A/N: Oh, shit. My bad. My excuse is the same as last time, unfortunately, that is, I am a miserable human being, etc. Many thanks to all of you who have been patient and understanding, I want to shit on myself and my writing but I know everybody fucking hates that so just, hopefully this was worth the wait. Now, onto a few review replies before I start rambling on and on like the piece of shit I am.
FlightyEmotions: Oh Jesus Christ, this is so embarrassing, and a shining example why I will never ever skip editing once I upload to the doc manager again, but, that whole "obb" thing... That was... Supposed to be "ohh". I... Have no earthly idea how I let that slip other than I was probably using a stupid font in Word where the b's and h's look similar, and I had a background color that blended in with Word's "this is not a word" squiggle line. This is no excuse. I am an idiot. My bad. But as for your other question, nah, when Fifi crashes, she crashes HARD.
September 7th Guest: Nah, don't worry, you're good. I realize how annoying it must be to wait for some asshole who takes half a fucking year to update a story, and for that, I apologize, because if there's one thing I'm really good at, it's apologizing. But also, you nor anybody else has to worry about me not continuing this, it may take forever and a day, but I will eventually update again. And if something ever comes up that completely prevents me from doing so, I will make sure to figure out some way to let everyone know, probably by way of my profile, since I can edit it with my phone. So yeah, I guess for anyone who worries that I may have abandoned this at any point, just check my profile. If it doesn't say anything about a hiatus, then everything is gravy. Lazy gravy, but gravy still. Mmm, gravy.
ShmokeyDaBear: Uh... They just make really terrible first impressions on people, that's all. Ahaha... Ha... Ha...
Thanks as always to all who have reviewed and left kind words including those who I've mentioned, y'all are too much, like seriously, that shit makes my day. And a particular thank you to The Vilified for corresponding with me and listening to me ramble about random shit, apologies for not being in contact for... Well, a buttlong time, the holiday season has always been a particularly trying time for me but I should maybe not be cripplingly depressed soon. Possibly.
Speaking of me rambling, I should stop that. Enjoy the mess, everyone.
"Dude, did you see the way she commanded her Pokémon?"
"Yeah man, like, damn, she barely even had to say anything, they just knew what she wanted them to do and when! That shit was cuh-razy, bro!"
"And her Pokémon were so friggin' BEASTLY, too! I ain't ever seen Pokémon with skills like those! Dat Lucario, dat Sylveon, dat Latios, man!"
"I can't believe she came back for another year! To think, I get to go to school with Ariala Treeblood! She's so cool! She's so gorgeous! M-Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to share a class with her, and I might even be able to sit next to her, and then I can sniff her hair, and then follow her back to her room, a-and steal her d-dirty underwear, and-"
I very quickly noped the fuck away from listening in on that conversation as fast as I could, but no matter; as I walked down one of the school's expansive main corridors alongside Fifi, Clary, and Coby, all anyone around us seemed to be capable of talking about was her. Ariala Treeblood, the reigning school champion. And… Jesus, after seeing that video of her, as grainy as it was, I couldn't really blame them. I desperately wanted to believe that it was just a case of her being a major league ready talent facing off against clearly raw minor league competition, but… I can't imagine the school's second best trainer was that much of a novice. No, he tried his damndest to win and to employ strategies, he clearly knew what he was doing and was in that championship battle for a reason. But Purple… Holy shit, she made him look like a total chump. The way she battled… It was like watching a professional league battler, the kind you see on globally televised events, the kind that make millions upon millions of dollars and are household names around the world. Except… She's a friggin' schoolgirl. To think that this was the level of competition here at LeMasters…
Who the fuck was I trying to kid, I had absolutely no business being here. Flint at least had some experience and more than one Pokémon when he came here. I only got here out of pity. The professor may have went on and on about having confidence in his little speech, but shit, I don't think he had a scrub of my low stature and skill in mind when he said that, he meant people who actually deserved to be here, who earned their place here. Not some rando Joe Schmo loser like me who lucked into a spot due to being related to someone with actual ability. I… I couldn't let Fifi do this, it'd be pointless. I wouldn't let her get hurt and knocked out over and over and over again due to my lack of talent and negligence. It didn't matter if she said she didn't mind, that's not how someone is supposed to treat their partner. But… What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave… Fifi would think I was the biggest loser ever, and so would Clary and Coby, Uncle Bob would hate me forever, and my parents… Ah, fuck, I had forgotten all about their little 'condition' of my stay here. Argh, what the hell could I even…
"Hey, you alright, Stone?" Clary asked, snapping me back to reality. "You've looked pretty tweaked out ever since we left the auditorium. Something the matter?"
I turned to her and shook my head. "Nah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" asked Coby, giving me the same look of concern that Clary was. "You're kind of starting to look like me a little, haha…"
"Yeah, I'm good, no worries." I said, forcing a grin and giving an a-okay sign. "You of all people should know I have a terminal case of resting bitch face, Clare." Prompting an eye roll from Clary, my answer nevertheless seemed to have satisfied her and Coby. Fifi, on the other hand, obviously knew me too well to buy it, and as soon as the others turned their attention away, she tugged at my hand and looked up at me with a worried frown.
"Stone…"
"Later, Fi. Please." I whispered before she had a chance to get on my case about it. I knew she wouldn't stop pestering me about it until I told her, but this was definitely not a conversation I wanted to have in public. She thankfully relented, though the look she gave me was definitely one that indicated that she would be holding me to that. Terrific…
Nevertheless, we continued to walk in relative silence for a while. At least, if you considered hearing 'Treeblood' echoed around you in dozens of voices every other second silence. Eventually, Clary let out a thoroughly disgusted sounding sigh, looking about as grouchy as Fifi had when I woke her up.
"Ugh, I am so sick of hearing about this girl." she grumbled. "God, I can't wait until the exhibition tournament tonight, maybe someone will actually put her smug ass in its place and people can find someone else to never shut up about… Bleh, as if that has any chance of happening…"
Oh, right. In all my doom and gloom, I had nearly forgotten about the professor's surprise announcement, which had almost seemed to have been an afterthought to him, as caught up in verbally fellating Purple as he was. Something to get the school year kicked off with a bang, he said. Or, more likely, a showcase for Purple to demonstrate her god-tier skills for her apparently school-wide fan club. Certainly not something I was looking forward to, in any case, but I suppose it would beat moping around in my room unpacking and generally hating life.
"S-She did look pretty fierce, but… Nobody is unbeatable." Coby stated, somehow the sole voice of positivity amongst the lot of us.
"I wish I could think that, but I just don't know…" Clary replied dejectedly. "I've had to hear all about her from my friends for months on end, I've seen just what she's capable of, and it's… Not pretty. As far as I'm aware of, she hasn't so much as allowed one of her Pokémon to faint, nevermind lose a battle. She's… Not a normal trainer. But, even still, that doesn't mean she should be revered like she's the friggin' president and pope rolled into one, I mean, sheesh…"
"O-Oh dear… Well, w-why don't we, um, talk about something else, then?" Coby meekly suggested.
