fanfiction Aura Sphere [CW: Adventure, Romance / Feedback by PM]

[Candy]

Chapter 22

 

After parting with Annabelle, Brenda continued her sightseeing. She went into a few more shops along Mode Street, but always came out empty-handed, since they were all just as expensive as the one she had been to with Annabelle.

“Castelia City has lots of neat shops, but they really aren't meant for the average pokemon trainer,” Brenda complained to Ren.

Afterwards she took the subway again to reach the side of the city with the famous piers.

Two of the three cruise docs had enormous luxury ships stationed, with a lot of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen boarding them. Together with Ren, she walked the distance along the piers, starting from the third cruise dock towards the direction of the Pokémon center. They stopped for two hours to have lunch at a restaurant shaped like a ship on one of the piers, which although wasn't as popular as the Prime Pier, still had a long queue of people waiting to sit and have lunch. The fish fillet sandwich she ordered was great, but Brenda soon realized that clothes were not the only things that were overpriced.

By the time they reached the last pier, Thumb Pier, the sun was already starting to settle.

“What else shall we visit before returning to the PC?” Brenda wondered aloud, just as she was passing an arcade with many flashing lights.

“An arcade? I wonder what prizes they have.”

She pulled Ren by the arm and entered the building.

The place was not crowded, because the time was just shying the laborers’ discharge hours.

“Welcome to Moltres Arcade. How may I help you?” The young man behind a counter asked as Brenda approached.

“I was wondering what prizes you currently have,” Brenda said.

The young man quickly grabbed a laminated sheet.

“Here you can see all the prizes we are offering. You can exchange your coins for as little as a super ball, and the top prize is a master ball. On the back side,” the young man continued explaining as he flipped the sheet for her. “You will find the prize pokemon you can win. Our current top pokemon prize is a Vulpix with egg moves.”

“A Vulpix, you say?”

The young man was startled at Brenda's sudden exclamation.

“Yes, a Vulpix. Would you like to buy coins?”

“Absolutely! How much are they?”

“10 pokecoins for 1 arcade coin.”

“How many coins for the Vulpix?”

“That would be 9999 coins.”

“Give me 50 coins, please,” she shouted as she banged the counter top with her fist holding exactly 500 pokecoins. The young man was startled, but took the money and exchanged it for coins with shaky hands.

Since Brenda was new to the world of arcade gaming, she required assistance on how to play the games.

“You can choose from a variety of games,” the lady who was in charge of first-time customers explained. “There are games you can increase your chances of winning by mathematical reasoning, or games you will have to get the hang of by experience. We also have games you can work your way through little by little, or some that require a great risk but has better returns. Which game would you like to play?”

“I'm not that good at math, so I'll go for the ones you need experience. Do you recommend me to go for the risky ones?” Brenda asked, but immediately followed by answering her own question. “Don't be impatient, Brenda. Good things happen to those who wait.”

“Then shall I show you the way to the games you want to play?”

Brenda nodded twice and followed the girl to the section, where one other person was pulling the handle and testing his luck. She sat down in front of the machine which had three rows and three columns of icons.

“Oh, I've seen these in TV shows. You pull the handle when you think you'll get a horizontal bingo, right?”

“In essence, yes. Place up to 3 coins, then you can win if you get one of the three rows or either diagonal. If you place 1 or 2 coins, you can only test your luck with 1 or 2 rows.”

“That means I can maximize my chances if I bet 3 coins, right?”

The helper nodded.

“Let's go then, 3 coins it is!”

Brenda slipped 3 coins into the machine’s slit, and pulled the handle. The icons started moving gradually faster, until they could no longer be discerned from the columns of mixed colors.

“Argh how am I supposed to beat my opponent if I can't even see it?” She pouted and pulled the handle arbitrarily. “Lord Arceus, grant me your power!”

The power, however, came either too late or not at all. When the icons stopped moving, Brenda was welcomed by a bright and flashing “You Lose” on the display.

Ren looked at her with a skeptical look, so she forcefully laughed a little to relieve the tension.

“Well one must start somewhere,” she explained. “Like the lady said, I'll get better through experience.”

Though the girl had already left them to help newcomers who just arrived, had she been there she would have clarified she never said such thing. For, as most things in the world, there are people who can improve in the art, and those who just lack the natural means to do it.

Brenda slipped three more coins into the machine.

“This time, Ren. This time will be the jackpot!”

“Ah, almost there. Look at that!”

“Is that all you got, machine?”

“Don't make it so hard! I'm just a newbie.”

“Why?! No problem, calm down, next will be the best.”

“Hey you, pretty boy. Take my money and give me the coins.”

As one would expect, by the 50th loss, Brenda’s coin case was empty as were her wallet.

“That's weird. I could've sworn I had spare cash.”

Thus, she left the flashy arcade with not a pokecoin to her name and without her prize.

