"So...who are you going with? Did you ask anyone?"
Flashback 10 years. The senior halls of Ecruteak City Public High School are buzzing with talk of the big event: prom. The time of year where young love blooms, girls get dolled up, and boys hope they score big.
Eusine kept walking, his friend Morty following close behind.
"Uhhhh..." Eusine didn't fully reply to his friend's question. Why did it matter, anyway?
"Wait Eusine...are you kidding me? Did you not ask anyone?" Morty was practically jogging, trying to keep up.
Eusine came to a halt, causing Morty to collide into him. "So I take it you asked someone?"
"Yeah. That babe in my chemistry class I told you about. She agreed to go, thank god. I was nervous she was gonna say no and then I'd be stuck asking someone I didn't want to go with as a last resort. Of course, you wouldn't know that feeling because you didn't ask anyone." Morty adjusted the books he held as he talked.
Eusine stood there, silent and motionless. Not having a date didn't bother him; he figured he would have more fun with his friends and their dates anyway. It didn't matter…he just didn't find the right girl yet. He didn't even like anyone at school...well at least he didn't like anyone that he had a chance with. Everyone he liked it was impossible to get a hold of. They would never go for it. Whatever.
"So I guess you're gonna be tagging along with me?" Morty interrupted Eusine's thoughts.
Eusine couldn't help but make a slightly upset face at the sound of Morty accusing him of "tagging along."
"Err uhmmm...if you don't mind. You're going with a group, right?"
Morty nodded, "Yeah, so don't worry you won't feel like a third wheel."
"Well I wasn't worried about that in the first place."
"Listen Eusine," Morty walked from the side of his friend to right in front of him, throwing his books down and staring him in the eyes. "Don't lie to me. I know you're upset about not having a date. I could see through all your lies and you know that so I don't even know why you're trying to pass this off. Just...ask one of your friends to go as well...a friend and that way, it will still FEEL like a date and look like one, but it won't really BE one. You feel me?"
Eusine looked down at his shoes. "All the friends I would think about asking are already going with someone...or have other plans."
"Ah...I see your problem. Well kid," Morty slung his arm over his friend's shoulder, "you're out of luck."
Eusine groaned and pulled Morty's arm down. "I'm not saying I'm not going...I am."
"What?" Morty started laughing and slowly walking away, leaving his books and Eusine behind.
Watching his friend walk away, Eusine leaned up against some lockers and slid down. He wasn't gonna let Morty bum him out like this. He was still confident he would have a good time, even without a date. Looking around, he noticed a piano sitting outside the band room. Getting up, Eusine walked over to it, running his hand across its wood when he arrived next to it. He didn't really see a whole lot of people around, only a few talking at some nearby lockers. Eusine slid into the bench and lightly dusted his hands across the keys, taking a deep breath.
He started playing and singing.
"Don't let the sun go down on me..."
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Morty was one of the kids talking by the lockers. Eusine jumped up and pulled his shirt down nervously.
"Uhhh...my hands slipped."
Morty just rolled his eyes and turned back to continue talking.
And that was that.
Prom night started off rough.
Eusine sprinted down the street in his suit coat to Morty's house, his once neatly combed hair a mess from the wind. He arrived out of breath, but luckily Morty's mom was still taking pictures of Morty and his date, who was wearing inch thick lipstick and skyscraper heels. A few of their mutual friends were sitting around with their dates. They yelled out greetings to Eusine, to which he just replied with a wave and a head nod.
Once Morty's mom was done taking picture of Morty and his date, she called over to Eusine to take pictures of him and Morty. Morty huffed and Eusine just shrugged, figuring she just wanted a few pictures since he's been friends with Morty for ages, just like a "wow I remember just yesterday when they were running around barefoot hitting each other with plastic baseball bats and now they're all grown up" kind of thing.
Except that wasn't a good example because the last time Morty and Eusine ran around barefoot hitting each other with baseball bats was literally last week.
"Mom why are you taking pictures of us together? It's not like Eusine is my date."
Morty's mom just told him to shut up.
They all took a few cars to the banquet hall where prom was being held. For a public school, they really splurged on prom. Everyone was thrilled that it wasn't just gonna be in the gym. Gross.
Eusine rode with Morty's group, stuck in the backseat with one of their tool friends that he couldn't stand half the time but Morty thought was great. His date was taking up almost the whole backseat, squishing Eusine against the door. He felt that was a good metaphor for his life. Pain and annoyance.
Morty and his date were belting out songs on the radio the whole way there. God damn neither of them could sing well. Eusine could do nothing but grit his teeth and cringe against the car door.
As soon as they got to the hall, Eusine leaped out of the car, untucking his shirt and lifting it up on the side so he could rub an indentation the door left on him.
He whispered over and over, "fuck." If the rest of the night was gonna go like this, he was in for a doozy. He should have taken some weed out from between the seats of Morty's car so he could smoke it in the bathroom later. Something told him he would have needed it.
"Hey Morty, unlock your car. I think some money fell out of my pocket. I don't want to leave it in there."
Morty tuned the key in the door and pressed the button to unlock the back door, walking away without even waiting to lock the car back up when Eusine was done. Eusine crawled in the back and stuck his hand down the seat. He knew exactly where Morty hid everything, even though he was always bragging about how he has "the best hiding spot in the world." And just like that, Eusine was able to get what he wanted.
The hall was nice to say the least. Red carpet, tables that seat 8 covered in white cloth, high ceilings, a wooden dance floor, a few snazzy couches, pretty much a run of the mill banquet hall. Eusine just hoped he would fit at Morty's table...he crossed his fingers that he wasn't going to be the 9th person out of 8 people.
