authors note:
hey folks back on schedule again! i managed to finish most of this in one long 6 hour writing spree. pros are that it's done and i can work on other stuff for the month, cons are that my eyes hurt and im burning the candle at both ends. argg!
anyways the chapter title is from bloom by gain! i hope you all enjoy...
Well, shaking that strange encounter off, I walked further into the Bird's Nest, lead by the crummy signs. The silence and lack of people around me allowed me to stew over what just happened to me.
How did that man know my partner's names? Who was he? A son of a Chinese diplomat? No. If he was one, he would've talked to me in Chinese. He had addressed me in English, clean and almost unaccented, nothing major that could be used as a regional identifier. Was he schooled in America? England? How did he know my friend's names? Why did he choose to travel with me instead of someone else? Why me? Why? Why? Why?
I slide down the the bleached white columns of the Nest, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. Varaha looks up at me with concern lacing his eyes, dark ears flat against his skull. Peeking at him, I watch as he walks close and puts his paw on my knee, rubbing it softly. A smile grows weakly on my face.
"Why does all this weird stuff happen to me, huh?" I ask him, and his ears perk up.
Varaha shrugs his shoulders, before placing his hand on my knee again. I laugh and shake my head, and run my fingers through my hair, trying to adjust it. I'm deciding on whether to move my hair behind my ear or not, when two dress shoes clunk down in front of me. They are soon followed by four more pairs, and I sigh angrily.
"Who's the hot girl?" A male voice, with a irritatingly posh American accent. My eyes glance up, and I look over the man in front of me. He looks shockingly generic, so much so that it irritates the hell out of me. Pale, square face, baby blue eyes that always seemed to be wide, thin lips, and blonde, sideswept hair that reaches to his ears. I roll my eyes, and keep silent.
"Looks like one of the Chinese trainers." Another man says, from what I can see of him, he has dark hair and pale skin. However, the blonde's body is covering the other man's face and upper torso.
"You think she speaks English?"
"Probably not, that lady at the front couldn't speak it to save her life," The blonde laughs, before jumping off the deep end into full racism. "'We so happy to have you here for celebration."
It was very tempting to respond or tell them to scram, but I was silent, refusing to fall for their taunts. It was so typical, the broken English shit. And they were doing it even in fucking China! It was very tempting to start talking to them in Chinese and then mock their piss-poor attempt at the language. But, I don't want to get a reputation for being a hot head trainer with no control over my temper. And, as I look over their forms, I can see a luxury ball on each of the boy's waists, all black with a red band on the top of the capsule. Anyone who could shell out that kind of money for a fancy pokeball could probably sue me for damages if I break their nose. Another reason to stay silent, leaning against the pale column and rubbing my eyes.
"Hey," A pair of fingers snap by my ear, and I flinch, looking up at the blonde man, who is narrowing his eyes at me. Distantly, I hear Varaha stamping his foot in rage. "You speak English?"
I roll my eyes, and my mind is just starting to generate a snarky comeback, when I hear the voice of the one person who I didn't want to come save me.
"Leave her alone."
It's the mystery man, back again it seems, Rugaru snarling by his side, cracking its white, furry knuckles. The group of boys visibly step back, but I can see on their faces that they are not about to budge, staring angrily at the sudden intruder. I groan loudly, and shove my head into my hands, before looking up again.
"Why should we? Not our fault your girlfriend over here isn't answering us."
"That's because you're harassing her." He says, adjusting his glasses with his index finger. "So leave her alone."
"You wanna fight or something?" One of the men sneers, pulling out one of his pokeballs. With a flash of red, a sneasel lands on the concrete floor with a scratching of nails, and it snarls loudly. I watch Rugaru hunch over and growl back, fangs glinting visibly. No fucking way. They're seriously going to fight over me!? Doesn't this shit only happen in stupid romance movies? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to continue on my watch.
"Yifei!" I shouted in Chinese, releasing the bear pokemon. Yifei snorts, and looks at me with a curious expression, shoot in her mouth spinning somewhat. I point to the mystery man, who seems to engrossed in his petty little battle, crossing his arms with two fingers pushing his dark glasses up. "Pick him up and let's get out of here." The other boys have noticed the gigantic bear pokemon towering above them by now, backing away with shock written across their faces.