When the arcade doors slid shut behind them, both her and Ren’s stomaches roared. Ren looked up at her with a displeased look.

“You know, diets are part of rigorous training. It's all about the motivation,” Brenda said, laughing but with her eyebrows knitted.

However, when she realized she had also used up the money required to make their return trip through the subway, she had to save her laughing energy for walking.

 

The next day, Brenda had never been more anxious to meet her friends, not only because they were going to spend a day together after a week apart, but also because she urgently needed someone to borrow money from and eat. No one will understand how tasteful Ren and Leaf’s pokemon food, which was the last bit of the can Cheren had given her, looked to Brenda that morning.

They left the Pokemon Center at 11:30, so to make it to the National Park with ample time so as to coordinate her exuberant entrance. Of course, she wore the dress Annabelle gave her, and for once in God knows how many years, she left her cap on top of the drawer and left her hair down. Had she put on makeup, she might have looked like the pretty young ladies in the movies, but she had neither the skills or the money to own such thing. Even then, her appearance was a striking change from her usual self, so much so that she almost laughed out loud while looking at herself in the mirror.

“I wonder if Cheren and Bianca will recognize me like this,” she grinned and the thought allowed her to forget about her rumbling stomach for a little while.

Taking in the fresh morning air, which was even warmer than the day before, Ren and she started walking.

I'm fifteen years old! She wanted to tell every stranger she crossed paths with. She almost started skipping and dancing, but Ren, who somehow seemed more conscious of the social norms of humans than his trainer, kindly stopped her.

As she approached the fountain her friends would be meeting her at, however, she drastically slowed down her speed. She quickly found some bushes and pulled Ren and herself to crouch behind it.

From a quick glance, she noted her friends weren't there yet.

“Well, it’s 11:55. Both of them are usually pretty on-time,” she chuckled. “I was always the late one in our group.”

Hence she decided to wait where she was. It became 12:00 pm, then 5 minutes passed and 10 minutes.

“What are those guys doing? Don't they realize I'm in a hurry to go eat?”

When it turned 12:15, she stood up abruptly from the bushes and stomped her way to the fountain. She was about to scold the two of them the moment they arrived.

However, that was when she had ignored the joke was on her. Once she reached the fountain, she was startled by the water shooting up in the shape of a massive wall.

“What in the-”

“Surprise Brenda!”

The water wall opened like a curtain, and Cheren and Bianca, in bodysuits, waved from the other side. They smiled at Brenda, who had forgotten to close her mouth.

“That wasn't the plan at all,” Brenda scowled. “I was going to jump at you and surprise you.”

“We guessed as much,” Cheren said. “But sometimes it's great to get at you for startling us all the time.”

They walked out of the fountain and unzipped their wet bodysuits. Just as they did, the water fell down behind them and remained serene.

“However, you did surprise us,” Bianca added, to improve her friend’s mood. “We almost got the timing wrong because we weren't expecting you to look like you're looking today.”

She was referring to Brenda's outfit, which had gotten a minor splash from the waterfall.

“It's a long story, but I figured storing a f-f-500,000 pokecoin dress in the depths of my backpack, never to be worn, would be too much of a shame.”

“A 500,000 pokecoin dress?! You have got to tell us all about it, but first,” Bianca said and whistled for her Moon and Chris to appear. “They were behind the artistic water wall.”

Chris, her Dewott, handed Bianca her orange bag, from which she pulled out a small package.

“It's not a lot, but I'd like you to have this.”

Brenda hugged her friend and thanked her. The package contained a pretty shirt, similar in design to the one she had to throw away.

“This is perfect! In fact, it was something like this I was hoping to buy, when instead I received this expensive dress.”

Bianca was pleased with her friend’s reaction.

“I wished I could jump the bandwagon and offer you my gift too,” Cheren stepped up. “Unfortunately I haven't been able to get it yet. I hope you'll forgive me.”

“Forgive you? Never. Goodness Cheren, how dare you?” Brenda made a serious face, but her mouth trembling as though about to burst out laughing gave her act away. “I wasn't even expecting gifts from you guys anyway.”

Once both Cheren and Bianca finished taking off their bodysuits and neatly placing them inside their bags, Bianca asked where Brenda wanted to go.

“I walked around this park a little, and already went to Mode Street, which by the way is where I was bought the dress,” she laughed but just then her stomach growled and she was brought back to the harsh reality. “Uh but I would prefer it if we could get lunch before that… And if some Good Samaritan who will be blessed for years to come wants to volunteer a small contribution to the most needy of our society, I would be much obliged.”

Brenda stuck both hands out as though she were begging for money, which allowed her friends to realize what needy person she was referring to.

“I'll pay for your meal,” Cheren offered. “Only because I owe you the delayed gift.”

“Oh Master Cheren, your charity shall never be forgotten.”

Bianca let out a small burst of laughter, though Ren just looked at his trainer and sighed.

