Chapter 115

CHAPTER 115

I entered a quaint cafe and immediately found my friends. It wasn’t difficult, since they were the biggest group in the place, and two tables had to be stuck together for them. I smiled and strode up to their table.

“Grace, over here,” Denzel beckoned. “Saved you a seat.”

“Thanks,” I said as I sat between him and Cecilia. “The new guy isn’t here yet?” I asked, looking at Emilia.

She was looking at her phone. “No, but he should be here any minute.”

Denzel called over a waiter for me, and I ordered an egg and cheese bagel with some water. They had apparently all ordered before me, since I had been running late and not answering the phone because I’d been on a route.

“I want to warn you guys,” Emilia said. “Please don’t be mean to him.”

“What? Why would I be rude?” Pauline smiled. “He can’t be too bad, since he got you out of your shell. I’ll just ask him a few questions.”

“Please, let’s not be rude to a potential new friend. I’m sure the meeting will go well,” Justin said.

“Thank you, Justin,” she smiled softly.

“Look, I’m just tired, so I’ll be chill,” I shrugged. “I almost had an accident with Turtonator.”

They all turned toward me.

“Oh shit,” Denzel gasped.

“Are you okay?!” Cece asked worriedly.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I hurriedly clarified. “I meant that he almost attacked another trainer that was just passing by. Sorry for not being clear.”

“Arceus, do not scare us like that,” my girlfriend exhaled as she gripped my arm. I hurriedly apologized again.

“They’ll probably complain about it online,” Pauline laughed. Now that she knew I hadn’t been in danger, she had immediately loosened up.

“I don’t think it’s a laughing matter,” I sighed. “He could be traumatized.”

“He’ll go through a lot worse if he wants this job,” she simply stated. “Comes with the territory.”

I wanted to retort, but Emilia interrupted us and pointed toward the entrance. Vincent was a short teen with long, wavy brown hair, thin lips, and large eyes. I observed as he confidently walked toward us with a smile.

“He sure seems happy,” I muttered quietly enough so no one would hear.

He scanned the table as he walked, but his stare lingered on me longer, probably because of how I looked. Trainer scars were common, but most weren’t as pronounced as mine, especially with how young I was.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late, I lost track of time when I was editing a video. My name’s Vincent Campbell,” he introduced himself with a smile.

“Oh shit, you have a channel? No way, man!” Denzel exclaimed. “You’re gonna have to give me the name later.”

“Most coordinators have them, remember?” Emilia clarified. “Take a seat, Vincent.”

The boy sat, and we all introduced ourselves one by one. I noticed immediately that Vincent was a very extroverted individual— even more so than Denzel was. In fact, he and my best friend broke the ice immediately and seemed to get along very well after interacting for just a few minutes. I introduced myself last.

“I’m Grace Pastel,” I smiled. “Nice to meet the one that got Emi started on her coordinator stuff.”

“Grace, hm?” He said. “Can I just comment on your scars? You look really cool with them. It makes you stand out...”

Vincent didn’t finish his sentence, as the entire table froze.

“Excuse me?” Cecilia asked, her tone icy.

“Vincent...” Emilia winced.

“Erm, did I say something—”

Pauline slammed a palm against the table, causing the customers around us to look on with worried gazes. “The fuck did you just say?”

“I— I—”

“Oh, so now we stutter, huh? You sure seemed content to run your mouth—”

“Pauline,” I interrupted.

“No, Grace, this guy’s—”

“It’s fine,” I said, discreetly nodding toward Emilia. She was staring down at her hands. “Hey, Vincent,” I called out.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t— I mean, I still don’t know what was wrong, but if you tell me, I’ll apologize properly.”

I stared at Vincent, and noticed that he did appear to be apologetic. He was beginning to sweat nervously, his tone was nowhere near as smooth and confident as it had been seconds earlier, and I could hear the faint tap of his shoe bouncing against the floor. I had considered that he had been faking it for a second, but he did appear genuine. It looked like Emi had picked a good friend, at the very least. He wasn’t tricking her here.

I exhaled as I calmly drummed my fingers against the table. I needed to approach this carefully. This was Emilia’s new friend. I needed to be nice.

Even though that comment had infuriated me.

“Look, Vincent,” I started. “I’m not going to tell you how I got these. I don’t want you to treat me differently, or to feel bad for me— I mean, we barely know each other. But you need to realize that this isn’t a game.”

“I... I knew it wasn’t a game,” he said.

