AN: I know I incorporate Red eating a lot in the story, but I'm playing up to his character. It's been a while since writing the chapters up until 15 at this point, so I have to skim through to see if I have to explain anything. So far, nothing in this chapter. I hope you enjoy!
I gasped. What was he doing here? Where was Alder?
"What the hell are you doing here, Ghetsis? And where's Alder? You have no business being here."
"Ah, being rude, even after I got you your Pokémon back. What a pity. You really know nothing of manners. Your champion is out caring for a sick Pokémon. Needless to say your intrusion isn't very admirable. What would Alder say?"
I'm beginning to wonder why I haven't turned this guy in yet.
"Your champion is coming through the door."
I turned around to see Alder coming through the door with a Tranquill in his arms. I spun to lock onto Ghetsis, but he wasn't there. That's why I haven't turned him in yet. He's so elusive. I ran over to Alder.
"Alder, what happened?"
"I found this Tranquill in Undella Bay. It was hurt in your Pokémon's storm."
So he heard about how I caught it.
"Will it be fine?"
"Yes, but it needs to recover. Why are you here?"
"Red wants to pitch you an idea. Go ahead, Red."
Red nearly hesitated but finally spoke.
"Well, it would be really great if there could be a trainer scheduling session. That's where trainers, gym leaders, and Elite Four members from all around the different regions come together and have battles, contests, and even work together to solve problems. You get to meet all sorts of trainers and see different perspectives. Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"Well, I do like the sound of that. It sounds like fun. You should develop the idea a bit more, and bring up an itinerary. Formulate everything and times and dates and then come back to me with this. You're onto something, Red. It's a pleasure to finally meet you sir."
"Oh, the pleasure's all mine! Would you care if I sat with you and talked some things over?"
"I don't see why not. It would certainly give me something to do."
Red's Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder. I decided to leave those two to talking. As soon as I left the building, I ran into a familiar face. N. A million questions ran through my mind. What's the surprise? Was he alright? Was he ready for a relationship? Those were just a few main questions. What on Earth is he doing here? I hid behind a bush and watched him for a bit. He met with a blue-haired girl who I automatically assumed to be an ace-trainer.
"Marianna, I really like you. I don't mean some petty like-like ordeal, but a love for you. I think about nothing but you. You're always on my mind, just like something else…"
"I love you too, N"
She smiled a sweet smile. It set me off edge.
"Marianna."
He got down on one knee.
"You and I have known each other for a while now, and there's something I'm scared to ask but know I must do it now, or never. Will you marry me?"
"Yes! I will definitely, my beloved N!"
I turned away at this. My heart literally dropped along with tears. I didn't even know what to think about this. Has N been lying this whole time? I confessed to him how I felt and he said he felt the same but couldn't be with me, but now this? Him proposing to someone else? Apparently I mean nothing to him. Am I over-reacting? Frankly, I don't care. I ran off towards Opelucid City, still crying. On Route 10, I met up with Red again.
"Sephyr? Are you ok?"
"No! I'm a train wreck and I don't know what to do."
I was swallowing my salty tears. How could this happen? Once I came-to, I found myself in an embrace with Red. I could tell he wasn't just being sympathetic, but he truly felt bad for me. I felt myself involuntarily pull into his face, and as I was nearing touching his lips with mine, I stopped. I didn't only stop the kiss, but I stopped the hug. What was I doing? Just because the guy I love likes someone else doesn't mean I should go for another Champion. Not to mention the fact I haven't even known this guy for long anyway. I could see the subtle hurt in his expression. It wasn't for me breaking it apart, but it was because I was upset.
"Hey, Sephyr? Wanna get some food? Food normally solves all my problems."
Apparently it does… I'm surprised he isn't fat. Maybe he has a high metabolism.
"Sure, Red."
"Well, you'll have to guide since I am not a native of Unova. Just make it somewhere decent!"
Well this lad doesn't want much. "Druddigon's Diner" is the best eatery in Opelucid. We got our seats and were prompted to order. Red went first.
"I would like five roasted chicken sandwiches, three large ranch fries, two huge potato pancakes, 3 Super Gulps, and a hot-fudge sundae."
I placed my meek order.
"I would like 2 of your chicken strips please, and a large Mountain Dew."
"Would that be all, m'lady?"
"Yes, sir, that would be. Thank you."
And with that he left. N suddenly reappeared in my mind. I could not get that whole scene out of my head. I'm a fun girl. N gets along with me fine. What does that Marianna girl have that I don't? I'm not normally the jealous type but when someone messes with your "man"…
"Sephyr?"
I snapped out of my trance and reawakened.
"Sorry, Red."
After a few minutes of waiting, our food arrived. Red began digging in, quite literally, but I repressed my eagerness to munch. Not only am I not the type to be jealous, but I'm not the type to eat away my problems. I poked at my tenders for a few minutes, then dipped them in ranch dressing and devoured them. I saw Red eyeing my sweet roll, nearly drooling.
"Hey, you gonna eat that?"
And as soon as he asked, he swiped it. I had no time to answer, but I didn't care. I needed to cheer up.
"Hey Red, I thought you were going to talk some things over with Alder?"
"Yeah, I was going to but he was a little busy so I came here to eat but ran into a distraught you, and my plans with Alder kind of deflated. I'm not gonna let you be upset. Why were you that way anyway?"
I stayed silent.
"Long story?"
You don't know the half of it. I just nodded, and he promptly dropped the subject when I brought a new, lighter topic up.
"So Red, are you rich or something? You eat a ton of food. Not to mention you're not fat…"
"Well, being Champion for a while pays, you know. I can afford to eat like I do for a while, though I need to cut back, I agree. As for why I'm not fat, I work out and my metabolism is rather high. What about you? You barely eat anything. That can't be healthy."
"I eat what I need to and splurge on special occasions. Speaking of, isn't the whole Elesa-Nimbasa thing tomorrow?"
"Oh sh-"
He stopped cursing and most likely started it up again in his head. He grabbed for his bag and brought out what looked like Pokégear from the Johto region. He started flipping through pages of what seemed to be memos.
"Yeah… How did I forget something like that? We need to get to Nimbasa Town tonight so we can book a hotel before the events tomorrow."
"A hotel?"
"When there are these big events, camping isn't a good idea. Thieves will get the best of you."
"I dunno what kinda people you have in Kanto but people in Unova are generally nice and wouldn't steal."
"As far as you know but it'd be safer to just book a room."
I finally agreed to what he said, and he was right. You don't know what kind of people will come to these things. They usually appear around big events in movies because many clues point to different people and things get hectic. We packed up all our stuff, which wasn't a lot, and hopped on another subway to get to Nimbasa Town. It took a while but we managed to get back by 8:45 pm. We ran to the nearest hotel because it had started raining. We booked a nice room that was on the second floor. We decided to just rest for the night. We had a long day ahead of us.