Yifei nods, and walks over to the mystery man, who is still not paying attention, even with Yifei's loud booming footsteps. With a heave, Yifei grabs the mystery man and slings him across her shoulder, ignoring his feet kicking her back as she lumbers away, Rugaru following, but not attempting to attack Yifei, just curious. Before I leave, I turn to the pack of stunned boys who were mocking me earlier, giving them the worst stare I can manage.
"See you at the ceremony." I grumble, and ran towards Yifei. As I round the corner into the next room, another gigantic hall with the same bleached walls and floors and organically round columns reaching to the ceiling, any humor or good feeling leaves me. I gestured to Yifei to put the mystery man down, and she sets him down on his feet very gently. The man immediately wobbles on his legs, and decides to sit down, an expression of confusion and shock on his face.
I take a deep breath in, rubbing the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger.
"The fuck was that all about?" I ask, crossing my arms. The mystery man blinks a few times in surprise, before frowning at me.
"What do you mean?" The man replies, brushing off his jacket. Rugaru bends down with him, sniffing at his face, before glancing at Varaha with a smile. The pig pokemon growls softly under his breath.
"You know what the fuck I'm talking about!" I yell angrily, stamping my foot. "Why'd you get involved my business, huh? And why'd you come back in the first place? Weren't we supposed to meet at the airport?"
"You were being harassed by those drooling pigs!" He shouts, visibly indignant. "You should be thanking me for standing up for you!"
"Are you crazy?" I retort, running my hands through my hair in a nervous tic. Varaha is glaring angrily at the two. "Did you see the pokeballs they had? Those were custom made pokeballs, which cost thousands of dollars, even millions! Imagine if you won, and they sued you for 'damages to their pokemon', man!"
The mystery man averts his eyes, deep in thought. I can see his jaw clench near painfully, and he fiddles with his hands. I sniff, before groaning in exhaustion and clasping my hands together.
"Listen," I lean in towards him, staring angrily at him. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, with your 'invading my life' shtick, but if you're going to travel with me, you're not going to be a fucking enigma. I don't look for that in guys, and it's not gonna make us friends. Who the hell are you?"
"Kim Sung-won." He hisses, and I nod, still frowning.
"Where are you from?"
"Macau. Like your mother."
"Alright, buster. Next question. Why me?"
"Well, you're the daughter of Thomas Jones!" Sung-won exclaims in a somewhat forced tone, a flash of light in his eyes. Rugaru is lapping away at his face. "Who wouldn't want to travel with you?"
I eye him with suspicion. Either he's clinically obsessed with me, or he has some sort of ulterior motives behind traveling with me. I'm betting on the latter. Still, I play along with his game.
"Stop holding me up on a pedestal." I snap, scrunching up my nose somewhat. "I'm not a genius, ace trainer who can find and successfully train mewtwo. You and I, we're not so different, in terms of skill level.
Sung-won's face tightens and mouth opens, as if he's about to say something to me, before he shuts his mouth quickly. Varaha glares at the red dog pokemon, who is approaching him again, a toothy smile on his face.
"I understand." He says softly, averting his eyes. He plays with the hem of his jacket worriedly.
"I'm not saying you can't travel with me, well, I still have to decide that... But if you do, you have to view me as a normal person, not the great Marie Jones, who can throw a knife into heaven and can kill with a stare! Alright?"
"Alright." Sung-won says, looking away awkwardly. He stands up, wobbling on his two legs, and Yifei steadies him with one of her gigantic paws. Sung-won nods up at Yifei, who just rolls her eyes, and steps away before I call out to him.
"Also, you're going to the ceremony with me." I bark, and his eyes go wide, and he stands still. "No ifs, no buts."
"What!?" Sung-won exclaims, looking taken aback. "Why?"
"Because I need to get to know you." I simply reply, and Sung-won groans and rolls his eyes.
