Chapter 297

Chapter 297

CHAPTER 297

Justin fiddled with a piece of cauliflower at the side of his dish with his fork, his eyes glancing upward and directly into mine. He used to be shy about things like eye contact, but now he could keep staring at me like there was no tomorrow. It was enough to make me uncomfortable. The restaurant was rather empty, given how early it was for dinner. The kitchen had just opened again and we were one of the four groups in the entire place, or at least the four groups I'd seen. This establishment was rather large and despite the horribly expensive prices, it had a bit of a homely vibe to it. They'd probably tried to go for a rustic vibe, like a restaurant for sailors, but it was one of the most popular spots and routinely had Canalave's richest attending, or at least that's what I'd seen with my two minutes of internet sleuthing.

Despite being nowhere near the sea, the scent of the ocean was unmistakable and they played the sound of waves from some kind of machines under the floorboards that were hidden from view. The floor itself was made of wooden planks and rugged, but still somehow felt smooth to walk on when you had to and did not creak at all. Dim lanterns cast a soft, flickering glow over a roughly hewn wooden table. A few feet away, up on the wall, was a painting of an enormous Dhelmise sinking a ship with tendrils of possessed seaweed nailed into the wood. It had caught my eye many times, with the way the hull had cracked in the middle and cut the ship in two. The painting itself was watercolor, faded and without any edges. If you squinted enough, you could see dark smidges— people being grabbed off the ship and dragged into the ocean to be drained by Dhelmise. Stories about Dhelmise and Jellicent sinking ships had haunted sailors for generations, and if you ignored the morbid thought of how many people had died in the middle of crossing these oceans, it was kind of cool, to have this whole lore around your species. Stories that lasted generations and were enough to make an entire culture of people fear or revere you in return.

But it had been too long since I'd said anything, so I turned back toward Justin. With my closer friends, I was comfortable sitting in silence, but with Justin, I felt the need to fill that silence.

"How's your taste these days?" I asked, hoping I wasn't being obnoxious.

"Enjoyable enough," he said. "In a way, it's strange. You've never eaten while under this affliction, correct?"

I shook my head, munching on a fried shrimp. "Nuh-uh."

"What do you think would be my reaction, then?" he asked. "To taste?"

For a second, my eyes flickered almost on instinct. Colors flared to life, but dimmed down when I pushed my tongue against the roof of my mouth to focus.

"I'd say that you get none of the pleasure from the taste," I said. "Which I guess, if we're getting into the weed of things, some people don't eat for pleasure either. Like Chase, for example, or at least most of the time. It'd feel like that, right?"

He nodded. "Yes. I do admit, I've found it easier to have a balanced diet these past few months."

"You didn't have one before?" I asked. "Wait, I guess you did skip a lot when the cafeteria wasn't serving something you liked."

Which, I assumed, was why he'd been so thin.

"I gave it a fair attempt as soon as I embarked on this journey. My father and the team he had to coach me said I needed to build up muscle," Justin explained. "I gave up before we met, however."

"Huh. Fair enough." I stretched my legs under the table and accidentally bumped into his. "Sorry. Anyway, you had a team of coaches, huh?"

"Only for the start, before the Circuit actually began," he nodded. "It would have been dishonorable otherwise."

Of course. A trainer could do whatever they wanted before the Circuit started, but anything after, they had to get on their own, or at least pretend to, or what was even the point of anything? Sure, rich people used their family's money, but actually training and making connections by meeting others... sure, I'd gotten a lot of help there, but that had been through as much hard work as luck. Luck is one thing, but taking advantage of that luck is another, Jasmine had said. Legendaries, I missed her. We texted and called, but the next we'd be seeing each other would be the Conference, if I made it there and there was still a world to have the Conference in. Apparently some other important figures from Kanto-Johto would be there as diplomatic envoys to further tighten the ties between Sinnoh and Indigo. Jasmine had said I'd love Brock and Will, who'd be in charge of the delegation. One Kantoan, and one Johtoan, for Indigo must be equal in all things. They obsessed over it, and I wouldn't be surprised if the delegation itself was also split neatly in such a way.

