The Acquaintances
This is the eleventh chapter. Boy, this story's taking a long time to finish.
Warning: I will not update for a while. You are warned.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the characters or basically anything in this fanfic. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something.
Lyra stormed into their room on the Magnet Train, studiously ignoring the jeers of her fellow princesses.
"Jeez, Ly. Lighten up a little, will you? You know we don't mean it," Touko said, flopping down on her bunk.
Lyra snorted. "The smirk on your face seems to suggest otherwise, Touko."
"Come on. Just think, Lyra. Silver's a guy, he's cute, he's of high social status, he obviously likes you—"
"—Shut up—"
"—why wouldn't you be happy? We're happy for you," Misty stated, struggling to keep the goofy grin off her face.
"Of course," Lyra deadpanned. "Which is totally why you're teasing me to hell right now."
May pouted. "Aw, you know that's just our way of celebrating everything. You do it too, like it or not."
"Besides," Dawn added, "You can't exactly pretend you're not happy about it either. Just look: You won a contest, looked great in it, and Silver kissed you, this time without Solidad and Harley egging him on. We even get to tease you. Really, it's a win-win."
Lyra groaned. "You know, Dawn, sometimes you're really smart, albeit with twisted logic, and sometimes you're just a happy-go-lucky egghead. It's confusing."
"Hey!" Dawn smacked Lyra over the head with a pillow. "What do you mean, egghead?"
Misty sighed. "Calm down, people. Look, tomorrow we have a day off, since we get off in Slateport day after tomorrow. We can argue later, alright? It's, like, eleven, and I want to sleep already."
Touko put a slender finger to her chin. "Fine with me. By the way, Mist, I've been meaning to ask: The route to Dewford is a water route, right? So how is the Magnet Train able to cross from Rustboro to Dewford to Slateport?"
Misty let out a relieved breath at the change of topic. "Well, the Magnet Train goes underground. The water around Dewford is shallow enough to dig a trench for the train to pass through. Consequently, the trench was dug with the best technology at the time, so the Magnet Train moves much faster their, which is why we were able to get all the way from Rustboro to Dewford in one night. We're stopping for a bit on the way to Slateport so the conductor can pay respect to the Abandoned Ship. It's tradition to pay your respects when you pass through the area. It's also why there's a day between Dewford and Slateport. We're not getting off, but it's a nice opportunity to sleep in and relax."
(A.N. I did extensive research on the geography of Hoenn to write that paragraph. Meaning, serebii, bulbapedia, and google images.)
"W-wait. We're underwater?" Lyra looked like she was about to hyperventilate. "I can almost feel an asthma attack coming on…"
May giggled. "Relax, Ly. The whole thing is expertly ventilated. The fact that you haven't died yet must allude to something, right?"
Lyra let her shoulders down. "I guess. How about we just sleep? I need to take my mind off what Misty said for a while."
Misty grinned. "'Kay. You guys get ready for bed. I'm gonna go…shower!"
Misty ducked behind the door of the bathroom, locking it securely shut. Five minutes later, she emerged to a barrage of pillows and angry voices, throwing herself onto her bunk.
May was the closest to the bathroom at this point, and quickly took Misty's place.
This continued for about twenty-five minutes, before all the girls were securely in bed.
Touko emerged from out under the covers the next morning, the room in semi-darkness with the closed curtains and the lack of sunlight.
"Huh. We must be deeper underground than before. Or maybe I just didn't notice…" Touko mumbled, hooking her legs onto the bunk ladder and lowering herself down to the ground. Just then, a sharp knock sounded at the door, waking the other girls. Dawn walked to the door, still groggy from sleep, and opened the door to find no other than Barry standing there, overenthusiastic as always, and far too awake for Dawn's liking.
"Hey, Dawn! I found this awesome greenhouse last night. You wanna come?"
Greenhouse? Dawn wondered. Oh, it must be the one N took Touko to…sure, why not?
Dawn rubbed her eyes and nodded, signaling to Barry to wait a sec.
"Hurry up! If you don't come out soon, I'm fining you!"