Rummaging through my purse, I let Jessica out, who just looked up at me and grinned. My hand stopped at Nina's pokeball, and I debated with myself on letting her out. On one hand, everyone else's pokemon would be out, but on the other hand, Nina could get someone seriously sick. I didn't want that on my conscience, so I kept her in her pokeball, for now.
The two of us walk down the halls, Sung-won hunching over and sulking, and me still tripping over my shoes. I almost fall once, stumbling to the ground before Yifei manages to catch me.
"Thanks." I whisper, and Yifei nods, a hint of a smile on her face. Finally, I manage to hobble to the dining hall door, marked with another purple paper sign crudely put up. Gripping the copper handles, I retrieve Yifei after taking a good look at the door, heave it open, and peer inside.
The room is a bright white, with dark flooring and a large painting of the Chinese countryside hung on one of the walls, with a gilded frame. There are a long line of tables with a large arrays of food on plates or bowls, nothing I can see from the entrance. People of all sorts swarm around the table with paper plates in their hands, chattering amongst themselves, with their pokemon surrounding them. Music blasted through the hall, an old and familiar K-pop song playing loudly.
"'I'm not a little girl anymore,'" I sang along near silently, scanning the room for my friends, parents, and Guk-hyang. "'Don't hesitate any longer, as much as you've waited-'"
I was interrupted by Seon-hyang slamming herself into my ribs, ripping the air from my lungs. I wheeze painfully as the shorter girl pulls me into her embrace, snuggling into my chest. I realize too late that part of my chest is bare, as Seon-hyang rubs her face against said bare skin. She feels soft and smooth, not like a fabric but something entirely unique and wonderful, and her face has a gentle warmth to it, like clothes out of the dryer. Despite my attempts to resist my urges, I lean into her touch ever so subtly. I hear Jessica squeal excitedly through the blood swarming in my ears.
"Where were you?!" She exclaims, looking up at me with wide eyes. "We were waiting for you for so long!"
"I'm sorry," I say, ruffling her dark hair with the hand not busy holding her to my chest. "I got caught up in a big mess while walking here, so I couldn't come right away." Seon-hyang visibly flinches at the word 'mess'.
"Was it…" She asks, her eyes wide and face pale. "Another one?"
"No, no." I waved my hand, and Seon-hyang relaxed. "Just a bunch of idiots harassing me. No biggie."
"'No biggie,'" Seon-hyang repeats with a smile, before pointing at Sung-won. "Who's this?"
"This is Sung-won." I grin, and Sung-won does a little half bow to greet her. "He's from Macau, and might be joining us on our journey."
"Oh!" Seon-hyang says politely in English, with a hint of shyness. "Nice to meet you, I am Lee Junghwa."
"Nice to meet you as well," Sung-won smiles. "I think I'm gonna get some food from the tables up ahead, see you two later!"
We wave as Sung-won and his dog pokemon walk away, into the crowd of people, and I swear I see Varaha wiping his forehead in relief. Seon-hyang stays silent for a few minutes, before she whips her head towards me.
"What happened?" Seon-hyang asks in Korean, her eyebrows curved upwards. "How'd you meet him?"
"He just went up to me and told me he was going to travel with us!" I whisper urgently to her, making sure that we can't be overheard. "I have no idea what his deal is! And he knows your name, your real name!"
Seon-hyang's eyes widen, and she goes pale again. I card a hand through her hair and rub her scalp, trying to calm her down. Jessica wobbles over to her and looks up, a tearful expression upon her face.
"I-I don't think he's one of them, though." I say, narrowing my eyes and looking over at him. Sung-won is silently piling food onto his plate, other trainers staring intently at him. "He doesn't act like them. If he was one, he wouldn't have saved me from being harassed by a bunch of other delegates."
"So, what is he then?"
"Someone with ulterior motives. He's in this for something. God knows for what." I babble, rubbing my face with sweaty palms. "Don't tell the others, okay? I don't want to burden them with our suspicions. Just between you and me."
"Okay." Seon-hyang nods, and I catch a glint of, what I think is pride, in her expression. She tugs on my hand, and leads me forward, towards the buffet tables. As we get in line, white paper plates in hand, Seon-hyang turns to me, frowning.
