Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based on copyrighted material and written purely for enjoyment. I have no legal rights to Pokémon and most of the contents of this story (aside from plot) whatsoever. The characters and some pieces of dialogue were not created by me but are from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.
Rosa held up her hand in front of the door to knock, but she hesitated. She could barely stand the old lady that stayed in this cabin. The other day, Rosa was yelled at just for looking at the trash can in the room while walking the crazy old lady's Mienfoo. But while she was crazy, she was also rich, and Rosa had just spent all of her money buying medicine and supplies to prepare for her journey to Victory Road the next day. She needed the extra cash.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, regretting ever deciding to take a break from acting to focus on getting to the Pokémon League, then knocked.
"Come in!" Rosa opened the door.
"Ah, it's you, dear." The soft, gentle voice coupled with the appearance of the old woman was very misleading. She was sitting on a chair, holding a bowl of berries and feeding them to the Mienfoo beside her. "Perfect timing! Mienfoo has just finished his dinner."
She stood up and placed the bowl on the table. I walked up to the Mienfoo. "Now, remember to stay inside. It's not safe for my precious Mienfoo out there."
"Yes, ma'am," Rosa replied as politely as she could. She was pretty sure that the Mienfoo would be able to defend himself out there and even defend his owner if he wasn't cooped up in this tiny room all day.
"Hey there. Come on, let's walk." Rosa started to walk slowly around the room, allowing the Mienfoo to keep up with her. She had no idea why the old lady couldn't do this herself when she didn't even have to leave the confines of her room, but hey, she was getting paid to do this simple task.
Rosa was careful not to stop and smell the flowers or look at the trash can or anything in particular this time. The old lady was sitting on the chair, reading a book, but Rosa knew that she would snap if she stopped walking. Knowing that she'd be here for a while with the slow and steady pace she was walking at for the under-exercised Mienfoo, Rosa let her mind drift.
She talked to him again this morning. Actually, she talked to him more than once today, which was surprising considering he normally didn't seem to have enough time to even eat. She had just returned his Xtranceiver a week ago, and she started calling him regularly about three days after. She only managed to contact him once a day because of his busy schedule. Their conversations lasted literally only a minute or two, which really made her long for more conversations with him.
This was how she developed the habit of checking her Xtranceiver every five minutes to see if Curtis was online. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't doing this because she was interested in him and that this wasn't creepy or stalkerish. There was nothing wrong with wanting to talk to her new friend for longer than two minutes a day.
But she would often get distracted by it while training her Pokémon that they would end up getting more injured than usual. More than once, she would get lightly nibbled on or doused with water or blown away by a gust of air by her Pokémon. She would always apologize but still couldn't stop checking her Xtranceiver until one day, Serperior took it in the middle of the night, coiled around it and held it for ransom in exchange for Rosa properly training each of her Pokémon for a day.
She had gotten her Xtranceiver back the night before and fell right back into the habit of checking it often. Today, she shouldn't be working anyway. Today was her and her Pokémon's day off, devoted to resting and buying supplies, not training.
She was putting several dozen medicinal herbs from the Driftveil Market into her bag when she saw it, bright and beckoning on her wrist—Curtis. She hurriedly pressed call on his name and smiled when his face appeared.
"Ah, Rosa!"
"Hey, Curtis! What's going on with you?"
Curtis shrugged. "Nothing much. Just work, work, work. Oh, hey! I did get to go see the Pokémon Musical recently, though. Have you participated in the Pokémon Musical?"
"Yeah, actually," I replied. "When Serperior was still a Servine. He always looked so good on stage."
He smiled. "That sounds cool! I've been wanting to play Dress Up by putting my Pokémon in a cool outfit and watch it participate in a musical. If my Pokémon got fan letters, that would really give it some motivation!"
Rosa laughed. "Yeah, the fame's great, but I think it got into Serperior's head a bit, though. He was a pretty proud Pokémon before, but now it's like he wants to be treated like a king. Although, I think he has striven to become better because of it."
