Rui didn't trust me.
Despite her, "You're the prince who saved me" deal, she didn't trust me.
I guess that's what I get for being an ex-criminal walking around in broad daylight. I came across Rui only by coincidence, and had I not taken that Willie guy's advice, we wouldn't be involved in each other's lives at all.
As I lay back and stare out the barred window, I feel Rui's watchful eyes on me. Her scowl seems to be plastered onto her face. Espeon jumps up on my lap, making herself comfortable. I can hear the thugs in the next cell planning their escape, but I'm confident I can stop them if and when they get out.
Rui finally looks away from me, though I can still see her frowning in the corner of my eye. She doesn't understand how important she is to the objective. She can see them. The shadow pokemon, that is. Whether or not her ability is supernatural or not, I'm not sure. What I am sure of though, is that if I don't earn her trust fast, I'm gonna have to fend for myself and just guess which pokemon have closed hearts.
Umbreon stares at Rui, growling at her every movement. I finally decide to look at her, too. Only now do I notice that she's sweating a bit. It is a bit hot in the prison, I won't deny that. Finally, I speak up.
"After we get outta here, we're staying the night at the inn across the street, got it?" I realize it came off a little harsh, but it's too late now. It's not like we have any choice, the only Pokemon Center in Pyrite Town is in the colosseum.
"We?!" Rui looks at me like I just killed her pet hamster, "What do you mean, we?!" She stands up, crossing her arms. Almost immediately, my eyes dart downwards to those legs and tiny skirt. Despite her pretty much hating me, I can still say that the outfit she wears makes her look damn good. Umbreon growls at her, but I put my hand out to silence him.
"I'm not letting you go after this." I say.
"Why not? So you can use me to steal all the Shadow Pokemon and use them for your own selfish reasons?!" Her reply threw even me off guard. By now, even the thugs in the other cell are dead quiet.
"I can't let you get kidnapped by those goons again, now can I?" I shrug, running my hand through Espeon's fur. Her back arches, and I can't help but smile at my old friend.
"What do you care, you're just like them!" Rui stomps her foot, regaining my attention. I'm about to answer, but a police officer runs in and interrupts me.
"We're terribly sorry for locking you two in here!" he says nervously, "I have just received a report saying that we've got the wrong duo!" he fumbles around his pockets for the keys to the cell. Rui turns, and is about to yell at him, but I stop her just in time. I slide over to her, wrap one arm around her waist, and use the other to cover her mouth. Slowly, I lean in close and whisper to her.
"Rui, dear?" I hiss, knowing she hates the nickname, "Do you mind shutting the fuck up? We'll never get outta here if you keep yelling like that." She growls in frustration as a slip away, thanking the officer and leaving the cell. I expect her to follow, and she does. Like an obedient puppy, she follows me out of the police station and to the little inn down the street.
I walk in and begin speaking to the receptionist, keeping a close eye on Rui. She observes at some flowers sitting on a nearby table, and I can tell she's trying her best to keep away from me. Everything is going fine and dandy as I absentmindedly talk to the woman at the desk, until she gives some rather disappointing news.
"Sir, we only have one room open at the moment…" she mumbles, keeping her head down. It takes a minute for me to process this information. Only one room means sharing a room with Rui…I sigh, handing her some money.
"I guess we'll take it…" I say, though I'm unsure how I'm going to break this to Rui. The woman nods, jotting some things down. I wipe some sweat off my face, shaking my head.
"Okay! Er…may I ask you to fill this out?" The woman hands me a clipboard with a form attached to it. I grab a pen and fill everything out, signing when needed, and hand it back to her with a few extra pokeyen. She nods, thanking me, then hands me a room key.
"Thanks." I quickly turn away, grab Rui's hand, and drag her through the corridor to speak to her. She struggles, and in a moment of almost-panic, I slam my hands on the wall above her shoulders to stop her.
"You see this key?" I say, pulling away one of my hands to show her the room key I'd received from the receptionist.
"Mhm." She nods, looking at me as if she doesn't know how to feel about me. On one hand, she looks like she could punch me. At the same time though, she looks flustered.
"See how there's only one?" I lower my voice to a growl.
"Mhm." She nods again, staring me in the eyes.
