It's been a little over a month since chapter 7, and I can't complain about that. I don't have the time to crank out new chapters in four days like I did with chapter 2 (okay maybe I could if I just wrote non-stop), but at least I'm making progress.
Since we're at the end of the first round, here's how I'm currently planning out the next few chapters. Interlude 4, when I figure out how to write it, is going 'to focus on Diamant Industries. No ETA on that, but I haven't really written much about their side of things and my goal is for their motives to become a bit more clearer. Right now I have no idea how I'm going to do that because I inadvertently ruined the endgame I had planned from back when I started writing this fic. I did disclaim that dope-ass battles were always going to be the focus though and if the story elements happened to make something great then cool. I don't plan on using that as a get out of jail free card, I'm still gonna try, it's just gonna require me to think a bit more.
Chapter 9 won't have any battles in it, but it is the chapter where Motfia takes place, so those of you who played that hot garbage can have a pleasant reminder of it. The unanswered questions from the game's epilogue will also be answered in that chapter.
There's a small battle planned for chapter 10, and I've already hinted at it in a previous chapter, so if you look back, you might be able to figure out what it is. There's also a thing I have written down that I have planned for chapter 10 that I'm still not sure I wanna do yet. The idea behind it was to make the tournament more interesting, but the battles are already decided randomly, so it would only be interesting from a character's perspective. I'm like 30-40% on board with the idea, so... we'll see.
Quarterfinals start in chapter 11 (or possibly 12), which will see Rose face off against Thresher. I won't be asking for you to submit leads to me, mainly because only a small handful of the people in the tournament even follow this story anymore, and planning the battles will be a little easier if I'm not shackled to your chosen lead.
Other fun facts about chapter 8:
- This is the first chapter where Safiri is mentioned but has no dialogue
- Windra is the only competitor without any dialogue - everyone else has at least one line
Tagging
@double o squirtle because while may not be following this story closely anymore, I want to give him the opportunity to at least see his created character in action (finally). Sorry it took so long, buddy.
Chapter 8 highlights:
- said is dead; the amount of 'he said' or 'she said' with no added description of
how it was said has been greatly reduced
- Scarlet confronts the final boss of her story arc
- Kyro has a great idea
- Frisk and Taikyu finally catch up
- Alex and Cody have their match
- it's friggin dope
As always,
ignore this thread completely like this post once you've read it, and leave that sweet, sweet feedback.
Word count: 15,046
Chapter 8: Wrapping It All Up
As was normal by now, the other competitors chose to watch the battle from wherever they felt most comfortable. Most stayed in the cafeteria, although a few retired to the comfort of their rooms. Scarlet had stayed in the cafeteria, but only because Kiria did. In the bath this morning, Scarlet had decided to ask Kiria what she should do. It was a better plan than wallowing in despair about the whole thing, and it was preferable than telling Jethro how gloriously her plan had backfired and listening to him yammer on about
honesty and how this never would have happened if she had just been
honest.
A fat lot of good being honest did. She was honest with Windra, and look where that had gotten her. If anyone was going to have a sympathetic ear for her, surely it would be Kiria. The woman of the hour was intently watching the battle unfold alongside Alex and Eldan. Scarlet approached the group, nudging Kiria as she spoke. "Hey, Kiria, do you have a minute?"
"Just a second, honey," Kiria dismissed her, far too interested in the fight to pay any attention to her. Alex was on his feet as the battle slowly came to its conclusion, both he and Kiria watching nervously as Archeops fell for the last time. Esmeralda announced Jethro as the winner, and Kiria jumped from the table and did a dance. Eldan laughed, though Scarlet couldn't tell if he was laughing at Kiria or at Alex, who looked visibly angry that Kyro had lost.
"Woo! I'm rich! Pay up, Alex!" Kiria declared, holding out her palm in front of him.
Alex rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "If I must."
"You must. Cha-ching, baby! Mama needs a new pair of shoes!"
Alex reached into his pocket and pulled a pen and small book out of his pocket. He scribbled something into it, then tore off a page and placed it in Kiria's hand. "There you are, Kiria. One thousand dollars. Congratulations," he sneered, as if he'd lost a part of himself.
"Ah, hey, don't forget me, buddy," Eldan reminded him, grinning. "Jethro won, which means I just made ten grand. You can make the check out to 'The Suave and Stylish Eldan Faradel.'"
"I think not," Alex shot back, pointing the tip of the pen at Eldan. "You are still indebted to me from the fight earlier this week. Ten thousand dollars. Or did you think I forgot?"
"What? Aw, come on," Eldan complained. "Taikyu barely lost, I shouldn't have to pay for that!"
A smug smile made its way onto Alex's face. "Very well. I will make the same argument. And so, our debts cancel each other out."
Eldan opened his mouth to fire off a rebuttal, but couldn't argue against what Alex said. "Damn it. You're right."
Kiria smiled at the two. "Guess you'll have to make it interesting for the next one, huh?"
"Nah, we agreed not to bet on each other's matches. Besides, no one here is wealthy enough to keep up with our bets anyway," Eldan informed her. Noticing Scarlet standing there, he acknowledged her with a nod. "Hey, Scarlet. What's up?"
"Scarlet!" Kiria turned to the young lady, apologizing profusely. "Sorry! I'm so sorry I ignored you. I just got so caught up in this here that I completely forgot you wanted to talk to me! What can I do for you?"
Scarlet hesitated, a little uncomfortable. "It's kinda private. Girl stuff," she added, hoping the boys would lose interest in her conversation.
"Oh! Oh, of course, honey," she said, pushing her chair in and bidding the men goodbye. "Come on, let's head to my room."
The two ladies excused themselves and left the cafeteria, heading to Kiria's room. The two ran into Kyro and Jethro on their way; Kiria gave Jethro a big hug and thanked him for winning. Jethro and Scarlet made eye contact during this, and she waggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. Jethro glared back at her, but didn't say anything to her. The two guys headed towards the Pokemon Center to get their Pokemon healed, and Kiria and Scarlet resumed heading to Kiria's bedroom.
Once they were inside, Kiria went into the bathroom while Scarlet took a seat on Kiria's bed. Kiria quickly reemerged with something in her hand and handed it to Scarlet. "Here you go. If you need anything else, just let me know."
"What?" Scarlet asked, confused. "No, Kiria, that's not what I wanted, I just wanted to talk. I... I messed up pretty bad."
Kiria took a spot next to Scarlet on the bed, putting a motherly arm around the young girl. Apparently this was more serious than she'd thought. "What's wrong?"
Scarlet took a deep breath and then recounted everything she'd done yesterday, from her realization with Rose, to writing and leaving the notes, to the night she spent with Windra, the fight they'd had the morning after, and the 'present' Windra left her.
"Wow," was all that Kiria said.
Scarlet sighed. "What do I do, Kiria? I've ruined everything. Rose hates me; Windra hates me; when Jethro finds out what I did, he's going to hate me; and I'm not feeling too great about myself either."
"Now that's enough of that," Kiria consoled her, pulling Scarlet closer to her. "Okay, so, let's take it one problem at a time, starting with what I think is the smallest one. Do you really think Jethro is going to hate you?"
"I... I don't know," Scarlet admitted. "He thought the notes were a dumb idea. He said I should have just told Rose how I felt."
Kiria paused, considering her words carefully. "Honey, I know it might not be what you want to hear, but Jethro was right. Do you remember when I told you about Merrick? He came to see me every day, but he never made the effort to come and talk to me. When I was working at the lighthouse, I would see hundreds of people a week from all over. Not just from Johto, but tourists from other regions as well. If he hadn't showed up so often, he would have just been another nameless face in the crowd and I might never have noticed him. I can't imagine what he must have thought, coming every day to see me, wanting to get to know me but never having the courage to say hi. If I hadn't gone up to him myself, we might never have dated."
"But it didn't work out anyway," Scarlet pointed out.
"No, it didn't, but that's not my point. If you see something you want, you have to go get it. I was flattered that a boy had come to see me so much, and I found his shyness endearing, so I approached him. If you want Rose to know how you feel, just tell her. I've talked to her a bit, and I think she's a nice girl. If you explain the situation to her, she might understand."
Scarlet paid attention to the floor, doubts swimming in her head. "She might not."
"Are you willing to let that question remain unanswered?"
Scarlet sighed. "No, I guess not. I'm just scared."
Kiria nodded knowingly. "I know. But you won't know until you try. As for the hickey, I wouldn't worry about it. No one in polite company is going to see it, and it will go away eventually."
"Should I tell Rose about it?"
Kiria thought about this for a moment. "I don't see why you would have to. It's not relevant to your situation, and like I said, the only way she's going to see it is if you show her."
"What if she asks about what Windra and I did?" Scarlet asked.
"Then you do what you should have done in the first place and be honest with her. Wouldn't you want the same courtesy from Rose if she'd been the one interested in you?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Jethro said the same thing. But there was no reason that my plan shouldn't have worked! Except... it didn't. Someone had to have switched the notes. That's the only thing I can think of. But who would do that?! Who here hates me that much that they would do this?" Her voice fell a little at this, saddened by the knowledge that some of her fellow competitors disliked her.
"That I don't know, honey, I'm sorry," Kiria apologized. "Don't worry about that. Focus on what you do know." She counted on her fingers. "Rose thinks you aren't interested in her; you need to fix that. You offended Windra, and you should apologize to her for it."
"She hit me!" Scarlet blurted indignantly.
