I didn't notice while I was typing up this chapter, but Rotten Luck is over a year old now! 35 chapters in one year sounds like too little though. I've slacked off too much.

In other news, I'd like more reviews. I have a theory that I'm motivated by them, inspired by the fact that I haven't written much lately and there've been a lack of reviews. It could still be possible that I procrastinate, though.

Chapter 35: Late Again

With a yawn, I woke up on my bed. Of course, it wasn't really my bed, but an illusion or hallucination or something produced by my poke ball. That thought made me wonder how these poke balls worked.

As I lay in bed, I felt this nagging sense of urgency at the back of my mind. Putting it aside, I remained on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

Normally, I would see the outside world as if I was looking at it through a red, domed window. Right now, instead of seeing Jenny's apartment, all I saw was black, with a hint of red.

"That must not be good," I muttered to myself as I got out of bed. "It's probably best I go see what's wrong." I walked to the exit of my apartment, opened the door, and exited my poke ball. No sooner had I done that did I discovered what had happened.

Apparently, during the night while I was asleep, Jenny had turned in her sleep and knocked my poke ball off the nightstand. Later on in the night, while my poke ball was still on the floor, Jenny had rolled right off the bed. Can you guess where she landed?

Anyways, once I got out of my poke ball, I immediately felt the weight of my best friend on me. Back in the day when I wasn't one foot four inches tall and didn't weigh about fifteen pounds this wouldn't've been a problem for me. Of course, it's different now, and I had to struggle to drag myself from underneath her.

Once I was out, I had to sit down to breathe for a while. I turned to look at the clock and saw it was noon. Wow, we must've been up late, I thought. The day before, Jenny had to work later than usual since they were short on help over at the Pineco Café. Jenny had volunteered to help out, and since most of the customers had taken a liking to the little pokemon with the bowtie that delivered food, I got a new job.

I got up and attempted to wake up Jenny. All I had to do was push her head until she woke up. She was a little drowsy and was muttering things like "What am I doing on the floor" and "Thanks for waking me up, Jonny." She then got up and went to take a shower. As for me, I decided to go use the computer and look up some stuff.

--

When those Porygons were living here and upgraded our stuff, they did not mention that it would be temporary. It took a long time for the computer to get on the internet, then another long while to get to the right website. At least it got there, instead of freezing up on me.

I was interested on reading up on something I heard some trainers talking about at the café. During their conversation, the word 'level' kept popping up every now and then. It seemed that levels had to do something with evolving, the way the trainers were using the word. Levels were, unless the trainers were lying or didn't know a thing about them, an imaginary numerical system to measure a pokemon's strength. The higher the number, the stronger the pokemon.

It also had to do with the learning of moves, so I figured I could use that to see my friends' levels. First, I started with Ember. I knew that he didn't have his move, coincidentally also called ember, from birth and he had recently learned it. I looked up some stuff and found out that the move ember was learned at level seven. The next move he would learn, smokescreen, would be learned at level ten. This meant Ember was between levels seven and ten. Looking up a bit further, I found out Ember would evolve into a Charmeleon at level sixteen.

As I was reading up on some more stuff, my brain remembered something. When that Primeape had attacked us, I had done some stuff I wasn't able to do normally. Quickly, I typed in 'Ralts' into the search engine. Slowly, the computer opened up the page.

Several minutes later, I read up until I found the name of a move that was likely one of the ones I had used. Seriously, how could I mistake the name 'teleport' for something else? But there was something about the move that surprised me a bit. The fact that it was learned at level twelve was a surprise, and I had used it before. This meant I was over level twelve, and thus was actually a higher level than Ember!

He was still better at fighting than me, though.

I looked up a little more and found out that the next move I would learn at level seventeen was lucky chant. Oh, the irony.

I suddenly felt that nagging feeling at the back of my head. I looked at the clock and saw it was 12:18. I couldn't help but think that the reason for my panic was related to the time.

I shrugged the feeling off again and turned back to the computer. I didn't know what attacks Rocky knew or learned during his training with Nutty, but I did know that Ziggy hadn't learned any new moves other than those she knew from birth and the one from the TM Jenny gave Claire which had nothing to do with levels. The next move she would learn was tail whip at level five. That was labeled as a cute move, so it made me wonder what it would be like if used on a cool contest.

The last word in that paragraph made my nagging feeling go on full blast.

My neck turned to the clock so fast that I was thankful not to hear a snap. I saw that it was now 12:23. The contest was today, and it would begin at 1:00. Usually, I shrug off my bad luck, but for some weird reason when it comes to being late I panic and don't think straight sometimes. I mean, I was more worried about missing my date with Jenny than the fact that I was now a pokemon!

I turned off the computer and ran to the bathroom door. Using my little hand-paw appendages, I repeatedly slammed on the door to call Jenny. I heard the shower turn off and after a while Jenny opened the door. "What's wrong, Jonny?"