"We're sharing a room tonight." I blurt out.
"Wait, what? Heck no, Wes!" she pushes me away and storms off to the receptionist. I can hear her practically yelling at the poor woman for only having one room open. She keeps apologizing, but Rui won't get off of her case. Eventually, I get tired and walk to our room. I push the key into the little slot and take it out again. The door slides open and I walk inside, and take a seat on the bed.
Sitting down and listen to Rui argue with the receptionist reminds me of how much of a dick I've been today. Honestly, I'm seeing no improvement in myself. I'm still the Team Snagem asshole I was before I stole the snag machine and, despite my efforts to help others, I'm still a jackass.
And Rui, what about her? She's pretty alright looking, I'll give her that. Now that I think about it, up until now, she's been nothing but nice to me. If I'm gonna make it anywhere with her, I need to make sure I show the same kindness to her. But, how? It feels like I don't know anything but how to be a complete asshole. At this point, she'll never trust me ever again. My thoughts are interrupted by a banging on the door.
"WES! LET ME IN RIGHT NOW, OR I SWEAR TO-" I calmly get up and open the door for Rui, who stops mid-knock. She pushes passed me, then turns around. The light of the sunset makes her hair glimmer as she narrows her eyes at me. I look out the window just in time to see a few more thugs heading towards the inn.
"I-I'm going to get changed now, so get out!" she looks angry at me, and yet I can see her blushing a bit. I hear those goons enter the inn and begin talking to the receptionist.
"Do I have to?" I ask, too tired to get involved with Team Snagem any more today. Rui lets out a frustrated growl and taps her foot.
"At least turn around, Wes!" She whines, "I'm not comfortable changing without something to cover me…and of course, there's a boy in the room…" she looks away, shifting uncomfortably.
"I got an idea." I say, pushing my metal glasses over my eyes. I grab the quilt off the bed, hold it out in front of her, and look down. "Go."
"What?!" she cries, "A-Are you positive you can't see me?! You are taller, after all!" I hold the blanket up higher, groaning internally.
"I can't see much in these glasses, but if you really wanna know, I can see your feet." I hear her sigh as she starts to take off her clothes. Several shuffling noises later, she slaps my hand, causing me to drop the blanket she's about to say 'Ha!', but she rams her head into mind making us both turn away from each other. My glasses fall off as I hold my head.
"Owww!" Rui whines.
"Ahh, FUCK!" I growl. My head starts to pound, she must've hit me pretty hard. I kneel down, pick up my glasses, and set them on a nearby table.
"Y-you need me to hold the blanket for you?" She asks, still rubbing her head. I bend down to pick up the blanket, then I throw it on the bed.
"Nah," I say, taking my coat off, "I'll just sleep in this." I fold up my outerwear and put it on the ground. "You can take the bed tonight, Rui."
"Are you sure you don't want to dress in something lighter?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips. Despite her attempted kindness, I can still hear a tone in her voice that I don't like.
"I'll be fine." I lie. She nods, then excuses herself to the restroom, taking the key with her. Truth be told, I was dying. As soon as she left. I walked over to the AC (that barely worked), closed with blinds on the window, and lifted my shirt, letting the slightly-less-warm air cool me down a bit. I hear a noise from behind me, but I'm way too warm at this point to care. After a while, I put my shirt down and turn around, just as Rui slides open the door. She looks a bit flustered, and her face is bright pink.
"I-I'm going to bed," she says quickly, "Goodnight, Wes."
"Alright…? I guess it did get dark pretty quick…Night, Rui." She curls up in bed, I lay down on the floor, and the lights are turned off for the night. As I stare up at the ceiling, I think about Team Snagem, and Rui. Rui seems like she's lightened up a little. I mean, she isn't refusing to look at me anymore, which is good. I just hope she comes around to trusting me….for the good of Orre, of course.
Hello, It's Shrimpy! That's the first chapter of my first Pokemon Colosseum story! Give me a break, this is my very first present-tense first person story, so I just hope I did it right! This story will be alternating between Wes and Rui's points of view, so I hope that goes well! The next chapter will be...Rui! Her POV is past-tense first person, so that's how you can tell the difference right away!
Thanks for reading!