Chapter 10- Visit Round the World
At long last, a good gym leader meeting! The brothers had been yearning for one to get over their problems with Cress after all, their disdain for his wedding was being far too open these days and they can no longer veil it at all. Even if he wasn't married yet, it seemed like he already was- love sick, obsessing over Fantina so much so even she felt she needed space; which was rare. The only thing ever talked about was their wedding, which annoyed them too much. Soon even other leaders stayed away from Cress, but Elesa and Skyla stuck with it, being far too excited and giving him advice on females.
"Say Cress, I am so excited for the wedding! We are invited, aren't we?" Skyla asked excitedly. Cress burst into laughter. "Of course you are! You guys are my best friends, am I not right?" he answered joyfully. The girls then started talking again, much to Cilan and Chilli's displeasure.
Meanwhile, Fantina was busy in the villa, staying with her friends for a while. It had been long since she was with them and they were dying to know of Cress.
"Fantina how is your husband? Is he a nice guy?" Maylene asked.
"Is he rich?" Byron asked.
"Is he handsome?" Candice gushed.
"Is he smart?" Roark asked.
"Is he famous?" Gardenia asked.
Fantina just smiled. "Mes amis, my husband is everything you say he is! He is very, very handsome, fairly famous with his friends and extremely rich. He owns a restaurant!" she replied. Then she turned to Roark. "Oh he is smarter than all of us- he even defeated me in a match!" Roark gulped- how strong was this guy? Fantina then asked "You did say you wanted to see a museum, non?" Roark enthusiastically nodded. Byron wasn't pleased. "Come on, Roark, now?" he moaned. Fantina then said "Byron, don't worry; I'll take him! My husband knows these streets like the back of his hand!" Candice grew hopeful. "That means you'll introduce us to him?!" she asked hopefully. Fantina smiled. "Sorry, no. Not until my wedding day." She said to a now disappointed Candice.
"Let me call him for directions, fine by you?" Fantina asked Roark, who was nodding frivolously and impatiently.
The phone rang midst talking and then Cress picked it up and smiled "Bonjour, mon amour! What makes you call at such an hour?" he answered jovially. Fantina was a little flushed. "Are you busy? Je suis desolee! I never knew!" she exclaimed. "Not really, I'm afraid!" he laughed. "It's lunch time." Fantina smiled. "Cress, mon ami- I have a favour to ask of you." She said softly. "Oui?" Cress replied. "My friend is dying to see the Nacrene museum; he is an aspiring palaeontologist and a very skilled miner. Could you tell me where is it?" she inquired. Cress smiled. "It's very easy. You are along Driftveil City, right?" he replied. Fantina grunted in approval. "So just pass through Driftveil, go downwards towards Nimbasa and take a car from there to Nacrene, they'll gladly do so! If you don't want that, my friend knows of a great Rapidash carriage you can use." He answered. "It's right near the Cold Storage." Fantina was glad. "Merci be coup mon amour!" she replied. Then Cress spoke dreamily "Oh darling! Why are you so far away?" Fantina was surprised. "Because if I stay too long with you, you'll be bored! We have our married lives to look forward to, non?" she answered. "Still! I really want to see you soon!" he replied still dreamy. She laughed. "Oui, oui. But that will be much later! Au revoir!" and then she cut just after Cress wished her too. Then she called Roark and they went inside the carriage while the others waved.
While inside, Roark seemed a little fidgety about something. Fantina turned to him and asked "What's the matter, mon ami?" Roark looked at her for a few seconds but then backed away. Fantina cajoled him a little and then he said "Oh, alright. There is something." He mumbled. "Speak." Roark looked at her and then asked her "You know, I was just wondering... How come you want to get married so soon? I mean, usually people take over 4, 5 years to accept, but you are getting married in just a year!" Fantina smiled and answered "That's because I know my husband very well! And I love him!" Roark was still fidgety. "But the other guy- you said that you love him and then... that happened! I'm sorry for bringing it up, but" Fantina cut him off saying "Roark; I thought I felt the same way too. Juan and I were very close. I loved his manners and charm, but that was all I could see. I knew him for 8 years and then we married, but it was too late- all I could ever see in him was that, no warmth, no compassion, no feeling. I wish I realised this later, but I did not. This new boy, he may be very young; but I see more in him than just a pretty face. I see love, I see compassion, I see so much more in him than anyone see. The facts are facts, I love him and he loves me. Nothing can ever change that."
Then she explained to a very interested Roark "As youngsters, we tend to see appearance alone. This was done primarily so that the children who are born from this are healthy and beautiful, what every person wants; since caveman's time. As we get older and wiser, we realised appearances are not everything. The longer you live with someone, the less you care about looks. You start caring about heart, soul and how kind he person is. That matters the most no matter what. Just remember that." Roark seemed really convinced by the idea and his curiosity for Fantina's new husband just grew. Then Fantina saw him fluster a bit. "Something wrong? Vous allez bien?" Roark would have tried dismissing it off, but then said "It's not much, but yeah- it means a lot." Fantina looked confused. Roark blushed even harder and then turning to her in pure embarrassment confessed "Fantina thanks so much for the advice. It's going to be real helpful, especially now. That's because - I know that you're the last person to know, but I'm engaged!" He then showed off his ring to her and it was of pure, solid gold with a little obsidian engraving on it saying in broken Latin "Serenitas est Libertas" meaning 'serenity is liberty'.
