The dark alleyways of Castelia City were often avoided by tourists and "upstanding" citizens. Supposedly only those looking for trouble frequented the small spaces, hoping to avoid public eye and do their misdeeds in peace. But waiting for those brave souls who dared to venture into the shady underbelly of the city was a haven for weary travelers and tired souls alike, Café Sonata.
Relaxing melodies and the sweet smell of various beverages drifted out the door whenever a patron entered or exited. Today it drew in two strangers.
The first was a girl. Her black cap kept falling over her eyes, causing her to readjust it constantly. The other seemed to be her pokémon partner, a lucario whose eyes darted around the establishment as if he was trying to take everything in all at once. He accidentally crashed into a table while mesmerized by the guitarist on the stage.
The girl caught him, stifling a laugh that was turning her face red before she noticed every eye in the room was on them. "Eh heheh, sorry 'bout that," she addressed the rest of the patrons. "We're good! We're good."
Lucario looked mortified as she hurried him over to a booth by the stage. They settled in quickly though, and before long the girl strode up to the counter to make an order. "Hey pal, how ya doin'?" She tipped her cap to the barista with a sunny grin. The man stared at her for a moment, looking over her once again and deciding that she didn't look like she had come to cause trouble.
"Well as I can be," He stated in a friendly tone. "How can I help you young miss?"
At his inquiry she popped off her hat with one quick movement and shook it out. A number of coins poured out like a slot machine dispense. They fell onto the counter noisily as the barista's jaw hung open.
She stuttered over her words, "Uh… Sorry, all I got is change… But uh can I have two Soda Pops please? If you uh need a name for the order it's 'Jolty'."
"No no… That's… That's fine… I…" The man was at a loss for words.
From his view at the table, lucario chuckled. A few of the other patrons had discreetly closed in trying to figure out how his partner had pulled the trick. He shrugged as the barista turned to him for an answer. Soon the man had gone to work counting the coins and Jolty headed back to lucario with two bottles of pop in hand. "The look on his face was pure gold, Jolty." He laughed as she handed him a bottle.
"Right?" Jolty readjusted her cap so it sat comfortably back on her head and plopped herself down opposite him in the booth. "Ah I feel a little bad paying with all those coins but they were gettin' heavy up there. Least now I'll be able to see without my hat goin' screwy every two seconds." She flicked the brim of it to emphasize her point. "Besides, now they'll all forget about your little, ahem, 'entrance'."
He shot her an unamused glare that she giggled at. "I'm just messing with ya Luke!"
The lucario, Luke, shook his head, a small smile pulled at his muzzle. He popped the lid off the bottle off with the curved spike on the back of his wrist while Jolty struggled with hers. "Allow me?" Luke reached for the bottle. Defeated, she handed it to him.
"Thanks bud," she grinned when he handed the open bottle back. "Don't want to blow anyone's minds any further with my super strength ya know?"
"Excuses excuses," Luke teased.
Jolty gave an indignant huff and took a swig of the soda pop.
"So what is the plan, Jolty? Are we staying another night?"
"Looks like it. Sandstorm in the north is still pretty bad from what I heard. No getting through there until that clears up. Just relax buddy I got us covered."
Luke slumped onto the table. "I know you do, but I can't help it. The longer we stay here the less comfortable I feel. It feels as if we're being watched wherever we go." He stared hard down at his drink, ears reclining on his head and making him look rather small. "I don't want to put you in any danger."
"… Hey now, we've been through too much for you to start thinkin' like that. C'mon buddy." She nudged her glass against his with a grin. Luke couldn't help but feel a slight relief.
They sat there in silence, sipped at their drinks and listened to the guitarist strum. It wasn't long until Jolty had become lost in the music. She swayed in her seat while humming along to the tune jauntily. Luke simply smiled at his partner's antics. Until he noticed a small hooded group, huddled together on the other side of the café and eyeing him and Jolty with a contempt that set a cold shiver down his spine. One of the members approached their booth and Luke was forced to pry Jolty out of her reverie. "What's up Luke? Yipes!" Jolty flinched at the icy glare directed at her from the stranger.
"You two are awfully strange. The bad kind of strange. Are you some kind of criminal team?" They had an almost robotic sounding male voice when they spoke. It didn't help Jolty's nerves.
She put herself between the stranger and Luke. "WHOA that's a real jump there pal! We ain't lookin' for trouble just passing through! My name's Jolty, and this guy is my buddy Lucario, or just 'Luke' for short."
Luke, on the other hand, gave the stranger a scathing look right back. He growled roughly when Jolty introduced him, not pleased one bit about the sudden accusation.