Curtis nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Oh," he glanced behind him. "I should get back to work. Talk to you later. Bye, Rosa!"
He hung up before Rosa could say goodbye.
She saw his name again while she was waiting for Skyla outside the Mistralton Cargo Service building. She planned on flying to Lentimas Town on a plane instead of on her usual Pokémon because she felt like she overworked them too much the previous day. Skyla had a few trainers challenging her gym and there weren't really a lot of people wanting to board a plane to Lentimas that day, so Rosa had some time to kill. It seemed like she didn't though with the speed she used to press call on her Xtranceiver.
Barely a ring later, Curtis's bright green eyes stared at her through the screen. "Rosa!"
"Hey, looks like you got another break," Rosa said.
"Yeah, things are starting to calm down a bit. I think I might even get a day off soon."
"That's great! You really need a break. You're overworking yourself."
"Yeah," he sighed. "Nothing I'm not used to."
"You probably don't get many days off," I said, stating the obvious.
He laughed lightly. "Yeah, definitely don't. Although sometimes work can be like a vacation too since I do get to travel a lot."
Rosa really wanted to ask what his job was, but every time she brought it up, he would always dodge it and just try to make her guess. "So what do you do on your days off?"
"My days off?" He confirmed. "I usually go fishing, I guess. I think I told you before that fishing's like my main hobby. Taking some time alone and casting out your line is a good change of pace. I had gone fishing the day I dropped my Xtransceiver, too! So you could say fishing helped us meet."
Rosa laughed. She thought she saw Curtis blush, but he looked down and the shadow of his cap obscured most of his face. "Well, I'm very thankful for the fish that distracted you enough for you to drop your Xtranceiver."
Curtis laughed and looked up, smiling sheepishly with his face all red.
Rosa was brought out of her musings when she heard the TV ask a familiar question she herself just asked in her recent flashback.
"Christoph, what do you do in your days off?" the host of the TV show had asked.
"My days off?" Rosa's head snapped to the TV. She knew that voice. She knew that phrase.
On the screen was the Pokémon Idol Christoph with his spiky blond and green hair and perfectly handsome face. "Well, if I have time, I often go fishing. Catching a big one just makes that stress melt away!"
She stopped in her tracks. It couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?
"HEY, YOU!" Rosa jumped. Oh, no. She realized that she was still in the old lady's cabin in Humilau with Mienfoo. She turned around to face the seething old woman.
"What are you doing? In front of my very eyes, you disrupt Mienfoo's walk… On top of that, you got engrossed in watching TV. What nerve! Stop taking a break and walk my Mienfoo!"
Rosa bowed her head and apologized. She nodded at Mienfoo and started walking again, but faster this time. She just wanted to get out of there and be alone with her thoughts. Mienfoo struggled a bit to catch up but he did eventually. Seeing Mienfoo look happy matching her quick pace, she reported back to the old lady.
The old lady cooed at her Mienfoo before giving Rosa a pearl and 200 Pokémon dollars. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough. Rosa hurriedly left the old lady's house and sat at the edge of the boardwalk.
So this popular celebrity and her new friend who was very cryptic about his job both liked fishing. And they both sounded kind of similar. That didn't mean that she was currently friends with a famous TV star. Rosa has met too many people who looked the same and people who sounded the same but were different people. Besides, it wasn't like Curtis and Christoph looked alike.
Christoph was very handsome with spiky greenish blondish hair and green highlights. Curtis was… also actually pretty handsome with blond hair that sometimes looked kind of green and was always covered with a cap so Rosa couldn't actually tell what his hair really looked like. Rosa's heart started beating frantically.
But wait, she thought. Curtis had that cute little beauty mark on his jaw that Rosa adored. It was unique to him, and Rosa did not remember Christoph having it.