"Like what?" Clary replied, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Oh, you mean like how you guys met your Pokémon, right?" She turned to me with a grin. "Why don't you start, Stone? Since you got so rudely interrupted earlier, hehehe."
"Man, I forgot how friggin' nosy you were." I grumbled, still not very enthused to repeat the same stupid story I had told ad nausium to pretty much every person who had ever come into contact with Fifi. It didn't look as if I would have a way to escape this time, though… Ugh. "Fine, whatever." I grumbled, scoffing at Clary's far too excited, 'all ears' expression before launching into the heavily abridged version of my story for the umpteenth time. "Alright, so, basically, a couple of years after you moved away, when I was around, I dunno, ten or eleven, I did something really stupid, and I ended up in the woods on the outskirts of Kanak. While wandering around lost, I heard frightened crying, and thinking it was some poor Pokémon that had gotten trapped or injured somehow, I followed it to the source, because I was a stupid ten year old and thought I would be some sort of hero like kids my age always were in cartoons and games. Except I wasn't, I was just a stupid ten year old, and while I was expecting the trapped and injured Pokémon, I wasn't prepared for what had caused it to become trapped and injured in the first place. Then I did something even stupider, and I probably should have died that day, Fifi too, but everything went better than expected, and we didn't, and now we're best friends forever. The end."
Once I had finished, the others stayed silent for a moment, apparently not knowing what 'the end' meant and waiting for more. Soon enough, Clary spoke back up, giving me a particularly hairy eyeball in the process.
"Okay, no, what the hell was that, Stone? Don't be so vague and mysterious about everything, that's such a cop-out!"
"Hey, you didn't specify." I said, shrugging. "You just said you wanted to know how me and Fifi met, and that's how. The full version takes way too much time to tell, and you're not missing anything interesting anyways. You got the main parts, anything else that I didn't mention is unimportant."
Fifi let out a cough. "I don't know about that, Stone…" she murmured, giving me a sideways glance.
"Shush, you." I muttered back, not wanting to give Clary any more reasons to bug me about it.
"Alright, fine. Be that way, Stone." Clary said, folding her arms and doubling down on her hairy eyeball. "I'm gonna get the full story out of you sooner or later, so I'm not upset. I still remember how to make you talk, after all."
"Terrific." I muttered. Why does nearly everyone in my life have to be so damn nosy about everything…? Ah, well. If nothing else, the conversation had been shifted away from Purple, and Clary seemed to be in a much better mood as a result. Catching her gaze shifting over to Coby, I quickly spoke back up before she had a chance to try and pester him for his story again. "Hey, so, speaking of our Pokémon, you still haven't told me anything about yours, Clare."
"Wait, really?" she exclaimed in genuine shock, before quickly giving me another one of her teasing smirks. "Yeesh, I've only been around you again for a couple hours or so and already your scatterbrained aura is starting to rub back off on me. I actually have half a mind to think that just being in the same building as you was close enough proximity to get me stuck on the roof in the first place."
"You sure it wasn't just because you only have half a mind?" I said, knowing better than to give Clary an inch in regards to being a teasing shithead.
Clary glowered at me for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. "Alright, fair enough, I walked right into that one. Geez, though, I can't believe I haven't mentioned my own Pokémon yet… Well, anyhow, his name is Lucius, he's a Lucario. Not quite as impressive as a talking Pokémon or a Mew, I know, but I wouldn't trade him for any other Pokémon in the world. He was pretty exhausted from helping me pack everything up this morning and then helping me bring it all to my room here, so I figured he would enjoy some time to rest and relax there before I met up with everyone else."
"Everyone else?" I repeated, raising my eyebrow.
"Oh my gosh, that's right, I totally forgot about that, too!" she said, another overly-excited grin spreading across her face as she turned to look at me. "I was heading to meet up with my friends when I ended up getting lost and, ahem, 'running into' you, Stone. I ended up just texting them all that I'd meet up with them later tonight, but I wasn't expecting to be seeing you of all people today, so it totally slipped my mind to try and meet up with them in the auditorium. I'll bet I got at least twenty missed calls and 'Where you at girl?!' texts right now, ehehe… But hey, this is awesome, now I can introduce you guys to them, and we can all hang out later at the exhibition tournament, and I can tell them all about you, and tell you all about them, and yeeeeeeeeah, this is the best!" Pulling out her phone, Clary began to feverishly swipe away at it, her eyes bulging with excitement and gleeful titters escaping from her mouth, eventually stopping in place against a wall presumably so she wouldn't run face first into some other idiot walking around with their phone in front of their face.
Once I had fully processed what she had just said, my stomach fell a bit at the news that she had friends here… Selfish, yes, but seeing her again after all this time had gotten me so happy and excited, I wanted to be able to catch up with her and hang out like we used to, just the two of us, but… Eh, I'd still probably be able to do that, I shouldn't be so self-centered… I didn't have too much time to stew on the thought, thankfully, as Clary slipped her phone back into her pocket and began to speak at a hundred miles per hour again, rocking in place on her heels and clasping her hands together in front of her as she looked from me to Fifi to Coby, looking about ready to take off like a rocket ship on its way to Mars. "Omigosh, so I just sent a group text to everyone letting them know what's going on, I'm going to have us all meet up later tonight at the tournament, this is going to be so awesome, oh my God, yes! I have to go get ready, I'll go get Lucius and then get changed and and and I'll text you later to let you know where to meet back up, Stone. Ahh, this is the best day EVER! I'll see you later Stone, you too, Coby!"
Without warning, Clary pulled me into an awkward, impromptu bro hug/high five/fist bump… Thing that neither of us could decide on, then just as quickly let go, causing me to nearly fall over as she darted off down the hallway, waving and yelling goodbye the whole way. And just like that, she was gone. Once the rest of the students around us had stopped staring in confusion to return to their Treeblood talk, I gave Fifi and Coby a glance to make sure they were still there, then continued to stand and stare after her in utter bewilderment well after she had already disappeared from my view, until Fifi snapped me back to attention with a particularly disgusted sounding groan. With her arms folded tight and her head shaking more-likely-than-not involuntarily, I sighed, not even having to hazard a guess as to the cause of her perturbance.
"…Ugh, who does she think she is, she can't just…"
I could hear her muttering under her breath as I drew near, though she quickly quieted down once she noticed me, putting on a much more innocent, though still incredibly sulky expression as she started to speak to me.
"Stone, I don't want to be rude, but…" she began, lying plainly through her teeth as she gave me that matter-of-fact look of hers. "That girl is such a du… Ditz. And I don't wanna have to hang around with some big dumb crowd of people I don't know, that whole 'more the merrier' thing they say is utter crap. I don't suppose if I complain enough, I can convince you not to go? Please?"