 

On their way to a simple restaurant Bianca suggested, Brenda told them about the generous stranger, Annabelle Gladys, who had taken her shopping the day before.

“... and so I had no other choice but to accept her gift,” she was talking, when a familiar face appeared two doors from where they stood.

“I recall seeing that girl somewhere,” Bianca pondered.

“Isn't that Annie, who left Nuvema town in sixth grade?” Cheren pointed out.

The girl, who indeed happened to be Annie, stopped at the doorsteps of a building and looked at them for a few seconds. Yet when she met eyes with Brenda, she scowled and disappeared from their sight.

“Maybe she didn't recognize us?” Bianca wondered, but started walking again.

“Perhaps, perhaps,” Brenda concurred with a hint of embarrassment, since she knew Annie’s hostility was directed none other than at herself.

As they passed the building Annie had gone into, Brenda took a peek at the sign, which read ‘Castelia School of Fashion Design’.

Huh, she wondered as the school poked at an insignificant memory. Didn't Annabelle say her granddaughter went to this school?

“What are you thinking of, Brenda?” Bianca asked, since it was rare that her friend remained silent.

“Oh it's nothing.”

I wouldn't believe Annie had such an amiable grandmother, but it is a possibility, she thought to herself.

Finally, the four of them reached the restaurant, and Ren was as excited as Brenda was to smell food, even though he had eaten breakfast earlier.

 

Afterward, they took the subway to visit the tallest building in Unova, Cosmos Tower. This tower was famous for having the Game Freak headquarters on its 22nd floor and offices of other major companies, though people rarely visited it for this reason. The building’s top most floor had an observatory, which was built inspired by the shape of a galaxy and offered a 360 degree view 550 meters from ground level. People who passed by Castelia City usually stopped by the building at night to see the city’s majestic spectacle of lights, the cosmopolitan cosmos.

The group of friends chose to visit this iconic building midday, partially because they knew there would be a smaller crowd, but also because the price to go to the top floor was more expensive at night.

“Look, isn't that Skyarrow bridge?”

Brenda pointed at the white thin line on the forest’s deep green background. She sighed at the beautiful view.

“The night I came to the city, I was there looking at the tall buildings. Now I'm here looking at where I was.”

“We can't see as far because of Pinwheel forest, but Nacrene, Striaton and Nuvema must all be in that direction too,” Cheren commented.

“It feels a long time ago that we left home, and yet it has been barely a little over a week,” Bianca added.

Brenda then sprinted to the other side of the observatory, Ren and the others following behind her.

“Exactly,” exclaimed Brenda, scaring the few other spectators around them. “It's been only a week. Our journey has only begun.”

She raised Ren onto her shoulder, and pointed her finger to the city past a long road, which had construction workers, like a colony of Durants, walking in every direction. The city’s ambient was a stark contrast to the natural colors of the barren earth of the road - even from where they stood, they could make out the humongous roller coaster and its colorful flashy lights.

“See, that's Castelia’s sister city, Nimbasa. It's where we're heading once we beat Burgh.”

“You're already thinking of Nimbasa, when you haven't even seen half of Castelia? Why am I not surprised.”

Cheren smiled, and Brenda scratched her head saying he might have a point.

“Even then, my philosophy is to always look forward - however far that may be.”

 

They stayed a little longer, walking around the observatory a couple of times, before going back down on the speedy elevator that had brought them up.

“You know where we should go?” Brenda started. “The museum of fine arts. It's right on this street, too.”

Her friend accepted the birthday girl’s suggestion. The street they had to walk on, though, was Castelia street, which was heavily trafficked regardless of the hour of day. They bumped into a couple of office workers, before finally making it to the museum.

“Honestly I'm not that familiar with art,” Brenda admitted as she received the ticket Cheren paid for her. “I just wanted to check out Burgh’s paintings. I hear he's as skillful with the brush as he is with pokemon battles.”

With a quick look at the other paintings, majority of which depicted breathtaking sceneries and the artists’ portraits with and without pokemon, Brenda and her friends walked quickly to the gallery where Burgh’s paintings were exhibited.

They certainly didn't expect to find the artist in person, talking to a small crowd of well-dressed people about his paintings.

“Oh, I see some familiar faces,” Burgh commented when he saw them. The other people also turned to see the three youngsters with a Riolu.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to Brenda, the girl who single-handedly took down the thieves who robbed Nacrene museum some days ago.”

“The incident involved of a young trainer, but I didn’t expect her to be this young,” some of the visitors commented. “Thank you for your bravery, little girl.”

Others also murmured among themselves as to how quiet the media had been once the dragon skull had been returned. “They didn’t even interview her. I suspect some sketchy business behind all this.”

Burgh excused himself, allowing the crowd by themselves to marvel at his paintings for a little while.

“What a pleasant surprise, Brenda. What brings you to my gallery?”

