Chapter 58: Preparing for Goodbyes

Ark slowly woke up, his mind refreshed and his body feeling invigorated. As his dazed morning expression quickly faded, Ark scanned his surroundings.

A tinge of panic flashed through his mind until he instantly relaxed as he realised his location.

Two nights had passed since Ark had spoken to Misty about the future, and now Ark lay upon Jennys bed with Jenny snuggled up to his chest. Yesterday, they had went out on a day date that had ended up lasting until the early hours of the morning before the two had run out of energy.

Looking down at the sleeping beauty on his shoulder, Ark felt fulfilled. It made Ark reaffirm his desire for a large family, to be able to spread this happiness to as many women from this world as he can. Despite his happiness, Ark felt a tinge of regret that he had to leave tomorrow.

He knew that should he put off his departure anymore, he may never leave.

"Good Morning Ark"

Jenny looked up at Ark as he stared out of the window from the bed, her eyes were full of love and comfort.

"Good morning Jenny, how is your body?"

Giggling softly, Jenny smiled seductively as she replied.

"My body is out of energy from all of yesterdays adventures but other than that, I feel like I could go on more adventures today"

Ark smirked before poking Jenny lightly on the forehead and shaking his own head.

"Don't try to tempt me, it's hard enough getting out of this bed as it is"

The two chuckled in synchronisation before it slowly died down again, the room returning to it's original silence.

"When?"

Jenny asked, in a low voice. The raw emotion it contained displayed her frantic feelings.

"Tomorrow. I need to pack my stuff and I will likely leave early morning tomorrow so I have enough energy to make some good distance"

After replying, Ark went silent, his hands slowly stroking Jennys beautiful waist in reassurance.

"We can keep in touch though, you have a good phone now. Therefore, you have no excuse to not contact me at the very least once a week."

Ark was dumbfounded. He had actually forgotten that he and Jenny had brought him an up to date phone so that he can keep in touch even when he is not near a Pokemon Center.

"Of course I will, anyways I should probably get going. I have to say goodbye and I want to check a few things before I leave"

Like that, Ark and Jenny decided to meet tomorrow morning at the Pokemon Center just before he left.

With his intentions spoken, Ark left Jennys apartment and started on route for the Pokemon Center. Despite only being in town for a short amount of time, Ark had made quite a few acquaintances when he went out shopping or went to meet with Jenny. As a result, on the way back, Ark took the time to say goodbye to his acquaintances. After all, connections are always a good thing, even if they are just humble shop owners.

After saying goodbye to his acquaintances, Ark eventually found himself outside the Pokemon Center. The moment he entered, he was met with a bright smile from someone he had gotten to know quite well.

"Welcome Back Ark, were you with Jenny yesterday?"

Nurse Joy questioned Ark, her smile remaining the same.

"Yeah, I am leaving tomorrow so I wanted to spend a whole day with her before I left"

A tinge of sadness marred Nurse Joys bright smile before it quickly restored itself.

"I see, I forgot that you were on a journey. Honestly I had started to think you were a resident here"

Ark chuckled lightly at Joys words. It made him pleased that he was welcomed so naturally.

"Well I will definitely be back, but for now I am heading for Cerulean City. I have a challenge to beat and people to meet"

Nurse Joy nodded her head before she suddenly told Ark she had something to do. However, she said that he needed to make sure that he spoke to her before he left tomorrow.

Although he found it odd, Ark agreed without much hesitation.

Ark elft the lobby and went to his room. Once he closed the door, he reached into his Pocket Storage and pulled out two Pokeballs. Following this, two beams of light burst from the balls which quickly took the forms of his two familiar partners.

"It's nearly time guys, are you ready to restart our travelling?"

Ark faced his two partners and posed them a question. So far, they had been training on a daily basis, however the intensity of training and travelling was on a whole different level than what they were currently doing. Thus, Ark wanted to prepare the duo before changing their training habits.

-Sylph is ready anytime-

Following Sylphs lead, Shellder bounced up and down to show his agreement.

"I'm glad to see you both so energetic. My aim is to get to Cerulean within two months. Hopefully by then we will have a friend joining us too. Therefore I will be counting on you both"

The two Pokemon nodded. However, the reluctance on Sylphs face was apparent. A wry smile appeared on Arks face as he watched Sylph experience another internal battle.

Reaching his hand out to Sylph, Ark placed it on her hair and stroked it gently with a loving smile.

"You may be reluctant Sylph, but to be the strongest, we will need more allies. Just like Shellder. We would never have been able to beat Brock so easily with Shellder with us. That being said, I need you to be my second in command, after all I may not always be around to take control of everyone"

Sylph demeanour brightened drastically as she felt the purpose of Arks words. She wasa delighted by the idea of being Arks second in command, as well as the fact that Ark was taking her feelings into consideration.

-Sylph will get stronger so that Sylph is worthy of it-

Meanwhile, Shellder watched on with a curious expression. It understood the bond between the two and wondered whether it could have such a bond as well.

"Right, you guys can return for now and rest. I still need to say goodbye to Ash and Misty. I may as well give Brocko a goodbye too."

Giving his partners a quick hug before returning them, Ark packed everything he had laid out in the room into his Pocket Storage and left. Despite not being in any rush to leave tomorrow, Ark planned to say goodbye to Nurse Joy and Jenny and leave straight after.

Ark walked down the corridor before arriving outside of Mistys room. Kocking on the door, Ark was immediately met with the door being swung open. From within, Misty burst out with clear surprise on her face.

"Ark? What are you doing here?"

"I am leaving tomorrow and came to say goodbye. Are you busy right now?"

Misty was further shocked by Arks words. Luckily, she was prepared for a situation like this and quickly recovered from her confusion status.

"I am not busy, but that certainly is out of nowhere. I am on my way to meet up with Ash, he said that he had something important to tell me about our journey, do you want to come?"

Ark thanked his luck. Now, he did not have to hunt around Pewter for the overly energetic Ash.

"That'll be good. I need to say goodbye to him too. Shall we go?"

Ark and Misty left the Center together, the distance between the two was non-existant, but unlike their date, Misty was refraining from holding Arks arm and Ark was fighting the urge to hug Mistys waist as they walked.

While he had no intention of giving up or retreating, Ark respected the fact that Misty wanted to wait until after he beat her at the gym. He decided that if she was going to hold herself back, it was only fair that he hold himself back from taking liberties with her.

After a short walk towards their destination, Ark noticed that they were heading to the park that was across from Brocks house. A silver of suspicion crept into Arks mind since this situation was far too strange for it not o be important. In the Pokemon world that Ark knew, Ash did not place much priority on Mistys opinion at the start of his journey, let alone talk to her about important matters. Following this, Ash and Misty did not meet up with Brock again until they were leaving Pewter.

As Ark was contemplating the differences, two silhouettes sat on a bench in the horizon. As Ark squinted closer, he noticed there was actually two human silhouettes and a Pokemons silhouette. These outlines were very familiar, to the point that it raised many questions in Arks mind.

The biggest question being 'Why are Ash and Brock meeting like this, especially with important news'

A strange feeling swept Arks mind causing various ideas to start popping up.

Quickly squashing these thoughts, Ark decided to observe the situation, after all this may be the deviation that Ark was waiting for.