Mai winced as Akemi rinsed the last bit of grime out of her arm,
"Now that it's clean, I'll bandage it up with some ointment" Akemi said, washing her hands,
Mai sighed, can't you just put some herb on it and be done with all this?"
"Of course not! Why do you think that will cure every open wound?" Akemi carefully began wrapping Mai's arm after drying her hands on her apron, "This scrape is a good foot long! Why were you chasing this guy anyways?"
"He took Keitaro."
Akemi dropped the roll of gauze and sent it rolling into a corner, "Pidgeot! You put your life into that bird! Captured it right outside of Nivi, level 2 with a broken wing. You sold all your other pokemon to buy performance enhancers and rare candy," she picked up the gauze and finished wrapping the bandage in silence, "What are you going to do about it?" she finally whispered,
"I'm gonna find the jerk," Mai said, her voice soft, "and rip his head off," she looked up and put her other fist through the wall.
"But," Akemi objected, "You don't have any pokemon!"
Mai shrugged, "I'll do it myself. Keitaro and I were unstoppable, so I'll avenge him myself."
Akemi looked up as if in prayer, then looked Mai square in the face, "Please then, take Starmie with you…"
"I won't take your pokemon. This is my fight."
"If you don't I'll just worry. Here." Akemi pushed the ball hard into Mai's throbbing palm, "Mai, take Starmie. Even if you never use him."
"Alright, Akemi, I will." Mai stood and tested her heavily bandaged arm, "You did a good job on this thank you."
Akemi smiled, "I got some clothes ready for you as well, they're waiting on your bed."
"Wow! Thanks!" Mai walked into the room and carefully shut the door. She pulled off the slightly torn tank top then looked at the neatly folded clothes.
There was a small red shirt, which she quickly pulled on, and some cargo shorts. She slipped off her dust-covered jeans and exchanged them for the shorts. She turned to her dresser and finally pulled out a pair of bicycaling gloves, a thick belt and a blue pouch.
She buckled the belt around her waist and clipped the pouch onto it. She quickly yanked the glove onto her left hand but winced as she carefully slipped it over the growing blister on her right. "Thank god Akemi didn't see that," she thought, "She'd still be fussing over me,"
She took Starmie off the dresser and threw him into the pouch, it cluttered againt she pocket knife and pokedex.
Akemi's watchful eye would be on the front door, so she'd have to get out another way. "Keitaro…" she whispered softly, then climbed out the window and left for a journy.
