Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at fanfiction in . . . a long time. I'm having lots of fun writing this story, and I hope you enjoy! Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated.
ONE
The central lawn at the Université de Kalos was the place to be on a cool, sunny autumn afternoon. Students were taking breaks from studying and classes to hang out with friends and play with their Pokemon. On this day in particular, a throng of people – students and faculty alike – had gathered to watch a match between a student and her friend.
"Fire Blast!" called the student to her Charizard, pointing aggressively to her opponent's Absol. Charizard obeyed, inhaling deeply before shooting out the five-pointed formation of fire from its mouth. The attack enveloped Absol, who managed to stand its ground until the flames dissipated, but then collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
"Absol, return!" the Absol's trainer called as he held out a Pokeball. Absol dematerialized into a stream of white light, shrinking back into the ball.
"Serena wins!" cried out a young man nearby, jumping up and down as high as his feet could propel his rotund body.
The crowd cheered and applauded. Ignoring the noise, Serena recalled her Charizard and crossed the battle space to her opponent.
"Good match as always, Calem," she said, patting him on the shoulder.
"You too," said Calem, tossing his head back to get a lock of black hair out of his face. "Of course, I'm secretly taking notes on your battle style. I will beat you one day."
"Keep telling yourself that!" joked Serena.
Before Calem could say anything else, a petite young woman dressed in a pink shirt came up and threw her arms around his neck. "You did great!" she said to him. He returned the embrace.
"Thanks, Shauna," he said.
After hugging him for a few seconds, Shauna broke free and turned to Serena. "You were great as always, Serena!"
"Thanks! I – whoa!" Serena felt someone grab her by the arm and yank her away from her friends. She soon found herself in the midst of her admirers, who were taking pictures of themselves with her and asking for autographs. She obliged everyone gracefully, as she had become so good at over the past three years, but then broke free of the group after a few minutes.
"Hey guys, can I have, like, ten minutes alone with my friends?" she asked the crowd before grabbing Shauna by the hand and running for the student union. Calem wasn't too far behind them.
Serena, Shauna, and Calem secluded themselves in a corner of the student union, at a table on the opposite side of the room from the wall with the high windows. The three of them were soon joined by Trevor and Tierno.
"Just another day in the life of the Champion, I suppose," sighed Serena as she twirled some of her blonde hair between her fingers. "Do you think it's too late for me to enroll at Hoenn University and go there with you two?" she asked, looking between Calem and Trevor.
"You can't go to Hoenn too, Serena!" cried Shauna.
"I'm only going to be gone for a few months," Calem reminded Shauna. He and Shauna were sitting next to each other, and his arm was draped over the back of her chair.
"And I'm going to work on the Pokedex," said Trevor. "Besides, Serena, if you're serious about concentrating on Pokemon type classifications, Kalos is the place to be. The Fairy Type was discovered here after all."
"I know . . . maybe once I become a boring scientist the media will lose interest in me," said Serena hopefully.
"They haven't lost interest since you started going here," said Tierno.
"I'm probably expected to be a wild college girl and get in all sorts of trouble, though . . . anyway, Calem, who's the guy you're training with in Hoenn?"
"His name's Steven Stone, and I'll have you know he's the –" Calem's sentence was cut off as the familiar obnoxious beeping that preceded a Holo Caster message sounded off. All five of them looked into their bags to see if it was theirs going off; only Serena's was lighting up in addition to making noise.
"Please don't be a journalist," she mumbled before hitting the ANSWER button. A holographic line shot up from the silvery circle in the middle of the device, and from there fanned out until it assumed the miniature shape of a face Serena didn't mind seeing.
"Hello Serena!" the holographic Augustine Sycamore greeted her jovially. "How are you doing?"
"I'm well, thank you," said Serena. "We're all hanging out here on campus!" The other four took their turns greeting Sycamore, and he greeted them in turn.
"Professor, I leave on the boat from Coumarine on Tuesday, right?" Trevor asked.
"That's right. It'll be at nine o'clock, bright and early," Sycamore reminded him.
"Okay. That's what I thought," said Trevor.
"Make us all proud, Trevor. I know you will. Anyway, Serena . . . I'm planning an experiment for my current Mega Evolution study, and I was wondering if you would like to help me with it."Sycamore continued, gesticulating with his right hand as he usually did.
