Ch. 83
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Trainer
Packing up in the morning was about as miserable as my sleep had been the night before. The ground was a sodden mess, and by the end I was glad I wasn't wearing much, what I had on was muddy and soaked. Still, after double checking my bag and making sure everything was sealed up tight, it was back out on the water. I'd have a chance to dry in the light of day, and given a little time to decompress and work things out, Alcyon was as sunny as the morning.
"C'mon, fuckboy. I can hear your stomach rumbling from here." She teased, as I slung my bag on the harness she'd been wearing for days. I wanted to apologize, but if she even was aware of it, she didn't bring it up. I'd need to take a good look at it before I took it off, make sure I knew how to set it up again.
I'd just have to apologize for borrowing the rig later. But at this point the odds of me returning it inside of a month were ... negligible. As she swam us out to sea, I grudgingly packed my muddied undergarments in a side pocket, and changed into something that was at least clean. I needed new clothes. Everything I had was better suited for a hike in the hills, and also looked and likely smelled like I'd just finished a hike in the hills.
It was a long swim, but Alcyon made good time, and by noon we'd arrived at Hau'oli city. Towering steel and glass buildings, a bustling oceanfront, and ships resting, at least for a few hours, in a bustling harbor. When we'd made it onto the beach, I snagged my bag, and asked Alcyon to wait a bit. That I'd be right back.
I was grateful she didn't splash me, although her exasperated sigh was as honest as they came. You'd think a league registered trainer would keep spare pokeballs handy. You'd think. Somehow, that just hadn't been a priority. One more thing I'd need to figure out. Right after I figured out money. What I had left in my pockets was... a little light. To say the least.
I was still exhausted and sore from helping haul that lapras up, and subsequently down the mountain. The sleep, as fitful as it was, had helped, but I needed real rest. I found myself mulling my options, maybe seeing if the local pokemon center had any rooms not taken by other dumb tourists just like me. It wouldn't exactly be luxury, but even a lukewarm shower and a little soap would have improved my mood immeasurably.
Sharon
Arceus, I was smart. Just hang around the pokemart. When he came through, I'd see him. He hadn't noticed me. As gorgeous as ever, too. Tight T-shirt wet enough to be transparent, clinging to his muscular back. The way his ass fit the shorts he was wearing. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and before I knew it, I was walking up behind him while he browsed the pokeballs.
Shizuka was lurking nearby, a tell-tale wobble of a box on a shelf betraying her impatience. How many times had she followed me to spend the whole afternoon in here. The shop clerks were annoyed to see me anymore. Zorah refused flatly to come with me anymore. I couldn't blame him. He had better things to do, like watching paint dry. Besides, he was still in a cast, and spent his afternoons indulging in the local TV broadcasts. Even the prospect of meeting up with the lycanroc again wasn't enough to keep him showing up after the second day.
'Fancy seeing you again.' I almost bit my tongue just thinking about saying it. I'd practiced this a hundred times in my room. Act surprised, happy. Hope for the best. Shizuka's grasp of my hand kept me from stepping forward. The box on the shelf she'd been lurking behind falling to the floor. I knew why she was stopping me. She'd scolded me before.
"You know he's going to think you're creepy." She had admonished, not even a day ago. Zorah had even agreed with her. Creepy... I'd been called that a lot. Creepy. Gloomy. Ghost girl. Witch. It stung. It hurt so bad to hear it out of her. But I couldn't argue it this time. It was creepy. I knew that. I couldn't help it this time. So I swallowed it down, I tried not to cry. I really did. Arceus, I was stupid!
All I could do was rush out of the store, embarrassed, ashamed. Tears stinging my eyes as I ducked into the nearest dark corner and hoped he didn't see me like this. I couldn't even face him. Not after last time. Da was right. I really was a lost cause, wasn't I? My sister could have done it. Wouldn't have buggered things up as badly as I did to begin with.
I'd have given just about anything to be her, if I could have.
"So what should I do?" I asked her, bitter angry tears stinging my eyes. "What should I do, if you're so bloody smart?"
For the moment, she just led me back to the hotel. To cry it out, sleep it off, and try again tomorrow. She'd promised to find him, to find where he was staying so we could have our reunion, just... in a better way maybe. I wanted to believe her. I was desperate to. She'd never offered to help like that before, anyway. But there was a whole city, and she was just one pokemon. I knew how lucky I'd been, how clever I was to hang around the beachfront pokemart. How was she going to find him, in the rest of Hau'oli?
Zorah was there waiting for me, and when he saw the state I was in just hugged me, with the one arm he could offer. Let me cry it out while Shizuka left to go prowl around. I hadn't slept well in days. This time he just pushed me toward the bed, and I knew I didn't have much say in the matter. His psychic talents bent to giving me actual sleep.
Maybe things would be better when I woke up. How many times had I wanted to believe that, in my life?
Alcyon - Lapras of Alola
I laughed when he came back. I laughed but I was also confused. He had to go buy a single pokeball. I just had to tease him. Arceus, but the jokes wrote themselves! "It figures I'd choose to follow the one league certified trainer with no balls!" I mocked, as he rolled his eyes and laughed with me.