“You might have known, but I don’t think you truly incorporated that fact,” I continued. “To you, they’re just something I have. But consider this, Vincent. These had to get on me. My skin was seared until it was irreparably scarred.”

Vincent’s eyes widened, and he grimaced. The words might have seemed simple, but after seeing his reaction, I knew I had been right. Vincent hadn’t even considered the simple fact that a burn like this didn’t get on you for no reason. It was painful and traumatic. I had been the victim of this thought process before becoming a trainer too. Plenty of people had scars in the battles I used to watch on television, and I did think some of them were cool. That had been before.

Behind every single one was a painful memory.

“Ah, shit,” he swore. “I was being an asshole, wasn’t I?”

“Yes,” Denzel nodded. “But we can call it water under the bridge if that’s alright with you, Grace?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said.

“I guess I was thinking from a coordinator's point of view,” Vincent said. “The distinguishing yourself thing... it’s a thing that every coordinator tries to do to separate themselves from the herd, so I meant it as a compliment. I’m sorry. I swear, I wasn’t discriminating against trainers or anything.”

“Think before you speak,” Pauline hissed. “I’ll let it go for Emilia, but you’re on thin ice. No one fucks with my friends.”

“It wasn’t intentional, Pauline,” Justin tried.

She clicked her tongue. “Whatever.”

“What do you mean by discriminating against trainers?” I asked.

Emilia spoke up, seemingly having recovered from the group’s little spat. “Some coordinators see trainers with disdain,” she explained. “Mostly because we— you get a lot of things for free.”

“They also say that you guys act like you’re better than them,” Vincent added. “Which you’ll easily know is a load of bullshit if you spent five minutes with the first coordinator you find on the Walk.”

“The Walk?” Denzel asked.

“The Coordinator’s Walk,” Vincent said. “The street leading up to the Hearthome Contest Hall.”

“Must be a good battle going on,” I smiled. “Should we go see?”

Denzel stood on his tiptoes and craned his neck. “Looks packed to the brim, I don’t think we’ll get through.”

After fifteen minutes, Justin and Pauline came back.

“We’re on in five days, in the afternoon,” Justin proudly declared. “Pauline’s first, since she so desperately wanted to go—”

“You should be happy I’m going first,” she huffed. “I’m letting you get some intel.”

“That’s when Chase is coming back,” Cecilia pondered.

“Chase won’t come watch,” I said.

“He’d probably say something like— I don’t have time to waste on watching these low leveled battles,” Cece recalled fondly.

“Seems like a real angel,” Pauline said. “Anyway, what now?”

“Well, a few companies answered me, and I’ve got my first meeting in...” Denzel trailed off as he grabbed his Poketch. “Three hours. I was wondering if any of you could help me out? Rehearse a little? Figure out what they’d do to fuck me over?”

“Say no more,” Pauline said. “Emi, Cece, come with.”

“Actually, I’m going to train,” Cece declared.

“So am I,” Justin nodded.

“Any answers on your side, Grace?” My best friend asked.

“I checked on the bus. One answer from that shoe company I talked to you about, and the meeting’s next week. But nothing from the Poketch Company.”

Cecilia crossed her arms. “If I had to guess, they’ve probably read your message, but they’re deliberately taking their time to answer.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Well, you made them wait, right? It might be their way of letting you know that they didn’t appreciate it.”

I sighed. “They did send their first email when we were in Snowpoint. I could have answered...”

“And now that they’ve seen you’ve answered back, they know you want to work with them. That means the balance of power’s back in their favor,” Emilia nodded. “Be careful.”

“I will, don’t worry,” I reassured her. “I thought they were supposed to be nice. You guys go do your stuff, I’m gonna hang out here and decide what to do.”

We all bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. I considered my options before deciding to go off and train too. Maybe I could find one of the arenas and battle some trainers there with Tangrowth, or I could go back on Route 208 or visit Amity Square to work on Togetic’s Wish. Well, the closest option was Amity Square, so I’d go there—

A girl with glasses and jet black hair paced through the lobby, followed by a group of... fans? One of them carried a banner with the word ‘LET’S GO LAUREN’ written on it in a fancy, almost unreadable font, but the girl seemed to pay them no mind. In fact, she wasn’t even listening to what they were saying since she was wearing ear pods and her head was nodding to the rhythm of what I assume was music.

The name Lauren...