The other four princesses exchanged curious glances; they were pretty sure it should've been Paul at the door, not Barry. Oh well, more jealous candy for Paul then…
Dawn slid into a form-fitting silver sweater that reached down to just above her knees, sleeves hugging her slim arms, fishnet leggings, ankle boots, and Paul's charm bracelet, letting her hair tumble down in navy curls. Brushing her teeth, Dawn splashed icy water on her face, before stepping out into the hallway.
"Okay—let's go!" Dawn said cheerfully, unaware of a dark silhouette watching her from further down the hallway.
Paul watched the shining silver form of Dawn walk off with Barry. He sighed. At least she was wearing his charm bracelet…
Twenty minutes later, the other four girls trooped out of their room towards their favourite breakfast parlour—the place with the strawberry frozen ice cream. Getting their, they found Paul and Ash sitting at one of the tables. Ash was loudly arguing about how he could totally 'wipe the floor' with Paul in a Pokemon battle, while Paul sat there, silently ignoring Ash and eating his toast.
Finally, Ash yelled, loud enough for the whole place to hear:
"I challenge you to a battle!"
Paul looked up from his toast and stood up without a word, walking out with Ash. On his way out, he stopped by Misty for a second and whispered a question in Misty's ear. She giggled and whispered back.
Touko smoothed the collar of her crisp blouse, before turning to Misty. "What did he ask you?"
Misty grinned like a Cheshire cat. "What Dawn's favourite colour was."
The other three simultaneously squealed with glee.
"I told him violet of course," Misty added, sounding superior, "But we'll still have to wait and see what he gets her…"
Giggling, all three girls sat down. Misty rolled up the sleeves of her gray hoodie.
"We'll have the hash browns, please. No ketchup, yeah. And a plate of orange slices, thanks," Misty told the waiter.
May leaned forward in her seat. "Hey, I'm feeling girly today. So…what do you say we get our nails done? There's a professional nail stylist here."
Lyra's eyes grew wide. "Really? That's awesome! We should really go!"
Misty inspected her cuticles. "Well, I don't see why not. We don't have anything else to do, after all."
Touko shrugged. "Sure. It sounds like fun, for sure."
"Great!" May grinned. "Let's go right after breakfast!"
The girls exited the nail salon at sunset, admiring their professionally done nails.
Touko's were painted a brilliant shade of scarlet, highlighting the sharp points of her long nails. She had opted out of any designs, preferring instead to let the popping red speak for itself. Coincidentally, the red matched the colour of her skinny jeans perfectly.
Misty had gotten hers done in apple green, an elegant crab apple flower white-nail-pencilled onto each nail, with two on her thumbs.
Instead of painting her nails, May had gotten a simple French manicure, her nails shining with a soft sheen. Now, they gleamed under the lights.
Lyra's nails were done in a glittery gradient of turquoise to white, her nails filed down short. The bold glitter contrasted perfectly with her delicate frame.
They'd ordered room service—tacos and milkshakes—and were sitting in front of the TV watching Wheel of Fortune and sipping their drinks when Dawn stepped in, saying goodbye to Barry. Upon seeing the girls' beautiful nails, she screeched.
"NOT FAIR!"
Dawn soon calmed down, however, and was eating her own taco (Barry having been enough of a doofus to not buy her dinner), when the door opened and Paul stepped in. Dawn turned her head and her face split into a grin when she saw the amethyst earrings Paul was holding.
"Paul! You—you didn't have to! Ohmaigawd, this is awesome!" Dawn took the earrings from Paul, beaming bright enough to light up the whole train. She hugged Paul, who stood there awkwardly—but was that a blush?
"I am so wearing these tomorrow! Thanks so much!" Dawn cried. Paul managed a gruff "no problem" before exiting the room, leaving Dawn to flop down on her bunk in happiness.
So. This is done, and centered on Ikarishipping, because it's the easiest to write for me. This is such a filler it's not even funny. Oh, and my 'r' key is kind of stuck, so excuse any weird misspellings you might find. 'Kay. Bye!