I gave her a sympathetic look, but shook my head. "Well, you don't have to go if you don't want to, you're more than welcome to rest up in our room, whenever we find out where that is." Predictably, this only made her slump her shoulders ever further down and let out another over-exaggerated groan, before looking up at me with her ultra pout. I wasn't about to let her manipulate me again, though, so I merely chuckled and ruffled her hair until she slapped my hand away to fix it. "Really though, Fi, you shouldn't be so hard on Clary. She's really nice, she just comes on strong because we were always giving each other shit when we were little, kinda like how you and me do now. It's all in good fun, y'know."
"Ugh, as if!" Fifi said indignantly, turning up her nose. "I don't call you names and try to make you look dumb in front of other people, or try to blame you for my own stupid mistakes…"
"Aw, Fi, she didn't do either of those things." I said, trying to get her to look at me but getting nothing but a cold shoulder. "Fifi, come on… Like I said, she was just playing! That's just how we've always talked, it's like… How I talk to my brother and sister, you know? That's…" Quickly, my mind began to form an awful, vile sentence, one that escaped from my mouth without the slightest bit of foresight. "That's kind of what she is, you know? She's just like a s-sister to me, ahaha…"
Suddenly, Fifi's eyes, which had been shut so defiantly so as to not have to look at me, sprung right open, and they stared widely at me.
"Like a… Sister…?" she repeated, slowly, deliberately, as if she thought she had heard me wrong.
"O-Of course." I immediately blurted, knowing Fifi would take any amount of hesitation as a sign of my lie. "H-How else would I see her, silly? I mean, I grew up with her, after all! D-Don't be so paranoid, Fi! I mean, I…" It was at this point that I noticed Coby was still there, hanging back but looking on at mine and Fifi's conversation with a curious expression, hopefully not having heard any of it… Shit.
"…You what, Stone?" Fifi asked, also staring curiously at me now thanks to my hanging sentence. Shit…
"I… Uh…" I could feel myself beginning to sweat, suddenly feeling as if I was being interrogated like some sort of criminal who just did something terrible. Looking from Fifi to Coby and back, my mouth once again began to do its own thing without consulting me first. "I mean, I just… Don't want you to get the wrong idea, alright? You don't need to be jealous of Clary, she's just a friend. She isn't special to me like you are."
…Wait, shit, shit, SHIT, wrong phrasing, WRONG FUCKING PHRASING-
"…O-Oh…" Fifi exclaimed softly, all traces of her previous anger gone, replaced with the overly sweet, far too tender look I was all too used to getting from her, though that too soon shifted into a look of guilt and regret. "…Umm… I'm… Sorry for overreacting like that, master… I just… I don't want you to… Get hurt…"
"Don't worry about it, Fi…" I said, shaking my head vigorously, doing everything in my power to keep my facade up. "You don't have to worry about anything like that, okay? Just… Please, try to be a little nicer to Clary, alright? That's all I ask…"
"O-Of course, master…" Fifi replied quietly, hanging her head in shame. "I… I feel terrible now…"
"Don't, I know you were just sticking up for me." I said, patting her on the head in the most Pokémon-not-anything-more-than-that way possible, lest Coby managed to overhear any of that and gotten any horrendously wrong ideas. "I appreciate it, Fi, just… Try not to be so headstrong about it in the future, alright?"
After a moment of hanging her head, Fifi looked back up at me, her usual carefree smile finally returned, a sight that I was more than glad to see.
"You have my word, master~."
…Yeah, anything to see you smile, Fi…
Even…
…Ugh.
Me and my big fucking mouth…
Coby, thank God, was none the wiser in regards to that dumpster fire of a conversation I had had with Fifi, apparently having been conversing with Mew so as not to eavesdrop, a courtesy I was not at all used to receiving from literally anyone else in my life. But, regardless, with Fifi in much higher spirits, and not much else to do other than become enthralled in another one of the fine, lovely conversations about darling Purple that were swirling all around us, I gave Uncle Bob a call, hoping he had gotten things in order with Professor Redwood so that Fifi and I might be able to rest and relax in my new room for a bit before the tournament, God willing with nice, normal, not insane shitstain roommates. Thankfully, he had gotten things squared away, and was actually waiting for me to call so he could show me to my room. Parting ways with Coby (who was none too keen on the prospect of having any further interactions with my uncle), we made plans to meet back up whenever and wherever Clary decided, and I made my way back to the main entrance hall where Uncle Bob was waiting, obviously assuming I couldn't possibly get lost along the way since I had already been there.
Terrible assumption, of course, but I wasn't too late, thanks to Fifi reminding me about Flint's map app, ten minutes into me going the wrong way. But, better late than never, we met back up with Uncle Bob eventually, and that's all that matters, damn it.
"Man, you just can't catch a break today, can you?" Uncle Bob said, laughing as usual as he led me and Fifi up to the fourth fucking floor where my room was. Fuck my life. "Sorry, I asked if there were any less out of the way rooms left, but you were kinda SOL on that due to the whole 'not registering immediately' thing. But hey, at least it wasn't the fifth floor, right?"
"Ugh… Great, that means I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of other absent-minded shitheads too, doesn't it?" I bemoaned as we slogged up another flight of stairs, the elevators conveniently out for repairs, of course.
"Haha, probably!" Uncle Bob replied, obviously not caring about my plight in the slightest. "Actually, now that you mention it, Redwood did say something about trying to pull some strings for you due to the, uh, 'extenuating circumstances', I think he put it, regarding your late lodging application. So hey, maybe he found you some nice, quiet, namby-pamby breeders or coordinators to room with!"
"Urgh, I hope not." I grumbled. "Mom turned me off of coordinating hardcore with all those shitty reality show competitions she watches, and Pokémon breeding sounds boring, gross, and creepy all at the same time, I'd much sooner just room with three other trainers, so at least we'd all have something in common to talk about."
"Hey now, coordinatin' ain't so bad." Uncle Bob replied. "It's a helluva lot more challenging and exciting than those dumb shows make it seem, most of that garbage is scripted anyhow. Didn't your ma ever take you guys with her to any of her shows before she hung it up?"
"Yeah, until she found out me and Flint were sneaking out to watch the pro wrestling shows that were taped in the next studio over." I stated, flapping my lips at the memory. "She stopped taking us after that, oddly enough."
"I will vouch that the wrestling was way more entertaining than the contests." Fifi added.
"Ah, yeah, that's right." Uncle Bob said. "You and Flint used to watch that stuff religiously, didn't you?"
I nodded. "Still do, for the most part. Ha, I remember when wrestling used to be my backup plan if baseball didn't work out, me and Flint were going to be the world's next great tag team… That is, until Flint broke his arm trying to elbow drop our neighbor through a table off of our roof. He missed too, the putz."
