Chapter 7 – My Friend, The Training Freak 2

POV Lara Ketchum Age 7 - 1 Year Later¹Remember, they grow and mature 2 years faster!

*Poke*

"Ow! Quit it." 

*Poke*

"Ow! Quit it." 

*Poke*

"Would you stop it already!?! I just had chest day, and I am super sore! I will tickle you, Lara!" Finn yells in agitation as I run away with a squeal of laughter. 

It is lunchtime and the whole gang was together eating at our table in the cafeteria. Kimmy and Courtney were giggling while Jess and I teased Finn about his muscle soreness. So, you know, the usual. 

As Finn grumbled past his bag of chips, Jess snorted and covered her mouth with the baggy sleeve of her hoody to prevent any food from spilling out. He was glaring in my direction as I hid behind a corner of the room smiling prettily at him. 

Jess had let her forest-green hair grow out long, nearly as long as my own, and she liked to style it similarly to mine as well. I was flattered by this and often lent her hairbands or clips so that we could match. Despite her long hair and adorable face, she still always wore baggy clothes and her customary hoody. 

Finn had shared his worries to me about what that could potentially mean, and I had very nicely...forced her to show me her arms and stomach to check for bruises as we changed for gym class one day. When there were none, I let out a great sigh of relief and patted the blushing maiden on the head, before walking away. 

Her yell of, "What the hell, Lara!?!" had made me giggle, but I refused to explain it. I didn't want her to know of the hidden concern Finn and I shared for her and her situation. 

Over the years, as we learned more about each other, one person in our friend's group was always very quiet about their home life, never had us over, and always wanted to stay out with us instead of going home. At first, only Finn noticed, but soon, our whole group had an unspoken rule that if Jess wanted to hang out or sleepover, we let her. 

Kimmy and Courtney's parents were pretty strict about school nights, so she couldn't stay there on those days, but that's where Finn and I came in. 

I shared my concerns with my Mom, and she also agreed with this unspoken rule. I think she talked about it to Finn's parents too as, no matter the day, time, or what was going on, Jess was always welcome at either of our houses, no questions asked.

I really didn't like the sad look she would sometimes get when we talked about our parents, it made my chest hurt, but, no matter how I asked in private, Jess would never talk about her family situation, and, after our one and only fight, I learned not to ask anymore. 

Still, even with that mysterious dark side of hers, she was a bundle of energy, jokes, smiles, and laughter. Jess loved to tease Finn nearly as much as I did and she could snark like nobody else. She had really grown over the 4 years we had been friends, and not just physically. 

She used to be shy and quiet, but now I sometimes had to cover her mouth to get her to shut up!

She wasn't the only one who had grown over these 4 years, however. 

Kimmy, my redhead fashionista friend, was being groomed for the modeling industry by her mother who had been a Supermodel before she got married. She was already the tallest of our group and she always had on what was currently in style for our age group. Her personality had not changed much, however, and she was as quick to smile at someone as she was to curse them. People called her a "Mean Girl," but they just didn't understand her. She was actually really nice and incredibly loyal, but she refused to take any crap from anyone.   

Courtney had changed the least out of any of us. She was still short, cute, and smart as hell. Her brown hair was perpetually in a long, straight style and she almost never wore accessories, unless you counted her rimless glasses. Like Jess, she used to be quiet and shy, but, unlike Jess, she still was, but only to people outside our group of friends. She could talk for ages about subjects she was interested in, mostly Pokemon history or sciences, and always scolded us when we didn't do our homework...But still, let us copy off hers! I love her~!

Lastly, there was Finn. 

I stared at the purple-haired training freak that I called my best male friend with a giant smile. 

Finn had grown a bit over the last 4 years, but he was still the 3rd shortest of our group. Kimmy and I were taller than him, and never let him live it down, and Jess was almost as tall as he was. My mom told me that girls grow taller faster and that he would catch up and then probably dwarf me during puberty, but for right now I was superior and that was all that mattered! 

Finn's face was still cute and childlike, but his features were slowly starting to become more masculine. First, there was the obvious: Finn used to be skin and bones, but now he had visible muscle on his body. Nothing crazy, not like Mr. Rook our neighbor who Mom calls dreamy, but his forearms and biceps were noticeably larger, and his calves were much more defined. 