Personally, I was just focused on not dying next week.

I perked up, remembering the onus to keep the conversation going was on me. "Reminds me of when you guys used to buy info from older trainers."

Justin exhaled. "Scams."

Gasping, I leaned forward. "They were?!"

While the restaurant was nearly empty, a waiter who was working on making sure every table was ready for the evening turned my way and squinted. Had I made him mess up somehow? Or maybe yelling was just annoying. An apron-wearing Politoed was by his side, and she hastily pushed him to keep going with a few panicked croaks, saying that they'd be late if they kept dawdling. Plates stuck to the suction cups on her hands and made her an excellent waitress, even if she was somewhat short.

"Yes, scams, all of them," he continued. "The information was always simple and things we could have figured out on our own if we put our minds to it, and Louis was too foolish to tell they overcharged. At least it was correct."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you take so long to answer?"

"I could tell that Politoed had caught your eye. They call her Queen of the Ocean, or Océanne."

Huh. He was the kind of guy to wait until whatever had caught my attention had passed to keep going.

"That's a badass name," I said, watching the water type prance around. Kalosian, maybe. "Any reason why?"

"She used to sail the world with her trainer. Nothing but her and a speed boat," Justin recounted as if he was reading from a textbook. "See that scar on her back?"

I craned my neck to the left and noticed a patch of discolored green skin, slightly rough and dented. The membrane was so thin seeing the pale, discolored flesh within her was easy.

"Yeah?"

"She got that from a Tentacruel attack," he said. "They say there were at least thirty of them— Tentacool and Tentacruel, all swarming their boat for getting too close while they were migrating back to Hoenn for the winter. They retired from traveling shortly afterward and her trainer opened this restaurant."

"Arceus... that sucks."

I knew that if given enough time, even with Ditto cells, scars would form on a Pokemon, and when in the middle of the ocean, well... there weren't many Nurse Joys around. That did explain how Politoed seemed to order these people around as if she was the boss, though. And she had fought thirty wild Pokemon on her lonesome to protect her trainer, which meant that she must have been incredibly powerful.

I guess they didn't really go for a sailor vibe. The owner really was a sailor.

"The owner doesn't work here anymore and he sold the place, from what I understand, but Océanne enjoys spending some of her days here to make sure the place runs smoothly."

"Wait, how do you know all this?" I frowned. "I thought you didn't go out."

"I didn't. Louis dragged me here once, though, and he chatted with a few of the waiters. You know how he is, every time he reaches someplace he has to learn all about it."

My lips tugged upward. "He is that kind of guy. You know, that mansion we got stuck in when we went through Eterna Forest? How he was looking at the damn paintings?"

A smile flickered on Justin's face, though it disappeared so quickly I almost missed it. "It would be hard to forget being trapped in an ever-repeating mansion and mentally tortured by a Mismagius. But yes, he is like that."

"Well, it's nice. To be in a state of mind to think about those things."

Justin paused, finishing the last of his cauliflower after dousing it in some kind of creamy sauce. "You enjoy reminiscing, don't you?"

I hummed. "Guess so. Makes me realize how far we've come, is all."

"I just found it peculiar, given that no one else does it as much as you do."

"Does it... bother you?"

His hand moved less than an inch on the fork he was still holding. "Bother, not really. It makes me think about before Solaceon, which just feels strange."

"Can I look?"

When he nodded, I blinked and noticed the texture first. It appeared smooth at first, but it was almost palpating with subtle jagged waves. The gray was murky and dim, like a heavy fog.

"Uncertain?" I tried.

"I suppose so."

Legendaries, that training I'd done with Bella was working wonders here. I sank slightly into my chair and finished my dinner in relative silence. Justin ate way too fast and had finished before me. People filtered in rather quickly as I emptied my plate of fried shrimp and fries.

