Chapter 10: A Date?
"I'll tell you what Cleffa that girl is stubborn as a Tauros and a skull thicker than Marowak's!" Tom vents his frustrations. While he says all this he realizes that this pretty much applies to both Tia and Misty. He sighs, "I need a drink. Let's get some tea at the cafe." Tom suggests making Cleffa cheer. He could complain all he wanted, but the weather at least left him in high spirits. The two head to a quaint little café that sat near a small river.
They walk into the café and take in the soothing atmosphere. Tom orders a cup of tea and a small glass of juice for Cleffa. He takes his seat and watches the water from the river sparkle in the morning sun. The light shines in on him making his eyes and hair to shimmer. He stares with a distant look in his eyes. He is so wrapped in a nostalgic feeling that he fails to notice a few girls checking him out and whispering to each other. His attention is pulled when he sees a small figure running up to him. He looks down and spots a Happiny.
"Well look who it is," he smiles and picks him up. "So where's Anna this time?" Tom playfully speaks to Happiny.
"Happiny!" Tom hears a girl's voice come from the other end of the café, a voice he's all too familiar with. Anna runs up and notices who is holding him. "Tom?"
"Hey," he smiles and returns her Pokemon, "Care join us?" He chuckles and waves a hand at an empty chair invitingly.
A couple minutes pass and the waitress brings them their drinks. Cleffa drinks from a small bent straw joyfully. After a small elegant sip Tom looks back up at her. "Honestly didn't expect to run into you again so soon." He is pleasantly surprised and happy to be in friendly company.
"Same here, with everything going on with that Team Rocket I thought it'd be best if stayed in Cerulean for a couple days. Saffron's completely shut off down south of here." She tells him. This surprises Tom a great deal. "But enough about that," she laughs cautiously trying to change the subject to a much lighter topic.
"Yeah, so I was meaning to ask. How has your journey gone?" He politely takes an interest in her adventures thus far.
"Good, I spent a while travelling through the Sinnoh region collecting all the badges and challenging the league." She humbly admits. "Although, I quickly realized I didn't want to be a trainer, so I traveled to Hoenn to try to be a coordinator. Not the best idea in the world for a girl with two left feet." She laughs, making Tom laugh at her joke as well. "So now I'm exploring Kanto, because I found out that I want to be a breeder." She smiles warmly at her Happiny.
"Sounds like you've had a lot of experience in the past." Tom is happy to see someone his own age is just as worldly as he is. "Me, I'm just a researcher." He jokes. "I've spent a lot of my time away from home and travelling to all the different regions." He thinks about all the many adventures he's had and all the Pokemon he's met. "The highlight was when I was able to study with Professor Samuel Oak and Mr. Pokemon themselves." He says with great enthusiasm. "That's when I hatched this cutie." He coos and tickles Cleffa.
Anna's eye suddenly widen like something just hit her like a ton of bricks. "No way, how didn't I see it before?" She says out loud drawing his attention.
"What's up?" He tilts his head in confused.
She quickly scrambles and digs into her bag before she pulls out an old issue of Pokemon Monthly. On it was a picture of Professor Oak, Mr. Pokemon, and a slightly younger Tom holding his Cleffa. "I've read your article at least 100 times." She says adamantly. "Your article is the reason I wanted to be a breeder." She says trying not to sound like a raving fan girl.
"I'm flattered, but it wasn't really much." He says humbly.
"What do you mean it took up five pages? It's amazing!" She exclaims before quickly regaining her composure. "I'm sorry, it's just I always wanted to meet." She blushes wildly and averts her gaze.
Tom thinks for a moment and finishes off his tea. He stands up which catches her off guard. He extends a hand down, "Here, let's go somewhere more private to talk." He pleasantly takes her trembling hand. They both walk out side by side and head to the pier beyond the Nugget Bridge.
"I'm sorry about before." She looks at her bright red face as she looks out at the water.
"Don't be, honestly I'm surprised I have a fan." He chuckles as he stares off at the water with the same distant look as before.
"A fan, yeah... I guess I'm a fan." She looks down almost disappointed.