"Don't interrupt me," Kiria scolded. "Yes, she did, and that was wrong. I'm going to have a talk with her about it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take the high road and apologize for saying something to upset her. Even if she doesn't accept your apology, it then becomes her decision to repair your friendship."
"What if she doesn't want to?" Scarlet asked.
Kiria shrugged. "Then that's her decision. You can't keep worrying about 'what if,' Scarlet. If you keep letting that hold you back, you're never going to be happy."
Scarlet took in Kiria's words, nodding in agreement with her. "Yeah, maybe you're right," she admitted, getting to her feet. "Thanks, Kiria. I'll go find her right now and I'll--"
"Why don't you go talk to Rose first?" Kiria suggested. "Let me handle Windra. Take the edge off her for you, you know?"
"Ooh, yeah, that's probably a good idea. Thanks again, Kiria. I feel a little better now," she said with a smile.
As she headed to the door, Kiria gave her one last bit of advice. "That's good. Don't forget, be honest, be direct, and you'll be fine, no matter what she says."
Scarlet nodded. "Honest. Direct. Got it. I'm not gonna screw it up this time," she answered confidently, saying her goodbyes and exiting Kiria's room.
Remembering that Rose had went to her room before the morning battle, Scarlet headed over there and knocked before she could convince herself not to. The door clicked open, and in the doorway was not someone Scarlet was expecting to see.
"Oh, hey, Gardevoir!" she greeted the Pokemon. "You're looking well. Is Rose here?"
Gardevoir answered her with a scowl, placing her hands on her hips and staring intently into Scarlet's eyes.
"That's enough," Rose admonished her Pokemon, getting up from where she was seated on her bed and coming to the door. She moved Gardevoir out of the way and embraced her fellow Ranger and friend. "Hey, Scarlet. I'm sorry about Gardevoir, she's a little upset right now." Gardevoir rolled her eyes, shot Scarlet one last glare, and headed out of the doorway and into the bedroom proper, earning a shocked gasp from her trainer. "Gardevoir! You will do no such thing! You've earned yourself a time out, young lady!" Rose recalled her Pokemon into her Poke Ball, then did the same with Lucario before he could voice any protest.
"Was I interrupting something?" Scarlet asked, suddenly uncomfortable. "I could come back another time."
Rose shook her head. "No, we were just talking about the battle. Won't you come in?" Rose waved Scarlet in with a hand, closing the door softly behind her. Rose took the remote control and shut the television off, leaving the two girls in silence. She sat down on the edge of her bed, and waited for Scarlet to find a seat. While the three of them had been watching the battle as Rose claimed, Rose hadn't mentioned that the time after the battle was spent talking about Scarlet and her note. When Rose brought Gardevoir up to speed on what had happened, Gardevoir was furious at the second time another human had seemingly mistreated her. Despite Rose's insistence that Scarlet wasn't trying to hurt her on purpose, Gardevoir still harbored some anger towards Scarlet, and likely would for some time. Of course, both Lucario and Gardevoir had sensed Scarlet coming from a mile away, and Gardevoir's rage had very nearly gotten the best of her when Scarlet knocked. It was only after a stern warning from Rose did Gardevoir calm herself enough to open the door and not instantly psychic choke Scarlet out. Still, Gardevoir made it very clear to Scarlet how she felt about her.
Scarlet decided to sit in a chair, not daring to make herself at home on Rose's bed. She glanced around the room, cursing how it looked exactly like everyone else's. It didn't give her much to look at. The clock on the wall ticked the seconds by, seemingly becoming louder and louder in the reigning silence. She noticed Rose's bed was messy - of course, Scarlet reasoned, Rose was just in it. Lucario and Gardevoir were most likely sitting next to her, watching the battle.
Gardevoir. What was up with her? She'd only said hello, and Gardevoir acted like she'd spit in her face. She was terrified of the way Gardevoir glared at her; if Rose hadn't been around to rein her in, would Gardevoir have hurt her, she wondered?
Rose noticed Scarlet scrutinizing her bed, and she cleared her throat, aiming to derail that particular train of thought before it ventured somewhere dangerous. "So, what brings you here, Scarlet?"
"Oh, sorry. Just lost in thought. Nervous," she amended. "Gardevoir looked like she wanted to kill me."
Rose simply nodded. "Yeah, she said if you ever showed your face here again, she would."
"Why?!" Scarlet asked incredulously. "What did I do to her?!"
"Nothing to her personally. She's mad due to a different reason." Rose went to her bedside table and picked up the reason for Gardevoir's ire, and realization hit Scarlet like a ton of bricks. "I like you, but the flirting between us has to stop. My heart belongs to another, and I can't risk losing her. Please understand," Rose read aloud.
Scarlet leapt to her feet in protest. "Look, about that, I'm sorry, I--"
"No, listen, Scarlet, it's okay," Rose interrupted her. "Really, it is. It's my fault for pushing you." She put the note down, sighing. She sat on her bed again, and motioned for Scarlet to sit. "I like you, Scarlet. I like the way you treat me. Or maybe it's more accurate to say, I like the way you don't treat me." At Scarlet's puzzled look of confusion, Rose smiled, and continued. "Even after learning of my accomplishments, you didn't let it color the way you saw me. I don't mean to brag, but I'm sick of being famous. I get recognized in public all the time. I get hit on constantly by people who don't seem to care at all about me personally. They just want to be associated with someone famous. And then you came and... just... didn't care, for lack of a better word. You wanted to be friends with me, not my accomplishments. It was nice. I honestly wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but the more we got to talking, the more I realized that... there might be something more there."
Scarlet's heart nearly skipped a beat. She remained quiet, however, and let Rose talk.
"It wasn't something I really thought about... not until I found your note. I had a talk about it with Lucario last night."
When Rose paused here, Scarlet asked hesitantly, "What did he say?"
A sad smile crept across Rose's face. "He asked if you made me happy... and I said yes. He said that I should fight for you then, and to hell with whoever this other girl is. He said I should have marched right over to your room and told you exactly how I felt."
Boy, did that sound familiar. "Why didn't you?" Scarlet inquired.
Rose gestured towards the note. "As I told Lucario, it wouldn't be right. You made it very clear that your heart belongs to another, and I'm not so immature as to try and come between you two. If things were different, then I might be willing to--"
She was stopped by Scarlet suddenly standing. "What? What is it?"
Honest. Direct. Don't leave until she knows how you feel. Scarlet took a deep breath, marched right over to Rose, and kissed her square on the lips.
Rose, shocked, pushed Scarlet off of her immediately, getting to her feet as well. "What are you
doing? Have you lost your mind?"
"I'm taking Lucario's advice," Scarlet announced, fueled by hope. "I want us to be together, Rose. You're all I can think about."
"Your note said there--"
"You got the wrong one!" Scarlet declared, giddy. "There were two, and someone found them before you guys did, and switched them! That's why you got the rejection note!"
Rose thought about this. "There were two notes?"
"Yeah!" Scarlet said, grinning. "Don't you see? The one who has my heart is you!"
This didn't register at all with Rose, who was on an entirely different and much less romantic tangent. She picked up the note and read it again. "She's a competitor?" She nodded to herself. "Of course, she has to be. That's why there were two notes, there wouldn't be if she was someone from outside the tournament." She faced Scarlet. "Who is she?"
"Windra," Scarlet huffed, frustrated that she'd come up. "But she doesn't matter, I don't want to be with her."
"So... this note was meant for Windra?"
"Yes!" Scarlet answered. "She's a huge flirt and has been trying to jump my bones since I accidentally told her and Kiria I had a thing for you but that's not important either what does matter is that you and I can be together now!"
Rose frowned, and Scarlet frowned too. That was not the facial expression Scarlet was hoping for. "So," Rose deduced, "that must mean that the other note was meant for me."
"Yes!"
"And Windra got it instead."
"Yes!"
"What did it say?"
"I--"
I'm yours. Come to my room and let's make magical things happen.
Scarlet gulped, suddenly feeling very sick to her stomach. "I..."
"Scarlet, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but lying is very unbecoming of a Ranger. But even if we were civilians, I'd be making you the same request I'm about to make: don't lie to me. The fact that you're hesitating means you don't want to tell me, and if you want to be with me as badly as you say you do, I can't understand why telling me would be a problem. But whatever it is, lying to me about it is only going to damage my trust in you. Don't lie to me, Scarlet. Please."
This was bad. The sadness in Rose's voice only made Scarlet feel worse. All she could think of was Windra taunting her about how disgusted Rose was going to be when she found out about their fling. Still, Rose deserved the truth, right? Here she was, right in front of her, asking her plainly to be honest with her.
She couldn't say no to that. "I don't remember the exact words, but the gist of it was, 'I'm yours. Come to my room and we'll make magical things happen. If not, I still want to be your friend.'"
"Magical things? What does that mean?"
Scarlet looked blankly at Rose. Was she serious?
Rose frowned, a little offended at Scarlet's assumption that she should know this. "What? Don't look at me like that. What did you mean by magical things?"
Scarlet let out a breath. "You know... like... bed stuff."
Rose went wide-eyed, realizing what Scarlet was getting at. As her mind worked, Rose's expression changed from surprise to hurt as the implications of this became clearer. A question bubbled to the forefront of Rose's mind. "So yesterday, Windra found the note, meant for me, which was a note soliciting me for--"
"Yes," Scarlet interrupted her. She was already regretting writing the stupid notes - hearing Rose talk about how cheaply Scarlet had thought of her was like a javelin in her heart.