"You've been glancing at that painting all dinner." When I froze, he pointed toward the Dhelmise sinking the ship. "Did anything in particular about it catch your eye? I didn't think you were one for art outside of music."

I stayed quiet for a few seconds, though the sound of the bustling restaurant was ever-present and a growing cadence. They'd started playing music from some speakers, too, and the evening was in full swing.

"When you think about it, not that many people are remembered," I said, tapping a finger against the table. "I was just wondering about how cool it was, to have stories about you— or I guess in this case, it's your entire species. I want there to be stories about me. Hell, maybe songs like they have about Dhelmise, too."

"And prayers, rites and offerings to the sea to ward it away before a crossing?" he asked.

"Justin... was that humor?"

"What?"

"A joke! You made a joke just now!" I grinned, tapping my good foot against the floorboard.

"I guess my statement could have been misconstrued—"

I giggled. "You're funny!" It took a few seconds to gather myself enough to keep going with my train of thought. "Well, I guess that statement might have sounded like it wasn't really going anywhere, but you know, at the League there's this place where they have paintings and fun facts about all of the previous Champions and their Pokemon and stuff. It's in this giant hallway, and it's almost church-like. The light shines through these colored windows and it's fucking breathtaking. Cecilia choked up when she walked into that room." I stopped, feeling a frisson even recalling it. The room just made you feel so infinitely small. "They revere these people like Gods," I pointed at him with my unused fork, "because Gods are stories, Justin."

"Interesting tangent to bring about from a painting of a Dhelmise," he said. I hadn't missed the intonation in his voice, a genuine piece of him slipping through, like it sometimes did. "In a way, I can see what you're talking about. What are people, customs and, well, Gods without stories to remember them by?"

Deep within the recesses of my mind, I felt Mesprit stew in anger. Even they had stories, so they had no right to complain.

"You're nothing," I muttered. "A blip, and then you're forgotten. They don't put you on any paintings, they don't put your name on plaques, or talk about your exploits, and they don't say that your Tyranitar loved to swim."

"Strange example."

Audino was the heart of the group, that much was easy to see. The one who linked all of them together. The normal type spun around like a dance as he seemed to be skidding on the ground, leaving behind pink dust that disappeared before I could blink. He touched Arcanine's side, and the fire type collapsed to the floor, turning on his back with his paws up and tongue hanging out as he chuffed. I could see his fur move like it was being petted, but Audino had already moved on. He almost touched Corviknight, but the raven's eyes turned blood red and Audino froze in his tracks with an awkward smile.

This happens all the time, I silently mused to myself as Arcanine practically purred. Was it a trick of some kind? Tickle, maybe, or a combination of that and glamour. Not as powerful as a core belief, but still something he could use in a pinch. Krookodile observed one of his sharpened claws with a lassitude that was fit for a Slaking, and Corviknight flew his way to escape Audino's antics. The wind clearly bothered the ground type (and who could blame him, considering that Corviknight had decided to fly a grand distance of ten feet instead of walk), because he swiped at Corviknight's feet in an attempt to screw up his landing, and the bird collapsed on the ground.

Toxapex, who had stayed utterly still close to the water, lifted two of her twelve legs and clapped them together as she cackled, though that cackle was more of a strange screech that had a certain echo to it. Her yellow eyes shone brightly in the dimly lit promenade, and Ludicolo had been working on watering her like a plant as he hummed a song that would no doubt be stuck in my head for ages. It was a small column of water dragged from the ocean and poured onto Toxapex. Corviknight scrambled back to his feet and returned back to his usual pose, wings tightly wound against his sides and eyes sharp, and Toxapex continued giving him shit for pretending nothing had happened while Krookodile asked her to shut up and be quiet.

