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Please do not read if you are under 18! The following contains mature content not suited for general audiences. You have been warned.

Jonah and Jess meet over coffee at Alcremie's.

TRIGGER WARNING! Contains: rape (mentioned), transphobia, hate crimes (mentioned), seizure (mentioned), legal system, anxiety, depression, PTSD

Jonah, Val, Jess, etc. are characters made by me, based off of characters in the Pokémon universe owned by GameFreak and Nintendo. I do not claim rights to characters such as Jolteon, Vaporeon, Gallade, etc.

By PseudonymousUmbreon. If you wish to use or reference my work and/or my characters, please contact me first.

*****

Discharged

Coevolution Ch.15

Jonah was starting to develop an unhealthy addiction to Alcremie's. In his defense, the coffee was good, and the coffee shop itself had become something of a safe haven for Jonah since the breakup, but it was a little disheartening just how much he realized he'd been anticipating his first sip of a "Mocha Creme Chill-Ccino" after getting released from the hospital.

But Arceus be damned, it was just that good.

The coffee shop door jingled and Jonah grinned at the sight of Val at the counter. Maybe he could finally get back into the swing of things.

"Hey Jo!" Val greeted him with a smirk. "Y'know I'da taken you in with me if I knew you were gonna come in so early in my shift."

Jonah shrugged. "When you need a Chill-Ccino, you need a Chill-Ccino."

Val rolled his eyes. "Mocha, large?" The card reader had already activated.

"You know it," Jonah said, tapping his card against the reader impatiently. "Stupid things never work."

"Good to know your new meds ain't helping with your lack of patience," Val teased. "You been feeling okay?"

"More or less, yeah." The card finally accepted, and Jonah strolled over the counter as Val started making his drink. "I'm at least not thinking 'bout her constantly."

Val looked up. "I mean, that's a good thing, no?"

Jonah nodded. "Absolutely--hey, how's Jess doing?"

Val tilted his head and blinked. "Ask her yourself." He pointed behind Jonah, where Jess was sitting at a windowside table with a Lucario. "Today's her first day back on campus too. Dunno why she'd spend it here."

The Lucario noticed that Val and Jonah were looking at them and directed Jess's attention to the two Eeveelutions. Jess's eyes widened and she burst from her seat to pull Jonah into a hug.

Jonah was speechless for a moment as he watched the Lucario coolly walk over to join them. "Your drink's ready," he said, pointing over Jonah's shoulder. Val was very passive-aggressively holding his drink out to him--apparently he had been for a few seconds now.

"C'mon dude, this thing's fuckin cold and I got another customer."

Jonah broke away from Jess and grabbed his drink, bidding Val good luck on his shift. The three moved back to the table where Jess and the Lucario had been sitting. Jonah pulled up a chair and sat on it sideways, threw one leg over the other, and sipped his drink.

"Have you met Nate, Jonah?" Jess started, indicating the Lucario. "This is my boyfriend--Nate, Jonah's like, one of my favorite customers."

"Based," Nate said, nodding to Jonah.

Jonah nodded back. "I think I've seen you around a few times, especially here. I just. Never put two and two together, I guess."

"Don't worry about it! Nate's not really big on PDA, so to a lot of people it's... not immediately obvious that we're a thing?"

"Fair 'nuff," Jonah said. "Nice to meet you, Nate."

"Likewise." Nate said, turning to Jess. "So he's your favorite customer, huh?"

Jess huffed. "One of them! C'mon, no one could top you."

"That a challenge?" Jonah reflexively muttered, before doing a double-take. "S-sorry, I didn't--"

"It's all good dude." Nate waved him off with a paw. "Unfortunately for you, I am straight."

Jonah cast a glance at Jess, then caught himself. Of course a straight man could date a trans woman. Trans women are women, he thought, complete with a mental slap on the wrist. Come to college, learn about LGBT people, and suddenly you have 18 years of programming to undo. He internally settled for nodding and waited for Jess to continue the conversation.

"Anyway, Jonah, I heard what happened--you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all fine. Culture Center could be better, and I think I traumatized some people... but I'm fine, all things considered." Jonah swirled his drink in his paw.

Nate arched an eyebrow. "Wait, this is the dude that blew up the CCC?"

"Blew up is a strong word, it was more like the CCC was caught in the crossfire," Jess said. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Jonah shrugged. "Doctors say it was a stress-induced seizure. Apparently for electric-types, the electric... stuff, in your brain, that overloads when you have a seizure, ends up conducting through your whole body. And well. Kaboom." He stared at his drink. "Not much more to it."

"Damn. That's wild. Glad you're okay, man." Nate patted Jonah on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Jonah said, though his heart wasn't really in it. "Nothing like what happened to you, I mean..." He gestured vaguely at Jess.

The Gallade still sported a black eye, though it appeared to be on the mend. A few scars ran across her face, complete with a line of stitches up her left cheek. Most notably, her eyes were ever so slightly unfocused still--she apparently still hadn't recovered from her concussion.

"Honestly Jonah, it was bound to happen eventually. I mean, look at me--" Jess moved her arms to indicate her body. "I'm a walking hate crime target for being queer and part of an all-male species. And I don't regret calling your ex..." She stopped herself. "Sorry, I shouldn't--I don't wanna pick at fresh wounds--literally, I guess," she laughed nervously.