"Did she come to your room last night?" Rose asked with a little more force in her voice. She was starting to put the pieces of this puzzle together, and Scarlet was afraid of what Rose was going to see once she'd completed the picture.
Don't lie to me.
"Yeah," Scarlet admitted. "Yeah, she did. I honestly thought it was going to be you. I was sitting there thinking how dumb it was to write those notes in the first place, especially after--"
Rose stopped her with a hand. She started breathing a little heavier, and Scarlet could tell she was hesitating in asking her next question. Scarlet knew in her heart of hearts what that question was going to be, and she was hoping she'd get lucky and Gardevoir would burst out of her Poke Ball and actually kill her before she confirmed what Rose was already thinking. She decided not to jump the gun, just in case Rose
wasn't about to ask her the question she wanted to not answer more than anything in the world.
"Did you have sex with her?"
And there it was. It was the moment of truth. Lie now and save both of them some heartache? Or be honest and risk losing Rose forever? There was a convincing argument for both. Lying was easy. A simple no and, with a little luck, this whole thing would be swept under the rug. With Windra swearing herself to secrecy, the only way Rose would ever find out is if Scarlet's conscience got the better of her and she came clean, and Scarlet wasn't sure there was any chance of that happening.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself a few brief moments to imagine a relationship with Rose, and what that might entail. Going on grand adventures with their Pokemon, teaching new Rangers, working hard to improve the lives of everyone during the day and coming home to unwind and take care of each other at night. It made her smile momentarily before she saw the ensuing fight if Rose ever learned of this secret, years down the line. Horrible things said. Bags packed, tears shed. Trust broken, never to be mended.
That was a scary thought, but was it worse than being honest now and possibly never getting to experience those lovely years, side by side with the girl of her dreams? Was she really willing to risk losing Rose over something she might never find out anyway?
Scarlet surprised herself when she opened her eyes and answered both her and Rose's questions with the same word. "Yes."
Rose blinked back tears, and something told Scarlet she'd made the wrong decision. When she went to embrace Rose, Rose stopped her cold. "Don't."
Scarlet started to panic, desperate to rectify the situation before all hope was lost. "Let me explain, okay?"
"I don't know what else needs explaining," Rose said, wiping her eyes. "But since you were honest, I'll hear you out."
"Okay, look, yeah, we had sex, okay, but it didn't mean anything. She took advantage of me! She came in and I was like, 'Hey, what's up?' and she was all, 'Kiss time!' and then she pushed me up against the wall and it was
so hot, and the next thing I knew we were in bed and--" she paused as she realized that tears were silently falling down Rose's face. "And I'm not helping." She sighed. "Okay. There is... was... a part of me that wanted to have sex with Windra. I spent the last week going crazy wondering if you'd felt anything for me. Jethro told me that I should have just gone up to you and said, 'Rose, I think you're the prettiest gal in all of Kanto! Will you be my one and only?'" she poorly imitated his signature drawl.
Rose stared at her, incredulous. "You should have! God, Scarlet, if you'd done that, I would have gladly said yes!"
That was a little painful to hear, and Scarlet could see Jethro staring disapprovingly at her in her mind. She shook it off - now wasn't the time for that. "I almost convinced myself you would have," Scarlet continued. "But I guess something in my head told me you were just being nice. And then there was Windra, who made it abundantly clear that she wanted me. And it felt nice to be wanted. I wrote the notes because I was afraid of being rejected in person. I didn't know if you had someone waiting for you back home, or if you were even into girls. Then Windra showed up, and I was so shocked by how bold she was, it didn't take long for me to convince myself that you weren't interested, or else you would have come, you know? Even just to let me down."
"You had sex with her even though she had the wrong note?" Rose asked.
"I didn't know she had the wrong one until this morning. We got into a huge fight about it," she admitted. "I don't wanna talk about it, it's not important now. Honestly, I thought she was just being Windra. But I told her that I wanted to be with you," she said, taking a risk by reaching for Rose's hand. When she didn't move it away, Scarlet held it gently in her hands, bringing it to her lips and kissing it softly. "What I did was dumb. I know that now. And I know I could have told you I didn't do anything with her, but I'm willing to risk everything because I don't want to keep secrets from you. I'd rather you hate me for my honesty than love me for a lie."
"Scarlet, I don't hate you... I don't
hate anyone. But..."
Scarlet's heart sank. She'd made her pitch and that 'but' could only mean one thing: Rose wasn't interested in buying.
"But what?" Scarlet offered, gripping Rose's hand tighter.
Rose gently pulled her hand away from Scarlet, and opened her arms, inviting Scarlet in, but when she went to kiss Rose, Rose moved her face past Scarlet's and hugged her tightly instead. "But we can't be together. I'm sorry." She felt Scarlet tighten her hold, and Rose did the same. "I know that's not what you want to hear, and I'm going to tell you something else that's going to hurt: you aren't ready for a relationship."
Scarlet pulled away, fresh tears in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"You jumped through so many needless hoops just to get my attention. Instead of coming to me like an adult, like a Rank 4 Ranger should know, you wrote a note and left it in the open for anyone to find - which, apparently, someone did." A breath. "And you didn't even mention wanting a relationship with me in it, just 'hey, come over and let's have sex.' I don't know what kind of girl you think I am, but I'm not--"
"I don't think that at all! You know I value you for so much more than just your body, Rose, that's not--"
"And you keep interrupting me!" Rose looked at Scarlet as she took this in and realized that Rose was right. "You don't know how to listen, Scarlet. I can't be with someone who won't let me get a word in edgewise whenever she feels like she has to shoot off whatever thought enters her head at that moment."
Rose stopped talking here. Scarlet didn't say a word, thinking this was some sort of test. She'd prove herself worthy, one way or another.
When it became clear what Scarlet was doing, Rose sighed, using her thumbs to wipe away Scarlet's tears. "You are a lovely and sweet lady, and a very accomplished Ranger for someone so young. I meant every bit of praise I gave you when we first met, and I say that not only as a senior officer, but as your friend. You have a natural fire that few others have. I see it in your eyes all the time. You've got some rough edges, but so do we all. They'll get smoothed out over time, and you will be a better Ranger - a better person - for it. I'm sorry, but I can't be with you right now. Please don't hate me for this, Scarlet, I-"
"Never!" Scarlet blurted, wincing the moment the word left her mouth. "Damn it. Sorry. Forgive me."
"You're forgiven," Rose said tenderly, a small smile coming across her face. "You see? You're already improving."
Scarlet automatically smiled at the praise, but it still felt hollow to her. It was small consolation, for missing the grand prize. She looked in those bright green eyes, eyes that she could get lost in for days. "I really like you, Rose. I'm sorry I screwed things up between us, but I'd like another chance. Will you wait for me?"
Rose flashed her a grin that warmed Scarlet's heart. "I really like you too, Scarlet. And... I'll think about it. Hey, close your eyes for me?"
Scarlet was reluctant to break her gaze with Rose's beautiful eyes, but she did as she was asked. She only a few moments to wonder before she felt Rose's breath on her face. She froze as Rose slowly, hesitantly pressed their lips together, and Scarlet was in heaven. This was nothing like when Windra kissed her; that was forceful, hungry, needy. Scarlet shuddered as she savored the feeling of Rose's soft lips on hers, and returned this kiss.
This was the first time that Rose had kissed another human in nearly a year (notwithstanding the peck from minutes ago), and she'd nearly forgotten how nice it was. When she broke it off a few blissful moments later, she pulled Scarlet close in a hug. "Don't make me wait forever," she whispered into the junior Ranger's ear.
"I won't. I promise," she replied.
They held each other for a few moments more before Rose separated herself and composed herself. "Thank you for being honest with me. About... everything. Fair warning, Gardevoir might still want to kill you, even after I tell her about our talk."
Scarlet groaned. She'd completely forgotten about the instrument of (her) death sitting idle just a few feet away, but she was surprised to learn that she wasn't afraid for her life - at least not as much as she was when she'd first arrived. Instead, the majority of that feeling had been replaced with a new emotion - what it was, Scarlet couldn't put her finger on. She wanted both to earn Gardevoir's favor and stay as far the hell away from her as she could; she wanted to dare Gardevoir to tell her no, but at the same time remain among the living. Whatever it was, it gave her newfound confidence, and Scarlet found herself smiling. "That's fine with me. Getting Pokemon to trust us is what we Rangers do, right? If I can get Gardevoir to trust me, it'll be one of the highlights of my career."
* * * * * * * *
Jethro and Kyro entered the cafeteria to applause from everyone save Alex, who was bitter from losing even a small amount of money from the fight. Whatever sadness that had been on Kyro's face was obliterated when he saw everyone clapping, and his infectious smile was back in full force as the others greeted him on his return.
"Wow, you guys, thanks!" Kyro beamed, no longer upset about his loss. "It's too bad we lost." He turned to Jethro, literally jumping in his excitement. "But oh
man, Mr. Jethro, that battle was
so cool! First there was the gravity, and Hydreigon couldn't fly around, and it's probably a good thing, too, because long-range special attacks are a big problem for my team, and Anorith was like zoom, pow, and got her! And the mud!" He turned around, spotting Thresher, and ran at light speed over to where he was sitting. "Mr. Thresher, did you see?! It went perfectly!"
"Haha, aye, that it did, lad!" He held an arm out and hugged the boy as Jethro meandered over to them. "I hope yer not too mad for me goin' over some strategy with the boy," he told Jethro with a smile.
"Nah. Made for a great battle. I tell you, Kyro, you really had me worried with that Mud Sport attack. Don't think I've ever seen it used quite like that before."
