber called back at him. She heard him snort.

"HEY! WANNA BATTLE!" they heard someone shout. Firefly and Moondancer stopped very quickly, Amber and Wing almost fell off forward because of it. A girl no older then twelve or so appeared next to Firefly. She had wavy, purple hair and brown eyes. She seemed to be wearing a pink kimono.

"Do you wanna battle?" she asked again. Amber nodded as she jumped off Firefly.

"One-on-one sound good to you?" Amber asked.

"Sure! Go! Butterfree!" the girl shouted, throwing a poke’ball. A butterfly-like pokemon appeared.

"A butterfree! Cool, I always wanted one of those…" Amber stopped short when she felt Firefly glare at her, "as well as have a ponyta!" she said quickly. Firefly snorted as she walked into the battlefield.

"Ready! Begin!" Wing shouted, refereeing. He sat on Moondancer, just in case he needs a fast exit if the pokemon battle becomes close to them.

"Ember!" Amber commanded. Firefly shot out small balls of fire from her mouth at the butterfree.

"Dodge it! Then use Tackle!" the girl shouted to her pokemon. The butterfree swiftly flew out of harm’s way. Then tackled Firefly’s side.

"Ta!" Firefly growled as she was almost knocked down.

"Good job Firefly! Now use Stomp!" Amber ordered again. Firefly jumped high, her four feet under her as she came down. Before the butterfree could react. Firefly landed on top of her. Firefly noticed that she hit and jumped off and was received a pat and the back when Wing shouted, "This battle goes to Firefly!" then rejoined Amber and Firefly.

"Good job girl, but anyway, do you know where…" Amber looked around, the girl was gone.

"All well, come on, we should be able to get to Rosemond by dark if we gallop!" Wing said, getting a head start.

"Oh no you don’t!" Amber laughed, as Firefly and her passed them quickly.

"Your lucky that I have good sportsmanship spirit!" Wing shouted. Amber laughed as she and Firefly galloped faster and harder towards a large hill.

"There it is!" Amber shouted, as they looked down at a bright city, "its sooo pretty in the dark," Wing rolled his eyes.

"Come on, let’s go find a Pokemon Center, Moondancer energy is almost down to zero," Wing said, dismounting and returning Moondancer to his ball.

"Yep, and we need a full bag of medical supplies too," Amber said, doing the same thing and returning Firefly to her ball. They began walking down to the city.

"Buzz off! No rooms here!" a hotel manager yelled, as he shut the front door in Wing’s and Amber’s faces. After going to the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy suggested to find somewhere else to sleep. Because even the lobby was full.

"Your crazy! Not an empty room in weeks!" an old lady that bustled about said. Wing and Amber tried the next hotel.

"Sorry, did you try the one down the street?" another manager asked. They sighed and walked down the street.

"Last one, Moon Inn, excuse me?" Amber said, walking in and going to the counter, "Can we rent a room for one night?" an angry man appeared. Making Wing shiver.

"No…" he said, he seemed to have been trying to keep his temper down, "Come next year!" then he vanished.

"I don’t get it, how can such a new town get so much people in just a week?" Wing thought out loud.

"Hi!" a familiar voice rang across the busy streets. They both turned around to have a tall lady stand behind them, "Long time no see Amber,"

"Hi Mom," Amber said, "this is Wing Starsin," introducing Wing. Wing waved fast then put his hand down.

"I guess your looking for a place to stay right?" they nodded, "Then follow me," as she ran down the streets. Amber sweat-dropped.

"She’s a marathon runner," Amber said, "Her and Marco and Polo are the best runners in Kanto at the moment,"

"Who’s Marco and Polo?"

"Marco is a dodou, and Polo is a rapidash," Amber answered as she released Firefly and mounted, "maybe we should give Moondancer a longer rest," Amber said. Wing snapped Moondancer’s ball back onto his belt then mounted on behind Amber. Ms Starr released Polo and got on him.

"Let’s go Firefly!" Firefly snorted and the two horse pokemon started at a trot.

"So, why are you here?" Amber asked.

"We’re here for the Glamour Contest," Ms Starr answered. "A contest that gets trainers to prove how beautiful and healthy their pokemon are. I’m entering Polo into this contest, and there’s plenty of time for you and Wing to enter as well, the contest is taking place the day after tomorrow," Amber’s eyes gleamed.

"Awesome, come on Wing, don’t you want to enter? Moondancer is a fantastic breed anyway," Amber asked.

"Uh…I guess, at least there’ll be competition ‘cause I’m sure Polo and Firefly will be hard to beat!" Wing said slowly at first, then he got louder.

"Are you sure it’s not too girly?" Amber teased. He eyed her as if daring her to ask again.

"All right, but tomorrow we have to prepare, Mom? Where are we going? Camp? Hotel? Motel? What?" Amber asked quickly.

"Your father set up camp with all the other qualifiers," she answered as she broke into a canter. Firefly did the same. Eager to beat Polo.

"I can’t wait, I’m going to groom Firefly till she shines! What fun! Huh Wing?" Amber laughs as Wing looked away.

"This will also give you an opportunity to catch some pokemon, and gather some supplies. Are you two going anywhere specific?" Ms Starr asked.

"Yeah, we’re going to Lavender Town to visit Wing’s family then we’ll plan from there," Amber explained.

"Okay, then you can travel back to Celadon where you can battle the gym leader and so on." Ms Starr explained.

"Wow! Thanks Mom!" Amber said. That’s when a pikachu popped out of the bushes in front of them. They stopped.

"Pi?" it mumbled as it sparked at them.

"All right, I’ll catch this pokemon! Ready Firefly?" Amber asked her ponyta before Wing could jump off himself before Firefly reared and flew him down herself and got ready to fight.

"Pony!"

To be continued