“I just arrived at Castelia City two days ago, and of course I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see your art,” Brenda grinned.

“I didn’t expect you to know Burgh. Much less did I know you were quite the celebrity,” Bianca said with a puzzled face. “What is this Nacrene museum incident about?”

“I’m not surprised you are unfamiliar with it,” Burgh followed. “The media only covered it when Lenora reported the theft after the issue had been solved. They didn’t touch on a word about who had been the criminals, or who had stopped them.”

“It wasn’t really a big deal anyway,” Brenda scratched her head.

“What the world is coming to. Team Plasma is slowly taking over everything, even our media,” Burgh shook his head sideways, but then brightened his serious expression. “But enough of the gloomy talk. Can I assume you’ll be challenging my gym soon?”

“You can bet on it,” Brenda raised her fist and posed for the absent cameras.

“I’m glad,” he replied. “Have your friends warned you that my team is very strong? I would advise you to come well-prepared.”

Burgh said this, and joined the crowd he was leading again.

“So you’ve been reckless again, haven’t you,” Cheren sighed once Burgh was far enough. “To go after thugs and single-handedly defeat them.”

“All that ends well is all well, right?” Brenda laughed his concerns off. “Besides those thieves were weak. They had no chance against my team.”

She then walked over to take a closer look at Burgh’s paintings.

“Now, let’s do what we came here to do. The tickets weren’t cheap, you know.”

“Tell that to my wallet,” Cheren said, but joined her with Bianca to admire the art.

Unlike the other artists, Burgh had chosen to paint orderly natural phenomena. For instance, there was a painting of a colorful spider web with translucent water drops. Another one looked to be inspired by honeycombs’ hexagonal shapes, and still another which expressed the different patterns of Vivillon, a butterfly pokemon native to the distant region of Kalos.

“From what he paints,” Brenda giggled. “I can tell Burgh loves bug pokemon. No wonder he is a bug-type gym leader.”

“It’s incredible how detailed his strokes are,” Cheren marveled.

Brenda nodded, inspecting the paintings by moving close to them and then walking backwards to take on the view from afar. After repeating this for about four paintings, she quickly turned at her friends with a smile.

“Alright, I’m done. Where shall we go next?”

“Already? But we’ve only been here for half an hour,” Cheren said, looking at his watch.

“Yes, but I already told you I’m not much of an art connoisseur. They are pretty to look at, but I think I’ve looked at them enough.”

“I assumed you wanted to check them out to see if you could grasp his battling style. Have you gotten a chance to do it?”

Brenda batted her eyes at him.

“Battling style? I wouldn’t think paintings could inform me of that,” Brenda laughed. “Let’s go, I think I want to visit the zoo now.”

She then led her way, with her usual cheerful outlook.

“I should’ve guessed,” Cheren murmured but smirked.

“It’s just like Brenda,” Bianca agreed. “But she’ll probably surprise us all with a third badge soon.”

 

Thus, they exited the museum of fine arts, and headed to the zoo, where many rare pokemon from other regions and even shinies were exhibited. Not only that, but they had a chance to hear about what had been discovered about pokemon evolution so far, especially about the findings of a certain Professor Sycamore from the Kalos region regarding Mega Evolution. The whole trip was most interesting to Cheren, however, and he usually lagged behind when he listened to and read every little detail about pokemon research.

 

“Look at the time,” Bianca noted when they were exiting the zoo. “Ah, I forgot to tell you two. I bought tickets to see The Pyroar King at 6:30.”

She took out two tickets, and pushed them onto Brenda and Cheren’s hands.

“I have some business to attend to meanwhile, so please enjoy and meet me at the Pokemon Center, Castelia-street branch afterwards.”

Without any more explanations or time for her friends to say anything, Bianca ran away and soon disappeared at a corner.

“The Pyroar King? Isn’t that a movie?” Brenda asked, her gaze fixed on her white ticket.

“They made a theatrical adaptation recently,” Cheren explained.

The two were silent for a moment, before Cheren spoke up again just for the sake of keeping the conversation going.

“I- I guess we should head to the subway station,” he said without looking at Brenda. “If I don’t recall wrong, there’s one just around the corner, the one Bianca disappeared to.”

“Alright, let’s have a blast! I love the songs from that movie; I hope they have included them in this adaptation.”

Brenda placed her ticket carefully in her backpack’s front pocket, and grabbed Ren’s hand as she crossed the road.

“Hurry Cheren, let’s go,” she waved from the other side of the road.

“That Bianca …” Cheren murmured and sighed, but soon caught up to Brenda.

[Candy]

Sorry y'all who thought I'd gotten tired of writing this story... because IT AIN'T OVER YET!!!!! succs fer yew~ >:)

 

Chapter 23

 

As Brenda, Cheren and Ren walked towards the subway station, the street lights lining their path started litting up. The early sunset and slight chill in the air reminisced of the spring, but the trees had already recovered their full leafage, indicating the arrival of summer.