"Of course! Fall Break starts tomorrow, so I have plenty of free time," said Serena.
"Wonderful! If you're free tonight, meet me at Café Soleil at seven so we can discuss it."
"Okay. I'll be there." Serena responded.
"Très bien!" Sycamore flashed a smile before his holographic image folded in on itself and shrunk down to the base of the Holo Caster.
Serena stashed the Holo Caster back into her bag, and then looked at her watch. Five thirty.
"I need to leave now to make it back into town on time," she announced before standing up.
"You're not eager for this or anything, are you?" asked Shauna knowingly.
"Why wouldn't I be? It's science! I like science. I'm eager for science and scientific progress and . . . stuff. Of a scientific nature," said Serena as she felt her cheeks warm up.
"Even if you were going to talk to that curmudgeonly old lady who teaches your physiology class?" continued Shauna.
"Of course!" Serena blurted out, certain now that her face was the same shade of pink as her hat. "I gotta go. Catch you guys later." She then dashed out of the student union, past a small group who only realized who she was once she had cleared the doors.
Back at the table, Shauna was telling everyone that it should only take an hour and a half to get from campus to Café Soleil if one wanted to stop by their apartment and freshen up first.
At seven o'clock that evening, Serena found herself outside the entrance to Café Soleil. She had gone back to her apartment and changed into her gray tie-neck blouse and matching skirt, telling herself that it was a more professional look for a meeting about academic matters. However, she had looked at herself in the mirror before leaving, just to affirm how cute she looked in that outfit.
She peered through the large windows of the café to see if he was in there, but there was no sign of the professor. The only patrons of Soleil at the moment were a group of five people huddled around a tablet as they talked fervently about something. She spent time watching this group, although she couldn't hear what they were saying. One man, who was wearing sunglasses with red frames, exuded passion as he spoke and pointed at figures on the tablet that were undiscernible to Serena from her vantage point.
She soon felt someone tap her on the shoulder, and she turned her head to see who it was.
"Professor, hello!" said Serena, a smile breaking out on her face.
"Bonjour, mon amie," replied Augustine Sycamore. "Are you still doing well?"
"Yeah, I am," said Serena, completely turning her body to face him. "You?"
"No complaints," said Augustine. "Shall we?" He gestured to the entrance of the café, and the two of them entered together.
While Augustine ordered coffee, Serena claimed a table for two in the corner, on the opposite side of the restaurant from the group of five. Even as she walked past them on her way in, she had no idea what they were discussing, as they all spoke in whispers and hushed voices. She kept her eye on the man in sunglasses until Augustine came up to her, a cup of coffee in each hand.
"A latte for you," he said, placing the cream-colored beverage on the table in front of Serena.
"Thank you, Professor," Serena said gratefully. She looked down at her drink, and saw that the barista had used the milk floating on top to draw a Fletchling.
"Please, call me Augustine," he said as he sat down. "You're no longer my student. You're my friend and a colleague now."
"I don't know, that's going to take some getting used to," said Serena before she took a sip of her drink.
"Well, with practice, I'm sure you'll manage." Augustine smirked.
Serena was ready to ask about the experiment, but she found herself distracted by Augustine: that crooked smirk of his, those blue-grey eyes, his brilliant wavy black hair that she had often fantasized about running her fingers through . . . .
"Ah – uh – anyway, Augustine, what is this experiment?" she stammered, after mentally comparing the color of his eyes to some of the shades of blue and gray found in her Charizard's Mega Stone.
Augustine chuckled. "It's nothing groundbreaking, really, just data collection.
"When you Mega Evolve your Pokemon, they become stronger, right? To the naked eye, it appears that attacks have more power and cause more damage in battle. I want to attempt to quantify differences in attack power between a standard, unaffected Pokemon and that same Pokemon when it has Mega Evolved. I called you because you're the best Trainer I know and you have three Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution."
"I do?" asked Serena, reviewing the members of her team in her head. Charizard could definitely Mega Evolve, and so could Lucario, but she couldn't think of a third.
"You didn't know Ampharos could Mega Evolve, did you?" continued Augustine. "No worries. I recently got my hands on an Ampharosite, which rounds out my collections of one of each known Mega Stone."