In the middle of it all was Justin, content to just let his team be. They had more of a dynamic with themselves than with him, even if they did obviously love him, with the way they all looked when they thought he wasn't looking. Arcanine turned back to his belly, satisfied with the petting, and he lay down on the ground instead while Audino showed Justin his outstretched palm. First, there was nothing, but when Audino closed and opened it again, there was a pink flower inside that he placed in his trainer's hair and that Justin felt compelled to accept.

It felt odd being there. Intrusive, even if I wasn't saying anything. I'd had to restrain myself from forcefully introducing myself or releasing my own team and interrupting the moment, but I believed I learned more about Justin's team this way than I would have talking to them individually. Eventually, my friend settled on the bench with me, which was my cue to stop taking the entire space and bend my legs so he could sit. The flower in his hair was slowly disappearing, fizzling out of existence. Now that Arcanine was dozing off, he was alone, for once.

"Sorry about this," he said, staring right ahead at nothing in particular. The boats, maybe? I doubted yachts would be that interesting to Justin out of all people, considering his father owned a few. "We're spending more time here than I thought we would."

"That's okay. This is nice."

His back was unnaturally straight against the bench. "Sometimes I look at them and I think that it'd be wrong to intrude, but they keep involving me in things anyway."

"That's because they want to and love you," I said. "What's wrong with that?"

"It feels like I don't fit in," he said. "Like I'm a piece of the puzzle, but in the wrong set."

I sat up on the bench with a tired groan. "Could you elaborate?"

"No."

I blinked. "Huh. Okay, well just know that I think you're wrong, okay? Even with your issues, your team obviously loves you." My voice was a low whisper. "If you didn't fit, then you wouldn't—"

"Drop the topic?" he said with a saddened smile.

"Ah, I was doing it again."

"You were. Sorry, I just don't want to talk about it."

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I touched my wristband and felt at Mimi's warmth. "So what were you thinking for Byron?" I asked. "We didn't end up talking about battling when we were eating."

"Turn his gimmick against him and stall for time," Justin said. "Win on a technicality."

"I mean, Byron's gimmick isn't technically just defense, it's just something he's the best at."

"Semantics, Grace," he shrugged as he finally turned his gaze to his team. "Arcanine and Krookodile are the only two who I'm confident can break past those defenses, and that path is just so very narrow. Not a lot of open doors."

"So you want to stall instead," I nodded. "Not bad."

"When you can't win, cheat," Justin declared. "It's as simple as that."

"Shrimple as that."

"What?"

"I ate shrimp— you know what, never mind. Just something Slowking would say."

It wasn't a satisfying way to win, at least to me, but hey, who was I to talk? Plus, I was sure he'd make the battle interesting anyway. In the distance, Ludicolo started singing instead of humming. It was not a festive song like you'd think of when thinking of what a Ludicolo might play. It was still upbeat, but it was also calm. Soothing, in a way that I understood was because music too exciting would bother most of the team. Audino started twirling and dancing for the others, and Toxapex clapped two of her legs together along the beat of the song. Ludicolo joined in the dance, and soon enough the two were together. Even Krookodile was looking, and Arcanine awoke.

I'd misjudged the fire type. Instead of immediately finding his way to Justin, he just made sure he was okay with a look and tapped his feet along with the song.

"I wish I brought my piano along," I exhaled. "I left it at my Dad's."

"You'd be hard-pressed to play along. Ludicolo hates it when someone joins in on his song, so he would have sped up and lost you behind him. The most you could have done is dance."

"Dance with this?" I pointed my chin at my ankle. "You know, it's probably avoided me a bunch of dancing lessons with Cece, though."

"She does love to dance," Justin acquiesced.

"I like doing stuff she likes, but dancing really isn't my cup of tea. Well, so long as she leads, it's nice. Plus, feeling her hands on my back..."

I missed her.

"Anyway," I continued. "Any fun stories you have from your journey alone before Sunyshore?"

—

We stayed out until ten in the evening, where I mostly just let Justin talk about himself by asking him more and more questions and we finally caught each other up to what had been going on in our lives. Since we didn't live on the same floor, I hugged Justin goodnight and left the elevator before he did. Even I was a little tired after a night out, though the plan was to use a few hours to keep going over Byron.

