Chapter 8: Mega-in-law
This is the last day we will sleep on Lumiose City. Tomorrow in the afternoon we will go to Laverre City. I'm very excited about moving on to a different place, but at the same time, I know I will miss Lumiose City. This place is great, it has everything! And I'm sure there are many more places we haven't seen yet, maybe Giles will take us to see the rest of the city some other day… Although we aren't here for tourism, we are trying to find someone. I'm so amazed by the fact of traveling through Kalos that sometimes I can't help but leave the real reason of our trip in the back of my mind!
But anyway, today we are going to another café and Giles has told us that this one is very different from the one we visited yesterday. It's Café Soleil, located in the South Boulevard. Giles says that this place is often visited by renowned people and that's why it's deemed one of the most famous places in the city. We came here with a taxi a little while ago and now we are heading for the establishment.
I definitely can tell we are on a high class area, as we approach the café I notice how most of the people is very well dressed and walk with an air of superiority surrounding them. Like this one woman who just passed us, she walked like if she was on a catwalk or something. Almost everyone on this part of the city seems to be that kind of person who could allow themselves to use their bills as napkins. Sometimes I wish I could do that!
"Look, we arrived!" Giles announces as we stop in front of a red door. There are two huge windows at either side of the door. I take a quick look before we enter.
The floor is covered on white tiles and the walls are painted in a beige color. Expensive looking wooden panels cover the lower half of the walls and a few wall lights are distributed on the upper half of them. The furniture also looks pretty expensive; I'm dying to sit down on one of those couches. They look so comfortable! And speaking of the couches, I notice something or rather, someone, who soon catches my attention.
As we enter the bar, I take a discreet glance at her. She's a middle aged woman who is wearing a long, black trench coat and a pamela of the same color. The lady is reading a book and there's a Gardevoir sitting beside her. I don't know why, but I feel I have seen this woman somewhere else.
"It's Diantha!" Giles tries to contain a gasp.
"Really?" I ask trying to believe it. We are in the same room as Diantha, the awesome actress! My mother is her number one fan! Now this is something she will be glad to hear about.
"Yes, really." Steven says with a smile as he approaches Diantha. Does he know her? Maybe he is going to ask her for an autograph!
Steven clears his throat once he is in front of Diantha. Immediately, she looks up and notices Steven. A big smile appears on Diantha's face. It looks like they do know each other! Did I possibly miss something?
"Oh dear!" Diantha exclaims as she puts her book aside and gets up to give Steven a big hug.
"What's going on?" Giles is probably as puzzled as I am.
"Please, come here!" Steven gestures us to come closer.
I can't believe I'm this close to a celebrity such as Diantha! Judging Giles's expression, he is also surprised about the events unfolding in front of us.
"I think it's time to make some introductions. Emily, Giles, I'm sure you know Diantha because of her work as an actress, but there is something more to her. She is my mother!" Steven looks at us, waiting for our reactions.
Now that I think about it, there are quite a few striking similarities between them, like their eyes and nose. I never thought that they could be related! This is probably one of these things I would have never considered. That explains why he told me she was living in Kalos due to her job! I wish he had told me who his mother is before.
"Miss Diantha! I knew you had a son, but I had no idea it was him." Giles can't stop looking alternatively at both Steven and Diantha.
"You don't need to call me a Miss; you can address me as tú! By the way, what's your name?" Diantha has a very calm and polite demeanor; she looks even prettier in person!
"My name is Giles and this is-" Giles is interrupted.
"Emily, I know! Steven has talked so much about you. I'm very happy to get to see you in the flesh!" She approaches me and offers her hand for a handshake, which I correspond. Her hands are incredibly soft but, what did I expect from a superstar like her?
This just feels so surreal, I just found out that a very famous actress is my mother-in-law and not only that, but my mom is a big fan of her! I really want to tell her right now. Guess what? That's exactly what I'm going to do!
"Diantha, could you please make me a little big favor?" I ask feeling a great respect. I never thought I would have this woman as my in-law!
"Sure! What it is, an autograph?" She says cheerfully, I believe she is joking around a bit with the autograph part.
"More or less. I want you to talk with someone on the phone!" I make a little pause, observing her reaction. She doesn't seem to mind. "You see, my mom is a great fan of yours, I would say she is in fact your number one fan! And since we just discovered that we have some ties… I thought it would be great if you were the one giving her the news. You know, if you don't mind!"