"Yeah, yeah." He said, with a grin, as he held out the polished blue and white ball, a crashing wave motif. Pretty enough, but the kind of thing I'd figure a clueless tourist to pick up along with a pair of cheap sunglasses and an 'Alola' keychain. Still, he didn't get the cheapest thing he could find, and in a small way he did show he was thinking about me in the process.
"So you really don't go around snagging as many pokemon as you can bed, huh?" I asked, as he registered me to the pokeball, and tucked it in alongside the others hanging from his belt. "That's good to know. You have a lot of friends. I had kind of figured you for a hoarder. Or a whore."
"Hey!" He said, with a stern look that melted away into a playful grin. "I'm a slut. I do it for pleasure, not money!" Arceus! This man. He'd clambered up onto my back, and I could feel the telltale tugging and pulling as he snagged the harness off of me. Glad to be rid of it, if only for the moment, I stretched as far as I could, and craned my head around to look at him as he sat back and clearly debated how to carry the rigging, before just hooking a few of the metal loops to his bags, the rest to dangle, jingling like bells as he hopped down and picked up the weighty pack.
"You might think it's nuts, but I've never caught a pokemon. Not like that, at least. You should ask them all sometime, how they came to join me. I'm a weird trainer. But you already knew that." He had reached up, his hand against my cheek. "I gotta find us all somewhere to stay. You good with the pokeball for a few hours?"
He asked. He asked me my permission. Idiot. Idiot!
"Y-yeah." I stammered. It was embarrassing, and I snapped at him in a playful sort of way trying to recover from it. "No hotel pools, got it? I expect some kind of food after all that swimming, so go find somewhere to be, and don't forget your promise."
The darkness that followed was something I had forgotten about. It wasn't frightening like I expected it to be. I didn't feel so alone this time, at least. Time would get funny, I'd feel asleep, and I'd fall asleep, and if I woke up still in that darkness, I wouldn't really know I had. I'd open my eyes somewhere else, a different time, a different place... but I didn't mind the idea of seeing him and his friends on the other end of it.
It still sucked, but at least I had a clear idea of how things should go.
That was new.
Helena - Trainer's Absol
It was a nice change of pace, Belle and I taking a stroll with master, the two of us. I had been planning on asking him, but he beat me to the punch. I envied Belle, being able to walk hand in hand with him. All I could do was stay close enough he could reach down and touch me now and then. It was something of an eventful afternoon, hunting down the local league battle courts and introducing ourselves to the locals and tourists alike.
I was glad he trusted us to it, relied on us for it. A few matches, enough to win a few bets, see to our room and a good meal, and maybe most importantly a hot shower. Never thought I'd see the day where I wanted one, but after the past few days it was a treat I was looking foward to. Somehow, the feelings I'd been getting, the apprehension, it had all melted away, replaced by a dull ache, something bittersweet, and melancholy. A feeling of sadness, and helplessness. An anger and a bitterness, but it tugged like an old scar. It was something in the past, not something in the future.
I'd thought at first it was Belle facing things down. It would have made sense, except I didn't see her arguing or being angry with master under any circumstance. She wouldn't have been angry with him, or he with her. So it didn't fit. It was something different. The lapras, Alcyon? She'd squared things away, said her piece and was at least cautiously optimistic. I doubted master would have hurt her, or reminded her too much of the things that hurt her before. Whatever her problems were, probably wasn't what was happening.
I found myself fixated on it, worrying over nothing. Even if I knew, master had begged me not to say unless it was urgent, and this wasn't urgent.
Urgent was the growing knot of want in my belly, every time his hand brushed through my fur. Every time his fingers scratched at my neck. The anticipation Belle and I shared, to give her a second chance with him. To give us a second chance together. My best friend, and closest confidant. My rival, in every sense. I wanted for her happiness more than I ever had my own. Believed in it more than anything.
So when he found us a room, a small hotel off the main roads, tucked away behind a convenience store, the first thing I did when he'd shut the door behind us was nip at his hand before he could hit the buttons to let the other girls out.
"We need to talk." I knew I'd worry him, but I needed his whole attention. We both did. Belle relieved him of his bag, and with a wink from behind his back, nudged him to sit down.
Belle - Trainer's Lucario
His aura had immediately spiked to an anxious hue, before calming to a receptive alertness when I sat him down and hugged him. Helena laughed, apologized, one heavy paw coming to rest on his thigh, leaning into his touch. "Nothing bad for once, I promise." She reassured, as his fingertips brushed along the length of her horn.
She looked to me, and all of the things I wish I had words for just felt like an anxious web, trapping all my words like an unfortunate caterpie, waiting to be devoured in the dark. I must have tried a dozen different ways to start a sentence, before she nudged me with her horn, and moved behind me, her head against my lower back. I could feel her. I focused on her. On her breathing, slow and steady. A tickling sensation through my fur, warm and inviting. The way her horn pressed against me. The way she leaned into me, and the way her aura felt. No nervousness. Just a patient, quiet presence. She was there for me. Hadn't she always been?
