Here's chapter 7 :)
I would like to apologize for my stupid mistake in the last chapter about Pokemon's names :/ I don't even know what I was thinking. I even proofread it like a gazillion times :P Oh well... I've hopefully fixed it all now and thanks to the dude that pointed it out :) Hopefully it's all good now
Anyways, enjoy :D
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The storm wasn't subsiding any time soon, that much was clear. Shauna, Calem and I decided to make camp at the Pokémon lab for the night, claiming that the storm was too violent for us to make it to the poke centre. Three mattresses had been laid out across the floor of Professor Sycamore's office for us, and once the Professor had said goodnight, the three of us were alone, in the dim office lit only by a few candles. The power was still out, so we had to go without electricity.
Shauna pretty much immediately said goodnight and snuggled beneath her blankets, after releasing her Fennekin and burying it under the crook of her arm so they could sleep together. Within minutes she was snoring, and Calem and I were left to stare awkwardly at each other.
"Don't worry," Calem whispered, so to not wake Shauna, "I will get that battle from you one of these days."
My cheeks flamed red for some unknown reason. "Ok." I said lamely. Ok? That was the best I could do?
I turned away in embarrassment and tried to make myself look busy by rummaging through my bag. I wasn't looking at him, but I heard him shift behind me. I turned around and saw that he was shimmying beneath the covers of his makeshift bed. I decided to do the same and, since our beds were beside each other, we ended up staring at each other face to face.
"Are you ok, Serena?" he asked softly.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seemed kinda shaken up after the black out." He said, keeping his voice quiet for Shauna.
"Oh," I looked away from his intense grey eyes. "I just don't really like the dark."
Calem smiled, unexpectantly. Only then did I realise that I had never seen him smile so warmly and genuinely. Sure, there were a few sarcastic and indifferent smirks here and there, but this was different. "I don't like it either."
I found myself smiling back at him. He seemed so cool and indifferent to everything before, but now he seemed softer, more approachable.
Maybe it was just because I was getting to know him, but sometimes he seemed like two different people. I thought about him at the poke centre after the forest incident. He had shrugged carrying me to safety off like it was just a job to be done and he couldn't have cared less. And then I thought about him in the street immediately after the blackout. He had seemed genuinely worried about me.
Geez guys are annoying, I thought.
"Hey, Serena?" He said, cutting through my thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"What do you think about coming to a café with me tomorrow? I mean, if the storm has died down. Lumiose has the best cafes." He paused for a moment, examining my face, "Of course you don't have to! I mean, it was just an offer and if you don't want to then I totally get it and I-"
His talking became more and more rapid, but I giggled and he stopped. "What's so funny?" He asked defensively.
I shrugged. "You're getting flustered. You're usually so calm and cool."
His cheeks lit up like beacons.
"But," I said, "I would, um, love to go to a, er, café with you."
Calem smiled brightly. "Great! I mean," he cleared his throat, quieted his volume and dropped his pitch a good few octaves, "That's cool."
I supressed a fit of laughter for Shauna's sake, but giggled quietly.
"Goodnight, Serena." Calem whispered to me. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I smiled. "Goodnight." I replied.
I let my eyes flutter closed. I thought a quick remembrance to a memory, of a long time ago, as I did every night before I slept, and let my drowsiness surround me.
The next morning, I woke to a pair of bright green eyes hovering inches from my face. "Seri!" Shauna squealed and giggled, "Good morning!"
"Shauna?" I asked groggily, "What are you doing on top of me?"
"Waking you up, of course!" She replied cheerily and rolled off of me so I could sit up. And I thought these people couldn't get any weirder. "Oh, and Seri! You should get ready. Today we're going shopping!"
"Shopping?"
An hour later, Shauna had dragged me into some fancy-smancy boutique filled with dresses, skirts, tops and hats. I didn't pay much attention to what Shauna was doing, just following her around and obeying when she ordered me to try something on. I didn't even really pay attention to the clothes I was putting on.
No, I wasn't a huge shopping person. Gasp, shock horror. To be honest, I didn't see what was wrong with my simple red and black dress. I was quite fond of it, actually.
In the end, Shauna picked out a dress, payed for it and ordered me to put it on. I hadn't realised that she was actually going to buy something and I couldn't even remember which dress she had bought. It turned out to be simple enough, and it fit me well. The light yellow fabric flowed around me, highlighting my eyes rather well. It was the perfect yellow too: not too out-there and not too subtle.
She dragged me back onto the street, which was still damp from last night's storm. The Prism Tower was still out and people were gathered around it, gossiping about the gym leader and the Prism Tower being a cheap rip off if it was that easily ruined. None the less, without the tower the city still held a unique beauty.