"Ohoho, yeah, I remember that." Uncle Bob said with a deep belly laugh. "Hoo, was your ma ever pissed! I still remember her making me threaten to put you guys through military school if you ever did anything like that again!"
I let out an involuntary shudder at the memory. "Yeeeeah, mom invented a lot of new cuss words that day… Safe to say, those dreams of superstardom fizzled out pretty quickly."
"Heehee, not that quickly." Fifi exclaimed. "You still let Flint goad you into finishing the 'feud' you guys were having with those idiots."
I gave Fifi an indignant look. "Yeah, but hey, it couldn't be helped that Flint was a stupid idiot and broke his arm right before our dumb neighborhood federation's biggest show of the year. The other kids would've never let him, and by extension, me, live it down if I didn't show up. And uh, it's also not my fault that he announced you as my last minute mystery replacement partner because he couldn't find anyone else that he could trust not to snitch on us."
"Sure, Stone." Fifi said wryly. "You're just lucky my you-preservation instincts are stronger than my self-preservation ones."
"Heh, you're also lucky I was still in town to help with your guys' cover story." Uncle Bob added with a grin. "You'd think your mother of all people would know how unlikely getting hit directly in the eye by a foul ball at a baseball game would be."
"Ha, I know, I know." I replied, unable to hide my own smirk. "Mom will never know the terrible truth of my autographed Santos Santos foul ball. Because thank God, neither her or dad know what his actual signature looks like." My smile quickly faded, however, once I processed what Fifi had said. "…Hey, but don't say that, Fi." Seeing the look of exasperation on her face, I knew exactly what she was going to counter with, and quickly put a positive spin on things before she could. "E-Er, that is to say, you doing that shows that your own self-preservation instincts are way better than you think they are. I mean, you were just fine dealing with those guys in the, uh, 'ring', if you could call it that. Granted, it was just a bunch of stupid kids pretending to fight and doing it very badly, but point is, you were totally okay being there and didn't freak out at all like you usually do around others. And if you can stay calm in a situation like that, you can easily stay calm around people here too, Clary's friends included."
Fifi, rather than react positively as I had hoped, began to grumble and sulk. "…That was different, Stone. I was used to being around those guys, you and Flint always hung out with them so I knew they weren't dangerous… Plus, you were right there with me. But I don't know anyone here. Coby is obviously nice enough, and I guess Clary is… Okay. But then, look at everyone else we've run into so far! Assy and all those other jerks that were harassing Coby, that emo creep in the auditorium, literally everyone around us that is completely ignoring the fact that I'm talking to you as clear as day because they're all so caught up in that Treeblood girl… I mean, even the faculty! They're all psychopaths!"
I couldn't help but snort at Fifi's gross exaggeration, causing her to let out another grumble of discontent. "Psychopaths? Please, Fi. Weirdos would suffice." She let out another groan, but I could tell she knew she was laying it on thick at this point. "Plus, I don't think we'll ever have to deal with Assy or any of those other freaks ever again, the odds of us ever running into him or Edgy McNofriends or any of those other goobers in anything other than passing in a school this size are practically nonexistent. There are plenty of normal kids here, we just happened to run into a large number of buttholes by chance, that's all. It's like Clary said, I just seem to have a magnetic attraction for trouble and weirdness. But you should be used to that by now, silly."
Fifi hesitated for a moment, clearly looking like she wanted to say something, but instead she just shook her head and lowered her gaze. "…Whatever you say, Stone." she said tersely, though her tone soon softened and her grip loosened as she looked up at me with her usual carefree smile. "I know I'm always safe with you, so I'll go wherever and do whatever you want, so long as it makes you happy, my love…-ing master. Teeheehee…"
Ah, geez, Fi…" I grumbled, both at her deliberately horrendous choice of words and also the fact that she didn't seem to get my point at all.
"Ha, you worry too much, Stone." Uncle Bob interjected as he unexpectedly clapped me on the back in what was assumedly meant to be a friendly manner. No matter, that was definitely going to leave a mark, ow… My flinching, of course, only made him laugh harder as he continued. "You definitely got your ma's worrybone. But I don't think you need to stress out so much about Fifi. She'll get over her anxiety, and she'll probably do it without either of you noticing it, it just takes time."
"…Yeah, I know." I replied, looking down. "I'm sorry, Fi, I know you'll be fine, and I'm not meaning to be pushy, I just… I really want you to be able to handle yourself and your own life, and not just do everything for my sake. You have a life too, you know."
"I know, Stone." she said, still smiling sweetly. "Like I told you before, everything I do for you or say to you is done sincerely out of love because you're my best friend, not out of obligation because you're my master. Everything I do is my own choice. There's nothing I'd rather be doing with the rest of my life than making you happy for the rest of yours, because you do the same for me."
…Augh, Fi, why do you say things like that…? Especially in front of other people, damn it…
"…I'm not that selfless, Fi…" I said quietly, not sure how to really respond to something like that. I had to look away from her and Uncle Bob as I could feel my face beginning to burn, something I didn't want either of them to see under any circumstance for very different reasons. I wasted no time in changing the subject before either of them could continue it. "Hey, but we should almost be to our room by now, right unc?"
"Heh?" Uncle Bob grunted, seemingly having been daydreaming as it took him a moment to respond. "Oh, yeah, that's right. Just passed room 404, so it's only a few more doors down around the bend from here. No more stairs, at least!"
"Thank Christ…" I muttered, my legs feeling like jelly at this point from trying to keep up with Uncle Bob's brisk pace.
"Alright, here we are, buddy!" Uncle Bob announced moments later, as we finally stopped in front of a door that was probably further away from the stairs than any other on the entire floor. "Room 413! Hopefully your ma didn't pass down her horrible superstitiousness to you too, ahahaha!"
…Fuck.
"…N-No, of course not, unc." I said with a chuckle, not putting much effort into making it sound genuine as I was too preoccupied with the irrational fears that began to flood my mind. "Don't be ridiculous, it's just a number, haha… Ha…"
"Actually, it's two numbers!" he replied. "If you think it's bad how much people don't like the number thirteen here, you should see how freaked out people over in Japan are by the number four! It's crazy bad juju to them, they're so serious about it that they'll even skip the fourth floor in some buildings, leaving everything completely empty and going from the third to fifth floor and beyond like it's perfectly normal." He let out another raucous bout of laughter, completely oblivious to how white my face had no doubt become. "But hey, like you said, it's nothing more than people being completely ridiculous, so obviously you have nothing to worry about. But hey, enough of my rambling, why don't you two head on in and see if any of your roommates are already here so you can get acquainted with them? I have a few more things I have to get squared away for you with the school, so I'll leave you to your own devices, but I'll let you know before I leave, alright? Now go on, get in there and break in your new room, ahahaha!"