When we would play wrestle in the past, I would always beat him...now? I didn't have a chance! ...And for some reason, I really, really liked it when he beat me and pinned me to the ground while smiling down at me...If anything, we wrestled more now, but I had all but given up hope of winning...

A-Anyway, Finn was great. He was super awesome. I liked him a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Like, my heart skipped a beat when he smiled at me and my cheeks reddened whenever he would hug me. 

And that was the problem!!!

When I used to play and train with him and Pyra, it would be exhilarating and I would love the feeling of growing stronger with Grace. We used to be so comfortable with each other, and I knew that I could trust him with any secret I had. 

Now though? All those feelings were still there, but they were easily eclipsed by other thoughts and emotions I was unused to feeling. 

Instead of training just for the sake of getting stronger and wiping that smug smile off his face, I found myself wanting to just...be there with him. Instead of teasing him relentlessly to enjoy his squirming, I found myself teasing him by touching him and...I was the one left squirming. 

I was not stupid...I knew what this probably was. I had a dumb little crush.  

But...but...He was just Finn! He was just my silly, dorky, training-freak childhood friend, and I refused to let him get to me!

'You hear me Finn Cambridge!?! My name is Lara Ketchum and I will not be beaten by you in this humiliating way!' I vow to myself, taking a deep breath and nodding. 

'I didn't like him like that! Nah uh, no way. I just loved messing with him! Hmm-hmm! That's all it was!'

I then thought of a wonderful prank that I could pull on him to prove it. It was February, but a new indoor heated pool had just opened and we all would be going to check it out later, wouldn't it be sad if someone lost their towel?

I laughed evilly at my idea before returning to the table...and promptly got a noogie from Finn. 

'Just you wait, Finn. I will have the last laugh today!' I thought with a devilish smile. 

* | * | *

"Grayson, use Foresight!"

"Celine, use Minimize!"

Jess' Machop, Grayson, holds his hands to his temples and focuses intently on the giant pink Pokemon across from him while Celine, Courtney's Chansey visibly starts to shrink in on herself becoming a slightly smaller Chansey.

Finn, Kimmy, and I watch from the sidelines as Jess and Courtney go at it with their Pokemon at one of our 3 weekly training sessions. We have been using one of the provided battling fields at our school for years now, and we pretty much own this spot at this point. People don't even raise their eyebrows at us anymore!

Seeing kids our age being serious about training is kinda abnormal at our school. It is mostly older teens getting ready to start their Jr. League Routes that train out here after school, and almost no one our age can be seen. If this was a big city like Saffron, Celedon, or Fuchsia, then it would be more normal, but Pallet City is still relatively new, and we are perceived as a mostly rural town in Kanto: That is to say, people don't really expect much from us.

'Not sure why with so many World Trainers having come from here...but I guess people just believe what they want to.'

Other students from different grades sometimes come to watch our bouts, but, with 12 identical fields set up all around us and with older kids battling at the same time, they never stay for long. The older students only show off the flashy, powerful moves, while we focus on the basics, so it is not very interesting to watch.

Finn says that they are idiots, but we girls couldn't help feeling embarrassed when we first started...especially when the mean ones would laugh at us...

But we quickly saw improvements and knew Finn was on to something, so we started ignoring them as he did. Finn is kinda amazing and inspiring like that.

"Ha! You think I didn't learn from last time?" Jess calls out a jeer as Courtney's face falls. Minimize would drastically improve Celine's evasion, and that had won her the battle in their last fight. Foresight, however, ignores evasion affecting moves and was the perfect counter.

"Grayson is still weak to Fairy moves, so it doesn't matter!" Courtney snaps back confidently, fixing her glasses with one hand before calling out, "Use Disarming Voice, Celine!"

Jessica just crosses her arms and smirks, mirrored by Grayson, as Courtney's Chansey lets out a screech that is almost beautiful, but not quite. Pink waves of Fairy energy shoot out towards Grayson, who takes the attack while trying to hide his wince behind the smirk he wears.

"Our turn, Gray! Use Revenge!" Jess cheers as she points dramatically at Celine. 

Dramatics were an important part of battles, after all. Win or lose, you gotta do it with style! I am so proud I taught her that! 

Grayson lets out a warcry as he charges at the Chansey, spins on his heels, and delivers a devastating uppercut to the pink Pokemon. 

Celine lifts off the ground with the force of the punch that was empowered by her own move, and slides back, rolling several times on the grass of the training field. 