The three walked in silence for a while. Brenda, because she was observing the piers, leading Ren by holding his hand tightly. Cheren, on the other hand, had his mind desperately at work to find a topic to speak about. The silence for him was stifling, something his companions were completely unaware of.

“Ah, there’s the station,” was what he could say, when they finally reached it.

However, upon entering the station, Cheren quickly realized that his problem was far from over.

“Wah, I’d never seen a station so crowded,” Brenda marveled. “So this is what ‘rush hour’ looks like, eh Cheren?”

“Ah, y-yeah. I forgot that people leave work at five.”

It was more accurate to state that his mind was too preoccupied with acting naturally to think of anything else, than that he had forgotten about rush hour, but he opted not to go into detail.

Cheren bought a ticket for Brenda and him, and they walked over to the platform.

They half-expected to find Bianca still waiting for a train, for they assumed she had left them to come to the station, but she was nowhere to be found. When they found a waiting chair available, Brenda asked Cheren if he’d like to take a seat, realizing he probably had exerted himself more than his usual amount, but Cheren shook his head sideways. In the end, Brenda pointed at the seat and allowed Ren to sit down.

While waiting for the train, Brenda looked at Ren and asked him whether he was excited to watch a play tonight.

“You must behave well, since I’ll let you sit on my lap,” she grinned. “And try to ignore me when I start singing along with my raspy voice.You're more than welcome to sing along with me, though!”

Cheren, knowing that he could perhaps earn points on his favor, considered denying that Brenda’s voice was raspy; however, he felt the act would just sound too forced. After all, he had spent almost every day of his life close to Brenda, and he knew for a fact that what she did not lack in confidence and loudness, she did in tuning and rhythm.

Hence, instead of that, he decided to gain her favor by the other way he knew was super-effective against her. Pointing at a small stand to the side, he grabbed the pair’s attention.

“Would you like to buy some snacks before getting on the train?” Cheren asked and added, “I don’t think we are allowed food inside the theatre.”

However, Brenda and Ren had already reached the stand before he finished speaking.

“Mmm, they have Mixed-berry-flavored jam-filled cereal bars. You know, the ones my mother packed for lunch on Fridays? I was disappointed when I didn’t see them anywhere out of Nuvema Town.”

Cheren took enough pokecoins to buy her five of those bars, and some other snacks for Ren.

“My, Cheren. You must tell me how you have so much money! I bet you're as rich as N now, though we were similarly poor in Nuvema Town,” Brenda gasped.

“Simple, I’ve been training at the Battle Company,” Cheren told her. “It's on Mode Street. Actually, you might have passed it yesterday when you went shopping with that lady.”

“Oh, I must have missed it. Bummer,” Brenda pouted.

“As the name suggests, it’s a company that develops items for use in battle, but they also have some floors of the building dedicated to allow trainers to come together and battle. Most employees are actually skilful trainers and come to battle during their lunch break.”

“That is so great! I was wondering where would be an ideal place to train, but that seems like a perfect place,” Brenda raised a fist into the air, just as the train was heard approaching. “You must take me there tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? You don’t ever get tired do you, even after a day full of walking,” Cheren laughed. “But it’s fine with me. Let’s go tomorrow.”

At that moment, the train arrived, together with a strong wind, which almost blew Brenda’s skirt to dangerous levels.

“Gyah,” she screamed but Cheren had already turned his face away to prevent any mishaps.

“This is why I don’t wear dresses. You didn’t see my underwear, did you Cheren?”

“No, rest assured,” he replied, still looking to the side, hoping Brenda couldn’t see his face turning pink from her angle.

“Not that I’d really care. People wear more revealing swimsuits and that’s all a-okay,” she shrugged. “Cheren, you don’t have to look away anymore, geez. Come, or we won’t get any seats!”

 

They somehow managed to find seats for two, despite being pushed right and left by the tide of people.

“Ren, come here,” Brenda patted her thighs.

Ren caught a little glimpse at some woman holding a toddler on top of her thighs, and stopped mid-action. He crossed his arms and refused to sit.

“What’s gotten into you now,” Brenda pointed her lips. “Don’t you want to rest your legs?”

Ren shook his head sideways, and only grabbed onto the hem of her skirt to retain balance.

“Alright, but you will sit on my legs in the theatre, you hear me,” Brenda pushed Ren’s forehead gently with her index finger.

The train started moving, and everybody swayed in the same direction.

Being able to sit down was good and all, Cheren thought, as they departed the station. But this might be too much for my nerves.

Precisely then, the train started on a curve, and Brenda’s arm pushed against his, which almost made him shiver.

Calm down Cheren, he told himself. You’re over-reacting, or rather acting like an idiot.

He sighed, and casually glanced diagonally down to where Brenda’s head was. He choked on air, when he unexpectedly met Brenda’s gaze.