Ignoring my now trembling stature, Uncle Bob opened the door for me, then slapped the key into my hand before clapping me once more on the back with enough force that it propelled me, and Fifi by extension, headfirst into the room, both of us stumbling and falling on our faces. This, of course, only caused Uncle Bob to laugh even louder before he slammed the door shut, meaning that if any of my roommate were there, they would definitely be rushing out to see me laying in such a stupid state, if they weren't already staring. I scrambled to my feet, pulling Fifi up beside me before I began to frantically scan the room. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone else around, at least, not in the main room. As I surveyed my new room, the picture I had had in my head about it very clearly did not match what was the reality, as instead of it being one large open room with multiple beds, it was a cross shaped room with a small commons area in the center with a couch and TV, with four smaller rooms in each 'corner' of the main room, each with their own door facing the commons area in the center. I immediately spotted mine and Fifi's belongings placed in front of one of the doors, but much more worryingly soon after noticed one of the other doors was slightly ajar. Tensing up, my mind began to panic as it looked for a viable excuse for my very loud and obnoxious entrance. It quickly became apparent that such actions weren't necessary, however, as the only thing that came rushing out of the room was much smaller than a person.
"Pika?"
I let out a heavy sigh at the sight of the Pikachu, though it still seemed to be on alert as it stared warily at us. For good reason, I suppose…
"Hey, Fi, could you, uh…" I began, always feeling hesitant when I had to ask Fifi to translate my words to other Pokémon for me, knowing how awkward it made her feel to speak in her old language, and how jarring it felt for me to hear her speak it after all this time hearing her speak perfect, American-accented English and reminding me it wasn't her first language.
"Oh, of course." Fifi responded, nodding diligently. Turning to the Pikachu, she took a moment to presumably remember how to say what she needed to, then began to speak to it in her stilted, ill-at-ease native tongue, sounding more like a human trying to speak it rather than it flowing naturally as one would expect coming from a the mouth Pokémon. Nonetheless, the Pikachu seemed to be able to understand her with ease, as its expression quickly softened to one of curiosity, then to understanding as it smiled and nodded to her and then me. As it began to speak back to her, Fifi's face took on a curious tone, which itself turned into one of shock for some reason. Probably not a good one.
"W-Wait a minute, that voice…" she stuttered, quickly realizing she was speaking in English again and shaking her head as she began to question the Pikachu about something. It nodded in response and began to speak to her in an embarrassed tone, shaking its head and looking down. Fifi stuttered something to it, causing it to perk back up, before she turned to me and gave me what could be described nicely as a heavily distressed look.
"Uh, S-Stone…" she muttered, tugging at my sleeve and motioning towards the door that our stuff was piled in front of. Getting her hint, I made my way over to the door, opening it and pushing our crap inside as Fifi made a nervous 'just a sec' motion to the Pikachu, swiftly shutting the door behind us once we were both inside.
"This is going to piss me off, isn't it?" I asked, bracing for the worst.
"Uh… Um… M-Maybe…" she replied, wincing and instantly looking away once she saw my deathly serious expression. "…O-Okay, probably…"
"Fifi…" I began slowly, doing my best to stay level-headed. "…Please don't tell me that I know whose Pikachu that is. I don't recall anyone I particularly hate from school having a Pikachu, but your reaction sure as fuck says otherwise."
"…Um… W-Well…"
"Fifi…"
Fifi's ears fell flat as she looked down sheepishly. "…I… Wouldn't say you know him, but…"
I blinked in confusion as Fifi's sentence disintegrated into nothing. "…What does that mean, Fifi?"
"…It's…"
Before Fifi could do any further hemming and hawing, I heard a door opening in the main room, and she quickly drew silent with a slight 'eep'. As I reached for the doorknob, she promptly pulled my hand back, shaking her head and putting her finger to her lips.
"J-Just a second, Stone…" she whispered, and before I could respond, I heard the Pikachu loudly and happily greet whoever it was that had just came into the room. The voice of the person who responded to it, however, was not at all one I had ever heard before in my life.
"Hey, sorry for taking so long, Pikachu!" the voice said cheerily as it made its way closer to the center of the room where the Pikachu had been. Bright and energetic sounding, it certainly didn't sound like it would belong to anyone that I would ever have to worry about. "Man, I can't believe there's only one bathroom on this floor!" …Shit, really? "And why's it gotta be all the way on the other side near the stairs? Talk about rotten luck… But oh well, I…" The voice suddenly trailed off, before speaking back up in a much more urgent tone. "…H-Hey… That stuff that was in front of that other door… W-Wah, Pikachu, don't tell me there's someone else here?!" The Pikachu happily responded in confirmation, causing the voice to hiss back in response, in a much nastier, affected tone… "Damn it, Pikachu! What the hell did I freaking tell you about that?! Are they still here?!"
"Oh, fuck me…" I grumbled, stepping outside into the main room before fucking Edgelord McGillicutty's Pikachu could respond. "Motherfuck."
"…Yeah, so much for those 'nearly impossible' odds, Stone…" Fifi muttered.
"…Oh, God damn it, really?" Edgy spat back once he realized who he was looking at. "Stuck with a twerp for a roommate for the next half a year… Bah, what a pain…"
"Yeah, thanks for the warm welcome, Edgy." I said, drawing a growl from him.
"That's not my name, twerp."
"It is as long as you keep calling me twerp." I replied, folding my arms and returning his oh-so-pleasant look with one of my own.
"…Feh, whatever." he responded, turning away from me without so much as a second glance.
"Wow, seriously?" I said after a moment, once it was clear he wasn't going to respond any further. "Jeez dude, I know you're all like 'FFFFFFFFUCK FRIENDSHIP' and stuff, but come the fuck on, we're going to be seeing each other depressingly often from here on out for the foreseeable future, can't we at least be on a first name basis, if nothing else?"
Edgy looked at me for a moment, contemplating, before giving me his answer. "…No."
"Oh, God damn it." I said in frustration. "You were just now talking to your Pikachu like a perfectly nice, normal person, don't think I didn't hear that!"
Edgy suddenly froze up, a look of abject horror on his face, before it quickly morphed into one of utter rage. Very forced rage.
"Sh-Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about." he sneered. "I ain't normal, and I sure as hell ain't nice, so don't even get such an idiotic idea in your little twerpy brain there."
As I stared back at Edgy in disdain, his Pikachu began to speak up to Fifi, sounding even more embarrassed than it had earlier.
"Oh, no, it's not your… Er… I-I mean…" Fifi began, again accidentally responding to it in English before correcting herself. As she conversed with it, Edgy stared at her in the typical wide-eyed shock that she elicited upon first encounter, though it seemed more muted than it was for most people, obviously because he was an emotionless husk with no friends and fucking just kill me now aaaaaaaaagh…
"W-What the…?" he said, his voice momentarily slipping back into its assumedly normal, non-I-just-ate-razorblades tone. His Fifi-shock didn't last nearly as long as it usually did, however, and he soon had narrowed his eyes at me. "…She can talk."