That move was savage, but Jess was not done yet! "Follow it up with a Low Kick, Grayson!"

Courtney panics a bit as the muscular Pokemon dives forward in a sliding kick that flips her recovering Celine onto its face. Chansey weighs a lot, so this move had to hurt her quite a bit. 

Unfortunately for Jess, Chansey has a crap ton of health and stamina. This is proven as she gets to her small feet once more and glares at Grayson determinately. 

"Celine, use Sweet Kiss!" Courtney yells out. 

Celine's demeanor then changes completely as she bats her eyelashes at Grayson, shifts left to right demurely, and blows him a pink kiss. Pinkish Fairy energy forms into 2 lips that collide with Grayson's cheek before he can dodge and his eyes go fuzzy as his cheek now has a kiss mark on it shining in pink like a lipstick stain. 

"Damnit! Grayson, use Low Kick again!" Jess calls out, gritting her teeth. 

Grayson tries to comply, but the Sweet Kiss confused him, so he does a half-hearted sweep of his leg, trips, and falls back painfully onto his head as Celine approaches once more. 

"Finish him off, Celine! Disarming Voice again!" Courtney cheers.

From point-blank, Courtney's Chansey once again lets out that horrifyingly beautiful tone, and Grayson is helpless to resist. His body rocks left and right as he grabs at his ears to stop the sound. 

"Come on! You can do it! Use Revenge once more!" Jess cries desperately, and, maybe sensing that, Grayson's eyes focus on the smugly smiling Chansey above him. 

He spins on his butt, anchors his hands behind his head, and lashes out with both feet slamming the poor unprepared Chansey in her stomach and sending her flying back. 

When her rolling ends, she stays down; Her eyes spinning from the blow.

"Winner: Jess and Grayson!" Finn yells and we all cheer for the two as they quickly spray potion into their injured Pokemon's mouths and retrieve them into their Pokeballs to rest. 

Courtney pouts but accepts the hug from Jess as they make their way back over to us. 

"Your Chansey just isn't fair, I can't believe how close that was!" Jess complains, still hugging Courtney with one arm. 

Courtney perks up a bit at that, and smiles as she says, "That is why I picked her! I did my research beforehand and discovered a League rule allows both baby Pokemon and their 1st evolution as starter Pokemon. I had to travel 6 hours to go to the Joy ranch to pick her up, though."

Like Finn's grandparents, the Joy family bred Pokemon, specifically Chansey, that they all used for their work in the Poke Centers. They offered them for sale as well, but they were expensive and their ranch was far out into the Kanto countryside. 

'Speaking of Finn's family, I need to call Abby tonight...' I think with an excited smile.

Abby Cambridge, Finn's cousin, was fast becoming a great friend. I was a bit skeptical at first when Finn gave me her number, but after calling and talking with her for...several hours during our first conversation, we agreed to be friends and meet up to discuss things about getting into the modeling industry.

I was still quite new, but Mom offered to join and answer our questions, and we both made a promise to do our best together. We now did weekly calls and she even came over to visit with Finn and me sometimes!

About modeling and acting:

IT. WAS. SO. FUN!

I was scared at first, but Mom helped me by picking out outfits and taking pictures all across Pallet City. When we submitted them to Mom's old agency, Lark Studios, she told me to expect to wait for a while before we were contacted, but we heard back within a week! Apparently, they had been trying to get Mom back into acting and modeling for a while, and they were happy to get me if they could, as that might rope Mom in too.

She saw through this and had a "Private Chat" with their leadership, but still was happy to let me try it and see how I liked it. 

I was a nervous wreck at my first photo shoot, but they were all super nice and I even was given a personal manager! Mrs. Rhonda Rennings was a friend of my Mom from her time modeling and acting, and she scooped me up as soon as she could. She even got me an audition for a new show called PokeDetectives - Which I totally nailed, by the way! I got a part as a supporting actress that is in most of the episodes!

The filming for the first season was done, but I decided to wait to see how it turned out with Finn, Jess, and all my friends. We were going to have a viewing party when it was released this March.

Anyway, back to the post-battle chatter.

"You both did great! I am happy you took my notes on Minimize, Jess." Finn praises.

Courtney's face falls, "...I should have known you were behind that..."

"Don't pout, I will help you to beat Jess next time, it is only fair," Finn says while patting her shoulder.

"Hey!" Jess yells out and we all laugh.