“What is it,” Cheren asked, as nonchalantly as possible.

“I’m going to open a jam-filled bar now. Want some?”

“But I bought them for you.”

“Sharing is caring, my friend. You can thank me later,” Brenda made a peace sign.

Cheren looked up to the ceiling, rolling his eyes without actually rolling them, but accepted the cereal bar when it was offered to him. When he looked back down, he found Ren’s piercing gaze on him, though he couldn't tell what the sudden hostility was due to. As though Cheren had imagined it, Ren chomped on a berry, taking his eyes off the young man.

 

Brenda sprang up from her seat once they reached the theatre district station. She was so excited about going to watch the Pyroar King, that she completely forgot Bianca’s present on the train seat. Fortunately Cheren noticed, and took it with him as he followed Brenda and Ren’s lead.

“Is it here?” Brenda pointed at a theatre with a lot of lightbulbs lining up the plays shown today.

“No, I think it’s a little further down.”

“Here?” She jumped to the next theatre, but Cheren shook his head.

“Here? Here? Here?” She continued, until they actually made it to the correct theatre. It was small and not as lavishly decorated, but a theater was still a theater, so Brenda was not let down in the least.

They showed their tickets to the lady at the entrance, and walked into the theater.

They sat down on squeaky seats, placing their bags on the floor near their feet. Brenda picked Ren up, and sat him on her thighs; however, the little Pokémon wiggled through her arms and sat on the arm rest in between Brenda and Cheren instead.

“Ren I don't think that's nearly as comfortable as my thighs, you know,” Brenda touched Ren’s wrist, but he slapped her hand away.

“You always make the most mysterious choices,” Brenda scratched her head.

The act was not a mystery to Cheren, in fact. It was not visible from Brenda's side, but Ren was looking at Cheren through the corner of his eye, in the most disapproving manner Cheren had ever been looked at. Despite this, he laughed as naturally as he could.

The show was just about to start.

 

Brenda was not joking when she said she was going to sing along. She sang every single song. Sometimes with wrong lyrics, but she seemed to care nothing about it.

On top of that, she laughed a lot when there were funny scenes and shed real tears in the sad scene when Pyroar Sr fell into a stampede of Tauros and passed away. What was most amusing to Cheren was that he knew Brenda had already watched the movie about 5 times in their childhood, and she could still react as though she were watching the story for the first time in her life.

When the curtains closed and opened again, revealing the actors in two orderly lines, Brenda did a standing ovation by herself, before pulling Cheren’s arm to join her.

“That was great,” she exclaimed when they exited the theatre together with the crowd of audience.

It was now nighttime, but the large amount of theater lights did not make it feel dark. Even then, Cheren imagined that it would be dangerous to walk like they were set to do, if they were in a more dangerous region.

On their way back to the train station, Brenda placed an arm over Cheren’s shoulders, and started singing The Pyroar King songs at full volume.

“Brenda, people are watching,” Cheren whispered on her ear. “They'll think we're underage and drunk.”

“I'm drunk with ecstasy. Singing aloud isn't against the law, as far as I know!”

When Brenda felt Ren pulling at her dress, she paused her song and rose Ren to her other shoulder and resumed her singing.

As Cheren had warned, not everyone looked at them with friendly faces. However, surprisingly, some others joined Brenda in her singing. To those people, Brenda raised an arm to greet them, and in return the strangers raised their cans of beer.

Cheren didn't know whether he was living the dream or a nightmare.

 

The train ride back to Castelia street was less crowded than it had been earlier, and Cheren felt relieved that Brenda stopped singing midway the love song when they boarded the train. They had no trouble finding the Pokémon Center on Castelia street either.

Upon their entrance, an unfamiliar Nurse Joy greeted them with a warm smile.

“You must be Brenda, Cheren and little Ren. I've been instructed to guide you to one of our ballrooms upon your arrival. Please follow the Audino wearing the green ribbon.”

A ballroom? Both, or perhaps all three of them, thought at the same time.

The Audino waved at them, and the trio quickly joined her to guide them for an exciting nighttime entertainment… and most importantly, much needed food.

[Candy]

Revived (AGAIN) after an ultra-long hiatus of literally over a year. guess I'll be juggling between this and From Everland to Reborn. Hecc where will I fit time for everything lol

 

Chapter 24

 

Brenda looked around as she followed the Audino. This Pokémon Center was different to the others in that there were three Nurse Joys and many more Audinos, all wearing ribbons of different colors. The lobby was also about five times the size of the usual PC, and in addition to the common guest rooms, it had silver and gold rooms for wealthier guests.

“Do you think this is Bianca's doing?” Brenda wondered aloud.

“I'm guessing, since she was the one who invited us here,” Cheren answered. “But I have no idea where she could’ve gotten money to reserve a ballroom here, out of all places.”

Brenda looked at Cheren with wide eyes, but was silent for once.