I just stood there and said nothing. You see, Jenny was in the middle of her shower while I frantically pounded on the door, so when she opened the door she was garbed in no more than a towel. Eventually, I snapped out of it and pointed at the clock. She looked at it and understood immediately. Feeling panic about being late, but not enough to be crazy about it, she quickly ran to her wardrobe to get her clothes.

And then the towel came off.

--

Once I woke up from a… wonderful dream I found myself in Jenny's arms as she ran towards the contest hall. I looked at her watch and saw that it was now 12:45. Jenny was beginning to get tired, so she slowed down to a jog. At first, I thought it would be easier to call a taxi, but looking at the street I saw that the street was full of traffic, and it would actually be faster to walk.

"Oh… (huff)… you're awake," she panted.

"Wow, you look tired," I remarked, "Shouldn't you slow down a bit?"

Guessing at what I had said, she responded, "Don't worry… (huff)… I can handle (pant) running to the (huff) contest hall."

"You'll probably pass out at this rate," I mentioned, "You don't often get exercise."

"Don't worry… (wheeze) I can (pant) handle it," she lied. She was holding me to her chest, so I knew how fast her heart was beating.

Deciding that it would be best to be a little late rather than have my best friend have a heart attack, I schemed of a way so that she didn't have to run. Maybe if I teleport us there, I thought. Of course, I don't know how to do that, I thought immediately after.

I decided to look back on the day the Primeape attacked in which I had teleported. Let's see… first, I saw Jenny in danger. Second, I wanted to save her. Lastly, I teleported. Wow, that was a lot of help. Maybe if I play dead she'll stop. So I relaxed my entire body and realized while I fell to the sidewalk that Jenny was holding me lightly and I was doing most of the holding. At least I got her to stop.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?!" she asked as she scooped me off the ground.

"Don't hurt, it doesn't worry," I answered. I waved my hand in an it's-not-a-big-deal manner to relay the message to her.

"Jonny, I was running as fast as I could when you fell. I know that must've hurt."

"Yes, and if you don't want it to happen again I suggest you walk slower," I said, having found the best way I could find to make her slow down.

"Don't worry, I won't run that fast while I'm holding you. What does it matter if we're a little late?"

I gave a sigh of relief and answered, "Great! Now go ahead and walk at your own pace." To say that, I had to ignore the nagging at the back of my mind screaming, RUN!! RUN AS IF YOU ARE BEING CHASED BY AN URSARING WITH A MACHETE!!

--

I managed to keep myself from panicking for the rest of the trip by holding on as tight as I could to Jenny's arm and gritting my teeth. Jenny assured me we would arrive at the contest hall on time, but she kept looking at her watch, which in turn made me hold on tighter.

"You're really worried we'll miss this, aren't you?" Jenny asked.

"I can't help it! Being late bothers me for some reason!" I answered.

"Heheh, you really remind me of him, you know." As soon as she said that sentence, all my worries about being late were suddenly gone. They were instantly replaced by feelings of curiosity. With the sudden change in my emotions, I twisted my neck to look up at Jenny. There was a feeling of nostalgia, as well as a little sadness, surging throughout my horns. Jenny didn't have any pink horns on her head, but I have always suspected a little that she could read people's emotions (except for people who had crushes on her. She always had been oblivious to those feelings). "Oh, you're curious, aren't you? I don't think I ever told you about Jonny. Well the old Jonny, not you."

I found it strange that I asked the following question, but before I could think of what to say I asked, "Who was he?"

Again, Jenny guessed correctly what I had asked. Her answer was somewhat unexpected to me. I should've expected it, since we did schedule a date, but thinking about that situation like that was like trying to remember something on the tip of your tongue. Nonetheless, the answer did make me feel very happy inside. "He was my boyfriend," she answered.

I didn't notice it yet, but Jenny had come to a complete stop. "He would've reacted much as you have," she continued. "I never did learn why he always panicked when he was late. Then again, neither did he."

"You miss him, don't you?" I asked.

"I miss him very much," she answered. "You and he share a lot of habits. Sometimes I think you're the same person."

"Now that's silly," I said, "Who ever heard of a human being dying, and then being reborn as a pokemon? Not something that normally happens. It's true, though."

"Heh, you're right, that is silly," she answered to what she assumed I said, which again was not entirely incorrect. "This conversation lasted a little longer than I expected."

"You're right," I said. "All you did was comment on how I was tense because it is 12:54 and the contest is GOING TO START SOON WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING WAITING HERE!?

Jenny picked up on this immediately, "When did I stop walking? Well, we shouldn't worry much. The contest hall is just around the corner, and I feel better now. I'll run the rest of the way."

"Fine by me," I said, relieved that we wouldn't be late. Jenny was not as tired anymore and the contest hall was only a small jog away. What could go wrong? I asked myself.

"Oh no, I left my ticket back at the apartment," Reality in the form of Jenny's voice answered.