Chapter Four
Professor Oak called at about six o'clock in the morning to demand my attendance at his lab, and I was not pleased. There was nothing I hated more than being woken up before my alarm went off. If Oak wanted us there at six-thirty in the morning, then he should have told us this before. If I was late, he would just have to deal.
So, I took my time out of pure annoyance. Blue called up to me about a thousand times, and after six-thirty rolled around, he left the house without me, giving up hope that I would be ready on time. I didn't make it down to the lab until six-forty-five, and even then, no other aides were there besides Blue. Why did we need to be there so early?
"Lyra! Just the girl I wanted to speak with." Professor Oak smiled at me despite my tardiness, and I forced a smile back. Blue just rolled his eyes, and when Professor Oak turned away to grab something from his desk, I narrowed my eyes at his grandson. "There are a couple of things I would like to discuss with you."
He turned back around, holding an envelope out to me, and I grabbed it from him. I didn't know what exactly this was, but if it was my paycheck, I would forgive him for waking me up at six o'clock in the freaking morning.
Professor Oak smiled as I held the envelope, and in a chipper voice, he told me, "You're fired."
I dropped the envelope, and no one moved to pick it back up. Blue's eyes were wide, clearly in just as much shock as I was. I laughed, reaching down to scoop the envelope off the ground and whacking Professor Oak gently with it. The old man wasn't much of a kidder, and, honestly, he was kind of the stereotypical grumpy old man who told kids to get off his lawn. But he had to be kidding about this. It just didn't make sense.
But the smile was gone now, and he didn't laugh with me.
"But… Professor…" I felt a sense of urgency now, hoping that he really wasn't serious. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Where else was I going to get a job? I didn't want to do anything else with my life anymore. "If this is because I was late, I am so sorry. I just… it takes me awhile to get ready, and I wasn't expecting to have to get up so early—I just… I mean, I can work the extra fifteen minutes for free. I don't even care. In fact, I'll work an extra hour for free. Professor… I need this job."
Blue shook his head, crossing his arms. "I don't get it, Gramps."
Professor Oak glanced at his grandson, putting a hand on his shoulder for just a moment. Then, turning back to me, he smiled again, though this smile appeared slightly disappointed. I really didn't understand. This was the first time I had ever been late, and I had been so good at collecting data and analyzing it for consistency and errors. I was well-known throughout Kanto and Johto as one of Professor Oak's best researchers. So why?
"Lyra, allow me to explain." Professor Oak gestured to the envelope in my hand. "That's your final paycheck. I have given you a bonus that should hopefully give you enough financial support to last you a year. It may take you awhile to find a new job, so I wanted to ensure that you were covered during the time you were searching."
I stared at the envelope, running my fingers along Professor Oak's messy handwriting spelling my name. If Professor Oak was concerned enough to cover me for a full year, then why the hell was he firing me in the first place? I would much rather work for him and get paid in smaller increments than not have a job and receive this large bonus.
"Professor, I can't accept this. I want my job," I begged, and Professor Oak's eyes relaxed a little bit. Blue backed away a little bit, still shaking his head in disbelief that his coworker had just been released, and I glanced at him. He avoided my eyes, staring at his grandfather instead, and I covered my mouth, my eyes filling with tears.
Professor Oak sighed, and I looked back at the old Pokémon expert, so completely horrified that I didn't want to stare here anymore. Had he just called me all the way to Kanto just to fire me? He had made me believe that I was going to be doing something useful, and all he wanted to do was release me from work?
"I'm sorry, Lyra. But I feel this is the best thing I can do for you," Professor Oak explained, but I didn't feel it was an explanation at all—it was just an excuse. How was this "best" for me? "You have had life handed to you on a silver-platter. Everything has been given to you. This job—I gave it to you because of who you were: a Pokémon Champion. And people keep giving to you. You'll never know the real world."
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, throwing my envelope back on the ground. "Nothing has ever been handed to me! I had to work hard to become the Champion, and I never expected anyone to give me anything because of it. I wanted to work for you because I thought I was the best suited to do so! I never… assumed I would get the job! I've gone through life trying, and… I've had to work to pay my rent. I've had to work to keep my life together. It's not just something that I've automatically been good at."
Professor Oak smiled, nodding at me. "You've had advantages that others haven't had. You have to admit that." I didn't respond. "This is why I want you to go find a real job. I want you to apply to businesses, work for awhile, see how real people live. I've asked that no other Pokémon professors give you work."
"What?"
I gave up. It was no use. Professor Oak was a stubborn old man who just wanted to destroy a young woman's dreams. Because somehow, he thought that was necessary. But why were my dreams any less important than those of other people? I had to work just as hard for them, but they were just as easily taken away.