Tom looks at her reflecting in the water and sigh, "You're a great girl in all..." This catches her attention and makes her look back over at him.
"Th...Thank you..." Her voice trails off as she continues to blush wildly.
"I'm sorry, the reason I came back to Kanto was because I had a girlfriend, but I messed things up and now I want to try and make them right again." He says knowing that this probably won't make her feel any better.
"I see..." She says giving off the slightest bit of disappoint she is desperately trying to conceal. "I guess I should have imagined it would be too good to be true." She says mournfully.
"Don't feel bad, you'll find some guy. A girl as pretty as you are will have no problem getting whatever guy you want." He tries cheering her up, but quickly realizes that approach only works when someone is consoling a friend; not someone who is harboring a crush. "Here, I'll be right back."
A couple moments later he walks up with two ice cream cones. "I hope you like Vanilla." He smiles with his infectious, toothy grin and offers it to her. They take their seats on a bench nearby and continue to gaze out at the crystal clear waters.
"I'm sorry I put you in this awkward position." Anna apologizes.
"It's fine, again I'm flattered." Tom is more cheerful about this situation which makes her smile again.
"I've never had a boyfriend before, so I guess I just had a crush on you figuring we'd never meet in real life. You know, like how every girl has some celebrity crush that they know they'll never have a chance with." She finally laughs feeling silly looking at it in retrospect.
"I know what you mean. I had a crush like that once." He smiles nostalgically.
"Really, who?" She laughs almost not believing it.
"That's a secret." He winks just to tease her.
"Hey, that's not fair. I told you so it's only fair you tell me." She pretends to pout and jokes back with a childlike argument.
"Fine," He finally gives in and takes a deep breath and leans in close to her ear. He whispers near silently into Anna's ear and feels a little relieved to have said it.
"Seriously?" She asks in shock and more than a little surprised. "No offense, but why her?" She didn't want to question Tom's taste, but the lady in question definitely had a bit of a reputation about her.
"She's a great trainer, and only two years older than me. I remember the first time I saw her battle; it was before I started my journey. I was with my dad at a Pokemon League conference and she was with the former gym leader. Eventually, she had a chance to battle some other trainer and the way she fought was amazing. I'd never seen anymore command Pokemon with such calm vigor." He himself begins to realize he is acting like an obsessed fan boy. "Sorry, I was rambling." He rubs the back of his head awkwardly and eats the last of his ice cream.
Anna shakes her head, "You're fine; I know that feeling. Like Butterfree in your stomach." She laughs and swallows her ice cream as well. "Well, I guess I shouldn't bother you any further." She stands up.
Tom relaxingly stands up as well. "Hey, it's fine. You're not bothering me at all." He tries to make her feel better; hoping she doesn't think she's feeling like a pest.
She shakes her head once more, "It's fine; I need to get going anyways. I hope you have good luck making up with your girlfriend." She says happily without jealousy.
"Thanks, and good luck to you too." He smiles.
Before she walks off she swallows hard and approaches him. "If it doesn't work out, please call me." She says almost desperately while trying not to shake like a leaf. "Maybe... maybe then we could have a second date." She smiles gently making Tom realize.
"Tea, Cerulean pier, and ice cream. Yeah, that's about an average Cerulean City date." He laughs trying not to feel bad for himself or her.
She looks into his eye as he meets her gaze she silently leans forward. In that very moment he could have stopped it, but he could feel it. Her emotions: desire, jealous, and heartache. He knew for her sake that it was okay. She gently lays her lips on his as he caresses her cheek tenderly. He knew he owed her at least this much. The kiss lasts a few fleeting seconds, but feels like an eternity in her mind. Once they separate her face had a flash of bright red on her soft cheeks. Looking back at Tom he wasn't mad or surprised. His soft green eyes said everything. He looked very happy and that's all she needed. She quickly walks away leaving him to turn back to the water which shimmering like crystals.
"I'm sorry..." He whispers to himself as he pulls a photo from a couple years back. He just smiles with a blank stare and puts in back in his pocket.
We finally have a bit more of a Tom-centric chapter this week and learn a bit more about his past. I also really enjoying writing Anna's character. Thank you all for reading and please feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts or comments on the series.