"Okay, who's next?" Finn says with an excited smile and a clap of his hands.

Our faces all turn into scowls. 

"Finn..." I grumble, "Did you forget what we were doing today?"

"Hmm? What do you mean? Aren't we training?" He asks like it was the most natural thing.

"No, dummy! We are going swimming at the new indoor pool!" Kimmy says and smacks his shoulder. "You said we could go after an hour of practice. It has been an hour and a half!"

"Ah..." Finn scratches his cheek, "Right...How about I battle someone and then we can-"

"No!" All 4 of us girls shout.

"You are a training nut!" Kimmy yells.

"Don't you know what moderation is?" Courtney asks.

"I've never been to a pool before~! I want to go!" Jess pleads excitedly.

"Jeez, Finn...Take a break, yeah?" I ask placatingly. 

Finn pouts but nods his head after sighing.

"...I'll just have to practice more when we are done..." He grumbles to himself, but I hook his arm with mine, ignore how it makes my heart rate speed up slightly, and start marching forward as I announce,

"Noooope~! You are taking a break today, I even talked to your Mom and she agreed."

"You what!?!" Finn looks at me with betrayal in his eyes.

"Yup~!" I say, popping the "P."

"That...That's just evil!" Finn cries as if it is the end of the world.

All of us girls roll our eyes and drag the dejected boy along as we giggle to ourselves. 

'Time for my prank! This time, I will beat you, Finn! And, in doing so, I will prove once and for all I don't have a crush!' I think with internal delight, ignoring the redness coming to my cheeks from contact with his arm.

Honestly, it made no sense even to me, but I had made my mind up! This was going to prove it! Somehow or other, this would prove it...

* | * | *

"Hey, have any of you seen my towel?" Finn asks in confusion when the 4 of us girls had finished changing into our swimsuits and exited the girls changing room.

The indoor swimming pool was large and pretty crowded...but none of us were paying attention to that.

"..." x4

"Hello? My towel is missing, have any of you ladies seen it?" Finn asks again.

"..." x4 again.

"What is wrong with you all?" Finn asks quizically, waving his hand in front of our faces. Our very red faces.

"Wow." - Kimmy

"Damn." - Jess

"Goodness..." - Courtney

Meanwhile, I was not able to utter a single word.

Finn stood on the rough stone of the pool deck in his Charizard-themed swim trunks, but none of us noticed that. All of our gazes were locked on Finn's bare chest and stomach.

Finn's surprisingly toned chest and stomach. 

He wasn't huge and bulky like Mr. Rook was, but he had muscle, and it...it looked good. He had a lightly defined 6 pack and his pectoral muscles were forming as well. It wasn't anything crazy, but none of us had ever seen something like that on a boy our age before.

It was an awakening to puberty none of us were expecting.

"Do I have something on me?" Finn looks down at where our eyes went, confusion evident on his face. 

"Yea..." I say in a squeak.

Kimmy and Courtney were the first to snap out of it. 

"Lara stole and hid your towel." Courtney blurts out, trying to find something to fill the awkward silence that had taken over the group.

"Hey!" I look at her in shock, finally broken from my spell as well. 

"Nice save!" Kimmy says with a laugh.

Jess just continues to stare with her mouth slightly hung open.

"You did, huh? That's fine, I will just use yours. As for your punishment..." Finn smiles evilly at me and grabs onto my waist as he lifts me up into the air. 

My. Face. Is. On. Fire!!!

Was my heart supposed to beat this fast?

What was even going on!?!

I try to shout out for help, but the words are stuck in my throat. 

"Let's jump in together!" Finn finishes with a laugh as he approaches the edge of the pool and jumps in with me in tow.

The water rushes to meet us quickly and I splutter as the heated pool water covers me. This section wasn't too deep and Finn pulls me over to the shallow section so we can stand, ensuring that I was safe, even with his little counter prank.

"Did you learn your lesson, Lara?" Finn asks as he smiles widely at me. He is still holding me close and I feel my heart beating a mile a minute.

"Yeah...You win, Finn." I whisper quietly, all willingness to oppose what was happening leaving me. 

Finn laughs as Kimmy and Courtney jump in to join us. Jess just sits at the edge of the pool, looking down with flushed cheeks.

"You win..." I say again and snuggle in a bit closer into his embrace.

'I guess having Finn the Training Freak as my first crush isn't so bad.'