I blinked for a moment, before snorting in response to Captain Obvious' assessment. "No, you're kidding. I didn't know that!"
My sarcasm only seemed to intensify Edgy's gaze. "Shut up, kid. How did you manage to do that?"
I stared back at him in silence, shaking my head and shrugging at him.
"Damn it, you're lying." he spat, getting ready to get up in my face before Fifi smoothly put herself between us without missing a beat in her conversation with the Pikachu. Looking down at her in surprise, then back up at me, his gaze softened, if only slightly, going from 'I just stepped in Pokémon shit' anger down to 'I've got swampass' irritation.
"…Look, would you stop messing around and tell me how you taught her how to do that?" he asked in what I assumed was his friendliest Batman voice.
I merely shrugged in response, only answering when it was clear he was slipping back into 'Pokémon shit' territory. "Sorry, I thought you told me to shut up. I was just trying to be polite and respect your wishes."
"Enough kidding around, you idiot!" he snarled, causing Fifi and the Pikachu's pleasant conversation to grind to a halt as they both stared at him. He seemed to shrink a bit with all eyes on him, and I got the feeling I may have pushed him a bit too much, so I sighed and gave him a nod.
"Alright, settle down there, Edgelbert Humperdork." I exclaimed, drawing a huge groan from Fifi.
"Edgelbert Humperdork?" she repeated sourly, shaking her head at me.
"Urgh, yeah, you're right, Fi, that one was really forced…" I turned back to Edgy and cringed. "My bad, Edgy."
"God, just… Call me Sat." Edgy replied in disgust.
"Sat?" I repeated, before shrugging my shoulders. "…Alright, whatever. I'll just assume that's short for something like 'Saturday Jones Jr.', because nobody I've met so far has had a normal name, myself included. Stone Hardacre, by the way, and this is Fifi."
"Not even close." Sat answered. "Sat is all you need to know as far as my name goes, and that's Pikachu. People don't really name their Pokémon where I come from, before you decide to say some stupid and painfully unfunny about that. And where I come from is also none of your business."
"…Yeah, no, you're definitely more of an Edgy than a Sat." I said.
"Whatever, I don't care!" Edgy yelled back. "Can't you just answer a simple question?!"
"Well, I mean, I guess, but that depends, why do you want to know so much?" I asked, folding my arms. "People aren't usually so aggressively angry when they ask about Fifi's whole talking thing."
Edgy took a moment to calm himself down before he gave me a response. "…I'm not being aggressive, you're just aggravating me and making it seem that way. I'm just curious about it, that's all. Same as anyone else, I'm sure."
"…Fine, but you have to stop being such a knob." I said. "I mean, I love annoying overly serious people like you, don't get me wrong, but this is going to get old fast. So, I'll tell you about Fifi and stop fucking around if you cut it out with the whole self-professed badass garbage. Deal? Like, please?"
Edgy stared at me for a good, long while, before finally relenting, letting out a grunt and speaking to me in his actual voice. "…Yeah, alright. But just know this, I still ain't your friend, and I ain't ever gonna be. Got it?"
"Of course, friendship is gross, get it away from me." I replied with an eyeroll, quickly remembering my side of the deal. "Shit, alright, sorry. Well, there's not much to say, really. Like I've told everyone else, I wasn't the one who taught Fifi how to talk, she did that all on her own. Believe me, I was just as shocked as anyone else when I first heard her speak."
Edgy once again narrowed his eyes at me. "You're saying she just up and decided to teach herself how to talk one day, without any outside prompting or help from you or anyone else?"
I nodded. "Yup. You can ask her yourself, she would know better than I do about it, anyways, for obvious reasons. I mean, assuming she wants to talk to you, she's pretty nervous around people she doesn't know, in case you couldn't tell by how she's glued to me.
As Edgy looked at her expectantly, Fifi glanced up at me and let out a sigh. "Well, if you insist. Full or abridged version, Stone?"
"Why would you even ask that?" I replied, drawing a giggle from her.
"Right, silly me." she said, rolling her eyes and smirking before turning back to Edgy. "Basically, I love Stone lots and lots and wanted to be able to express that to him and everyone else, so I learned how to speak so I could do just that. The end!"
Edgy, along with his Pikachu, both stared at Fifi, Edgy slightly slack-jawed, over how simple her answer was. Edgy, predictably, wasn't satisfied with her response.
"Wait a minute, you're telling me you took the time to learn how to speak another language just so you could tell your trainer how much you liked him?"
"Pretty much, yeah!" Fifi said, smiling brightly back at Edgy. "Stone's not just my trainer, though, he's my best friend! He's the best, and he didn't have many people he trusted enough to talk to or hang out with when we met, so I had to make sure he had someone he could do that kind of stuff with like a normal person besides his family."
"I… See…" Edgy said, much more subdued now, almost as if he was another person. "You're saying you didn't know how to talk at all until you met him though, right?"
"That's right…" Fifi replied, regarding Edgy's question curiously. "Isn't that what I just told you, though? I learned to speak solely for Stone's sake. Well, maybe a little bit for my own sake, too, but mostly for Stone, teehee…"
"…Huh. That's… Nice." Edgy replied, somewhat vacantly. He soon snapped back to full attention, regarding both Fifi and me with a look that might actually be mistaken for an emotion other than anger, had it been anyone else. "…And I mean that, really. That you would put so much time and effort into learning something most Pokémon would never even think of and probably aren't even capable of doing for the sake of your trainer, and on your own volition, at that. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been."
"Oh, no, it really wasn't difficult at all. I don't know why everyone assumes it was." Fifi said with a small sigh. "I mean, I already knew what all the words meant, it was just a matter of learning to pronounce them instead of the normal Pokémon noises that just sound like us repeating our names over and over again to the human ear, and all I did was mimic the way Stone and his family and the people on TV talked, it was easy. Honestly, it's a lot harder for me to speak to other Pokémon now, which I'm sure Pikachu can definitely attest to. Once I learned English, I started hearing my normal language in a weird mix of how I always heard it and how people hear it. It's a really weird, self-consciously awkward feeling when you realize you're technically just repeating your name over and over and over again. It was much harder learning how to read and write, but Stone helped me with those things, and once I got down the basics they were pretty simple, too."
Edgy shook his head, seemingly at a loss for words. "Dang… That's… What kind of Pokéball did you catch her with?"
I scratched my head in confusion for a moment at the odd question, before giving him a shrug. "Oh, er, some stupid girly pink one with hearts all over it." I said in slight embarrassment, drawing Fifi's ire. "Fifi picked it out, I was going to just use a regular Pokéball since she's literally never, ever once been in it other than the ten seconds or so she was in it while she got 'captured' and registered to it, but she insisted on it, and, well, there went half a year's allowance on that imported piece of crap."