"Of course dear! I don't mind doing that, giving a little surprise to a fan is always nice, especially if she is also a part of the family!"
"Great! Wait a second please, I'll get her number." With a quick gesture, I grab the mobile phone from my bag and I open the phone's agenda. It doesn't take me too long until I find my mom's number. I press "Call" and I hand the phone over to Diantha.
She is now waiting for a response. Mom won't hesitate to answer; she picks up the phone almost immediately when dad or I call her.
"…?"
"Hello! Are you Emily's mother?"
"…"
"Good! Can you recognize my voice?"
"…!"
"So, do you know who I am?"
"OF COURSE I DO, NOW I REALIZED!" Now mom is talking so loudly we can hear her, she sure got excited!
"I'm glad you do!" Diantha covers the phone's microphone. "By the way Emily, what's your mother's name?"
"Claire."
"Okay!" Now she uncovers the microphone, ready to talk to mom again. "So, Claire, I'm here with your daughter and her travelling companions. There's a very important thing you should know."
"Good but first… GREG, I'M TALKING TO DIANTHA ON THE PHONE! Hold up, my husband is coming!" It looks like dad is going to get the news too!
"Sure! Don't worry, I don't mind waiting" From Diantha's expression, I can tell she is having fun with this!
"WOW! ARE YOU REALLY DIANTHA?" Dad's voice can be heard easily too. "TELL ME, ARE YOU GOING TO FILM ANY NEW MOVIES SOON?"
"No, unfortunately not, I'm currently busy with other projects. But I think I might get an offer very soon!"
"WELL THAT'S TOO BAD. DID YOU KNOW THAT MY WIFE IS YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN? SHE ALWAYS SAYS THAT YOU DID AN AMAZING JOB ON 'ONE WILD OAK'!"
"That's very nice to hear! I had so much fun while working on that movie. Now if you will excuse me, could you give the phone back to your wife, please?"
"SURE THING!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT? MY HUSBAND IS ALSO YOUR FAN, ALTHOUGH I DOUBT ANYONE CAN BE MORE OF A FAN THAN I AM! BY THE WAY, WHAT WAS THAT THING THAT YOU WANTED TO TELL ME?"
"Well, you'll see, I'm actually the mother of one of your daughter's travelling partners. I believe you know him already." Diantha looks in Steven's direction and smiles.
"NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Just as expected!
"No, I'm not. I'm Steven's mother!"
"BUT THAT'S SO AWESOME! MY FAVORITE ACTRESS IS ALSO THE MOTHER OF MY SON-IN-LAW! PLEASE GIVE THE PHONE TO MY DAUGHTER."
"Okay! It was a pleasure talking to you."
"SAME HERE!"
Diantha gives the phone back to me and I put it on my ear. "And well, what do you think of the news?" I ask amusedly.
"They are great news, indeed! I would have never expected that!" Her voice is so loud it's making my ear itch! "Well darling, I have to hang up. Be safe out there, okay? And tell Diantha I said hi again!"
"Wait, why are you going to hang up already?" I was expecting to be able to talk a bit more with her.
"Because I have to tell everyone! I HAVE TO TELL EVERYONE THAT YOU HAVE DIANTHA AS YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" And just like that, she hangs up.
I take a look at the gang, obviously, they have heard everything.
"So, uh… Yeah, that just happened and stuff." Giles tries to spark a conversation again.
"It's always nice to meet such an enthusiastic fan." Diantha giggles. "Now, I want to ask something. What does bring the three of you to Kalos?"
"It's a pretty upsetting story. You know that big collection of rocks I own?" Steven has a serious expression as he talks about it.
"Of course! You would call me whenever you found something new. What's the matter?"
"Well, a few days ago several things started disappearing around Hoenn and unfortunately, my rocks were among those things."
"Oh dear, that's terrible!" She gives Steven a hug. After a couple of seconds, she separates from him. "Do you know who did it?" Diantha suddenly opens her eyes wide. "Wait, what do you mean with 'several things'? What else did the thief took away?"
"I think Giles will explain the rest of the story better than me". Steven steps back a bit, as if he was retiring himself from the conversation to give the floor to Giles.