 

The Audino opened the doors to a cozy, small room, which had enough space for two large round tables. In fact, the term ‘ballroom’ was a misnomer since, as far as Brenda could observe, there was no space for an actual dance. However, the ornate walls and the carpet with its red, blue and golden designs made the place look elegant despite its size.

Upon entering, Bianca and five others shouted happy birthday. Three of the five were prior classmates of Brenda’s, while the other two were Burgh and Lenora. Brenda was beyond surprised to see the two gym leaders here.

“Welcome to your birthday party, Brenda,” Bianca smiled with her whole face. “I tried to invite as many of our past classmates as I could, but many of them were out of town. I invited gym leader Burgh today after confirming you were acquainted.”

She turned to Burgh and apologized about the last minute notice, but he waved his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have plans, and I’m always happy to spend time in good company.”

“What about you, Lenora?” Brenda blurted out.

“I was on my way to find you, but it just so happened that you were going to be here. Bianca was kind enough to accomodate my last minute intrusion.”

“Today’s the day of last minute changes, huh?” Burgh commented, and all in the room laughed.

As all of them sat down for dinner, Brenda’s Xtranceiver rang. With a little display of confusion, Brenda managed not to drop the call and answered it.

“Ah, Professor Juniper! How are you,” Brenda greeted, and Bianca and Cheren, who were sitting on both sides of her, peeked over at the screen.

“Happy birthday Brenda. I hope the journey has been treating you well.”

“Yes, absolutely. Out of all days, today has been the. best. day. ever!”

“How are you getting along with your Riolu? I hope he hasn’t given you much trouble,” Professor Juniper said with a little concern in her voice.

Brenda made Ren sit on her lap and hugged him to show how close they’d gotten since they first met. Ren pushed her face away with his paw and complained with unintelligible language, but at the very least allowed his trainer to keep holding him.

“See, we’re a team now. Super-bRENda-team,” Brenda smiled but her cheeks were almost sore from smiling and laughing all day long.

“I’m glad to hear it. Take care, all of you,” Professor Juniper said, and she went off the screen to exchange places with another woman.

“Happy birthday dear,” Brenda’s mother waved her hand. “I hope you haven’t broken anyone’s jaw yet. Remember, we can’t go around paying everyone’s hospital bills.”

“Mom! Wow you didn’t forget my birthday this year either. Isn’t that like, fifteen years in a row?” Brenda teased in response to her mother’s teasing, and everyone in the room laughed at their banter.

“This was the first year I actually had to remind myself. In the past, I’d always had a certain someone singing a birthday song to herself from her bedroom right at midnight.”

Cheren and Bianca grinned to each other, because this was not an exaggeration in any sense. On some years she even left her window open, so her neighbors were subjected to a few minutes of melodic noise.

“It might surprise you, but I was so tired from the trip last night, I forgot to follow my own tradition,” Brenda said.

“So you can get tired sometimes,” Cheren commented, and incited more laughter from the crowd.

“Anyway, I hope you enjoy your birthday party,” her mother said. “It was actually your father’s-”

“My father!?” Brenda shouted, cutting her mother off, and jumped from her seat. Her face was beaming in excitement. “It can’t be? How is he? Has he come home? Is he the Unova champion now?”

Her mind had already taken off to the imaginary land where she would meet her father again, ask him all her questions and talk all day long about his adventures, the trajectory till he became champion. More than anything, she wanted to give him a super large hug. She had greatly missed him for six whole years.

“Calm down, Brenda. I can tell you’re in lala land already,” her mother chuckled. “Your father hasn’t come home, and I don’t know much about where he is or what he’s been up to. He sent me the money and an anonymous message saying that there was reason to host a party for your birthday this year, but he didn’t touch on what the reason was.”

“An anonymous message? What gave him away?”

“He sent his handwritten letter via a swablu. I could recognize his oddly right-leaning writing anytime, and his choice of delivery pokemon is also very much like him.”

“We must send him a message back,” Brenda suggested. “I must tell him I want to see him. I hope he has a little time off between his Champion duties to come visit.”

“You're jumping to conclusions again. Also, his letter unfortunately didn’t have the return address written, so we still don’t know where he is. At least I’m happy to hear from him, and I hope you are too.”

Brenda clapped her hands.

“Happy? I’m incredibly happy. So happy, I couldn’t describe my current state as happy,” she said.

Her mother smiled at her. Her beloved child's overwhelming reaction brought to the woman much satisfaction. She then allowed Professor Juniper to come back to their field of view, and the call was dropped after Brenda thanked them for calling and they exchanged farewells.

“I’m glad that you heard from your father, Brenda,” Bianca said. “It’s been what, six years? I wonder what kind of incredible adventures he could have been in, that he was prevented from communicating until now?”

Bianca’s expression was dreamy, clearly influenced by Brenda’s enthusiasm.

