Interlude – Haystack I

Interlude – Haystack I

INTERLUDE - HAYSTACK I

Louis Bianchi stared at his Bisharp, who was sitting on a fallen tree diligently sharpening his blades on a triangle-shaped rock. Bisharp had grown a lot since his evolution, and he was now half a head taller than Louis was. His blades were so sharp that Louis had once accidentally touched the ones below his chest and cut his arm. The steel type had profusely apologized and offered him his rock in return, but Louis told him it wasn't his fault. He had a lot on his mind that made him not pay attention to his surroundings sometimes. Still, this rock wasn't one he recognized.

"Where did you put your old rock? Is that a new one?" He asked.

Bisharp offered a curt nod, but he was too engrossed in whetting his blades to do anything else. He had owned at least ten favorite rocks since Louis had caught him, and this one made eleven.

Route 222 was quite a nice spot. Not to train— he and Maeve used the arenas for that, and she was currently spending time with Pauline and Cecilia— but to simply stick with his team. Plus, newer trainers left him alone like he wanted. Louis wasn't famous like his friends were. He had his time in the sun, but he was in the background now. Most people knew him as that person whose father tried to betray his country for a quick buck. Part of him wanted to see his dad again and ask him why, but he knew the answer. Pure and simple greed. Regardless, the maximum security prison at the Lily of the Valley Island didn't allow public visitors or calls, so it wasn't like he could go there or communicate anyway. If Louis had to guess, his father would be placed back into a normal prison on the mainland after the remains of Team Galactic was dealt with. It wouldn't be long now that their bases in Veilstone had been raided.

Empoleon stood behind him, always standing guard even when it wasn't needed. Louis had tried to get him to go to the beach, but his dislike for swimming still lingered, even after reaching his final evolution. Combee lazily buzzed around his head like usual, occasionally bending honey around themselves, which was supposedly a telltale sign that the evolution into Vespiquen was near. The three heads would fuse into one mind and form one being.

Louis had teared up multiple times at that prospect, but always in secret, hidden away from Combee. He didn't want them to hold themselves back for him.

Ninetales and Gabite were currently arguing about something, which he didn't know what. The dragon snarled at Ninetales, sending spittle all over her fur, and she was not amused. She retaliated by blowing a puff of flames into his face, but a grunt from Empoleon stopped them both. The fire type huffed, turning her head away from Gabite while he slammed a claw against his chest. Really, the issue was that they'd never really loved each other. Gabite was too violent for Ninetale's tastes.

Gabite did enjoy Bisharp's company and begrudgingly respected Empoleon because he'd known him the longest. With Combee, he basically ignored her, finding her too weak for his tastes, but Ninetales coddled the bug type like she was family. Bisharp found her cute as well despite pretending otherwise, but he was quiet when compared to the rest of his Pokemon. Louis' research had said that Bisharp tended to be loud and boisterous because they led, but he was the polar opposite of that.

Either way, his team wasn't... well, it wasn't a family like Grace's, nor a unit like Maeve's, Lauren's or Cecilia's. It was a hodgepodge of different personalities that often clashed.

And yet, they persevered.

"Gabite."

The tall dragon shot him a prideful look, but begrudgingly offered Ninetales a half-hearted apology, or at least that's what Louis thought he said. Ninetales, for her part, smiled smugly and seemed pleased with herself, giving Louis a slight dip of her head as thanks.

Gabite had come far since his early days as a Gible, but he had a ways to go still. Part of Louis dreaded the inevitable Garchomp evolution that would no doubt bring a slew of problems, but that was still far away. Louis sat next to Bisharp and he consciously forced himself not to make his leg bounce. He linked his hands together and pressed them against his mouth as he thought.

Where was Justin?

He'd become obsessed with his old friend, desperately scouring the Gym's website to see if he'd fought Volkner, but he hadn't. This felt odd. Wrong. Grace had told him that Justin would eventually come to find him, but had she been wrong? He'd hoped that her acquaintance with Type Energy would help her understand him, but that didn't look to be the case.

Louis blinked as a cold flipper tapped him on the shoulder. A tough, metallic hand covered in rock dust touched his own. The buzzing around his head quieted down. A soft, tuft of warm golden fur rubbed his back and his dragon's piercing yellow eyes softened for a second.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "I'll be fine."

He couldn't help but feel like he'd failed Justin every step of the way. He should have followed him after Solaceon like Maeve and Mira had done to him when he'd been struggling. Instead, he let Justin do whatever he wanted because he'd asked— demanded it, even. Then, he'd lost that battle in Veilstone and gotten utterly crushed. If he'd been more skilled, then all of this could have been fixed.

No... that wasn't it. Louis had been scared as well. Justin had changed so much that Louis had preferred to look the other way and to keep him as far away as he could because loss was terrifying to him. Loss of any kind of relationship. Fear had made him a terrible friend. He'd found it easier to look the other way and to tell himself that it would all be fine if he waited.