She was gobsmacked and then hugged Roark. "Oh merveille! Congratulations! Felicitations, mon ami!" she gushed as she hugged the now scarlet Roark who was seemingly dying in her squeeze. Then, when she let go of him she asked "Who is the lucky lady?" Roark blushed even harder. "It is Gardenia." He shyly replied, only to be hugged even harder by Fantina which almost crushed his lungs. "Felicitations, mon ami! She is a lovely girl, I'm sure you will do really well as a couple!" she congratulated and then stayed this way until they reached.
"My husband told me this is very hard to miss." She said when helping Roark out of the carriage. After wandering around bit, they found it. "Ah, Nacrene Archaeology Museum! This is it, Roark! Let's go in-" she was cut off when Roark literally dragged her inside and he almost fainted with joy when he saw everything inside- it was a fossil addict's heaven! There was so much to see over there!
Everything was well preserved and stored and there was so much- an Aerodactyl skeleton, cool stones, gems of rarities, pink diamonds, tablets of old civilisations and the best part- collections of many different kinds of fossils round the world! There were them all- root, claw, helix, everything! Roark almost drooled on everything- so much did he love fossils! Then, a shy man walked up to Fantina and then gawked in surprise.
"You're Fantina, right? I absolutely love your shows, they are so amazing! Can I have an autograph please?" he asked. Fantina gladly signed it and then he introduced himself. "I am Hawes, co-owner and founder of the museum. Would you like me to show you round?" Fantina smiled. "Actually, my friend Roark is here to see the place. It's beautiful, but I have brought him here to see it, he's been dying for so long!" she replied.
"He looks very smart. Is he a miner?" Hawes asked.
Fantina brought him near and said "Actually, he is an aspiring palaeontologist! He can read old scripts fairly well and can recognise and mine out fossils very well. He'd love to know more about this place!" Hawes' eyes shined. "I will show him to my wife right away!" then he called Roark and beckoned him to go after him for an important cause. Fantina agreed to just wait there. After a few minutes, she saw Roark racing to her and almost fainting in her arms. "Roark, mon ami? What is the matter?" she inquired. Roark was sweating and almost crying when he saw Fantina. He hugged her hard much to the other visitors' surprise. "Thank you, Fantina! Thank you! You have no idea what I've been asked to do!" he screamed in joy. Fantina signalled her interest.
"Lenora, the main archaeologist has asked me o do a whole course of palaeontology and archaeology under her! Isn't that amazing!?" Roark blurted. Fantina grinned. "You deserve it, mon ami. But for how long?" "Three months!" he replied. Fantina was surprised. "Can you do it in only that much of time? I did hear she is expecting a baby..." she asked. Roark nodded enthusiastically. Then Fantina nodded. "Okay. Go and do it with your all! But make sure to tell Gardenia!" Roark then ran off but before going, he shouted across "That will start in May, not now!" Fantina just smiled and left along with telling him "Call me if you need it!"
When Fantina left, she was suddenly approached by a little girl who asked her "Are you Miss Fantina, the famous contest lady?" Fantina nodded and the girl suddenly struck up a cute conversation. Then with a sudden urge, the girl insisted that she see her family and then told her that she wanted to know more about ghost pokemon too. Of course, being this way- Fantina accepted and went with her.
Meanwhile, Cress was busy with hearing about the meeting with Alder and his retirement due to age. Of course, he did not look very old, but he was talking about 'giving the young 'uns a chance' which Cress did follow a little.
After that was over, Elesa and Skyla walked home with Cress while the others diverged. "So, Cress! Alder is retiring! What a pity! I mean, he is so energetic and full of life!" Elesa moaned. "Yet another guy is retiring. That is so unfair!" Skyla moaned. Cress sighed. This was going too far. Then Elesa turned to him. "Fantina will be busy, you say?" she inquired. Cress nodded. Skyla then asked him "Cress, you were talking so much about your wedding, but the only thing you never told us is- when is it?" Cress face palmed. They were going to give it to him, real bad.
"You look a little nervous. Is something wrong?" Elesa asked him. Cress said nothing. "Let's just go home. Rather, why not eat at a cafe?" he suggested. "Cress, we just ate lunch!" Skyla answered. "Well, I'm still hungry!" he moaned. "Oh alright- let's just find a private place to talk, okay?" he snapped. Then he looked at the two girls and said "Fine, I'll tell you. Please do not hate me for this." The girls looked at each other and then nodded.
"Okay, here goes. I'm getting married on October 15th!"
The girls then slapped him. "What's for?" he yelled.
"You moron!" they screamed. "That's the day Alder is going to inaugurate all the new leaders and you have to be there!..."