Kyro giggled, overjoyed that his plan had worked, despite still losing the battle. "Mr. Thresher was also the one who suggested that I practice fighting under the effects of Gravity, too. It's not a common move at all, so a lot of people can't handle it when their Pokemon get stuck!"
"Well, ye did marvelous, Kyro, I'm real proud of ya. And what did I say to always remember about losing?"
Kyro paused, trying to remember. "It doesn't matter whether ye win or lose, but whether or not ye did yer best."
"Aye," Thresher said with a chuckle. "Dya think ye did yer best, Kyro?"
Kyro paused again in a moment of seriousness, considering it. "I think so, Mr. Thresher. We had a plan and we did the plan and we did everything we could to try and win, but Mr. Jethro managed to beat everything we threw at him. He even said himself that I should be proud of getting this far, and no one could ever take that from me."
Thresher nodded sagely. "I couldn't agree more, lad. Now run along while I have a chat with ol' Jethro here, will ya?"
"Sure! Thanks again for the great battle, Mr. Jethro!" Kyro turned to the others, wondering what to do now. He felt his stomach rumble, and he looked at the clock. Lunch would be soon, but if he didn't get something into his stomach now, he might keel over and die. Finding Tsomu and Quayle at another table, Kyro decided to find out what the hold up was. "Hey, Mr. Tsomu, shouldn't you be in the kitchen making lunch? I'm starving!"
"You do know I don't actually work here, right? I'm a competitor just like you," Tsomu explained with a laugh. "Anyway, I tried helping, but they threw me out. 'Don't come back until Monday,' they said."
"Oh no! That's terrible!" Kyro wailed, unable to fathom going without Tsomu's delicious cooking for even a day.
Tsomu laughed at Kyro's naive sense of despair. "No, Kyro, it's nothing bad, they gave me the weekend off." This did little to lift Kyro's spirits, so Tsomu tried a different tactic. "Tell you what. I'll see if they'll let me whip you something special, just for you, huh? After all, you did amazing out there today."
Kyro's eyes and mouth widened at Tsomu's proposal. "Wow, really? You think they'll let you?"
"Of course! Just gotta work some of my Tsomu magic, that's all," he replied with a wink, getting up and heading towards the kitchen.
Kyro sat down where Tsomu had, excited at the prospect of eating Tsomu's cooking again, and his mind raced with possibilities. Quayle regarded him with interest - he, too, had come to Tsomu with the same inquiry of why he wasn't in the kitchen, after all. Kyro caught Quayle staring at him, and he smiled, waving at the older man. "Good afternoon, Mr. Quayle!" he greeted him. "You look really different with the glasses." Noticing Quayle's eyes, Kyro leaned into get a closer look. "Your eyes aren't purpley gray anymore! Whoa... what happened to them?"
"This is my natural eye color," Quayle explained. "I was wearing contact lenses that made my eyes appear that color."
"Why did you get rid of them? I thought they were cool!" Kyro wondered.
"Yeah, so did I..." Unwilling to get into the details of all of that with Kyro, he decided to change the subject. "Hey, great job on your match today! Sorry you lost, you were really close. Jethro's Luxray was on the verge of defeat, I could tell. One more attack and she would have gone down."
"Aw, thanks, Mr. Quayle, but I'm not mad about it. It was a really fun battle!" He thought back to Quayle's battle at the beginning of the week. "You almost won your match too, didn't you?"
Quayle winced. He'd avoided spending any time thinking about that particular battle, and all the consequences that had come with his actions. Apologizing to Rose had been hard enough. He still thought about Candice, of course, but hadn't considered calling her after the heartbreaking message she left him. Would she talk to him if he told her he was a changed man? He hadn't thought of that. "Ah, yeah, I did. But listen, Kyro, don't ever do what I did, okay? There's a line when it comes to Pokemon battles that I came dangerously close to crossing. What I did was wrong, and I made sure to apologize to Rose for it."
"That's good," Kyro said solemnly, recalling Quayle commanding his Pokemon to drown Rose's Gardevoir. "Please don't do that again, okay?"
"I won't, you have my word on that," Quayle reassured him.
"Good." That seemed to be good enough for Kyro, because he was all smiles a moment later. "Hey, I just thought of something really cool! Wanna know what it is?"
Quayle shrugged. "Sure, what is it?"
"We should totally form a club!" Kyro declared, hitting his hands on the table in excitement. "It can be for people like us who almost won, but didn't!"
Quayle wasn't thrilled with the idea, since it would mean he would be constantly reminded of the battle that changed his life, but he figured he would humor Kyro and learn more about it. "You mean like a support group?"
"Yeah, you get it! We can talk about the things we did wrong, and maybe how we can fix them so we can start winning again!"
That was actually a good idea, Quayle admitted. Having Kyro judge his failures as a trainer was a little off-putting due to his age, but there was no denying the kid knew his stuff, even if he wasn't entirely aware of how good he really was. And Quayle definitely felt like he could offer some insight. There was just one small problem with Kyro's idea. "But we lost. What's the point in talking about how to win when we're out of the tournament?"
Kyro's face fell a bit at that. "Well... I mean, I just thought that just because we aren't in the tournament anymore doesn't mean we can't help each other get better as trainers. But maybe you're right, it was a bad idea. Sorry for bringing it up."
Before Quayle could say anything else, the two were approached by Nye and Cody, each taking a seat at the table. "Hey guys, what's up?" Cody greeted them. Noticing Kyro's sad look, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about your match, yeah? You still did amazing. You almost had it!"
Kyro sighed, reminded again of just how close he'd come to victory and Quayle shooting down his club idea fresh in his mind. "I guess so."
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Nye asked him. "Something on your mind? You can tell us. We're here to help."
"It's nothing," Kyro grumbled. "Just a stupid idea, that's all."
"He wants to start a club, a support group for people like him who very nearly won their matches," Quayle explained. "The idea is that members can discuss strategy and where exactly they went wrong so they can be more prepared for the future."
"Really? I think that is a splendid idea!" Nye turned back to Kyro. "Why are you sad about that?"
"Mr. Quayle said there was no point because we're not in the tournament anymore," Kyro muttered.
Nye whipped her head back towards Quayle. "Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean that. I'm sure what Quayle meant to say was that it doesn't matter if you're out of the tournament since everyone can always improve, and he would
love to be a part of your group,
right?"
"Y-yes, of course, Kyro, I didn't mean to disparage your club," Quayle apologized. "I, uh, would be honored if you would have me."
"Really?" Kyro asked, hopeful.
Quayle smiled at the boy. "Yes, really. Nye is right; we all lose sometimes, and there is always room for improvement. What do you say? Shall we form a club?"
"Okay. Yeah, let's do it!" Kyro exclaimed, his energy and mood back to their normal maximum levels. "The first thing we need is a name! We can't have club meetings if we don't have a name!"
"Is it okay for non-members to submit ideas?" Cody asked Quayle.
"I don't know, let's ask the club leader," he answered, turning to Kyro. "Well, Leader Kyro? Are non-members allowed to suggest names for the club?"
"L-leader? You want me to be the leader?" Kyro asked, astonished.
"Of course, little one," Nye answered. "It is your club, after all."
Kyro beamed, honored to take on the responsibility of running his very own club. "All right! Sure, Mr. Cody, what's your idea?"
"Well, it's your club, yeah? And it's for people who very nearly won, so my suggestion is 'Kyro's Close Calls Club.'"
"Ooh, I like that. Clever use of alliteration, Cody," Nye complimented. "What do you think, Kyro?"
Kyro considered the idea. "I like it, but there's one thing I want to change, if that's okay with you, Mr. Cody. I don't want it to be named after me. It doesn't matter that I came up with the idea, and I don't want anyone thinking that I'm better than anyone else because the club is named after me. Like Mr. Quayle said, we all lose sometimes. I just want it to be a place where everyone feels welcome, where everyone can have a good time and chat with their friends. So, if it's okay, I think it should just be called 'The Close Calls Club.'"
"Well, let's put it to a vote," Quayle suggested. "All in favor of naming the club 'The Close Calls Club,' raise your hand."
Kyro's smile grew even wider when four hands went into the air.
"Then it's official!" Quayle declared. "Congratulations, Kyro. You are now the leader of the Close Calls Club." He clapped, and Nye and Cody applauded with him.
"Wow, awesome! This is gonna be so cool! I can't wait for our first meeting!"
"We will need members to attend this meeting," Quayle pointed out.
"Oooh, you're right!" Kyro looked to the others at the table. "Oh my gosh, Mr. Cody! Your match is today, isn't it?"
"Sure is. I've been training hard all week and I'm ready to get out there and show my stuff!" Cody confirmed. "Hopefully I'll be sending Alex to apply to be a member of the Close Calls Club instead of myself, but it's going to be a good learning experience no matter what happens, yeah?"
"Yeah! Good luck, Mr. Cody!" He turned to Nye, frowning a little. "Miss Nye, you won your match, so I don't think you need the Close Calls Club's services just yet."
Nye nodded in understanding. "That's right, I did. But Quayle and I aren't the only ones who fought." She counted off on her fingers. "Taikyu, Tsomu, Scarlet, and Windra all lost their matches. All those matches were pretty close, weren't they?"
"Sure they were! I'll have to go ask them about joining. Hey, wait a sec! Mr. Eldan lost to you, Miss Nye! I should go ask him if he wants to join!"