I didn't feel like a "real person". I felt like a betrayed one.
So, I left. I left the paycheck sitting on the floor of the lab, shaking my head and hastily escaping the premise before anyone could stop me. I could see Blue reach for my arm out of the corner of my eye as I turned, but I was glad he didn't stop me. I just needed to get my bags from his house and leave. I didn't want to deal with his cocky attitude today.
I forgot that I locked the door to his house as I left this morning, however, and so I couldn't just grab my bags and leave. I was stuck waiting for him outside his house, but it didn't take him long to show up. He appeared a few minutes after I left, holding out his keys and putting them in my hands without a word. I just narrowed my eyes, turning around and trying to force the keys into the doorknob. But they wouldn't go in.
"Damn keys," I snapped, giving up. Blue didn't say anything as he took the keys from me, nudging me out of the way and unlocking the door with ease. "Show off."
"Lyra, I don't really understand his thinking," he finally said, and I just wiped my eyes, shaking my head as I entered his house. I really didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to grab my stuff and leave, to be left alone. Firing never seemed like an option to me… quitting my job, maybe. But being fired? Not allowed.
So, I just ran upstairs before he could say anything else can grabbed my suitcases, dragging them down the stairs and leaving little crevasses in the carpet. But before I could get to the door, Blue blocked my path, holding two glasses in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other. I stared at him, watching as he wiggled the glasses and smiled.
"A glass of wine or twenty can usually fix things. Even if it is only seven o'clock in the morning. No one needs to know."
I actually laughed, and Blue's eyes lit up just a little—so subtly that I almost missed it. But I didn't. And it was that subtlety that made me let go of my bags and take one of the glasses from his hand, walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down. I set the glass on the table, looking at him expectantly to fill it.
"Want to play a game?" he asked, and I raised an eyebrow. What was he doing with this? "It's kind of a… different twenty questions game. You can ask me ten questions, and I'll ask you ten questions. Any questions you want—they don't need to be yes-or-no. And there are no limitations. I'll answer whatever you throw at me, but you have to, too."
I bit my lip, pausing nervously as Blue filled my glass. "Why?" If he was hoping to get me drunk and ask me really personal questions, I wouldn't have any of that.
But Blue just shrugged. "Takes your mind off things."
So, I nodded, and he gestured to me, allowing me to ask the first question. I thought for a minute, trying to think of something—but I couldn't take my mind off this yet. Being fired was horrible—how dare Professor Oak think I have everything handed to me? What about Blue? Wasn't he handed this job?
"Why weren't you fired?" I asked, and Blue narrowed his eyes at me. It wasn't that he was mad at me for asking that—he seemed more annoyed that I wouldn't get away from that subject. But how could he expect me to?
"Nothing has ever been handed to me." I opened my mouth to protest, but Blue held up a hand. "I'm the grandson of a famous Pokémon professor, but I don't go around advertising that. Sure, I guess I got the advantage since I've always been around Pokémon, and I knew how to raise them and stuff. But… that didn't matter. Red still beat me. I was Champion for less than twenty-four hours, Lyra. I'm a joke. No one wants to admit they hired the infamous Blue. Gramps didn't even want to hire me. He only did because I deserved it."
I frowned, a little bothered by his guilt trip. "But I deserve it, too."
Blue nodded, taking a quick sip of his wine. "I know." He sighed, and I pouted, downing my wine in a single swig. Blue filled my glass for me again, probably against his better judgment. "You might want to go a bit slower. We have a lot of questions to go—and it's my turn. What's your favorite color?"
"What?"
"What's your favorite color?"
I didn't want to answer that. For such an easy question, it was embarrassing. I didn't want to admit that blue was actually my favorite color—it had nothing to do with his name. I just happened to find the color really appealing. But I finally sighed, admitting it to him. "Blue. But don't you get cocky! It has nothing to do with you!"
He just grinned, looking pleased with my response, and I narrowed my eyes at his egocentricity. How obnoxious could he get?
"Fine… then, let's talk about something that you obviously don't want to talk about," I said, revenge feeling so sweet already. But maybe that was just the wine settling. "Why did you leave your gym in Viridian City?"
"It kind of goes with the whole failing miserably at being Champion thing. I only took over the Viridian Gym because it had been empty for a year. No one asked me to become a Gym Leader, and I'm pretty sure no one really wanted me to be. Champion for two seconds or not, I was still strong. No one could beat me—except you. And, honestly, after that battle, everything else was really boring to me." He shrugged, downing the rest of his wine. "So, I quit."
"Oh," was all I said.