But then again, she never really paid attention to celebrities until now.
Rosa ran to the cabin that the resort owner allowed her to stay in for free as long as she continued on to become Champion (she could just pay him after if she failed). She hurriedly turned on the TV to the celebrity channel.
She saw Nancy interviewing Elesa, or really just Nancy gawking at the supermodel gym leader. Rosa hoped that Christoph would be in the next segment, but it was still Nancy, this time interviewing Clay. A commercial for the Pokemon World Tournament came on before his face popped up on the screen.
Christoph was in his usual glamorous black and green outfit outside of a very familiar wooden cabin. "Today we're visiting a Socialite in Humilau City who dotes on her Mienfoo!"
The old lady that had just yelled at Rosa a few minutes ago opened the door and let them inside. "Would you be a dear and take my beloved Mienfoo for a walk?"
She shifted her attention from Christoph and looked directly at the camera. "Oh my! Why is there a Cameraman with you? A story on my sweet Mienfoo? Oh, dear! I wish you'd contacted me in advance! I haven't had time to put on my face!"
Rosa scoffed. She could see that the old lady already had her deceptively nice person face on.
"Okay, now. Outside with you. Come back in a minute!" The old lady shooed them away and shut the door.
Christoph laughed. The camera zoomed in on him and the blood drained from Rosa's face. There, unmistakably on Christoph's face, was the same mark that was on Curtis's. In the exact same spot.
"Guess we'll see you next time!" The screen shifted to a commercial about Join Avenue before turning black as Rosa turned off the TV.
Rosa was speechless. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. Did she like that this famous person spent some of his very little free time on her? Did she feel disappointed that he wasn't an average person who could help balance her Pokémon trainer/movie star/business manager/sort-of-hero life? Did she feel betrayed that he didn't tell her or did she feel relieved that he didn't tell her?
Rosa glanced at her Xtranceiver. As if on cue, Curtis's name popped up.
Should she tell him? Should she pretend like she knew nothing and go back to how they were? Does she still even want to talk to him?
Yes, of course she still wanted to talk to him. Now more than ever. She supposed that she understood why he didn't tell her about his other life. Fame can change other people's perception of you. Although, she herself was pretty famous, she wasn't as famous or recognizable as the Pokémon Idol Christoph who could be seen on TV 24/7.
She had no idea what to say to him though. Does she call him Christoph instead of Curtis? Does she tell him that she accepts him for who he is and won't let his other image cloud what she thinks of him? Does she hatch up some stupid plan to make him admit who he really was? Does she torture him, hinting that I know his secret then throwing him off with something else entirely? So many questions to think about.
She decided that she would just roll with whatever comes out and pressed call.
"Hey, Rosa!" Curtis's smiling face greeted her. Now that she's compared their appearances, it was clear that Curtis and Christoph were definitely the same person. "I just got off work. How are you?"
Rosa smiled, pretending like everything was okay and that she hadn't just discovered that her whole life was a lie. "Hey, Curtis. I'm fine. I just finished walking the Mienfoo of some rich old lady here in Humilau. She's too overprotective of her Pokémon though. She has to know that Pokémon can't just stay at home all day."
"Oh, I think I know that lady. I talked to her about two weeks ago, I think. She asked me to walk her Mienfoo too, but I was too busy to agree." So that's when they filmed that interview.
"You're lucky you didn't. She's crazy! She yells at me every time I stop walking, and she doesn't even let me walk her Pokémon outside her room! If she wants things done her way, then I don't get why she doesn't just do it herself." It seemed all too easy to talk to Curtis. Rosa barely even remembered why there was a twinge of unease in the pit of her stomach.
"You could stop walking her Pokémon," Curtis suggested.
Rosa laughed lightly. "I probably will. I just needed some emergency money on hand for my trip through Victory Road tomorrow."
Curtis looked surprised. "You're going to Victory Road?"