"Hey, my Pokéball isn't stupid!" Fifi huffed, hands on her hips. "That's the symbol of our bond you're insulting! And besides, It was only so expensive because it's a very special kind of Pokéball, you know that!"
"Uh, y-yeah, Fi, I know…" I said, knowing full well why it was so 'special'. "…You know that's not the way it works, though. You totally misconstrued what the guy at the shop said."
"Think whatever you want, master~." she replied in that annoying sing-songy tone that meant there was no chance of changing her mind on the subject.
"Yeah, whatever, Fi…" I muttered, before turning back to Edgy. "Uh, why do you ask, though?"
"…No particular reason." he stated.
I very quickly shook my head in objection. "Uh, no, that's bullshit, people don't ask questions for no reason."
Sighing heavily, Edgy's expression went back to its normal condescending state. "Okay, I was trying to be nice. What I really meant was, no particular reason that you would understand in the slightest."
I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Gee, thanks ever so much for sparing my delicate little feelings. But uh, I know enough about Pokeballs to realize what the microchips inside them do, dummy. They teach that shit in grade school, you know. Fifi already understood and spoke English way before I got around to registering her, I didn't actually officially 'catch' her until a couple years ago, she'd been with me for years before that."
"What?" Edgy asked, seemingly taken aback by this revelation. His gaze immediately went back to Fifi. "Where did you live before you two met? Were you a wild Pokémon, or were you bred?"
Fifi instantly tensed up, the same way she always did when anyone asked about her life before we met. That… Was a sensitive subject for her, one she was guarded towards even with me, though to be fair, I hadn't ever really made much of an attempt to ask her about it myself. She had told me bits and pieces over the years, and I'm sure she would tell me everything if I actually were to ask her about it up front, but it was obviously something she took no joy in remembering, and so I've never had a desire to ask. And, honestly, just from how I 'met' her alone, I don't think I ever will have a desire to ask, I get too pissed off just thinking about that as it is, I'm not really sure I want to know what she had to go through before that… Regardless, I was about to speak for her as I usually did when the subject came up, but to my surprise, she managed to eke out her own answer to him.
"…I… Don't know. I try not to think about it." she replied softly. "My life before I met Stone was… Unpleasant."
"…Alright. Don't worry about it, in that case." Edgy said after a moment. "Sorry for prying."
"It's okay…" Fifi said, her smile quickly returning. "I've been as happy as a girl can be since then, 'cause it's something I'll never ever have to worry or think about ever again, thanks to Stone."
"Right…" Edgy said, setting his gaze upon me once again. "…Look, I know you probably think I ask too many questions…"
I shrugged. "Not really, me and Fifi are more than used to that. I'm just surprised you've been willing to talk to us at all, I was beginning to think you really were a psychopath."
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it." he said gruffly, attempting to go back to his 'cool' voice and nearly hacking his lungs up in the process. His Pikachu didn't seem too concerned, so eh. "…Urk. Regardless, I can see that you and your Pokémon truly do care deeply for one another, which is good. As previously mentioned, you should trust no one else but her, she's the only one that's going to stick by your side when the going gets really rough. Trust me on this. Those other so-called friends of yours, definitely not. Snakes in the grass, that's what THEY are. Liars. Deceivers. Absolute scum."
"Ah, joy, this shit again." I said dryly as Edgy began to launch into another anti-friendship tirade. "Right, well, I'll keep that in mind, Edgy."
"…Sat."
"Right, that's what I said."
"…You know, in a way, I really do feel sorry for you, kid." Edgy said, shaking his head.
"You know, it's really weird to call someone your own age 'kid', can't we just go back to 'twerp'?" I said, which he completely no-sold. "…Ugh, okay, fine, why do you feel sorry for me, senpai? Because I'm stupid enough to want more than one friend?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm sorry that there's nothing I can say or do to steer you away from the path that I stumbled down myself, the same path that drove me to utter ruin as a person, with only my Pokémon left for me to trust. All I suggest is that you heed my advice, and stick with your Pokémon above anyone and everyone else, no matter how easy it may seem to do otherwise. Whether you listen to me or not, that's up to you, but I already know that you won't." Edgy proceeded to stare intently at me, as if he had just told me something so important that my life depended on it.
"…I liked you way more when you weren't acting stupidly melodramatic. Can you go back to that, please?"
I of course blew him off completely because it was obvious that he was back to being a totally batshit fucking insane lunatic.
"No, that was obviously a mistake." he responded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Pikachu and I have more important things to do than stand around and babble with someone who has no intention of listening to a word I say."
"Hey, I was listening just fine up until you started saying all that weird shit again." I stated. "And as far as that shit goes, you don't have to worry about me in that regard, I place Fifi above everyone else already, nobody's going to come between us or be more important to me than her, so whatever doom and gloom you see in my future, it's wrong."
"…Heh, we'll see how true that turns out to be." was all he replied with.
"…Okay." I said awkwardly, eager to move on and get him off that damn topic. "So anyways, uh, I realize we both seem to annoy the hell out of each other, and you obviously don't want to be, heaven forbid, friends, but can we at least agree to stay on speaking terms as long as we're roommates? Pretty please?"
"Yeah, sure." he said, agreeing surprisingly easily. "Just don't bug me unless it's something important, and I'll give you the same courtesy. Now, if you'll excuse me, for real, this time." Tipping his cap in farewell, Edgy departed for his room, his Pikachu following close behind, after it had finished saying bye to Fifi and me. I soon followed suit, leading Fifi to our own room, where I wasted no time in sprawling out on the surprisingly spacious bed, Fifi plopping down right beside me.
"Man oh man, what a weird fucking day…" I groaned into my pillow, Fifi giggling as she sidled right up next to me, to the point where our noses were touching as I turned around to face her. "F-Feefs, please, personal space…"
"S-Sorry…" she said softly, pushing herself gently away from me, though not as much as I would have liked. "But hey, you shouldn't be surprised, right?"
"About what…?" I asked warily. I mean, jeez, Fi, I know you like being near me, but this is a little too much-
"About having such a 'weird fucking day', silly, what else?" she answered with another giggle. Oh, right… Haha… I'm a dumbass… "I mean, you said it yourself, you're a magnet for this kind of stuff, master."
"Right…" I muttered, shaking my head back into my pillow. I hadn't realized just how exhausted I was until just then… But there was still so much to do… Augh, I just wanted to take a little nap… But Clary would never forgive me if I missed going to that stupid tournament tonight to meet her friends… Bah…
"…Are you alright, master?" Fifi asked, picking up on my less than enthused body language.
"…Yeah, just tired, Fi." I said, smiling and giving her a squeeze.
"Ah." she said, though a frown soon made its way to her face. "Hey, that reminds me though, what were you upset about earlier?"
"Huh?" I asked, knowing instantly what she was alluding to, but feigning ignorance regardless, because fuuuuuck I don't want to have that conversation with her again just so she can tell me I'm awesome and she believes in me and all that goopy crap…
"You know, right after we left the auditorium and you so rudely woke me up." she prodded with a cheeky little smile. "What's-Her-Face asked you if you were okay, and you lied to her and said you were."
