Photographic Memories- Twinleaf
Jun groaned as he leaned back in his seat. He was already getting bored of staring at the 3 TV monitors. Each showed a different battle going on in the 3 Battle Tower stadiums. The 20 year old placed his hands behind his head as he averted his eyes from the screens. 6 years ago, Jun had taken over as Tycoon of the Battle Tower after his father, former Tycoon Palmer, decided to join former Champion Cynthia in the Unova Region. Immediately, he implemented a tournament-style battle system to compliment the win streak-centered system that was there since the Tower was built. The tournament was held once a month, and the winner gained the privilege of facing the Tower Tycoon himself in a full-on battle, in comparison to the restricted 3-on-3 battle that the Streak System used. Jun loved this part the most, as he could let all of his trusted pokemon let loose against proven trainers, and the sheer challenge excited him. However, there was always the waiting game in the beginning, and even at 20, Jun couldn't sit still for that long.
He reached over to a separate desk and picked up his orange XTransceiver, acquired when he and his best friend Hikari went on a brief trip over to Unova. Hikari had become Sinnoh Champion during their travels together, and she was now constantly away on Champion business. Last time he had seen her was not long after he became Tower Tycoon.
"5 years…" He said to himself "How long are we going to keep each other waiting?"
He began paging through the pictures stored on the XTransceiver, stopping at each to recall the memories associated with them. The Champion's ceremony, a couple of Jun's challenges, the private ball, a couple of their dates…
Then one picture popped up that stood out so much, that Jun had to page back to it, and once he found out what it was, he burst out laughing so hard, that he almost fell right off of his chair. The image was that of Hikari, down almost on her knees grasping a bike rack in an Ursaring-hug embrace with the strangest look of anger and embarrassment on her face. The photo was from their date at the Nimbasa Amusement Park. Once Jun finally settled down and caught his breath, he leaned back once again and gazed at the photo with a large grin plastered on his face.
"Sorry, Kari, but I don't think I'll ever forget this."
"Y-you're kidding, right?"
"Of course not! It'll be fun, Kari Kari, trust me!" Jun said as he linked his arm with hers and began towing her
"N-no way! No way am I getting on that!" Hikari almost-shouted as she looked up at Nimbasa City's massive roller coaster
"Oh, come on, Kari. We've been on everything else in the park, even your little 'romantic' Ferris Wheel ride. Can't we ride this just once?"
"You can if you want, but not me." Hikari adamantly said as she tore her arm free and folded her arms where she stood
"Aww, but it'll be no fun without you." Jun pouted
"You'll have plenty of fun without me on that."
"Come on. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Jun begged with the best puppy look his excited body could muster.
Hikari scoffed as she began walking toward a bench "It won't wor-"
"You proooooomised~" Jun said in a taunting tone that made Hikari stop dead in her tracks. "Remember?"
The words sent nervous shivers down her spine. He was right. She did promise him that she would go on every ride with him at least once, but she was really hoping he would forget. She slowly turned back to face the young blonde boy, whom was already standing next to her.
"Do we h-have to?" The bluenette asked
"What, are you scared, Kari?"
"NO… well… kinda, I just haven't been on one before."
"Well then what are we waiting for!? No time like the present!" Jun said as he grabbed the bluenette's hand and began dragging her back to the rollercoaster
"No-no-no, wait, Jun, can we talkaboutthisforasecond" Hikari began stammering as Jun dragged her into line and wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her by his side
They waited in line mostly in silence. As they advanced in line for the next ride, Jun became more excited, while Hikari became more nervous. Finally, after 20 minutes of waiting, it was finally their turn, and Jun eyed the first 2 side-by-side seats at the very front of the coaster.
"Finally!" Jun exclaimed, before mumbling under his breath "I was gonna fine 'em if we waited much longer."
"J-Jun, I'm still not- GAH!" Hikari began before Jun yanked her arm toward the front of the coaster.
They sat right next to each other at the front of the coaster, Hikari on the left and Jun the right, and Jun fastened the lap bar down in front of them before Hikari could protest. Jun stretched his arms above his body and took a deep breath. Hikari tried to steel her nerves by also taking a deep breath, but her breath was very shaky while she gripped the lap bar tightly. The announcer made the normal safety checks over the microphone before finally releasing the breaks on the coaster. As the coaster began making its way up the hill, Hikari's grip on the bar became tighter. Jun took notice and grabbed her right hand with his left and held onto it.
"Relax, Kari. I'm right here. Just calm down and let yourself have fun." He said, smiling at the young bluenette.
Hikari looked into his golden eyes for a brief moment before the coaster rolled over the top of the giant hill and began rushing downwards. While Jun raised his free hand up in the air and unleashed shouts of excitement and thrill, Hikari tightly hugged Jun's arm and screamed in fright- especially when they went upside-down. There were sharp turns, hills, a corkscrew, a couple of loops, and one large barrel roll. After 10 minutes, the ride finally came to a hissing halt back at the station. Jun got out and celebrated the thrilling ride by jumping around and high-fiving everyone waiting in line. Hikari slipped past and grabbed hold of the bike rack near the line. She collapsed on the ground, almost hyperventilating. When Jun saw this, he chuckled to himself before taking out his XTransceiver and took a picture just as she turned to him.
"J-Jun, what the HECK are you doing?" Hikari shouted at him, trying to stabilize her breathing
"Nothing, Kari, just checking the time." Jun lied as he walked up to her.
Jun reached down and picked up Hikari by the arms, standing her up on her own two feet, and gently embraced her. Hikari returned the embrace, but she held him tightly- almost digging her fingers into his back.
"Well, you made it through and we're still in one piece." Jun calmly said to his childhood friend
"That doesn't mean it wasn't terrifying."
"Oh, come on, Kari. You didn't have fun at all?"
"Mmph" Was all she grunted before setting her head against his chest as her adrenaline rush began to die down
Jun chuckled to himself before lightly rubbing her lower back with one of his hands.
"You kept your promise, and we both had fun here. I'm as happy as I can be right now, Kari. Thank you."
At "thank you", Hikari drew her head away and looked up at him. Sapphire eyes met golden ones. Her tight grip around him loosened. Both smiled at each other for minutes. Then their heads began converging again slowly. Eyes began closing and hearts began pounding as their heads turned slightly and continued slowly closing in on each other until finally-
"Tycoon Jun, are you in your office?" A female voice sounded out from the speaker mounted on the wall, causing Jun to almost fall out of his seat as he snapped out of his daydream.
He walked over to the intercom sitting by the speaker, "Yea, I'm here. What's up?" he answered in a slightly annoyed tone
"We have someone here to see you. It's the-"
"NO! Don't say that!" Jun heard another female's voice quietly say, interrupting the desk attendant.
Jun then heard muffled, incoherent voices from the two women as they talked quietly on the other end of the line. They talked like this for a couple of minutes while Jun paced, before the attendant finally came back on the line.
"Sorry, sir. Someone important wishes to see you. I have forwarded her to the empty Battle Salon."
"Thanks. I'll be on my way." Jun replied, raising a brow at the vague comment.
He placed his XTransceiver on the table he picked it up from and walked over to the elevator.
"Now that I think about it, that other voice sounded slightly familiar…" Jun mused as the elevator doors closed and started down to the Battle Salon room.
Little did Jun know that he left that image of Hikari on display on his XTranceiver as the screen faded to black.