He clears his throat before starting with his account of the story. "We are not facing a simple thief; we are dealing with a pokémon, a very intelligent one. Did you ever hear about Hoopa?"
Diantha makes a gesture that reminds me a lot of Steven as she thinks about that name. "I believe I heard that before. Isn't that the pokémon which is said to have a secret hideout where it stores all of the things it steals?"
"Exactly! That pokémon took your son's rocks away. But not only that, it also made the Prism Tower at Mauville City disappear as well as several missiles from Mossdeep City's space center." Diantha encourages Giles to continue nodding her head. "And a few islands randomly appeared around the region as well. As you can see, that pokémon had quite a lot of fun!"
"So you all came here in search of those missing items?" Diantha looks concerned.
"Exactly." Steven talks again. "Emily and I met Giles the same day I found out what that sneaky pokémon did to my rocks and he proposed us to come to Kalos so we can try to find Hoopa and convince it to return those objects to where they belong."
"I see… If I can help with something, don't hesitate to tell me!" Diantha looks back at her Gardevoir, who is reading the same book her trainer was reading not too long ago. Now she looks back at us and stares at my left wrist. "Wait, is that a mega bracelet?"
"Yes, it is! Your son gave it to me long ago."
"I see…" She smirks as if something crossed her mind right this moment. "Are you carrying with you any pokémon able to mega evolve?"
"Yeah! My Sceptile, Trevor, and my Gardevoir, Berry." What will her intentions be? Now I'm pretty intrigued!
"That's perfect! Wait a second, dear." She walks towards the couch where she was sitting and opens her bag. After a bit of rummaging, she comes back holding a pink bow with a stone embedded in the middle. "This, dear, is a Gardevoirite. You can give it to your Berry so she mega evolves just like my Gardevoir."
"Oh, so you use mega evolution too?" I ask, now understanding that face she made moments before.
"Yes! Gardevoir is my trusty partner and we have been able to achieve mega evolution for a long time now."
"Also, there's something you probably don't know about Diantha! She is this region's…!" Giles is interrupted by a somewhat stern glance from Diantha. "She is great!"
"I just had a little idea, but you can refuse if you want to. What do you think of having a battle against me? Your mega Gardevoir against mine." She has a very determined look in her eyes.
I don't know what to say. It's been so long since the last time I had a serious battle! The last one was against Steven, and there are the practice battles I had at the Ranger School. I don't think I will be able to keep up with her, but I can always try!
"Alright! We will have that battle." I concede. "But I think I should warn you that my battle skills are probably not the best. Still, I know I can trust my pokémon!"
"Of course! We are just going to do it for fun, there's nothing at stake." She smiles reassuringly, I think both Berry and I will have a very good time battling them!
"Now I don't know who I should be rooting for!" Steven scratches the back of his head.
"Me neither, it's a pretty big dilemma." Giles also seems to have a hard time deciding.
"How about you just enjoy the battle? I don't mind who you guys will root for!" I say with a smile, making clear that this is just for fun, like Diantha said.
"Exactly, we are just going to have a friendly battle. All you have to do is watch and enjoy." Now Diantha turns around and gestures her Gardevoir to follow her. "I'm going to pay for my coffee and we will head outside!"
As Diantha and her pokémon approach the bar, all I have on my mind is the fact that we are going to have this battle on the street for everyone to see. Since Diantha is a very famous woman, I'm sure lots of people will gather around us. I wonder if that will affect our pokémon, what if that makes them feel uncomfortable? I already know that Berry is not a shy pokémon; I don't think she will mind. But what about Diantha's Gardevoir? Since her trainer is so famous, I guess she is used to being surrounded by people. Aah, I know this is supposed to be fun, but I'm feeling a bit anxious all of sudden. It's almost like being a rookie all over again!
"I'm ready, let's go!" Diantha exclaims as we head to the door.
It looks like people has a radar for celebrities because as soon as we step out of the café, a small bunch of people turn around to look at us, recognizing Diantha instantly. That huge pamela can't hide her identity so easily!
"Look, it's Diantha!"
"Oh, what a great surprise! Please, sign me an autograph!"
Diantha waves to the small multitude, which is progressively getting a bit bigger "I'm sorry, but I'm not able to attend you right now. However, you can watch the battle I'm about to have with this young lady!"