"I don't know what half of this stuff is." She grumbles angrily, looking at a plate of what appeared to be a French cassoulet with tomatoes and sausages.
"Well, It's foods from other delegate's countries," I explain, putting some Peking duck on my plate. "A lot of them are very homesick right now."
"Are you?"
"Mmm, a little," I say absentmindedly. "Been too busy with all this to feel too homesick."
Seon-hyang frowns at me, before her eyes catch on a plate of bulgogi and lettuce, with a glass bowl of napa cabbage kimchi on the side. She eagerly scoops it onto her plate, humming happily to herself. I smile at her excitement, but deep down, a part of me wonders if she's excited because beef, or any meat rather, is still a treat to her.
After I grab a can of coke from a cooler underneath the last table, we walk over to my parents. My mother is smiling down at a hunched over Guk-hyang, watching the teenager chow down on what looked to be kung pao chicken. My father was grinning and chatting up a short, very familiar 30-or-so year old man dressed in a navy blue suit, tan skin and dark hair, with a pikachu perched on his shoulder. Standing by the man's side, is a pale young woman, dirty blonde hair to her round chin, dressed in a dark turtleneck dress. Seon-hyang instantly slinks her arm around mine as we walk forward, Varaha sniffing to himself.
"Finally, she arrives!" My dad crows, causing the Lee's (hidden behind my dad) and the others to turn to me. "What happened?"
"Some kids tried to battle me," I shrug, crossing my arms. "I managed to weasel my way out of it… Sorry for the wait."
"No problem kiddo," My dad waves me off, before turning to the man by his side, who smiles at me as my dad whacks him on the back. "Hey... don't you remember Satoshi?"
"I do!" I exclaim, and reach my hand out to shake his. His pikachu gives me a death glare, a slight hum of electricity coming from his cheek pads. "It's been forever since I've seen you! How's life been?"
"Oh it's been good, it's been good," Satoshi says, running his hands through his hair. He grins at me, tapping my chin. "You've gotten so big! You were only up to my knees when I last saw you!"
I giggle shyly, flushing a soft pink. Seon-hyang holds me tighter than before, and I follow her gaze to see her glaring at Sung-won, chatting up some girls. He's avoiding me. I turn away before I can overthink it.
"Are you going to challenge the Chinese league?" I ask, as Jessica clings to my leg, glaring at the pikachu.
"Nope! I already have my hands full in France," Satoshi grins, nudging the blonde woman with his elbow. "I'm done with professional training for now."
"Finally settling down, are you?" My dad joked, grinning wildly. "So, is this the lucky girl, huh? Congratulations!"
"Y'know, it's weird seeing the 15 year old snotty kid you traveled with grow up," My dad reminisces, holding his hand to his scruffy chin. He turns to Satoshi's girlfriend. "Is he still a little brat?"
His girlfriend laughs, but doesn't give an answer.
The two old friends laugh loudly and tell jokes from their time traveling together, but I'm too busy shoveling food into my mouth to care at this point. I feel eyes looking at me again, and I turn to spot Sung-won staring at me, with an uncomfortable intensity. I rub my neck and look away, trying to focus on something else. Guk-hyang is scowling at me, with dark eyes narrowed, Seon-hyang is happily chowing down on her dinner, my coke in her hand. Yeong-mi and Joon-ho look bored out of their skulls, Yeong-mi kneeling on the floor and Joon-ho leaning against the wall, and I slipped past my father to stand in front of them.
"Bored?" I ask, and Joon-ho nods, rubbing at his eyes. Ggwek-ggwek is sitting by his feet, sharing a biscuit with the little scraggy.
"How long until the opening ceremony?" Yeong-mi asks, rubbing at her eyes blearily.
"Another few minutes or so, I think." I reply, rubbing my chin thoughtfully.
Sure enough, as soon as I say that, one of the league officials, a short woman in her 30s with long dark hair, dressed in a bright white suit, gets our attention, and announces that the opening ceremonies will start very soon and we need to go to our dressing rooms right now to prepare for the Parade of Nations. I retrieve my pokemon and wave to my parents as the countries present form into groups. Another attendant, this time a younger man, leads us toward our dressing rooms, which is down a few floors. Out of the corner of my eye and through a window, I see Sung-won leaving the building, Rugaru by his side, and I frown.
