The Training Center

"If we head back south through Saffron City, we can get to Vermilion and get a ride from the port." Cass looked over her map again. That would be the fastest way. The Primeape Stone was nearly hers.

Kaumi sighed. They were on Route 5 heading south now; it would be some distance to travel on by foot.

"Kaumi, do you still care about finding the Waterflower, Daisy?"

"Hm," he said shortly. "Finding her would be better luck than anything, so, yeah. It�d be an honor�She�s the most famous pokemon researcher around and she doesn�t even know it."

"We�ll get to her when our lives are a little more settled. Now, we�ve got this stone, gyms, and not to mention the Dream League�I�ll never make it that far, no way. Dark�s too fast."

They reached an old building. Cass glowed triumphantly as if it were the stone she was searching for. "This is the old pokemon babysitting building."

Kaumi�s face fell blank. "What is it now?" His voice seemed to have lost all flavor.

"It was out of commission for ten years, then the Shadow Gang took it over as a spare base�now�Er, it�s actually a pokemon care center. Kind of a resort. You drop them off and the staff takes care of them for you."

He didn�t seem to be listening, so Cass shrugged it off. They reached the door, and Cass was about to knock, but-

"Hya! No, wait!"

"Naaa�ha!" There was a crash.

"Oof! Bring it on!"

"�Thought you said�"

"I�m not done yet!"

"Get the defense! Nya!" There was another bang. Curiously, Cass ran around to the nearest window and peeked in. Kaumi didn�t follow.

Inside, there was a girl and a guy apparently�fighting? Yeah, fighting. The guy ran at the girl crying out and she blocked or threw him off somehow. She was really good; he kept plowing into bookcases and such. Then Cass noticed two pokemon sitting across the room studying the girl�s every move. They were Machop and Hitmolee.

"Like this! Yaa!" She grabbed the boy�s arm, flipped him overhead, and sent him into the wall with a thud. She smiled, the boy joined her side, and they began talking to the pokemon in voices too low for Cass to hear.

She ran back to the door and knocked. It opened. The girl stood there, looking a bit out of breath and worn. "H-hello? Can I�help you�?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to check into this place. It�s a care center now, right?"

"Feh. More of a training center." Her hair was back and her voice was gruff. "I�m Leiko." She held out a hand. Cass shook it and noted her firm grip that must have been generated from Leiko�s large arm muscles. "Come in."

They stepped inside, Kaumi alive once more. Cass looked around and saw the boy scurrying to clean up an overturned bookcase. Leiko must have seen her watching him.

"Ah, that�s Mark. He�s my assistant."

"What is it that you do?"

"Ha!" Beams of light shot from around Leiko as she stood in all her glory. "I�m the best fighting-type pokemon trainer around! I train weak fighting pokemon to get big and strong!" Her moment of glory ceased. "Those two over there are a couple."

"Where�re yours?"

"Put away. I enter them in the FPC every year- that�s Fighting Pokemon Championship. They�ve won fer me lots a� times."

"How do you, uh, train those pokemon?"

She smiled slyly. "By watchin� my techniques, of course. That�s the only way to perfect an attack. They have time to practice, of course. You want your pokemon trained?"

"No, but thanks."

Kaumi was wandering around the room gazing at the shelves. "You have lots of cups for you and your pokemon."

"That�s righ�."

He turned briskly to Leiko with an odd sort of smile on his face. "If you want them to learn, you need a formidable �assistant�. Want a round?"

Leiko looked quite pleased to hear this. Cass wandered over to a chair and sat, waiting to see what would become of the proposal. The girl had as many muscles as Kaumi; they were equally matched. "You wanna give those two a real spectacle? Sure thang."

She slid a foot behind the other. It looked like she always played defense, but from the gleam in Kaumi�s eye, it looked like he always played offense. He ran at her and swung his leg up. She knew what was coming and whipped her arms around to catch it and flip him like Cass had seen. He moved faster and used her tight grip as a boost and knocked her back with the other foot. She fell back a few feet and released Kaumi�s leg. He landed unharmed.

They went on that way for at least an hour, until they�d thrown, tripped, and blocked in every way possible. Cass�s droopy eyes opened again when she saw them shake and Kaumi walk towards her. "Cass, she�s offering free training for any one pokemon for that. Said it was the most fun she�s had in ages."

Cass looked at her bag with x-ray eyes, sifting pokeballs through her thoughts. Mankey. But she liked him too much.

Cass walked to Leiko and held out the pokeball. Leiko waited and saw the monkey pokemon materialize from the red beam.

"Key! Mankey!" Its fists went up instantly as though expecting a fight.

"This the one?" Cass nodded sullenly. "Alright. Don� worry, I�ll care for it as my own. You can pick it up anytime you want. I can teach it new attacks too, if its able to learn some. It�ll be your best pokemon."

"Thanks."

"No, thank yer friend. He gave me a fight I won�t soon be forgetting."

"Are you sure that this isn�t a Dojo?"

Leiko laughed. "Nah. I think you�d better be moving though. If you�re passing through for the SS Lapras, it leaves in two days. That�s not much time."

"How�d you know?"

"He told me. Get movin� now, I don�t wanna keep you!"

Cass and Kaumi went out. Another adventure�but to Cass, it just seemed like a waste. Her ultimate goal would take more than meeting people like that to reach.