And so Louis had waited, but there was nothing there. No progress had been made.

It couldn't be just left like this. It would feel wrong. Like a page left unturned.

"Is everyone ready to head back?"

Nods and grunts of affirmations ran through his team. He recalled all of them besides Combee and started his long trudge toward the city gates.

Arceus, each step felt so heavy. Like a thousand stones weighed his ankles down. Like he was pushing a boulder up a hill with no end. Like he was walking in quick sand and sinking with each step. If there was one thing Louis sometimes wished he had, it was a dash of his old ego. At least that way, he would have been able to bear through this with his self-esteem and confidence unburdened.

Louis took another step. And then a larger one. Soon enough, he was jogging to Sunyshore.

He would endure.

—

"Hey my brother!"

Denzel waved at Louis from the gate with a huge smile that he couldn't help but instinctually return. From what Louis understood, Denzel was doing great for himself these days, especially with his huge stream yesterday. Louis approached his friend, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder and dragged him toward Sunyshore.

"Heard you were feeling down from Maeve," Denzel said. "I came to cheer you up, since I'm not training today. I'm trying to negotiate to create merch and it's a real hassle now that Craig isn't here to help, but I'll deal. What's wrong?"

Louis frowned. What was wrong? The answer was obvious!

"Justin."

Denzel's lips went flat. "Ah. Yeah, he's just gone. Like a ghost. Finding him would be like finding a needle in a haystack. There isn't much that we can do."

"I know," Louis muttered. "I'll deal with this, no need to bother yourself—"

"Come on. We can hang out for a little bit, right? All of the girls are together and Chase and Mira are training. I don't want you to go through this alone. You can talk to me."

"Where would you have us go?" Louis asked.

"Anywhere. Got a favorite spot here? You must have been to Sunyshore plenty of times."

He nodded. "I did. Uh, I used to go to the beach with my... well, I wouldn't call them friends. Children of my father's connections, mostly."

"You don't see them anymore, huh?"

"Not since the start of the Circuit, no. And now that my father went to prison, is a pariah and our— his company got nationalized, they have no use for me."

Denzel patted Louis on the back.

"Why don't we go to the beach, then?"

"It's cold around this time of year," Louis answered.

"It's hot today, and I see plenty of people go in every day," he shrugged. "I know you have a lot on your mind, but why don't you relax a little?"

"I can't—"

"You don't think you deserve it," Denzel said. "I've gone through... a similar thing before. Well, not exactly, but it was back in Eterna."

"What happened? Sorry, I was mostly focused on myself and my so-called prowess as a trainer back then," Louis said with a dry chuckle. "I hadn't gotten my wake-up call."

His friend paused. "You're a good trainer, Louis."

"Nonsense."

"You've got four badges, dude. In your first year. And you're going to get more. If you solve your flier issue or use Pauline's Braviary after Pastoria, you've got a real shot at making it to the Conference."

Louis stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

"I mean it," Denzel shrugged. "But let's return to my story. I used to have self-confidence issues that stemmed from the fact that I wasn't progressing as fast as Cecilia and Grace, but that was compounded with the fact that they had all of these problems that my life couldn't hold a candle to. That made me think that every single complaint, every time I felt tired, angry or sad wasn't warranted. That my feelings were invalid because, I mean, what the hell was I even worrying about?"

Whereas Louis felt like he couldn't afford to rest or feel happy because of what Justin was going through.

"I guess that is somewhat similar," he nodded.

"I try my best," Denzel said. "So just come to the beach with me. Pauline bought this beach volleyball that she stuck in my room so we could play. Spend a day between friends where you can breathe."

Louis let out a long breath. "Very well. What do I have to lose? Every time I've looked, it hasn't made a difference."

"Now we're talking," Denzel smiled.

"Plus, I wanted to ask Pokemon training-related questions, so I suppose it could be nice."

"We haven't spoken to each other much in Sunyshore, but yes. The awkward atmosphere is gone these days."

"You over her?"

"Yes," he said, not missing a beat. "The time away helped."

"Glad to hear it. Don't worry about romance, I'm sure you'll get a girl soon. Maybe she's even closer than you'd think."

"I don't think I'm in the right... headspace for a relationship right now," Louis said. "It wouldn't be right. I don't even know what a relationship is. My time with Cecilia, it was all fake. I mostly spent it flaunting her around like a thing and forcing her to have one-sided conversations while she answered with hums and nods. I don't want to slip back into bad habits."

Denzel paused. "Fair enough."

They played volleyball in silence until Denzel tried to spike the ball—

And failed miserably. That gave Louis a good chuckle.

—

"This isn't as fancy as you're used to, eh?" Denzel said as he chomped on some ribs.