When we reach the basement, the attendant leading us down turns to us and lays out the ground rules for the walk. No running, no intermingling between nations, and only one pokemon can be out per person. Pretty basic stuff. After that, we walk towards the dressing rooms, where another attendant informs me that they were only able to secure 3 dressing rooms for us, and that two of us will have to share. We all immediately agree that Seon-hyang and I will share rooms, and the woman hands us each our Team Canada uniforms. Seon-hyang actually seems excited about the arrangement as we walk into our room, smiling and holding my hand tight.
The dressing room is pretty small for one inside a former Olympic stadium, all light wood, with a large oval shaped mirror and desk. A magenta couch leans against one wall, and a mini fridge sits beside it, humming softly. Upon the desk are two pairs of red flats, one for the two of us I suppose. There's a radio on the ceiling, now playing "Hotel California" by the Eagles instead of K-Pop. I briefly wonder if there's music for each of the over 100 countries here, but shake it off. It's pointless. I step into the room and kick off my heels, sighing at the feeling of being able to walk again. Seon-hyang runs to the couch and curls up on it, removing her heels
After a five-minute struggle, I manage to to unhook my dress without assistance and slip out of it, the red fabric piling on the floor. I stare at it solemnly, thinking about how I wasted 20 minutes walking in uncomfortable shoes and a nice dress to have to change them in the end. I sighed and got myself dressed. After I was done, I peeked at myself in the mirror. The uniform was kind of nice, white shirt, dark pants, with a red blazer on top. After a little more preening, I felt somewhat satisfied by the way I was looking, and turned to face Seon-hyang. She had changed out of her dress while I was looking away, and was now staring at me with an interested look. Seon-hyang looked very attractive in the uniform, the red blazer giving her a very mature look, and I tried my best not to blush or look too obvious.
Suddenly, she smiles warmly, dark eyes crinkling.
"There's a maple leaf on your back!" Seon-hyang points, and I twist and turn to try to get a good look at it. I could barely see it, but it was white, the same one used on the Canadian flag. From what I can tell, "CANADA" is also written across the back in white. I pout sadly.
"I change out of my dress into a jacket practically advertising my home country," I say sadly, crossing my arms. "Fuckin' great."
"Aw come on!" She laughs, standing up and walking closer to me. "You still look cute, Marie…!"
"Thank you," I smile half-heartedly, and watch her stand up and walk closer. "I hope everyone else's wearing this uniform, or I'll look like a complete asshole."
"You don't look like an asshole," Seon-hyang walks closer to me, a soft smile on her face. "Trust me, you look very nice."
"Well, that's just you," I mumble, rustling my hair absentmindedly. "You're nice to me, 'cause you have to be…"
I feel Seon-hyang's hands touching my face, caressing my jawline gingerly with her fingertips. She looks at me with such intensity in her eyes that I feel my throat dry up, and I swallow painfully. My hands float awkwardly by my side, unsure of what to do next.
"I'm not telling you that because I have to," Seon-hyang whispers, moving closer to me, so close that our noses almost touch. "I'm telling you that because it's true. You're very handsome, Marie."
Intercutting our silence, a pattern of bass drum kicks, and then suddenly, 70s style synths start playing, strangely fitting. Strangely romantic. I'd thought about doing this so many times before, but now that I had the perfect opportunity to… now I could only recall how inexperienced I was.
I'd only kissed someone once before, at 13 years old, a stupid dare at a sleepover with a boy I liked at the time. He tasted like onions, and I regretted every second of it. Other than that, I had no real romantic experience.
Pretty pathetic for a 20 year old.
I rub my hands on my new pants, what felt like heavy amounts of sweat pooling on my palms. Before I could think over what to do next, Seon-hyang slowly and gently leans in with closed eyes, pressing her lips to mine.