Blue smiled, shrugging off the bitter memories and looking at me. "My turn. Want to explain what really happened on the phone last night? I think I jumped in at just the wrong time." He grinned, that same cocky grin that I was so familiar with—the one that kind of reminded me of the old Silver—and I smiled. That call… geez.
I didn't want to give the full details about the plan and such, though, so… I needed to keep my lips sealed on that. "Oh, Silver is just a male slut. No biggie," I said, and Blue raised his eyebrows. "He wanted to propose to this girl that he just met, and I thought screaming into the phone like that would get him to stop… and it did. I didn't want him getting into something that he'd regret later. So, even though I sounded like a complete loser—mission complete."
Blue actually looked impressed by this. "So, you're not with Silver or anything?"
I clicked my tongue, picking up my glass of wine and swirling it before taking a sip. "I believe it's my turn, my dear. You'll have to save that for another time. It's my question. Why do guys always make fun of girls when they like them? Boys are just… ugh, so obnoxious. Just tell me if you like me!" I paused, shaking my head. "I mean… any boy… just tell a girl if you like her."
Blue had to think about this, and I swallowed the rest of my wine, pouring a third glass for myself. Finally, he sighed. "I don't know. Dignity. Pride. Arrogance. We don't know how to tell a girl that we like her, so…" He looked at me, watching me as I took another sip of the wine. "We try to get her attention the only way we know how."
"You make fun of me," I pointed out, my head feeling a little funny now.
Blue frowned, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "That's because you're annoying, and you're easy to pick on."
I laughed, reaching across the table and flicking his glass. "You're mean."
"You're obnoxious."
"We do this too much." I smiled, and I noticed him put his hand down on the table particularly close to mine. I didn't comment on this. "Your turn."
He sat quiet for a moment, his hand sliding on the table a little bit closer to mine. I pulled mine back, putting it in my lap. He finally gasped, tapping his fingers on the table. "This is going to seem like a really weird question, and feel free to answer it anyway that you like… do you prefer sugar or sugar substitutes?"
"What?"
"Just answer the question."
I made a face at him, rolling my eyes and sighing. "Real sugar in moderation. What kind of question was that, anyway? Who cares if I like sugar or artificial sweeteners?"
Blue just took a sip of his wine. "Just a random one. My turn again. You just asked a question," he said, and I held up a finger in protest. But he was right. I had just asked him a question. And he was right about another thing—this was really distracting me from the event earlier. What had happened just a half hour ago felt like months ago. Until Blue reminded me of it all over again. "Do you want your money?"
He held up the envelope that Professor Oak had tried to give me, waving it in front of me. I narrowed my eyes at it, knowing that I really did want it, and if Oak wanted me to take it, I should—but I was so mad. How could I accept something from Oak when he had been such a jerk to me?
"Yes," I decided, and Blue slid the envelope across the table to me. I shoved it in my pocket, hidden from sight. I didn't want to think about it. "Are you mad at him for firing me?"
Blue furrowed his eyebrows, and I frowned. "Yeah. I am. But I would never admit that to anyone but you, so if anyone else asks, I'm thrilled. I work alone." He grinned, and I laughed. "What about you… do you really want to leave? This house—this town?"
"No. I don't want to go back to the apartment without a job. Silver will just eat this up… and Ethan has a job with Professor Elm, so I don't want to even think about that. I kind of like just sitting here and talking like this, too," I admitted, and Blue nodded. "I don't get to do that anymore. I used to. But not now. And it's kind of nice. Do you want me to go?"
Blue laughed, and I drank from my glass again. "I haven't made lasagna yet."
I took that as a no. And that was pretty much all it took to make me decide to stay. Until Blue kicked me out or until I ran out of clothes, I would hang around. It was intrusion, sure, but… he pretty much admitted that he wanted me to stay.
"If you could kiss any guy, who would you kiss?" He didn't wince as he asked, and his voice didn't shake nervously. He was so pompous. The jerk. Who did he think he was? If he wanted me to say his name, it wasn't happening.
So, I just smiled, finishing off my wine. Standing up, I leaned closer to Blue, winked at him, and whispered, "I don't kiss and tell."
Then, I smiled, walking away from the table to grab my luggage and bring it back upstairs. Blue called after me, "We haven't asked twenty questions!"
I laughed, beginning to feel the effects of the wine even more. "I've heard all I needed to."
Author's Note: Definitely not a funny chapter (maybe there were little parts, I dunno), but it was really necessary for it to be this way. Losing your job isn't a comical thing at all. I actually don't know, thank goodness, but plenty of people out there do.
I find it very weird that they are drinking wine at seven o'clock in the morning. And Lyra is, like, drunk, LOL. At seven o'clock in the morning. Geez.
Next chapter might be tomorrow. Valentine's Day! If I can manage to type it, haha. But no guarantees.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