"Oh… That?" I said, groaning inwardly at her ease of remembering all the things I don't want her to. "That was nothing, Fi,"
"No, Stone, you can't lie to me, silly." she said calmly, stating the obvious. "I'm not as oblivious as Clary, you know. Please, tell me. Even if you think it's nothing, I want to help if I can."
Augh, Fi… "…Look, it's stupid Fi, really. It's not worth your time or mine."
"Is this about your self-loathing perceived lack of skill again?" she asked immediately. Taking my non-answer as the 'yes' it was, she let out a sigh. "Come on already, Stone, how many times do I have to build you back up? Why can't you just believe in yourself like I do?"
"Because, I…" I bit my lip. I couldn't believe I was having this conversation again, what was wrong with me…?
"Stone, you're not a loser."
…Shut up, Fifi, you don't know anything.
"Don't turn away from me, Stone!"
God damn it, Fifi, just…
"I'm not going to leave you alone, so don't even ask."
…Fucking damn it! "Fine, what is it you want me to say, Fifi? No, I don't have any confidence in myself, why would I?! I almost let you get taken away from me because, what a surprise, we aren't anywhere NEAR strong enough to be here! And it's not your fault, it's mine because I never trained you enough, and then I just assumed we would be fine and everyone would be on our skill level, but holy fucking shit, not at all! You didn't see that fucking video the professor played, did you? That was fucking BRUTAL, Fifi! How the fuck… How the fuck do you expect to be able to stand up to shit like that, you can't! You're horribly outleveled by all these assholes, and I'm horribly incompetent, it'll be just like that asshole said, you're just going to be getting knocked out over and over and over and over again, and I… I can't… I'm not going to allow that to happen… I won't let you get hurt, Fifi."
"Stone…" Fifi began, tugging at my arm to try and get me to turn back around towards her. Failing that, she let out a huff, and began to climb on top of me, forcing me to turn over so that she was sitting bowlegged on my waist, which was only slightly better than on my chest because at least this time I could still breathe a bit. She smiled down at me in her usual carefree way, while I stared in annoyance back up at her. "I can be aggravating too, you know. Remember, I learned from the absolute best, along with the absolute best's siblings. But now, look at me, and tell me, do I look worried or stressed out in any way? Do you think I give two craps about any of that, Stone? No, I don't, because I have no reason to. Of course I'm going to be getting knocked out over and over and over again, silly. You're not some perfect, infallible trainer with flawless strategies, and neither am I an unstoppable beast. I mean, heck, I'm not even fully evolved yet, but hey, neither is Edgy's Pikachu. Did either of them look worried in any way?"
"…I couldn't really tell under all of his smugness, and I can't read Pokémotions very well…" I said, causing Fifi to screw up her face.
"Oh my God Stone, never say Pokémotions ever again." she exclaimed, unable to keep herself from snorting at the sheer awfulness of it regardless. "But the answer is no, Stone, they obviously weren't worried about such stupid things. And you shouldn't be, either. And you know why? Because you have no reason to be, you're not here to become the school champion, or win battle after battle, you're here to improve as a trainer, just like Flint did. He wasn't very good either before he came to LeMasters, remember? But now I can't even scratch a single one of his Pokémon, and he utterly destroys everyone else in town too, because he improved himself as a trainer. But you can't improve at all if you just give up, and that's not going to make me happy, either. After all, how am I supposed to keep you safe if I never grow stronger because you're afraid of letting me get knocked out? Eventually, I'll get stronger and evolve, and then I'll stop getting knocked out, and you won't have to worry about that anymore. But only if you don't chicken out. And I know you won't do that, because you're not a chicken, Stone, you're as far away from that as possible, you're brave and courageous and-"
"O-Okay, okay, enough already Fi, I get your point." I said, unable to take any more of her overly kind, completely false words.
"Good." she said, leaning forwards towards me and giving me that sweet, tender smile that she saved for me and me alone. The kind of smile that you only give to… The one you truly love.
…Fuck… What am I thinking… She doesn't know any better… That's all… It's nothing more…
"…Just remember, Stone. You'll always be my champion, no matter what anyone else says or thinks. Even if you never become any other kind of champion, that will never change. Not now, not ever."
…S-Shit… Th-This is…
"…I know you don't care…" she whispered, her face drawing close enough to mine that I could feel her hot, heavy breath mixing in with my own. She stopped there, however, staring deep into my eyes with her own wet, heavily-lidded ones. I could feel her every breath as she was nearly laying on my chest by this point. We… We were… Breathing in sync again… Heavy, ragged, nearly gasping, but… Perfectly in sync with one another. She continued to just stare for the longest time, and I could see in her eyes… This wasn't platonic… Not even close… This was real… This was true… This was…
This… This was…
…W-Wrong…
I… This can't… I have to…
I shifted my head back ever so slightly, letting out a short, ragged gasp, unable to really do much else, my whole body having gone numb some time ago. For just the most fleeting of moments, I saw something else flash in Fifi's eyes before she shut them tight and pushed herself back, laying her head gently on my chest so that I could no longer see her face.
"…Like I was saying… I know you don't care, Stone… But… I hope I managed to help you feel good about yourself… That's all I want…"
…No… That's not… That's not true, Fifi… I know what you truly want…
…I'm sorry I can't give it to you.
…
Anything to make you happy, Fi…
Anything…
Anything except the one thing you really want.
…
I placed my hands gently on her head and back, unsure of what else to do with them.
"…Y-Yeah, Fi, th-thank you… I feel… M-Much better now… Thanks to you…"
"Of course… Anything for you, master…"
…
…I want to fucking die.
A/N: Why, yes, I am a big enough dick to leave off on this delightfully positive and upbeat note. Hey, on the plus side, I was planning on the next chapter to be part of this one before it ballooned past my 10,000 word per chapter cap, so it might be out sooner rather than later! But I mean, don't count on it. Hopefully it won't take another half a year for a third time, I can't imagine it will. Anyways, I literally just spent the entirely of my one off day writing about 80% of this chapter, like, fifteen fucking hours now. So, that being said, apologies for any particularly shitty writing this chapter, since this is going to be going up with just one editing session and no fresh eyes to make sure any scene doesn't look super weird or fuckawful. But I have work in the morning and don't know when I'll have time to upload this again, and I think I've kept you all waiting long enough as it is.
Also, though, I am definitely going to crosspost this over to AO3 sometime this week for preservation reasons, so anyone with an account over there, be on the lookout to bookmark it in case this goes poof on this site in the future.
Also also, someone made a TvTropes page for this, apparently! Whoever that was, thanks, that's flattering!
Also also also, I need to fucking sleep, Jesus Christ. Have a good night/morning/day, peeps~