Now, I've only been kissed two times before, so I might not be the best judge of kissing and kissing technique, so forgive me for generalizing. However, Seon-hyang was by far, the best person who's kissed me. Her lips were smooth, warm, and so, so, so soft that I wanted to melt into her. She moves her one of her hands down to my shoulders, bracing herself as she starts to move against me, and I'm too scared to mess up that, for a few moments, I don't do anything. However, instincts kick in after a few more seconds of standing still, and I wrap my hands around her face, kissing back in earnest. She doesn't taste like fruit or flowers, not like in the books, but she tastes sweet from the coke she was drinking earlier. I don't mind it.
Unfortunately, the bliss only lasts for a good 15 seconds, before there's a pounding at the door.
"MARIE JONES!" The attendant from earlier shouts from the other side of the door, punctuating her shouts with pounds on the the door. "THERE'S AN INTERVIEWER OUT HERE LOOKING FOR YOU!"
The two of us separate, panting somewhat. Surprisingly, Seon-hyang doesn't look very disheveled, her hair just slightly out of place. She looks at me with a concern written across her face, and opens her mouth to say something.
"Just an interview," I whisper to her, and she smiles again, eyes crinkled. "I'll be back."
Before I head out to meet this interviewer, I look into the mirror to see if my makeup has smudged at all. Thankfully most of it hasn't, although my hair looks messy, but that's minor at best. I hope my mother doesn't complain, or the interview isn't televised.
My hopes are dashed when I step outside, and spot two camera people, and an interviewer I feel like I know… The interviewer, a balding light skinned American man in his late 40's, potentially early 50s, wearing a grey suit, walks up to me. One of the camera people clips a microphone to me, and I straighten up, act if I wasn't just making out with a former North Korean soldier.
Briefly, as the crew sets up their cameras, I wonder what this interview will look like on TV. I imagine that my backstory will be told in video clips. A clip of my father battling the Miami gym as a young man, then the announcement of his retirement. Maybe that one clip of a 4 year old version of myself babbling excitedly about my favorite pokemon...
"So, Marie," The interviewer says, after all the equipment has been tested, and the recording has begun. "It's been a long while since I last interviewed you. If I recall correctly, you mainly talked about your favorite pokemon."
I laugh, the realization that he was the man that I had babbled to about pokemon suddenly hitting me. No wonder I recognized him. How funny.
I get asked the basic questions, if I'm excited about challenging the league, if my father's legacy wore me down as a kid, if I feel at home in China. I'm tempted to mention that most of my family was run out of China after the Cultural Revolution, but I swallow that remark in fears of causing a scandal. I mainly chatter about my pokemon, training, and how good it is to be here, finally following in my father's footsteps, while thinking about Seon-hyang's soft lips. Eventually, the interview ends, the interviewer leaves to go talk to some other delegates, and I slip back into my room.
Seon-hyang is curled up on the couch. As I shut the door, she jumps up and looks up at me with curious eyes, head resting on her hands.
"How was it?" She asks, and I make a half hearted gesture, causing her to smile.
"I hope you were nice to them."
"I was, I was," I said, walking closer to her. Seon-hyang smirks at me. "What? I really was nice!"
Seon-hyang just says nothing, smiling and pulling me by my hair back down into a kiss. We kiss for another few seconds, me practically bending over the couch, before another knock at the door shocks us apart.
"THE CEREMONY STARTS IN 5 MINUTES! GET TO YOUR SEATS NOW!"
Seon-hyang pushes me off of her in surprise, and I nearly fall to the ground, catching myself before I break my skull on the floor. I'm helped to my feet by a regretful Seon-hyang, and I grab my purse and get Jessica's pokeball from it, before running out the door. The two of us hold hands as we are swallowed into the sea of trainers walking forward, and I spot Joon-ho and Yeong-mi walking ahead, talking amongst themselves and thankfully wearing the same uniforms as us. We speed up to walk beside them, and Joon-ho grins at the two of us.
"I'm so excited!" He whispers, and I laugh loudly, drowned out by the chatter of the other trainers.