People quickly turn their attention to me, but their eyes go back to Diantha almost as fast as lightning. Taking advantage of that, I grab from my bag the pokéball containing Berry and I release her, which causes uproar among the crowd.
"She has a Gardevoir too!"
"Wow, what a copycat!"
Of course, I ignore these comments. "Berry, we are going to have a battle against a Gardevoir, just like you! Now I'm going to put this in your hair, it will make you mega evolve just like Trevor, Cloudia and Alyx." She doesn't complain as I place the bow on her hair, which looks adorable on her. I take a look at Diantha to let her know that I'm ready and she nods in response.
"Alright, we won't hold back! But first, is this place fine with you?" We are right in front of the café, in the middle of the sidewalk. I hope people won't have too much trouble passing by…
"Yes, it is. Should we start already?"
"Of course! Let's mega evolve our pokémon first, let's see who has the strongest bond. Gardevoir, mega evolve!" All the people around us go crazy now that they realized that they are about to witness a match of mega evolutions.
"Berry, we can't fall behind them, mega evolve!" Now we are officially on the same level. The crowd is now a symphony of "Ooh"s and "Aah"s as the bright lights that come from the process of mega evolution envelope us. After a couple of seconds, the light disappears and the new forms of our Gardevoir are revealed.
They look like princesses! Now their hair is slightly longer and has a different shape, just like their masks, which are now longer and pointier. Their gown has also changed, now being wider; it looks like they are ready for a royal dance or something! But what catches my attention the most is that the red spike they had in the center of their chest has now divided into two, almost as if it opened. Now it's time to see how they do in battle!
"Time to start with the battle! I will concede you the first move!" Diantha looks pretty confident; it's more than probable that she has a trick up her sleeve or something.
"Thank you!" This suddenly feels a bit awkward, but I can't allow that to be evident, I don't want Berry to think that I don't trust her when the truth is entirely different! "Berry, let's start this with thunderbolt!" The horns on Berry's chest sparkle with electricity and a dazzling yellow beam is projected towards Diantha's Gardevoir, but…
"Dodge it!" I almost have no time to see where the rival Gardevoir is going, she moves very fast and very gracefully. "Shadow ball!" Again, this catches both Berry and I by surprise. We can barely do anything because the black ball of energy quickly reaches Berry, sending her a few meters back. That was a super effective hit! I knew Diantha had something in mind…
"Don't worry Berry, this battle just started and it can be ours!" With those words, she gets back up and comes levitating to where she was moments ago. "Now strike with moonblast!" Berry raises her arms, gathering an orb of pink energy between her hands. When it's big enough, she fires it towards Diantha's Gardevoir. I watch as the pokémon is impacted by the orb, but it barely does anything to her compared to what her shadow ball did to Berry. Aside from the fact that this moonblast is not a super effective move, it's more than clear than the other Gardevoir is pretty powerful… But mine has nothing to envy.
"That's not bad, not bad at all!" Diantha compliments. "Psychic!" Her Gardevoir's eyes glow light blue and at the same time, an aura of the same color surrounds Berry. Diantha nods and Gardevoir starts trashing Berry around, absolutely toying with her. What kind of pokémon is this? It's almost like if I was fighting a Champion or something of an equal caliber! "Enough!" And just like that, Gardevoir finally releases Berry.
"Berry, let's try with thunderbolt again, go!" Just like before, a ball of electricity gathers in front of her chest. In the blink of an eye, she fires a powerful beam of electricity towards her opponent, who is knocked down to the ground. We can put up a fight too!
"Gardevoir, are you alright?" Diantha asks as her pokémon goes back to standing up and nods, that makes the actress sigh in relief. "Shadow ball, again!" This time, the Gardevoir forms a barrage of black balls and she fires them at Berry, one after the other.
"Dodge them!" It takes Berry a bit to react, but she is able to get out of the way of the first shadow ball just in time. Now she just levitates and moves from one side to another, pretty much like the other Gardevoir did. Berry is a graceful princess too! "Now attack with moonblast!" An orb of pink energy forms between Berry's hands. Now she throws it straight to her rival, who seems to receive a bit more of damage than before.
"I knew Berry was strong too! Gardevoir, retaliate with thunderbolt!" Just like in Berry's case, an orb of electricity gathers in front of the horns of Gardevoir's chest. The pokémon closes her eyes just before letting the orb go. The electricity surrounds Berry for a moment before shocking her and forcing her to fall to the ground, overwhelmed by the impact of the energy.