They hadn't gone far. They were in one of the multitudes of restaurants that lined the boardwalk. Louis had basically been peer pressured into ordering ribs as well, but he did enjoy them very much even though Denzel made fun of him for using a knife and fork.

"You make it sound like I haven't eaten those pre-packaged meals for trainers," Louis said.

"Oh yeah, those are terrible," Denzel laughed. "I heard Grace and Honey cooked for Mira, Chase and Cecilia when they were traveling, though. Homemade food while traveling? I'm kind of jealous."

"Why don't you ask her to cook for you?" Louis asked. "Knowing her, she'll jump at the opportunity. She's quite... motherly."

"We should ask her, then," Denzel said. "And hell, she won't be limited to ingredients she can conveniently carry since we're in a city."

"If she agrees, I will be there," Louis said.

"So, Louis," the teenager said, dropping a bone on his plate. "What's next for you after this year?"

Louis froze at the question, not knowing what to answer. He'd been so focused on first surpassing Cecilia and then saving Justin from getting himself killed that he'd never taken a second to think about himself.

"I think it's an important question."

"It is. I know it is," Louis stumbled over his words. "I don't really know yet. I mean, I do have a long-term goal in mind, but it isn't currently achievable."

There was no more company for him to inherit, but even if there had been, he wouldn't have been interested any longer. The last thing Louis would have wanted was to turn into his father. He kept telling himself that they were different, but the sheer amount of wealth they'd had... that corrupted people.

"So you want to build yourself up for your long-term goal, then. Wanna tell me about it?" Denzel asked.

"This is somewhat embarrassing..."

"I bet you it isn't."

"I want to open a Pokemon sanctuary for abandoned Pokemon, both by their groups in the wild and by trainers," Louis muttered. "I don't really have any plans in place other than the location—"

"Dude."

"What?"

"That's so fucking awesome," Denzel breathed.

"Is it?"

"Yes!"

"Well, the planned location is Floaroma since there's a lot of space and it's close to Jubilife. That's where the majority of newer trainers come from and they tend to abandon their Pokemon the most," Louis said. "But I would have to have enough money to buy the land. Even with the money I currently have, it isn't enough. Plus, Floaroma's zoning laws are awful."

"Floaroma's a great spot," Denzel nodded. "You thinking of that field up north where the tournament was held, aren't you?"

"Exactly!" Louis exclaimed a little louder than he wanted. "It's the perfect area. There's nothing there aside from... well, flowers and a bunch of honey trees. So Pokemon training is somewhat temporary, which is something I'd have to sell to Gabite if he's still that aggressive whenever I try this project."

"I can try to help. I've got a lot of online reach, and I'll have even more whenever you get started. Of course, you need money."

Louis nodded.

"And you've been spending so much for us?" Denzel exclaimed in an incredulous tone. "That thing with Jerry Heo in Solaceon, all the parties you've paid for—"

"It's fine," Louis said.

"No. You need to think about yourself more," Denzel scolded. "I'm going to help you with this."

"You don't have that much. No offense!"

"In the future, obviously. Hopefully by then I'll be rich, but you should look into ways to make money too."

"Like what? I'm... good enough for a mid-sized sponsor, I suppose, but that's it."

"How will you run this sanctuary? Financially, I mean," Denzel asked as he leaned back.

"Hopefully through donations, but that probably won't be enough, especially when I might need employees if the project grows big enough."

"Hm. You know business."

"I can't just start a business out of thin air. I don't even have the capital for it," Louis said. "That was basically a nonstatement."

"This is all long-term. I'm not telling you to monetize your sanctuary. Obviously that would be an awful thing to do, but maybe have some services on the side? Like, you could make use of all that experience you're racking up as a trainer to offer training courses."

Denzel grabbed a napkin and called a waitress over.

"Excuse me, do you have a pen?"

The woman nodded, and after two minutes, she brought the pen.

Denzel grinned. "Let's brainstorm this. We all know that the best ideas were born on a napkin in a restaurant."

Louis cracked a smile. "Sure."

—

It was evening when Louis and Denzel went their separate ways. The blond teenager had multiple napkins in his pocket full of notes that he'd need to transcribe on an actual book or computer. Maeve would surely hand him a few. He grabbed his phone as he slowly dragged his feet through the boardwalk, and he noticed that she'd texted him multiple times already asking for his whereabouts and if he was okay.

Louis answered right away, apologizing for the tardiness of his answers. He turned toward the darkened beach and watched the people filter out now that the sun had set and the temperature had lowered.

Suddenly, a glimpse.

He blinked and caught himself. Surely he was seeing things. Louis pushed past a taller man as his breaths grew rapid and uneven. He'd recognized that light brown hair and pale skin anywhere.

Was this fate? Pure chance? Was Justin looking for him? Or perhaps something else entirely.

Justin wandered onto the boardwalk with his hulking Arcanine at his side. Louis clenched his teeth and broke into a run.

Somehow, he had found the damn needle in the haystack.