Hearing Eldan's name caused Quayle to perk up. "Wait a second, Kyro," he began, but then stopped to consider. Eldan was the last person he wanted in the club; if nothing else, it would mean that he would be forced to closely interact with him, and that was something he was keen to avoid. The very sight of him, in his bright red outfit, annoyed Quayle, and he was ready to try to convince Kyro not to let him join.
But he didn't. Maybe it was Kyro's innocent, questioning gaze as he waited for Quayle to finish his thought. Maybe it was due to Nye sitting right there next to him. Maybe it was some combination of the two. But Quayle simply shook his head. "Never mind, Kyro. I'm sure he'd be a great addition," he acknowledged, sighing.
This was completely lost on the young boy, who was excited to find his next member. "Yeah!" Kyro scanned the cafeteria, hoping to find him, but he wasn't there. "Oh well. He'll be here for lunch. Speaking of, I'm starving! Hey, Mr. Tsomu!" he yelled, getting from his seat and rushing to the kitchen, remembering the dish that Tsomu had promised him.
While Quayle's disappointment didn't bother Kyro at all, Cody did take notice of it. "You're okay with Eldan joining the club?"
"Of course not," Quayle stated plainly. "I can't stand him. He's a player, he hits on Nye all the time, his
entire wardrobe is red - just thinking about him and that stupid grin of his makes me angry."
"Then why didn't you say that to Kyro? I'm sure he would have listened to you, yeah?"
Quayle nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he probably would, and that's the point. It's Kyro's club, even if his name isn't on it. I'm not going to tell him who he can and can't have join." He sighed, defeated. "I'll just have to tell Eldan - should he join, that is - that we will remain civil and on topic during meetings. As much as it pains me to do so," he muttered.
"That's very big of you Quayle, thank you," Nye said, smiling warmly at him. "I'm glad to hear you say that."
"Yeah, for sure," Cody agreed, just as Tsomu and Kyro emerged from the kitchen with carts of food. "Oh, sweet, perfect timing! Gotta fuel up for the big battle, otherwise I'm gonna be putting in my own application to the Close Calls Club!"
* * * * * * * *
"Ladies and gentlemen! I'm Ruby Erthgrand, and we're here live at Indigo Plateau, getting ready to kick off the last match of round one! We've seen a week full of intense battles, and we have two gentlemen here ready to close out the week strong! As a reminder to all of you out there, we'll be taking the weekend off to let our competitors get some well-deserved rest, but we'll be back Monday morning at the usual time for the first match of the quarterfinals! All right, I can't wait anymore! Let's get right to it! Coming to the west platform is a young man from Unova who, according to this sheet he filled out, is richer than everyone here! I don't know if that's true, but what is true is that he triumphed over all his opponents in his qualifying tournament, and he's here to put himself one step closer towards padding his wallet with some more cash! Wave those flags and make some noise for your Nimbasa City tournament champion, Alex Croft!"
After making sure his ear plugs were in correctly, he stood up straight and briskly walked onto the field in his pristine white suit, acknowledging his fans. The roar of the crowd was dulled by the ear plugs, and Alex smiled at their efficacy. Loud noises always bothered him, ever since he was a kid. His parents went through a horrible divorce, often arguing directly in front of their him, each screaming insults and obscenities at the other. Hating to bear witness to his parents fighting, young Alex would start bawling whenever they fought. It didn't serve to rein in his parents' behavior, though, and Alex was eventually conditioned to cry whenever people around him would start yelling. It was one of his darkest secrets - he would surely be a laughingstock if people found out - and so he took to wearing ear plugs to help drown out the noise. The dulled noise also allowed him to hear himself think, and made the crowd one less thing to worry about.
"Fantastic!" Ruby exclaimed, keeping the hype train moving as best she could. "And his opponent, coming to the east platform, is a man who hopes to use the money to find his parents! Aw, that's sweet. He may come from a small town, but he's got big dreams, and he's determined to put himself closer on the path to realizing them! Everyone keep those cheers going for my man, your Coumarine City tournament champion, Cody Kwan!"
Cody casually strode out of the waiting room to cheers from the crowd and surprise from Alex, who noted that Cody was wearing a very expensive-looking black suit. Alex couldn't tell who designed it from where he was, but he made a mental note to ask later. The sharply dressed Cody waved to Alex, taking notice of his opponent's stunned look.
"And now, here's Esmeralda Rayvenflight, the referee for this match! To our fans in the stands, get a good look, because after this battle, you won't see her until next week! What's the battlefield going to be today?"
As the cursor spun around, Cody had his fingers crossed for the water field. If he didn't get the water field, he'd have to do a lot of improvising. Like Thresher, Cody's team was much better suited for battles in the water. It wouldn't be correct to say Sharpedo would be completely worthless if he had to fight on land - after all, Cody considered himself a veritable expert on Water Pokemon, and knew ways to get around something as trivial as
land - but he would be breathing a hell of a lot easier if the water field came up. He didn't like his odds, though.
"It's the grass field!" Ruby announced. "This is the first time this week we've seen this field! I can't wait to see how our competitors will make use of it!"
The floor between the two men opened, and it was replaced with a wide field of soft dirt and grass. In the center of the arena was a large and imposing tree, with thick branches and leaves which shook in the afternoon breeze.
All right, so it's not the water field, Cody groused internally.
Guess I should count my blessings, though, yeah? Could have gotten the fire field... He continued to study the battlefield as Ruby finished her opening monologue, hoping that his chosen starting Pokemon was the right one. He had cringed upon hearing that Alex was packing a Heliolisk; not only was it an Electric-type, but it commonly had the Dry Skin Ability, which would make it extremely difficult for his Pokemon to do any damage at all. On top of that, he was also using an Oricorio. Safiri wouldn't tell him what style it was in, and that worried him. He would love to see Baile Style, of course, but he wouldn't complain about Pa'u or Sensu, either. But if it was Pom-Pom Style as he feared, then things would surely go downhill fast. It was going to be a tough battle, but he believed in his Pokemon, and that was going to have to be enough.
"Trainers, release your Pokemon!"
"Oricorio, prepare for battle!"
"Showtime, Araquanid!"
The crowd cheered harder as the two Pokemon hit the field. Cody breathed a sigh of relief as Oricorio was revealed to be in Sensu Style. Ghosts were annoying to fight against, no matter what Pokemon you had, but at least now he would only have to fight against one Electric-type instead of two.
Oricorio posed, ready to begin, and Alex made the first move. "Use Teeter Dance!"
Quick as a whip, Cody was spitting out commands. "Wide Guard! Infestation!" Cody liked employing a prediction-based battle style; rather than give a command and then react to it, Cody typically gave two in quick succession. The first would be a typical command, and then the second would be given as a prediction of the outcome of the first. It didn't work all the time, of course, but the psychological effects it had on opponents when it did work couldn't be ignored. Many lesser trainers would get flustered from having to defend against such frequent strikes, either preparing for the first and not the second, or being more prepared for the second at the cost of taking the first.
Araquanid summoned a massive barrier that was nearly as wide as the entire battlefield, effortlessly blocking the confusion-inducing waves of pink that were issuing forth from Oricorio's dance. Once the shield was in place, Araquanid dug two of his feet a few inches into the ground and gurgled something incomprehensible, and hundreds of tiny black bugs rose from the ground, crawling at high speed towards Oricorio as the barrier went away.
"Disgusting," Alex spat, deciding to go on the offensive. "Fly up, Oricorio!"
"Spider Web! Liquidation!" Cody commanded as Oricorio leaped into the air. Araquanid shot a thick strand of webbing from one of his arms, hitting Oricorio mid-flight. The string opened on impact into a web which enveloped the bird, taking her by surprise; Araquanid swung his arm down, sending Oricorio plummeting back to solid ground, right into the infestation. Oricorio scrambled to her feet, squawking in a panic as she tried to shake off the bugs as well as the webbing. As she did this, Araquanid charged forward into her, scoring a direct hit and sending her crashing into the tree.
Alex growled as Oricorio, in an attempt to catch a reprieve from Araquanid's attacks, phased into the tree. The silky web fell harmlessly against the bark, but the infestation persisted despite Oricorio's type and current position. With care not to let too much concern appear on his face, Alex gave his next order. "Tailwind, if you would!"
That wasn't something Cody wanted to hear. As long as Oricorio was infested, she wasn't going anywhere, but the last thing he wanted to see was Heliolisk moving under increased speed. "Spider Web! Crunch!" he commanded as Oricorio shot out from the tree like a dart, black bugs falling off her body as she flew, but many persisted in sapping her energy. Araquanid fired off another string of webbing, but Oricorio was able to dodge the attack. Getting into position, she flapped her wings once, hard, and a massive wind blew from behind her.
Alex nodded approvingly. "It is about time things start going my way. I have had quite enough with your annoying bug." He held out a Poke Ball. "The time for my victory is at hand."
"Not yet it isn't!" Cody reminded him. "Oricorio is still under the effects of Infestation. You can't switch her out yet!"
Alex's grin grew wider. "Oh? Watch and learn, amateur. Baton Pass, Oricorio!" The return beam shot out, hitting the bird and sending her back to her Poke Ball. "Baton Pass is a move, and I can use any move I please. The Pokemon I send out will, of course, be affected by anything the previous Pokemon was, but it is a small price to pay to ensure my victory." He held out a second ball. "Heliolisk, prepare for battle!"
True to Alex's word, the second his Heliolisk set foot on the ground, Araquanid's Infestation took hold of her, but Alex paid it no mind. He was angry at having been made a fool of thus far in the battle, and he was going to pay back Araquanid's damage in spades. "Electric Terrain!"