"Amphie'll be excited," said Serena. She took a sip of her coffee, and then noticed that the man in red sunglasses was standing at the counter, waiting for the barista to make his drink.
"Are you going to sample more Pokemon besides mine?" she inquired.
"If I get good results from your Pokemon, I'll call Diantha and have her bring in Gardevoir. I'll call Calem once he comes back from Hoenn. Korrina as well, and if things go really well I'll put out an advertisement for any Trainer with a qualifying Pokemon to come in," explained Augustine.
"There'd be some compensation, I assume," continued Serena.
"Naturally," replied Augustine.
"How much am I being compensated?" asked Serena playfully.
"Oh I don't know . . . I think your coffee cost 50 Pokedollars . . . ."
"So you'll just take everyone else out for coffee." Serena said with mock skepticism.
"Non, Serena. I merely wanted the pleasure of your company tonight. I could have easily explained this experiment in the lab before we did it." When he finished speaking, Augustine flashed a small, crooked smile at her, and she instantly felt that there were Butterfrees in her stomach.
"This is rather nice, isn't it?" said Serena. "Sitting in a quiet café, talking about research, no paparazzi following me around campus trying to figure out every little detail about me, and some one-on-one time with my favorite professor."
"You flatter me, mademoiselle," said Augustine as he rubbed the back of his head. At the same time, a light blush rose on his pale cheeks.
"But worry not. The results of the election will be in later tonight, and the news is too focused on that to care about where Kalos's darling Champion is right now and what she's doing."
"That's tonight?!" Serena blurted out. "Shoot! I was going to watch that!"
"I'm sorry," said Augustine uncertainly. "Perhaps we can run over to the lab really quick and –"
"Don't worry about it," said Serena. "I'll find out anyway, won't I?"
"That is true, I suppose."
From there, their conversations turned to small talk: the latest lab gossip about two interns, a mischievous Froakie that nobody seemed to be able to tame, and the end of midterms at the university. When her stomach began to growl, Serena got up and ordered sandwiches for her and Augustine, giving the two something to eat for dinner and an excuse to stay and talk longer. Somewhere in there, the group of five sitting at the front of the café left.
"It's half past nine," Augustine announced as he checked his watch. "We should probably get going. I want you well rested for testing tomorrow."
The two of them left Café Soleil and made their way down Vernal Avenue. Prism Tower stood proudly in the center of the city, brilliantly lit up against the dark night sky.
"Where did you say your apartment was again?" asked Augustine when the two of them arrived in Centrico Plaza. They stood still for a moment to admire the tower, whose color scheme was alternating between red, blue, and its standard white.
"Just off Estival Avenue," answered Serena.
"If I had known that, I'd have picked a closer café!" jested Augustine.
What followed was the familiar beeping of the Holo Caster. Serena pulled hers out of her bag, and Augustine pulled his from his pocket. Both were going off, and both had messages from Malva. Tonight, she was sitting behind her desk, preparing to give a news update.
"We now bring you this important new bulletin. The votes are in, they have been counted . . . and the new Governor of Kalos is Alexandre Teleurac."
Other people out in the plaza could be heard shouting for joy or crying in disappointment.
"That's a bummer," muttered Augustine.
"Mr. Teleurac is here with me now, and he would like to give a brief address."
The Holo Caster's camera turned from Malva to the man sitting next to her: he was bald, with a gold earring in one ear, and a self-satisfied smile on his face.
"Greetings, citizens of Kalos. Thank you for choosing me as your governor for the next term. And to my opponent, Madame Claire Pontmercy. . . well played, and better luck next time." His voice was smooth, with a bit of a low rumble to it.
"Over the next four years, I hope to change Kalos for the better. This will include addressing income inequality that is so rampant in areas of Lumiose City, our depleting natural resources, dwindling habitats for Pokemon as we humans expand our territory, and new sources of energy to power our lives. There are no easy answers to these questions, but over the next four years I hope to have these problems solved for as many people and Pokemon as I can. Thank you, Kalos. I look forward to serving you."
The Holo Casters switched off. Serena and Augustine stood there in awkward silence, both mulling over what Teleurac had just said.
"I didn't vote for him, but . . . he sounds nice," said Serena tentatively.
Augustine shook his head. "You know very well that nice words and thoughts don't always translate into nice actions."