Wait, was this Craig’s sister? They certainly shared the same hair color, and their eyes and noses were the same shape. I discreetly followed the small but dedicated group, who were asking for Lauren’s autograph. I remembered from my research online that her fans weren’t as numerous as other trainers in the Circuit, but they were devoted to finding out every crumb of information about her. They reminded me of some of the fans coordinators had. They could get very rabid, even driving some to quit the industry after they were found to be dating someone. I was surprised to see that she was even out and about in broad daylight, however. She usually battled as early or late as possible to attract the least attention. What was she doing here in the middle of the afternoon?

Lauren released a Duosion, who hovered above her, and the people following her clenched their heads and backed off. Was that even allowed...? The psychic type seemed unharmed, which meant that she hadn’t used it in her battle. I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure it had actually been her battling, but the fact that some of her fans carried banners to encourage her certainly made me lean that way.

Well, I had promised Craig that I’d tell his sister to call him if I met her.

I took a deep breath and quickly approached her, tapping her shoulder. Duosion moved around in its goo-like substance, and Lauren stopped in her tracks. She turned toward me.

“Hello?” I hesitantly said.

She just stared at me, and then at Duosion. And then at me again. After what seemed like an eternity, she took off her ear pods.

“You... seem alright. Can I help you?”

Her voice was so quiet it was practically inaudible, especially with my busted ear drum.

“Erm, I’m Grace. I know your brother Craig. I know this is sudden, but he asked me to call him if I ever met you.”

Her meek expression changed to an exasperated one for a split second. “Oh... what do you think, Duosion?” She asked. After a few seconds, she talked again. She didn’t seem to be in any pain from the telepathy, but I doubted that it was because she was used to it enough. No matter how many times you spoke to your psychic types, you would at least feel some pain if you had only owned it for a few months. Lauren either had a very high pain tolerance, or was simply good at hiding the fact that she was suffering a massive headache. “Trustworthy? You’re right, she doesn’t seem like a stalker...”

“You’ve been stalked?” I asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”

“During my stay in the city...” she whispered. “They keep following me, but they’re harmless.”

“Oh. Well, I won’t follow you,” I said. “Just let me do this favor for your brother? I owe him a whole lot.”

“Fine,” she sighed.

I dialed his number, and he thankfully answered. For all I knew, he could have been flying off somewhere.

“Grace! Long time no see. What’s up?” He asked cheerfully.

“No... um, I’ve got your sister in front of me. I’ll hand her the phone.”

I ignored his freak-out and gave Lauren my Poketch. As soon as she brought the phone to her ear, her whole demeanor changed.

“I thought I told you to stop trying to contact me!” She yelled angrily into the phone. Duosion worriedly jumped around in its goo. “Shut your mouth! I want nothing to do with you!”

I felt like I shouldn’t have been hearing this.

“If I’m seen with you, people will think I’m getting help from you, you shitter!” She screamed. “No! No— don’t you dare fly here. No! I don’t want to see you!”

There was another pause.

“I’m not sticking around. I got my badge, and I’m leaving,” she said. “All the bullshit messages you sent me about being more public only got me some creepy fans. I hate you.”

I awkwardly stared at the floor, hoping this conversation would be over. This wasn’t what I had expected at all.

Lauren sighed. “Her? Fine... if you say so,” she said, in a surprising change of heart. “As long as you don’t actually come here.”

Then, she stared at me and seemingly remembered that I was hearing everything being said, since Craig had probably mentioned me by name. “Okay... yeah... I’ll stick around for a little bit,” she muttered. “Nothing happened. Just... bye.”

Lauren handed me my Poketch back. “Sorry you had to see me that way,” she continued with her meek voice. It was like she had done a complete one-eighty, but maybe that was how close she was with her brother. “Craig just gets on my nerves.”

“Hey, I won’t tell,” I shrugged. “So I guess that’s it.”

She nodded. “Craig told me that you and your friends were good...” Lauren quietly said. Her eyes suddenly lit ablaze with a passion I knew too well. “I’m sticking around until I see all of you battle Fantina.”

I smiled. “Are you sure? You seemed like you wanted to leave badly.”

“There’s a tournament in Solaceon I want to sign up for,” she muttered. I perked up at the mention of a tournament, and she continued. “It’s in a bit, so I should still be able to make it. And so should you, if you don't lose against Fantina. You losing would be disappointing, though...”

“I won't lose,” I declared. “None of us will. I should probably tell my friends about all of this. Um, it was nice to meet you?”

“No. Don’t tell more people about me,” she shook her head.

“Oh. Um, okay?”

My friends were cool, though...

Lauren nodded, giving me her number to tell her when our gym battles would take place. Afterward, she put her ear pods back in, and walked off with her Duosion as she bobbed her head to music.