Luckily he wasn't. A girl who fought with her date and ended up alone sat with them, making the table have an even 8 before another pair could come over.
The food was subpar. Morty thought it was "fucking divine" but then again, Morty's mom was an awful cook and he thought even McDonald's was equivalent to a five star restaurant. He was easy to please. Eusine just sat there making small talk with the girl who joined their group, picking at his salad and watching Morty scarf down chicken at lightning speed. He didn't understand how such a tiny guy could eat so much food. The mystery of Morty continued.
As kids started to get up to begin dancing, Eusine continued to sit at the table with the other girl, who was inching closer and closer to him. Eusine didn't notice, he was too busy watching Morty and his date slowly dancing with each other, Morty stepping on her toes periodically and her giggling at him, lipstick smearing on her teeth whenever her lips curled back in a smile. They looked...happy together. Deep down, Eusine was jealous.
The girl started to hum, causing Eusine to turn and look at her, giving her a toothy smile because he recognized the song….it was one of his favorites.
Once she noticed Eusine smiling, her face lit up and she blushed a bit. "You know...I think guys with braces are cute."
Eusine stopped smiling right away and just looked at her, surprised she would say something like that to him considering they met not even 2 hours ago. He then noticed she was positioned closer to him than what he remembered. He turned back to watch Morty again, completely ignoring her. He just met her that night and definitely was not feeling the least bit of attraction to her nasally voice and layers upon layers of gaudy glittery eye shadow.
Eusine had an idea of what he wanted in a date and no, she was not for him. Or maybe he just had too high of standards.
She groaned and stood up, muttering something about all boys are the same and how she should be a lesbian, as she stomped away, heels that were too tall for her clicking through the thin carpet. Eusine didn't even flinch. Good riddance.
Morty finally got the hang of slow dancing, allowing his date to wrap her bony tan arms around his neck as he lowered his hands. Though they seemed happy together, Eusine felt like they didn't look good together. Morty's light skin and hair seemed to clash with her slightly darker skin. He would look much better with...Eusine himself for example. Eusine was shocked by that thought, slightly tensing his shoulders and gulping. Why was he thinking nonsense like that? He hoped it was just the jealousy talking, but then why would he feel jealous? Was he just jealous that Morty had a date or was he jealous of Morty's date? That she was so close to him, enjoying his presence and just being happy? As he started to get nervously lost in thought, something caught Eusine's eye.
Purple. That's what he saw first. She had purple, wavy hair that ran down her back. Not too light, not too dark. A mid shade. Eusine moved back and forth in his chair, trying to get a good look at her sitting on one of the couches, by herself, across the dance floor. Finally, he caught a glimpse of her dress. A bright aqua with a white diamond pattern. Eusine felt his hands getting sweaty. He didn't even know her, yet she took his breath away. He knew what he had to do.
Eusine grabbed the edge of the table, stabilizing himself before he slowly stood up, walking towards the dance floor. It seemed like miles and miles. A desert, walking with no water, sun beating down. One, two, one, two, Eusine stepped closer and closer. He swore he saw her doing the same on the other side. He might have been imagining things, though. He listened to the music playing in the background.
"Every breath you take...every move you make."
Eusine took one step onto the floor and the crowd split like the Red Sea, a straight passage to the girl, who was now standing up on the dance floor. Eusine noticed she had stunning red eyes.
"Uhmm...hi miss. I'm Eusine and uhhh," he licked his braced teeth as he watched her turn and run unexpectedly, her hair blowing, escaping his gaze. A shiver ran up his spine, as if she sent out an icy aura before leaving.
Gone. Right when things were looking up for him, Eusine's dream girl faded away. Brutal rejection before he was even able to ask her to dance. His heart felt like it was going to fall out of his chest in a heap of veins and blood on the floor. At this point, he wouldn't have cared. It caused him too much pain anyways. As he looked around, everyone and everything seemed frozen, as if he was stuck in the moment, unable to escape what just happened. He closed his eyes and feeling dizzy, let his legs give out on him, causing him to hit the floor with a thud. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing.
"Hey...hey Eusine...you've been sitting on the bathroom floor laughing yourself to tears for...god...I don't even know but it's been a long time. Get with it." Morty was kneeling down next to his friend, who reeked of marijuana, shaking his shoulders. "Did you seriously smoke at prom? Man, not even I would do that! And that's saying something."
It took about 10 more minutes before Eusine came to and crashed from his high.
"Why am I here on the floor? Wh-why did she leave?"
"Who?" Morty raised an eyebrow. "The girl who was sitting with us? She came up to me and told me you were a prick and she didn't understand why I was your friend. Then she muttered something about how she hopes you never get laid and get a fucking wakeup call because she's beautiful….or something. I was only half paying attention to her."
"No...the girl with purple hair and the aqua colored dress with the diamonds."
"Uhmmm...yeah man there's no one like that here. If you want to find Suicune, you're not gonna find it at the school prom."
"Suicune..." Eusine whispered. He knew that girl in his weed induced fantasy seemed familiar for some reason. She was just like Suicune.
"Morty, I know what I must do now. I need to get out there and find Suicune."
"Okay...and this concerns me why? You're never gonna find it. It's a legendary Pokemon, you know. It's not like you'll just walk outside and be able to find it right away." Morty started to stand up, pulling Eusine, a bit dazed still, up with him.
"I'm not kidding. I'm gonna find it, Morty." Eusine just held onto Morty's hand as the latter tried to let go. "I'm gonna find Suicune."
10 years later, Eusine was still searching for Suicune, just because he smoked too much weed at his senior prom.