“I wouldn’t know, but bet on it that when I meet him again, I won’t let him rest until I’ve heard all of his stories.”

 

Pokemon that worked in this particular Pokemon Center entered the ballroom and made the party even more enjoyable. A strings trio of kriketune provided lovely background music, and ambipom waiters set up a buffet-style supper- a wise choice considering Brenda and Ren’s unearthly appetite. In practice, both repeated about three times, as though they thought they could stock up food on their stomachs for future days of hunger. At the end, both were left with visible inflamed bumps on their bellies.

“I guess now is a good time for opening presents,” Bianca said.

She then tapped on Brenda’s shoulder, since the girl had fallen into food-induced coma. The mention of presents, though, made her sit back up right with her eyes wide open and her mind sharp as a knife. That was only moments before worry overcame her, realizing that she wasn’t holding Bianca’s present bag. Cheren deduced her thoughts after he saw her tap her pockets, look under the table, and then struggle as she tried to stand up with wobbly legs to excuse herself.

“Brenda, you don’t happen to be looking for this, do you?” he asked, raising the bag he had rescued from being left on the train seat.

His friend’s face relaxed instantaneously.

“Ahaha, of course I knew you’d be holding it,” she said, as she sat back down on her seat. “I already opened yours, Bianca, but I’ll just take it out so everyone can see.”

She showed the new shirt to everyone, and the three ex-classmates praised Bianca’s choice of present. They then handed their presents to birthday girl so she would open them. They contained a new belt, a care pack of pokeballs and potions, and a keychain.

“Sorry that I don’t have a gift for you, Brenda,” Burgh apologized.

“Oh no, don’t be,” she replied. “I’m glad you could come. Hope it’s been enjoyable for you too.”

Burgh assured her that he was passing a great time with them. Cued to speak next, Lenora shifted a little on her seat.

“I do have a sort of present for you, though it’s far from being just mine, if you will,” she explained.

She held out a black orb to Brenda, who took it with much care. She inspected the orb. It definitely looked like it was made of stone, like a well-polished sculpture of a perfect sphere. Despite what it looked like, she internally wondered why she felt as though she was holding an egg instead of a rock.

“Why, thank you Lenora,” Brenda said. Though she was puzzled by the odd choice of a gift, she guessed it was perhaps a normal choice for Lenora who ran a museum and was friends with artist Burgh. A compromise between geology and art, she reasoned.

“That orb has been monitored for years since its discovery in the ruins under the Desert Resort,” Lenora said. “We suspect it might be one of the two stones mentioned in an ancient legend that narrates the unification of the Unova region. Yes, the dark stone, which holds the essence of the legendary dragon, Zekrom.”

Brenda raised both eyebrows high, marking a couple of creases on her forehead. She could hardly believe she was holding such an important artifact in her hands, and that Lenora was giving it to her of all people. She wanted to ask why, but she couldn’t think of a sensible way to raise the question. Luckily, Lenora answered the question without her asking.

“A week or so ago, when you entered the Nacrene museum, Brenda, we detected some slight waves of energy emanating from the stone,” she said. “They may seem insignificant, but it was a change from the complete silence we recorded all the previous years. It served to confirm that this wasn’t just a regular stone, unlike what our critics suggested, but that there is more to it. My hope is that if this is, indeed, the dark stone from the legend, it will awaken to its true form if it spends time with the one it shares affinity with.”

“A-and you’re implying I’m one of the two… the t-two…” Brenda stuttered, but couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence despite being considered a narcissist by her acquaintances.

“Heroes,” Lenora did her the favor. “I can’t say for sure, but we can only work with the few clues we have, you see?”

Brenda nodded energetically.

“I will do my best to awaken the dragon,” she said. “I’ll wash it, polish it, hug it, sleep next to it…”

“Let me stop you there,” Cheren interrupted.

“I think just being close enough that it can sense your presence should be enough for Zekrom,” Lenora chuckled. “Though I do appreciate your spirit.”

“Y-yes! I will do as you say,” Brenda saluted while holding the stone close to her.

She then turned to Ren, and showed him the black orb. The small pokemon inspected the stone by sight and smell, but only furrowed his eyebrows as though he was not impressed in the least. Ignoring his facial expression, Brenda took his paw and placed it on the stone.

“Don’t you think it’s the smoothest thing you’ve ever touched?” she grinned. “If I’m actually one of the two heroes of present times, then we’ll go down in history. The kids in pokeschool will learn about how awesome we were in their otherwise boring classes!”

“Great, we surely needed to inflame this girl’s ego even more,” Cheren shook his head, but a smile was plastered on his lips.

“A record-setting size of an ego sounds befitting of a historical figure,” Brenda followed Cheren’s joke and winked, which incited a good laughter from everyone.

The evening thus passed with much conversation and laughter, filling Brenda’s heart with bliss, almost to the same proportions that her stomach was filled with food.