Rosa nodded dismissively. "Yeah, I'll probably earn enough from battling trainers along the way and selling things I get that I don't need, but I do need money on hand in case I lose a battle."
"I knew you were one tough trainer, but wow, I heard that Victory Road isn't for the faint of heart," Curtis said, genuinely impressed.
"Yeah, but don't worry about me. I've trained long and hard for this, and I've stocked up on supplies, so I'm good to go."
"Alright, but be careful, Rosa," he said seriously before breaking out into a grin. "And don't forget me once you become Champion! Being the best isn't an excuse to not call."
Rosa smiled at him. "Don't worry, I won't." Just like how you always make time for me even though you're a famous idol, she thought.
There was a slight pause in their conversation as they both just smiled at each other.
Curtis blushed and broke the silence. "So, umm... will I still talk to you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, you'll definitely be the first person I try to contact once I get to the Pokémon League. Hopefully, you'll be off work at around the same time."
"Thanks, Rosa," he said. "Good luck!"
"Thanks."
"I should get going. I have to get up bright and early tomorrow, and so do you."
Rosa nodded. "Yeah, you look exhausted. You really should rest. Good night, Chr—Curtis!" She hadn't intended the slip-up, but it didn't seem like he noticed. She realized that that was exactly how he introduced himself to her when she first picked up his Xtranceiver.
"Bye, Rosa. Talk to you soon!" He hung up.
Rosa decided that she would not tell him directly that she knew. He should be able to tell her when he was ready, right? If it seemed like it had gone on for too long for him to still be able to tell her, maybe then she would ask him outright.
But she'd give him time. After all, she hadn't told him that she was a rising star at Pokéstar Studios either.
She turned on the TV again to see Christoph singing "I'm Using a Quick Ball on Your Heart." He looked so confident and charismatic that she couldn't even associate him with Curtis. She let out a laugh. With his great acting, it was only a matter of time before he went into the movie industry to and starred in one with her.
But that was something to think about for another time. Right now, Rosa had to focus on the Pokémon League. She climbed into bed and ran strategies through her head, with the thought of Curtis interrupting her only a few times before she fell asleep.
A/N
Hi there! Thank you for reading my first Pokémon fanfic! This is actually my first time venturing into the gaming part of Fanfiction since I usually stay in the books and musicals sections, but I hope I still did a good job despite the change in categories. Please review if you have any comments for this story!
I didn't really want to write more fanfics until after I graduated since I would usually be busy writing original works as that's what my major is all about. But I've been playing Pokémon White 2 recently, and ever since I picked up the Dropped Item, I... actually, I found Curtis to be really weird initially with his brief conversations. Like, why would you call if you know you only had 30 seconds to spare and it wouldn't even be about picking up your Xtranceiver? But his conversations started to grow on me, then they met in front of the Ferris Wheel, and I read more about the ship, and... Now they're my Pokémon OTP.
I started always interacting with the TVs in the game after I discovered that Curtis was Christoph to see if there were any clues that would tie them together. And behold, with exact words copied from the game, I found one of the closest links, which inspired me to write this fanfic. Honestly, if Curtis wanted to hide his identity, he should've tried harder.
Anyway, I hope you liked this fic! I will gladly accept constructive criticism in the reviews sections (but I apologize, I probably won't get to edit this fic 'til maybe after... 10 years or so, so if you want a new and improved version... I'm sorry, this is all I can give you for now). Flames without basis will be ignored or lightly ridiculed without you knowing.
e.g.
Reviewer: (posted) This story is stupid
Me: (aloud) That's it? That's your comment? No reason why? Well, then you're stupid!
Ad hominem also will not be tolerated unless you find a deep psychological way it could actually be relevant to the development of this story. But this is only a fanfic, so no need to get too carried away.
Again, thank you so much for reading this! I might write another LiveCasterShipping fic soon if my schedule permits it. (It probably won't. I totally resonate with Curtis.) Bye!