"Soak! Leech Life!"
Heliolisk stood on her hind legs, opening her frill as wide it would go, extending an electric aura across the battlefield, tinting the inside of the arena a dull yellow. Knowing the attack would take some time to complete, Araquanid sprayed Heliolisk with a shot of water that looked normal, but was anything but. This was Cody's ace in the hole against Electric-types. Electric attacks still hurt, but they would do significantly less damage now that Heliolisk's Electric type was suppressed.
At least, that had been the plan. With Electric Terrain in play, those Electric attacks would be back to doing their full, painful damage again, and there wasn't anything else he could do about it. With her attack finished, she was easily left with enough time to dodge Araquanid's attack.
"Now," Alex commanded, "Volt Switch! Oricorio needs her revenge!" Heliolisk summoned a ball of electricity and whipped it at Araquanid at a speed too quickly for him to follow; Araquanid collapsed to the ground as the attack wracked his body, and there was a bright flash as Heliolisk returned to her Poke Ball. In her place came Oricorio, free of Araquanid's infestation, and she disappeared into the ground before the light from the Volt Switch faded, without Araquanid (or Cody) being any the wiser.
"Stay on your guard, Araquanid!" Cody called. "She's around somewhere..."
Alex allowed himself a chuckle at his new advantage. "Let's try this again, shall we, Oricorio? Fly up!"
Araquanid steeled himself, looking around for Oricorio, but there was nothing. For a minute, Cody thought that perhaps Oricorio hadn't heard him, but suddenly she shot out from the ground from behind her opponent, flying high into the air. "Araquanid, behind you! Spider Web! Soak!"
Araquanid turned around as Cody spoke, feeling the rush of air from Oricorio emerging, and fired another shot of the sticky silk webbing; thanks to the Tailwind, however, Oricorio effortlessly dodged it, and before Araquanid could get his second attack off, she dive bombed into him, crumpling him into a pile on the ground. Oricorio twirled in midair and landed softly a few feet away, posing proudly as the audience roared in approval.
Esmeralda declared Araquanid knocked out, and Cody returned him to his Poke Ball. He let out a quiet sigh, pursing his lips in contemplation as Alex looked on with a smug grin. He ran through several different scenarios in his head, trying to determine which of his Pokemon would be best used here, and, perhaps more importantly, saved for later.
"Are you giving up?" Alex asked with feigned interest. "I was hoping for a good fight, but maybe I overestimated you..."
Cody frowned. He didn't hate Alex, or even dislike him, but his holier-than-thou attitude was starting to get at him, and that annoyed Cody more than Alex's attitude did. "Maybe you're just a little too cocky for your own good, yeah? You need to be taught a lesson in humility." He smirked, taking his second Poke Ball in hand. "And I know just the Pokemon to do it. Showtime, Sharpedo!"
Sharpedo materialized on the ground, balancing precariously on his side. Alex laughed openly at the sight of Sharpedo trying to balance himself, and several people in the crowd joined him.
"Go ahead, laugh," Cody invited. "Your Oricorio's about to faint, though, so you may want to reconsider not doing anything."
At this, Alex laughed even harder. "What are you going to do without water? Sharpedo is worthless out of the water! Oricorio, Feather Dance!"
"Aqua Jet! Crunch!"
A barrier of water exploded around Sharpedo's body, providing him with more than enough water to move around in; he rocketed forward like a bullet, mouth wide and fangs dripping with dark energy. Before Oricorio was anywhere near ready with her attack, Sharpedo crashed into her, chomping down and sending the both of them tumbling through the grass. Lying in the center of the arena, Oricorio could do nothing but take the attack, as she was still firmly gripped in Sharpedo's mouth. When Sharpedo released her, she didn't move, put out of commission with alarming ease.
The crowd's cheers surged to new heights, and Alex was struck dumb at the display. Cody filed the look on Alex's face in the place in his memory where he stored the looks of trainers just like him who had thought Sharpedo completely helpless on land and then were summarily defeated. It was especially satisfying to do it to someone like Alex, who by now had composed himself and returned his defeated Pokemon to her Poke Ball.
Alex took his second Poke Ball, a look of haughty indifference on his face. "So you beat one of my Pokemon. I suppose that I should expect the three of your Pokemon to do be able to do that much. But now your luck has run out. Heliolisk, prepare for battle!"
Darn. I was hoping to stall long enough to end Electric Terrain, Cody complained silently as he noticed that the field effect was still active. He did take a small bit of comfort in the fact that the Tailwind had petered out by now, though. Cody tried thinking of plans for as many contingencies he could in the precious few seconds he had, but he didn't think Alex was going to give him very much time to -
"Parabolic Charge!"
Not the best case scenario, but it would have to do. Parabolic Charge had a wide range, but it was a lot weaker than something like Thunderbolt, which would probably get the KO even outside of Electric Terrain. If Sharpedo wasn't able to dodge the hit, at least he'd survive it. "Take cover, Aqua Jet! Skull Bash!"
Heliolisk's neck frill opened wide and Sharpedo jetted up and away as fast as he could. Heliolisk fired the attack upwards, and it shot lightning in random directions. One of the bolts caught the tail end of the water stream carrying Sharpedo and it zapped him, causing him to cry out. Hearing Sharpedo's pained cries, Alex pressed the advantage. "Chase him down while he is weakened! Giga Impact!"
Nodding, Heliolisk's body started to glow orange as she gathered the energy required for the move. Once sufficiently powered up, she dashed forward, leaving a purple, orange-streaked aura in her wake. Just as she passed the tree, Sharpedo lunged forward with Skull Bash, colliding hard with Heliolisk and sending her flying into the wall. The Giga Impact was not wasted, however, and Sharpedo reeled from the massive hit. For a moment, it looked as if both Pokemon were knocked out, but each of them started showing signs of life after a few moments.
"Your Pokemon lives?" Alex asked incredulously.
"Thanks only to the extra defensive boost that using Skull Bash provides," Cody answered honestly before his eyes went wide. The Electric Terrain effect slowly evaporated into the air, giving the field its natural color back.
And now Heliolisk has to rest! This is my chance to turn this battle around! "Aqua Jet! Crunch, Sharpedo!"
"No! Heliolisk, get out of the way!" Alex ordered, but Heliolisk was far too winded to actually move; as such, Sharpedo was able to make a clean hit, biting down hard into Heliolisk and eliminating what remained of her energy.
"Heliolisk is unable to battle! Sharpedo wins!" Esmeralda announced, and Cody was beside himself with relief. He let out a long breath, shaking his hands in an attempt to shake out his nervousness with them.
Hard part's over, but that darn Empoleon is gonna be a headache for sure. He looked at Sharpedo, who was just barely standing after the attack.
Primarina's definitely got his work cut out for him...
Alex's facade of coolness crumbled ever so slightly at this second defeat. He scolded himself mentally for his misplay; he'd forgotten about the Skull Bash. Despite this loss, he was still as confident as ever - his last Pokemon was also far and away his strongest and most well trained, and Alex would see to it that she ended this fight with a win. "Empoleon, prepare for battle!"
Empoleon stood proudly before her opponent, sizing him up. Sharpedo was breathing heavily and it was clear he didn't have much fight left in him, but Empoleon would not take things easy on him. "Use Swagger!" Alex instructed, and Empoleon struck an intimidating pose, her body glowing in a red aura. Sharpedo fell for it, as evidenced by his unnaturally red eyes, and thrashed about on the ground in his rage. Sharpedo suddenly flew forward with Aqua Jet, crashing head first into the tree, where his unconscious body tumbled ungracefully to a stop several feet away.
Yikes, that looked painful, Cody cringed as Esmeralda declared Sharpedo fainted. He deliberately took his time in recalling Sharpedo, allowing a few extra seconds to plan.
First things first: stop the Swagger shenanigans. After that... I don't know. If his Empoleon is female, and specially inclined, Captivate can really put the hurt on. I don't know if I want to rely on that, though. One botched attack could be the difference between victory... and the Close Calls Club, he realized with a gulp. His eyes flashed to Esmeralda, who gave him a gentle prod to send out his Pokemon. "Right, sorry about that," he apologized aloud, taking his last Poke Ball in hand. "Showtime, Primarina!"
Cody's Primarina appeared with a flourish, striking a graceful pose. Empoleon stared on, unimpressed by the display. "Swagger!"
"Shut your eyes, Primarina! Misty Terrain! Captivate!" Cody decided to risk the Captivate after all, mainly because there wasn't much else he could do in the current situation. The main goal, as he thought before, was to stop Primarina from suffering the same fate as Sharpedo. Once that was done, he could react to whatever Alex threw at him. With speed born of practice, Primarina covered the entire floor of the arena with a thick blue mist, his eyes closed to slow down the effects of Empoleon's attack. Soon, the terrain was set, and Primarina was free to open his eyes, Empoleon's attack rendered obsolete by the lightly sparkling fog. While Empoleon awaited Alex's next order, Primarina blew a kiss towards her, vibrant pink hearts visibly floating towards their target. Empoleon tried hitting them away, but upon making contact with one of them, it was absorbed into her body, revealing to a shocked Cody that Alex's Empoleon was indeed female.
Alex paid it little mind. Sure, the Captivate worked, but only in the strictest sense; he hadn't planned on using any special techniques against this opponent. "Swords Dance!" he cried, and Cody gasped, eliciting a boastful laugh from the young man in the white suit. "I see you have realized how futile your attack was."