I knew he was waiting on me. He'd been patient from the start. Even when I was trying so hard to provoke him. I hated him, back then. I didn't know a thing about him, but I assumed the worst. He never blamed me for that, though. Never held it against me. He needed my help, because Claire needed my help. It was that steadfast resolve that had convinced me. Not trying to change my mind or win me over, just focused on the thing he needed to do. Whatever we felt, nothing mattered more than getting her the help she needed.
It was the same, the first night I tried to be with him as a lover. When he held me, even as I wept and wailed. When he loved the me that I was, without asking me to be more than I was able to. When I asked him to show me gentleness, and he did exactly and only that. He wanted to give me the help I needed. I didn't know a thing about him, but I assumed the worst. He never blamed me for that, and never held it against me. The second time, he had been the exact same man. Loved me, was gentle, timid, even. He wanted me, but he saw me for who I was that night. I understood, later. I hadn't been ready. I was rushing.
"I don't want to rush, tonight." I finally said, my hand reaching up to brush his cheek. "I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. I'm not trying to make up for yesterday, or any day that came before." I smiled, and it was bittersweet. "I can't fix the ways I'm scared, and I'm not going to struggle against them. I'm going to be scared if I'm scared. I'm going to hurt if I'm going to hurt. I'm going to be reminded of things I don't want to remember. A broken heart is a broken heart, and mine was shattered." His eyes had begun searching mine, trying to puzzle out the meaning of my words, where I was going with it. In some ways I wasn't sure, myself.
"I'm okay. Because it's you. I trust you, and I know you. I know exactly who you are now. You're the one I would choose. In a thousand lifetimes, it would only ever be you. If Arceus gave us another chance at it all, I'd still hope to find you, no matter what it took." When I pulled him in to kiss me, he did. Gentle, and warm. His tongue met mine, without either of us seeming to initiate it. Did I melt, or did he? My hands had moved to slide up his shirt, and before long I'd pulled it off of him. His bare skin beneath my touch. Sticky from sweat and humidity. The way his muscle tensed so subtly. His aura growing warmer by the moment.
Helena had moved from behind me to beside me, joining in our affections now, her kiss seeking his, then mine, before he drew us both close. Greedy as he was, I didn't mind it. Didn't mind sharing my best friend with him, or he with her. Somehow it just felt safe, and right. It felt right this time. This man, this place, shoddy as it really was, but wasn't that just perfect? The way the frame of the bed creaked with every motion, the hint of dust at the edges and seams? No pretense, no illusion, an imperfect place, an imperfect love, and it was absolutely everything it should have been for my imperfect heart.
We didn't get further than that kiss, not yet. I didn't want to rush it, and we all genuinely needed a wash.
Besides, he made promises I wouldn't ask him to break, not even for the sake of the love I so desperately wanted to share with him. There was time, and I was ready. I was so ready for him.
Wendy
It was good to hear back from him. I could hear the shower running beside him, splashing of water, a little laughter. Weren't Claire or Tempest, but I couldn't place it exactly. Recorded messages left so much to be desired. Including a pan of the camera down, I could'a begged him for that. He congratulated me on my third badge. He laughed, admitted I now outranked him, by league standards. Of course, that meant a little less knowing how readily his girls would have demolished me in a fight.
Still, I'd been doing well, and he was glad to see me smiling. More than that though, he was encouraging me to make the trip. No horrible premonitions from Helena, no feeling of being watched... and he missed me. He missed me, too! It was a shame the message had been so short, but he'd apparently made promises, and still needed to see about dinner. I couldn't be too mad, mostly I just wished I could'a joined in. I'd have made dinner for them. I was getting better at that, too!
Weren't a thing for it, I knew. Just to keep my head down and my nose to the grindstone. We had some work to do. Meant more league battles, and figurin' a way to pay for the ride out to Alola. We were still a world away, but we'd get closer every day now. We had a goal, and that was a mighty fine start!
My dratini was looking more like a dragonair every day now. She'd grown long enough to drape herself over my shoulders and halfway down an arm, and did so often. Good thing I was a country girl at heart, she was getting to be kind of heavy. She was infinitely curious, always looking over my shoulder when I was reading, or watching news. Had a fondness for the nature documentaries, too. I wondered how much of it she understood, what she was getting from it. I'd have to ask, when we were all back together again.
For now though, it did leave me with a name for her. Something that would only grow as she did. Sage. I hoped I understood her well enough to decide it for her, but if she had any objections, she didn't make them known. It would be nice if she could live up to the idea. Arceus knew I didn't have too many good ideas! I wondered how she'd get on with his girls. She seemed really prideful, when she wasn't being lazy. She'd probably want to compete against them. It'd be good practice for the league battles we'd get ourselves into.
Was already a little late in the day, and I was glad to call it quits a bit early for once. A bit between anywhere important, clear skies, still and warm. Probably wouldn't even bother setting up the tent, just catch a nap in the grass with Stacky, and ride out at dawn again.
Felt like things were finally comin' around for us, and frankly it was about damn time!