"Berry, use psychic now!" She has a bit of a hard time getting up, that thunderbolt has left her pretty weakened, but not enough where she can't continue. She still can do this! And the look on her opponent is more than a good proof, she looks pretty upset as the blue aura surrounding her makes her unable to do her own thing. With a signal from me, Berry starts doing with her rival what she did to her before. She throws her around as Diantha watches with a calm demeanor. I know she has an idea yet again! "Enough!" Berry drops Gardevoir abruptly, the later complains as she hits the ground. Now Diantha's Gardevoir is weakened too!
"Moonblast!" But that doesn't mean that she can't fire powerful attacks. As she lifts her arms, a ball of pink energy gathers in between her hands. Now Gardevoir throws at Berry her attack, which sends my pokémon to the ground. Despite not being too effective, it looks like it has done a decent amount of damage.
"Berry, let's go with another thunderbolt!" With difficulty, Berry gets up and gets ready to fire her attack as, again, an orb of yellow electricity forms in front of the red horns in her chest. As she fires it, it looks like Diantha decides to make her Gardevoir get a move as well.
"Use thunderbolt too!" Quickly, Gardevoir attends to her trainer's command and fires a ball of electricity as well, which collides with the one thrown by Berry. I watch how Gardevoir's attack overpowers Berry's and goes straight to my pokémon. A small cloud of dust raises and as soon as it's gone, I discover that Berry has fainted. I should have known that the battle would end with us being defeated. Still, I know both Berry and I had lots of fun! "You did a great job, Berry, now it's time to rest." I say as I withdraw her into her pokéball.
The people watching us can be heard cheering fervently, since the trainer they were rooting for has won the match. "That was a very entertaining battle!" Diantha approaches me with her hand extended.
Of course, I reciprocate the handshake. "I can say the same! It has been so long since the last time I had such a fun battle…" And that was when I battled Steven.
"I'm very happy you accepted to battle with us. Now, if you will allow me, I have something else to tell you…" Diantha looks from side to side, as if she didn't want the other people to hear what she is about to say. "You know, actually my son and I have something else in common aside from being related. We are both the Champions of our regions!"
I open my eyes wide as I try to process what I just heard. I can't avoid looking at Steven, silently asking for an explanation. He just looks at me, mildly amused. Giles is not surprised at all, so he knew all along! Well of course he knew, why wouldn't he know who the Champion of his region is?
"Well, you know, that is not really a surprise." I'm not lying either, I figured she is a strong trainer. "I could tell from the way your pokémon battles!"
"Yes, but it's not only because of that. It's also because both I and my Gardevoir know each other very well. I can feel the same with you and Berry too! The way you treated her as we were battling says a lot." Diantha smiles warmly, but suddenly she seems to realize something. "Oh dear, I just remembered! I have to be at Jaune Plaza in half an hour for a photoshot!"
"Really? I wanted you to spend more time with us." Steven approaches his mother to give her a hug.
"I know Steven; I want to be with you people for a bit more! But I can't miss that, my manager would be very angry if I did." Diantha answers as she returns the hug. After a bit, she walks away from Steven and approaches me. "I will say this again, it was great battling you. I hope we meet each other soon." This time she hugs me too. For some reason this catches me off guard, I really should get used to the idea that this widely recognized actress is my mother-in-law!
"Same here, I had lots of fun and you are also a very pleasant person. If your obligations don't keep you too busy, will you drop by some day to visit us?" I ask.
"Of course! I'll call Steven as soon as I'm available." Diantha says with a smile as she walks towards Giles. "I know we didn't talk too much, but you look like a great person. Please, take good care of my son and daughter-in-law!"
"No worries Madame, I sure will!" Giles looks flattered after receiving such a compliment from Diantha, which is more than understandable.
"Okay, now I have to leave. Take care and also, Steven, give your dad greetings from me!" Diantha waves goodbye at us.
"I will, mother. Please take care as well!" Steven answers waving goodbye too. We all wave goodbye to Diantha as she walks further from us and yes, she is still looking at us. She is also saying goodbye to the multiple fans who gathered to watch our battle.
This has been pretty entertaining for our penultimate day on Lumiose City!