"No, just the opposite! This is perfect! Primarina, Moonblast! Encore!"
Primarina stood on his tail, his arms spread wide. Over his left flipper, a pink ball of fairy energy; over the right, a white, static-looking ball of something mysterious. He flung the Moonblast first; Empoleon continued her dance, using the back of her steel-like fin to bat the weak attack away. Primarina used this distraction to whip the second attack at Empoleon, and it struck home, causing her body to sparkle with a thin white aura.
Realizing he'd been tricked, Alex grit his teeth as Empoleon finished her attack. With no Pokemon left to switch to, Empoleon was forced to endure the Encore until it was over, meaning Alex had essentially given Cody carte blanche to attack however he pleased. He made sure to continue giving orders - if Empoleon didn't attack, the Encore would technically never end. Alex hoped that Empoleon's natural resistance to Primarina's attacks kept her alive long enough to retaliate. "Drill Peck," he commanded, but he was not surprised to see Empoleon ignore it, dancing the same dance she'd done previously, sending her now useless physical strength into the stratosphere.
"I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, Alex, but you can't win now. You know the second the Encore effect wears off, I can just hit her with another one, yeah? She's gonna be using Swords Dance until Primarina knocks her out."
"Drill Peck!" Alex commanded as Empoleon danced her heart out.
Cody sighed. "Hydro Pump until the Encore wears off, then hit her again with Encore!"
Primarina nodded, inhaling deeply. He fired off a massive beam of water from his mouth, smacking into Empoleon and interrupting her dance only briefly. Undeterred, Primarina kept the pressure up, trying her best to force Empoleon to stop attacking.
"Throw some Moonblasts in there, mix it up! You're doing great, she's getting weaker with every hit!"
Primarina barked in compliance, scooting around to Empoleon's back as she still continued dancing, peppering her with repeated Moonblasts, carefully watching for that white glow to start fading. And shortly after Primarina finished a particularly strong volley of Moonblasts, it did just that.
Both trainers' eyes went wide. "There it is!" Cody exclaimed. "Encore! Moonblast!"
"Use Aqua Jet!"
Empoleon's body exploded in a watery aura, and she zoomed towards Primarina with a razor-tipped fin raised. He barely had enough time to react, aborting the Encore in favor of saving his own skin. For a moment, Cody thought he was in serious trouble, but the Misty Terrain had started fading away, and he risked everything on a move that he prevented himself from using until this very moment.
"Sing! Hydro Pump!"
Primarina inhaled and sang out one loud, crisp, clear note, adjusting his pitch to help it sound more appealing to Empoleon. To Alex's dismay, the attack had its desired effect, and Empoleon fell to the earth, fast asleep. Primarina began his assault anew again, confident that it wouldn't be much longer before Empoleon fainted. Cody was having similar thoughts; now that Alex had found a way around getting locked into Swords Dance (and now that his Empoleon's attack power had been boosted to truly obscene levels), he couldn't risk Encore again without getting slaughtered. So he'd risked trying to put Empoleon to sleep with a usually inaccurate Sing attack, and from the looks of it, it was paying off. Empoleon was getting battered by powerful, albeit resisted, attacks, and Primarina showed no signs of stopping. Just a few more and -
Cody was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Alex laughing. His curiosity getting the better of him, he asked, "Something wrong?"
"I win," Alex stated with an air of finality. "Empoleon, Sleep Talk!"
"Encore! Moonblast!" Cody blurted, and Primarina responded immediately, but Empoleon suddenly sprang to her feet, scaring Primarina and forcing her to stop the attack. She began to charge it again as Empoleon leaped high into the air, still sound asleep, her beak and crown glowing bright white. She spun her body at high speed as she fell towards Primarina, and landed with a crash. Primarina screamed bloody murder for nearly a second and a half as the artificially powerful attack tore into his body, depleting all of his energy with that one decisive blow. When the attack was finished, Empoleon fell to the ground, lightly snoring, and completely oblivious as to what she just did.
"Primarina is unable to battle!" Esmeralda declared, raising her hand towards Empoleon. "Empoleon is the winner, which means the winner of this match is Alex Croft!" Cody wordlessly recalled his Pokemon, nervous about the damage that Empoleon inflicted. He could see streaks of red on Empoleon's horn, and he feared the worst.
Black met white in the center of the arena for the standard post-game handshake. Alex was looking quite pleased with himself, as Cody expected. "Good game," Cody said, stone-faced.
"I won, so it was a wonderful game," Alex replied, grabbing Cody's hand. Cody noticed that the boy's grip was almost laughably weak; it felt as though he were shaking hands with a little girl. "I will give you credit, however; I was fully expecting Heliolisk to rip your team apart. I would get to the Pokemon Center right away if I were you," he added with a knowing look in his eyes. "Your Primarina especially looks to be in rough shape."
"Thanks, I will," Cody replied, gripping Alex's hand a little tighter. When Alex went to pull back, Cody held firm, causing Alex to squirm a bit in his grip. This gave Cody a little satisfaction, and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Good luck on your next match."
* * * * * * * *
By the time dinner rolled around, everyone was back in high spirits. Cody's Primarina was fine, though he had taken quite a vicious beating from Empoleon's final attack. Jethro's Umbreon was good as new as well, having benefited from a few extra hours in the Pokemon Center. The battles were over for the week, and everyone was looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
The topic of conversation was, naturally, the battles they'd witnessed earlier. Alex spoke at length about his victory, gloating like a school boy. Kyro expressed his condolences to Cody, but was overjoyed to have another member in the Close Calls Club. Quayle and Eldan joined him and Cody for the club's first meeting, held right there in the cafeteria during dinner. The Team Flare grunt and the former Team Galactic admin honored the truce Quayle suggested, and the meeting was hailed as a success by everyone involved.
Windra made good on her promise to keep her tryst with Scarlet a secret, though she was unaware that Scarlet had already come clean about it to Rose. Her promise was put to the test when Nye, who had been sitting with Rose and Windra, invited Scarlet to sit with them. Scarlet hesitated at first, but agreed after Nye insisted. While they ate, Scarlet kept stealing looks at Windra, who chatted with Nye as though nothing was wrong. Rose managed to keep Scarlet busy with Ranger talk, and before long, she managed to put Windra out of her mind and enjoy herself.
At Chara's request, Frisk ate with Taikyu, Thresher, and Lenny, just so Chara could be closer to Taikyu. Frisk was especially happy to be back in her own body after being out of it for so long, and she didn't care that she could barely follow the conversation the older men were having. She had her own reasons for wanting to talk to Taikyu, so she dealt with it and stayed engaged as best she could.
The men chatted well into the evening, long after they'd finished eating, and eventually, the four were the only ones remaining in the cafeteria. Lenny pointed out Frisk, who'd fallen asleep at the table, her head held up by one of her hands. "Looks like someone was up past their bedtime."
Thresher yawned himself, stretching and checking the clock. "Sure I can't be sayin' the same ta you, Lenny? I'm shocked that yer still going. You too, Taikyu," he added, noticing neither of his elders seemed to be any worse for wear.
"Oh, I still have a while left in me," Taikyu remarked with a smile. He looked over at Frisk. "She reminds me so much of my daughter."
"Biological, or the one you told us about earlier?" Lenny asked.
"The latter. I don't have any biological children," Taikyu answered, with just a hint of sadness in his old voice. "But that's okay. Beatrice and I stayed in contact over the years, and her family and I are very close. All of her children treat me as their grandfather. When she died, I gave a eulogy at her funeral. Aside from that, I've lived a rich and fulfilling life, helping countless troubled souls find their way. I couldn't ask for a better life." He regarded Frisk lovingly, his memories flooded with the images of the little girl he'd rescued and raised as his own.
"She must have been a real sweet lady," Thresher noted quietly.
Taikyu sighed heavily, finding himself missing the woman who was his daughter in all ways but by blood. "She was. I see in Frisk a lot of the same attributes Beatrice shared: a love of the arts, a zest for life, and... being forced to deal with death at a young age."
Thresher's face sobered a bit, and now he too was watching the young girl sleep. "Did she lose her father, too?"
Taikyu paused before answering, feeling a slight pang of shame, as though this was not his story to tell and he'd done something wrong by hinting at it. After all, it had taken a great deal before Frisk hesitantly revealed it. It was then that Taikyu realized that he had no idea where Frisk's parents were. She made no effort to mention them, so maybe the two children were orphaned as well? Taikyu hoped with all of his soul that it was not true. "No... her little brother," he eventually answered. He kept the part about Chara inhabiting Frisk's body to himself. He saw no reason to go into such details with them without Frisk's knowledge.
Suddenly, Lenny rose from his chair. "No parent should ever have to bury their child. I'm calling it a night. Night, fellas." He then turned and left, not bothering to wait for goodnight wishes from the others.
Thresher glanced at the clock again and decided he was going to turn in as well. "I think I'm gonna do the same, old man. Whadaya wanna do about Frisk here?"
"Would you carry her to her room?" Taikyu asked. "I would do it myself, but I'm afraid I'm not as strong as I once was."
"Aye, sure thing," Thresher agreed, smiling.
"Thank you."
Thresher got up from the table and very gingerly reached under the table, supporting Frisk's legs as he deftly scooped the girl into his arms. "After you," he said to Taikyu, and Taikyu nodded, leading the way out of the cafeteria and holding the door open for the young man and his charge.
They were halfway down the hallway when suddenly, Frisk awoke with a start, nearly leaping out of Thresher's arms. "I wasn't asleep! I'm not tired!"