"A rapist?"

The three were silent for a moment.

"Yeah," Jess managed, hoarsely. "I'm sorry, Jonah. You shouldn't have to..."

"Neither should you," Jonah cut in. "I mean, you... you shouldn't... she shouldn't have..."

Jess set her cup down and fixed Jonah with an intense stare. "Jonah. People call me all sorts of horrible things. I've grown numb to it at this point. No, I've never been attacked, not like this, but it's a risk I take for living my life the way I want to. It's not a question about which of us was hurt more--and you don't need to apologize for what she did to me, or what she did to you. Transphobia doesn't have a clear answer any more than rape culture does. What she did to both of us is just another statistic that we use in our fights against them."

Jonah hesitated. "What fights?"

"Fights for change, for acceptance, what have you--we get attacked, we fight back."

Jonah shook his head. "Sylvia isn't someone you can fight. She's too... powerful."

"Tell that to the cops who arrested her."

The Jolteon froze. "They what?"

Nate jumped in. "Cops arrested her after Jess was attacked. We're going to her trial on Friday. It's public."

"Have you not been called as a witness yet?" Jess asked, her face contorting in concern.

"M-my parents get my mail--oh fuck... She--her dad, he--"

"Jonah, we're gonna get justice for you, and me. She's gonna have to go to jail, especially if you get up there and share your story."

"H-her dad is Roger Clements. The d-district attorney," Jonah stammered.

Jess and Nate glanced at each other, then back at Jonah. "Oh fuck," Jess said, somehow looking paler despite her already-white skin.

"He's never gonna let her go to jail, especially not for what she did to you. You remember his campaign slogan?"

"'Bringing Central City back to its roots,'" Nate muttered. "DAs are supposed to be impartial."

"'Supposed to' and 'are' are two different things," Jess said through gritted teeth. "Look Jonah, if you appear at that trial, you should be able to bring the jury to our side still."

"And what will that accomplish? She'll get some slap on the wrist?"

"We'll get justice."

Jonah shook his head. "She'll come back on us even harder. We're only more of a target for her and her wrath by getting her arrested. She'll get out of whatever punishment she gets and probably try to take me all over again." Jonah stood to leave.

"We need to have faith that we'll get the system to side with us," Jess said.

"The system isn't gonna care about a guy who didn't wanna have sex and a man cosplaying as a woman." The regret was instant as Jess's face pulled back in horror and disgust.

Nate shot up and met Jonah's glare. "You take that the fuck back right now."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't--"

Jess stood and gathered her things hurriedly. "I thought better of you, Jonah," she said, more to her jacket than to him. "I'll see you Friday. C'mon Nate." The two left, with Nate holding a glare in Jonah's direction.

Jonah's head was swimming as he tried to make sense of the whole conversation. His drink, now melted, sweated drops of cold water onto his paws, causing them to crackle slightly with a current he just realized had started running through him.

Not wanting to blow up Alcremie's, Jonah numbly threw his drink in the trash and left the café, trying to take a deep breath in the same rhythm the doctor had taught him.

Inhale. Two. Three. Four.

Hold. Two. Three. Four.

Exhale. Two. Three. Four.

Val almost ran into him as he came around the corner of the store.

"Hey Val."

"Alright, qué pasó? You look like you've seen a ghost," Val said, pulling Jonah into one of the outdoor tables. "You're lucky I'm on break."

"Sylvia's trial is on Friday."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it is. Did you get called?"

"My parents get my mail."

"Oh fuck."

"I was a transphobic asshole to Jess."

"Oh double fuck."

"Sylvia's dad is the DA."

"Fucking three for three on the oh fucks."

Jonah looked up and met Val's gaze. "I called her a man cosplaying as a woman. I even--I even questioned Nate for being straight, not out loud, I--"

Val put a finger to his lips. "Jonah. No me importa. You'll get your chance to apologize later. You need to go back to the dorm and lie down. You don't need this extra stress right now."

"But, you're trans. Flynn is trans. I--I hurt all three of you, I--"

"You grew up an asshole. It happens. Did you mean it?"

"I--no? At least, I don't now."

"Do you feel like shit because of it?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Val grinned. "I'll talk to her, and you can apologize to her later. Jess is a reasonable person, she'll understand. And if she doesn't, well. You won't stop having me, or Flynn."

Jonah looked away. "It just feels like--one little mistake and everything's fucked."

"And how many mistakes did Sylvia make until everything got fucked?"

Jonah kept silent.

"It takes a lot to turn people against you, Jonah. Sylvia, she did a lot. Stuff like this, especially with where you come from, it happens. Hell, I misgender myself sometimes."

The Jolteon looked back at Val, who was now sporting a look of compassion. "Really?"

"Constantly." He stood. "My break's about over, and I gotta get back to work. You go home and rest, okay? Cuddle my partner or something," he added with a wink.

Jonah sighed. "Thanks Val."

"Anytime, Jo."

Jonah watched as Val walked back into the café and closed the door behind him. Jonah stood.

His phone rang, the caller ID displaying the name "Katherine Newelle." His mother.

He tapped accept and put the phone to his ear.

"Jonah Newelle, you better explain to me right the fuck now why I just received a court summons with your name on it," his mom demanded.

Jonah rolled his eyes, pulled the phone away, and hung up. He had better things to do.