The man's posture eased, "Forgive me, one can't be too cautious in these alleyways. Especially with your… Rather odd behavior," he stared at Luke in particular. "I've never seen a trainer talk with their Pokémon quite like you."
Both Jolty and Luke exchanged a glance that expressed their shared bewilderment. She shrugged, "Uh, okay, you got a problem with us talking?"
"Actually, we do."
"Oi, didn't I tell you Plasma lot to stop harassing my guests with your propaganda nonsense?" The harsh voice of the barista spoke up, making the strange man pause. "I want your asses out of my café, now."
The stranger chuckled amusedly, "As you wish."
The statement made the rest of the hooded group stand from their table. They walked to the door in a synchronized single movement, while the first member stayed glaring at Jolty. He towered over her now, "Remember this well, runt. Only our Lord N has the ability to communicate with Pokémon. Only he can tell their true desires. Not some pathetic little trainer like you."
Luke moved to lunge at the stranger but was held back by Jolty, who only offered a kindly smile. "Okay."
"Good girl. Now since you two appear to be new here, remember to stay out of Team Plasma's business. We like to consider ourselves a peaceful organization. It would be rather tragic to have to waste that reputation on the likes of you." The stranger's blank expression twitched into a scowl.
Jolty kept her tone amiable despite the threat, "Consider it noted."
After issuing his warning the man left them to rejoin his team and file out the door. They headed down the alley in a single-file line and disappeared from the view of the tinted windows.
With a huffed sigh, Luke eased back into his seat. "What an absolute scumbag. How dare he-… Jolty?"
His partner still stood in place, the glass bottle in her hand trembling, her eyes obscured in the shadow of the brim of her hat. The kind smile was still on her face but it looked incredibly strained. Every patron in the café jumped at the sound of glass shattering and looked to see shards of the bottle falling from Jolty's hand. "Oh dear…" Luke jumped from his seat and rushed her out the door immediately after, almost crashing over another table in his panic.
Once outside, it was like a veil had been lifted from his friend. Jolty flexed her hand and ruefully chuckled. "Sorry bud, I kinda blacked out again huh? Good thing you got me outta there quick as ya did!"
All he could reply with was a concerned frown.
Jolty shook her head. "Ah no worries! Ya know I never take that stuff to heart! Especially anything from those Team Plasma weirdos!" She tried to assuage him but it was obvious he wasn't convinced.
Still, he humored her. "Of course," He nodded with a sad smile. "Let's head back to the motel and get you fixed up. I do not think we'll be coming back here anytime soon, though."
"You ain't kidding. Guess you were right, sooner we can get outta this city the better."
They began the long trek down the alley in the opposite direction of the Plasma grunts they had seen exit. Silence was the only thing between them until they reached the motel room. Luke was the first one down and out, huddled under the bed's covers as Jolty stared out over the city landscape from the window. She heaved a sigh when she was sure he was too far gone to hear her, "Ya know Luke… Pretending to be a trainer is no fun anymore." Her voice was low and her expression unreadable in the dim light.
"But hey, at least it means I still got you, buddy." There was a much lighter, genuine tone to Jolty's voice. She ruffled the fur on his head, making him smile peacefully in his sleep. "… I still got you."
...
Oh boy here we go... The one-hundred themes challenge has begun.
Now I know I said I was going to try to tackle something that wasn't a one-shot. But my last few fully fledged stories were... Shall we say, not up to snuff. But thankfully a few helpful reviews gave me an idea of what to do to try and fix some of the issues I was having. And I figured what better way to practice than to do a theme challenge with two characters I've been developing for about ten years now. Of course I am not perfect so I'd really still appreciate a few reviews if possible. Just so I can keep working to get better at this.
As for the challenge explanation, yes, it's mostly going to be shorts involving these two. I wanted to see if I could do the challenge while still keeping a cohesive storyline. Only time will tell but I'm having so much fun so far! I'm even considering taking OCs for certain parts of the challenge.
And I would just like to address this right now because I know someone is going to bring it up eventually; yes, I have a Lucario character named Luke. He's named after a very good friend of mine in real life though and has gracefully allowed me to use his name for the character for as long as I've known him. It's kind of a joke between us now. So yes, I'm already aware of how overused that name is but frankly, I don't care to listen to it any more.
Also, these shorts aren't likely to be chronological due to the nature of the challenge. I will probably split it into "arcs" using different regions depending on the theme. Still I'd like to keep each arc in line with the overall story.
This isn't really meant to be a replacement for a fully fledged story but merely a tool so I can build up the skills to make one eventually. In the meantime I'd like to thank everyone for their support and apologize for this super long footnote. ^~^;
EDIT: Fixes made to chapter one's dialogue and a capitalization error! Credit due to St Elmo's Fire for the very helpful review!
WafflesnRamen out!