I was still dazed when Shauna pulled me into a salon, and relayed to the stylist how to do my hair. It all happened so quickly, and before I knew it Shauna and I were standing outside of a small café. "Now remember!" Shauna said excitedly, "No pressure!"
"Huh?" I was overly confused.
And then Calem popped up beside me, scaring me out of my skin. He had a way of sneaking up on me. Things suddenly clicked together and my stomach dropped. Shauna had been getting me ready for a… date?... with Calem.
I knew that I had agreed to this last night, but I didn't expect it to be so soon. I couldn't handle this. My first date. I was so unprepared. I turned to Shauna for help, but she was already backing away. "Good luck, lovebirds!"
Both of our cheeks flamed bright red, but Calem was the first to brush it off. "I'm sorry. I kinda asked her to help set this all up."
"I guessed." I muttered, still stunned.
Calem led me inside the café and a waiter showed us to our table. It was rather pretty, the café, with a modern and clean look. There were barely any people inside, save a few odd couples and a lonesome man in a corner booth reading the newspaper. Calem and I ordered coffee's and were left alone to stare awkwardly at each other.
As time ticked by, we started talking more and more casually and I found myself laughing and, for a moment or two, actually leading the conversation. It was so unlike me and once I realised what I was doing, I seemed to involuntarily shut down, and before long the conversation died off.
We drank our coffee in silence, until we were finished and Calem, looking to break the silence, asked, "So tell me about your parents."
Immediately, I shrank into my seat. My parents…
"My mother is a Rhyhorn racer." I said broadly, hoping that he would leave the conversation as it was.
"What about-" He cut off, looking up from his coffee cup and at my face. My expression must have shown that my parents were a touchy subject, because he let his question die. But I finished it in my head. What about your father?
"My, my," Came an unfamiliar voice, "What do we have here? Professor Sycamore's latest pupils?"
Calem and I looked up to see a man with outrageously red hair, dressed in a suit tinted with red. His expression seemed angry and tense. Calem spoke up on our behalf, "Yes, we are completing the pokedex for him, sir."
The man nodded. "I'm sure you are. Lovely to meet you. My name is Lysandre. A friend of the professor, if you will."
Calem stood and extended his arm. "I'm Calem." He shook Lysandre's hand. "And this here is Serena."
I stood awkwardly and shook his hand. His eyes bored into mine, and when I tried to let go, he grasped my hand tighter. "What is it that drives your ambition, Serena? For me, it is to see a perfect world, devoid of any ugliness. I believe that this world was once beautiful, and still is beautiful. But it is fading."
"Um, I…" I stuttered as awkwardly as I ever had before.
"I sense potential within you, Serena. You know that I am right. You, too, see the beauty of this world and cherish it, don't you? You see the world not in white and black, but with all the shades of grey in between. You see not just happiness and sadness, but all the wonderful emotions in between."
I was shocked into silence. He seemed to be babbling, but I was completely wrapped.
He continued, "You feel not hot and cold, but all the perfect temperatures. You do not feel pain and numbness, but all the feelings of iciness and hollowness."
Iciness? Hollowness? I thought about my encounter in the forest… just thinking about the feeling that had engulfed my entire body sent a chill down my spine. The empty, lonely, hollowness in my heart. The feeling of…
"Death," Lysandre said darkly, "And life. But all of the dimensions within."
I stared at this strange man with wide eyes. How could someone know the feeling of death, and still be alive? Yet, I knew. I had felt its presence three times in my life now. The latest two with my encounters with those glaring red eyes. The first time…
"We should be leaving now." Calem said abruptly, cutting through my thoughts, "We need to get moving to the next town anyways."
Lysandre composed himself. "I do hope we are able to meet again."
With that, Calem mumbled a brief farewell and half-dragged me out of the café. "What a creep." He mumbled as we headed towards the Pokémon lab. "Let's do our best to avoid him from now on."
"Agreed." I murmured, staring at my feet as we walked. Try as I might, I couldn't get his words out of my head. He spoke of beauty, but of life and death at the same time? He must have been losing his mind. I made an effort to discard whatever dark thoughts I had been thinking and focus on my journey… with the new friends that I was making. This was a time for me to get over the past, not dwell on it.
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Thank you for reading my story :3 Hope it's all good so far and not too silly or confusing. But if there's anything wrong with it (or if you think it's just totally awesome) please let me know with a review or even a PM or just follow it... or favorite it. Trust me, I won't complain :3
Thanks for being awesome :DDDD ( no reason, just it a good mood)