"Oh, is that so?" Thresher inquired, stopping to set the girl on her feet.
Frisk answered with a massive yawn. "Nope."
Thresher grinned knowingly. "Well, my dear, in that case, I'm sure ye'll have no problems walking the rest of the way. Taikyu, can I count on you to escort this not-at-all-tired young lady ta her room? This is my stop."
"But of course," Taikyu replied, offering his arm to Frisk. Frisk looked confused at the gesture, so Taikyu simply held a hand in front of him. "Shall we go?"
They all said goodnight to each other, and Frisk walked with Taikyu until they reached her bedroom at the end of the hallway. "Would you like to come in?" Frisk asked her escort.
"Are you sure?" he asked in reply. "It's very late. If you want to talk, we have plenty of time tomorrow."
"I know, but..." she muttered something else that Taikyu couldn't hear.
"What was that?"
"I kinda like our late night chats!" she blurted, embarrassed. "It's kinda been a thing with us, you know? And... I don't know, it's dumb."
Taikyu smiled warmly, touched by her words. It was definitely a far cry from their first encounter, when Chara had told him to piss off and she'd run off in tears. "I disagree. It's not dumb at all, and it would be my honor to keep you company."
Frisk nodded, and she shifted nervously in front of her door. "Okay, great. Um, could... could you just wait out here while I change into my pajamas?"
"Of course."
Frisk disappeared into her room for a few minutes, and eventually opened the door again to let Taikyu in. Once he was inside, she climbed into her bed and got under the covers. Taikyu pulled a chair up next to her bed and sat with her. He decided to start the conversation with the most obvious thing. "I see you're back in your own body again. I'm glad to see that."
Frisk nodded. "Yeah, me too. Chara told me about everything that happened while I was gone, and we talked. About... us. Me and him, I mean."
She told Taikyu about what happened since his failed attempt to exorcise her. She relayed to him that she could hear everything he and Chara talked about when Chara took control of her, and how she was glad that his spell on her failed. She informed him about Chara inadvertently succeeding in erasing her from his mind once she let him take over, why and how it happened, and how she managed to come back. She told him about Chara's death, even going so far as telling him about her attempted suicide after the event. She concluded with the promise she made to Chara to let him out more often, and his to her about taking it easy on pranking her. When she was finished, Taikyu filled in the gaps Frisk left, including his botched attempt at accompanying Chara outside, the fall he took, and being disciplined by Safiri for trying to leave.
"I'm sorry you got into trouble," Frisk apologized.
"No apologies necessary. It was my fault for making the suggestion to him. But tomorrow, I plan on taking Safiri up on her offer to go outside. You two should join me."
After a moment, Frisk answered, "Yeah, that sounds like fun. Chara says he thinks so too."
"Glad to hear it," Taikyu replied. He looked at the clock. It was definitely late, but his curiosity was getting the better of him, and there was one thing in particular he wanted to at least bring up while he had the opportunity. "Frisk, you don't have to do it right now, but would you do this old man a favor?"
"Of course, Taikyu," she responded immediately, excited that he would ask anything at all of her. "What is it?"
"Over the past week, I've gotten to know both you and your brother. I consider myself honored that you would trust me enough to share the knowledge of his possession of you with me. And yet, I am ashamed to admit that I don't have any idea what he looks like. Do you have any photos of him I could see?"
Frisk shook her head. "We didn't exactly plan on getting sent to Sinnoh, and of course I didn't plan on getting him killed. Taking a picture together seems like such a simple thing in hindsight, but we never did, not even once." She got an idea, and threw the covers off her, surprising Taikyu a bit. "But I know the next best thing!" she exclaimed, getting out of bed and opening the drawer of her bedside table. She took her sketchbook and colored pencils out of it, and sat up against the head of her bed, crossing her legs and setting the book in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Taikyu asked, curious.
"I'm going to draw him," she answered, not looking up at him. "I may not have any pictures of him, but that doesn't mean I don't know what my own brother looks like. It won't take that long, but if you want to come back tomorrow for it, that's fine."
Taikyu stifled a yawn, watching Frisk sketch with purpose, all her tiredness from before seemingly gone now. He did want to go to sleep, but since he had been the one to put the idea in her head, he felt obligated to stay awake with her and see it through.
Besides, he reasoned,
I can get more information from her this way. "That's quite all right, young lady, I'll wait. I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few things while you work."
"No, go ahead," she responded, swapping pencils, completely focused on her drawing.
His first question was easy, and the one he most wanted an answer to. "Forgive me for being blunt, but are your parents alive?"
"Yeah. At least, they were the day I fell into the Underground. Dr. Alphys was trying to find a way to send us back to the Surface to we could go back home."
Taikyu found himself wishing he'd had his notes with him, and tried to commit all of this to memory. "The Surface? The surface of what?"
"Our world. The monsters call it the Surface."
"Monsters? What kind of monsters? Are they like Pokemon?"
"No, not really. Well, I guess some of them are. Some of them are more monster-like, and some are more human-like and can speak the human language."
Taikyu was engrossed by her words. How fascinating that there existed entire worlds separate from this one, with strange creatures capable of communication! "That's incredible, Frisk. What is the Underground like?"
"It's not that bad, not as bad as some humans think. I miss my parents, but if I had to live my rest of my life in the Underground, I wouldn't mind. Asgore is a very nice ruler, but sometimes I think he wasn't all there."
"What do you mean?"
"He's kinda dumb," Frisk said plainly, pausing for a second as she considered the shape of Chara's face. "After the war, he and the other monsters moved to the farthest reaches of the Underground and Asgore called their new settlement 'Home.' After they stopped fearing the humans, they moved out of Home and spread out all across the Underground. They eventually settled again and Asgore called it 'New Home.'"
Taikyu picked up on one part of that statement in particular. "There was a war?"
"Yeah. It was thousands of years ago. Really long story, I don't know all the details. Asgore could probably tell you more about it. I think he fought in it."
"Monsters have that long of a lifespan?" Taikyu wondered.
Frisk didn't reply as she continued coloring in Chara's shirt.
"Frisk?" he prodded.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I don't know. I'm just about finished. Give me a minute." The next few minutes were silent but for the sounds of the two of them breathing, and the scratching of pencil on paper as she drew. Finally, she ripped the page from her sketchbook and presented it to Taikyu. "Here you go."
On the paper was a drawing of a young boy with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a long-sleeved shirt with lime and cream horizontal stripes. He was smiling, Taikyu noticed, and he had bright blue eyes in contrast with Frisk's (and his own) deep brown. "This is quite good," Taikyu complimented Frisk on her drawing.
"
Eh, it's decent," Chara answered. "
My hair wasn't that long."
Surprised at that sentence, he looked up and saw Frisk's eyes had indeed gone red. "Good evening, Chara."
Taikyu watched as her pupils faded back to brown. "That's it? That's all he wanted to say?"
"He wanted to see if I was telling the truth about letting him out. He asked me to let him say something, so I did."
"Aren't you worried about him erasing you again, after everything he's done?"
"Of course," she replied honestly. "But I have to trust him and start showing him that he really is important to me."
"I see. Thank you for the drawing. I'd be interested in seeing what some of your monster friends look like, if you could draw them for me. My brothers will be shocked when I tell them about what we've discussed. Oh, and on the subject of my brothers, they think that the reason my exorcism failed is because it's because Chara isn't a Pokemon. They've researched other methods, and one of them looks promising, but it wouldn't put your brother's soul at peace, only... move it. If it worked, Chara wouldn't be shackled to your consciousness anymore, but he'd be stuck to someone else. That's not a desirable outcome. So I'll continue doing my research and--"
"No!" Frisk blurted, stopping Taikyu mid-sentence. "I'm sorry, but no. You don't have to do that, Taikyu. Things have changed between Chara and me. We'll find a way to coexist peacefully."
"I see," Taikyu replied, rising from his chair and placing it back at the desk. "I'm happy to hear that things are going better between you two. Well, Frisk, it's past this old man's bed time. I'll see you tomorrow."
He turned to make his exit, but Frisk stopped him again. "W-wait!"
"Hm? What is it?" Taikyu inquired, turning back towards the young girl.
Frisk jumped out of bed and ran into Taikyu, throwing her arms around him in a hug and squeezing him tightly, being careful not to hurt him as she did so. "Thank you, Taikyu. I haven't thanked you for helping me deal with my problems with Chara. You're the first person I've told about him, and it means a lot to finally have someone I can talk to about him. And I'm sure Chara feels the same way. You treated him with respect and kindness when all I showed him was fear. You're the first friend he's made in a long time. So thank you. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."
Moved by the young girl's words, Taikyu wrapped his long arms around Frisk and hugged her back. "You're welcome, Frisk. Knowing what little I've done has brought peace to your mind and your soul is the greatest reward I could ever hope to receive. My door is always open if you need me."
She squeezed him one last time before finally releasing him, taking a few steps back so she didn't have to crane her neck up so far to look into his kind eyes. "I know. Hopefully it'll be on more pleasant terms. Goodnight, Taikyu."
She put her pencils and sketchbook on her bedside table and tucked herself in as Taikyu headed for the door. He took one last look at her and was pleased to note that the evil aura that had permeated her body was greatly reduced. It would deplete over time, Taikyu deduced as he turned the light off and exited Frisk's room. The siblings had a lot of work ahead of them, but from the way Frisk described it, and from the genuinely happy look he saw on her face as he left, Taikyu believed the two of them would be just fine.
In fact, I incorporated a lot of your private notes into this chapter.