Chase was in front of my door.

It was a scene right out of the outpost out of Eterna Forest, where he'd been waiting after I'd beaten him in our first battle— holy crap, I did love to reminisce, didn't I? His bulky arms were crossed, his brows were knitted together and he had that scowl on his face that made him look younger. Not physically, but emotionally. How long had he been waiting here? A few hours? Wasn't that a huge waste of time? Maybe he'd just wanted to make sure he didn't miss me. He wore a sleeveless shirt that revealed the scar on his forearm that Sneasel had given him months ago, sandals and baggy shorts that went down to his knees, along with the usual blue cap worn backwards. No new wounds, thank the Legendaries. Trainers gave him a wide berth, not wanting him to blow up on them.

"Hey. Why're you angry at me?" I instantly asked.

He pointed back at my door. "Inside."

Gee, he wasn't feeling very vocal today, was he? I rolled my eyes, limping past him to open my door. "How's training been? Learn any new interesting moves or tactics?"

"No small talk. Why are people showing up here, Grace?"

"Emi and Pauline?" I asked.

"Who else? And now I hear you're going to train them? Look, I like them... well, not really, I mostly don't care, but it's a waste of time, man!" His foot tapped against the ground. Anxious. "You should be training yourself up. Louis and Justin, I respect, because they know not to get in the way because they want to feel useful."

"I already know you and I aren't going to see eye to eye on this, so there's no point." A tired breath left me as I placed my crutch against the wall and rummaged through my tiny closet for some clothes to sleep in. "It's been decided, so it's happening. You're outvoted anyway."

"Fuck voting," he spat. "You're going to waste the last week and a few days we have on bringing them up to speed instead of ironing out what you need to iron out or training that Claydol of yours."

"Does Ri agree?" I asked.

"Don't bring Ri into this. It's me you're talking to, and I'm in charge."

"So he doesn't. Look, I know you're putting up some valid points, but this is important to Emi and Pauline, so it's important to me."

Chase removed his cap and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "So you won't change your mind?"

"That'd be stabbing them in the back."

My friend looked up at the ceiling and let out an exasperated sigh. "Even if we go from your point of view, you're going to get them killed."

"I'm not. I'm teaching them to defend themselves because they will get themselves killed if I don't."

"Then if they do that after so many warnings, that's on them—

"Watch it."

Emotion buzzed at the edges of my senses, appearing and disappearing like shadows. They were colors that I forgot as soon as they left my vision. Needle and thread. My fingers pressed together, but it was only for a moment.

"Don't say that," I warned. "Just don't. It won't just be on them, it'll be on me for not giving them the tools they needed to defend themselves despite knowing they'd need them." I jammed a finger into his chest. "And it'd be on you too, and I know you care. So stop it."

"...whatever, Grace. You're right. We'll never see eye-to-eye on this." He turned toward my door. "I'm going to pass by my room to take a shower, then I'll be gone until the due date."

I inhaled sharply. "You're not fighting Byron?"

"Let me put it simply, Grace. At this moment in time, I would lose, and I'm not about to give that fucker the satisfaction of getting one over me. Anyway, bye. Shit talk."

He slammed my door and left. There were quiet gasps beyond it, probably from trainers asking themselves what the hell had just happened in here. I slowly opened my laptop, opened the Gym's website with a lethargic speed, and changed into different clothes. I inhaled the shirt, taking in the familiar lingering smell before putting it on and released my team other than Sweetheart, and I opted to have Claydol in instead of Angel today. They were too big to fit all of them in, and I figured I'd alternate between my largest teammates. Tomorrow, Sunshine would stay in his ball, for example.

The hours passed with Buddy as my only companion remaining awake.

I went to sleep with Cece's shirt on, thinking of how I could cure Justin if he asked, and I still had Ludicolo's song stuck in my head.