As we walk out, I'm stuck by the sheer size of the Bird's nest. The stadium itself is gigantic, the brown floor fanning out in front of us as we walk forwards, covered mostly in stuff I can't decipher, possibly for the opening ceremony. On all sides, I can see people of all sorts filling almost every seat in the stadium, their chatter almost deafening to hear. I stand still for a moment, taking in every little minute detail in awe, before Seon-hyang tugs me away to our seats.
The seats provided to us are close to the ground, so we can get up and walk backstage when the Parade of Nations is called. Thankfully, this sits us within view of my parents and Guk-hyang, who's sitting primly, legs together and hands to her side, and I notice that my mother has put the younger girl in a long, dark wig. How did my mother manage to convince her to put it on? I snort at the thought of my mother wrestling Guk-hyang to place a itchy wig on her hair. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I assume. I wave to them, and while parents wave back enthusiastically, Guk-hyang just looks at me. I roll my eyes and turn to Seon-hyang.
"Was she like this before?"
"No," Seon-hyang sighs, shaking her head. I frown dejectedly. "She's usually pretty happy-go-lucky. I don't know what's with her today."
"Maybe she's jealous of me and you?" I suggest, grinning teasingly. Seon-hyang doesn't react in the way I think she would, by blushing and denying it. I think I watched too much anime to actually think that was a real way people would react. Instead, Seon-hyang rests her chin on her knuckle, face scrunched up in contemplation.
"Possibly," Seon-hyang says thoughtfully.
Before I can say anything, we are all shaken out of our thoughts by the sudden crackle of fireworks, from above us. I watch the orange sparks go around the circumference before fizzling out abruptly. The three North Koreans by my side stare at the scene in awe, and clap loudly when it's done. Then, our attention is brought to a large LCD screen towards the top, and I watch it begin its countdown, in both Chinese characters and Arabic numbers, and I shout them out along with the rest of the crowd.
十 (10)
九 (9)
八 (8)
七 (7)
六 (6)
五 (5)
四 (4)
三 (3)
二 (2)
一 (1)
There's suddenly a series of loud booms and fizzles as several sets of fireworks go off above us. The actual show is impossible to see from the inside, but the LCD screen shows a video of the Bird's Nest illuminated with pinks and purples and all sorts of colors. I look over to see Seon-hyang's awe struck expression as she looks at the screen, eyes wide and mouth hung slightly open. After this, a woman's voice begins to speak in French, before a man's voice reads in English:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and the President of the Global Pokemon Federation, Michel Fournier!"
After the reading in Chinese, a loud cheer breaks out amongst the crowd, and there's a round of applause. After that, the fun begins.
The first event mainly documents the ancient Chinese's relationships with pokemon, using manually operated lighted tiles to show scenes of swanna flying, arcanines hunting with their owners, ursaring feasting on berries upon trees. I looked over the aisle to see Guk-hyang staring in shock and awe as the light show continues. If there was anything to introduce the girl to China, this was it.
After another event welcoming the visitors into Beijing concludes, I watch as a group of soldiers hold the 5 starred Chinese flag, and walk in perfect lockstep to the flag pole close to us, as a young girl sings a patriotic song that I only vaguely know the words to. As the flag is placed on the pole, the French woman starts talking again, and I watch my father stand up. The English version is soon read.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand for the Chinese national anthem."
I gesture for the three others to stand up with me, and I translate for them in a whisper. I look over to see my parents and Guk-hyang stand up primly. It's silent for a few seconds, before that all familiar bugel starts to play, and the singing starts.
"Arise! All who refuse to be slaves!
Let our flesh and blood become our new Great Wall!
As the Chinese nation faces its greatest peril,
All forcefully expend their last cries.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Our million hearts beat as one,
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
Brave the enemy's fire, March on!
March on! March on! On!"
I sing along, because I know if I don't, both the Chinese press and my extended family in Guangdong would scold me for being 'unpatriotic'. I'm not completely deafened by the sound in the theater, and I can hear Seon-hyang and Yeong-mi clumsily try to sing along, and I smile softly.
There's about 7 different events that play out before the gym list is played out, which makes it 9 before the Parade of Nations begins. However, I am completely riveted to my seat for all of them, completely starstruck. There were actors playing out the battle of Nezha and Ao Gong while suspended from the ceiling on wires. An abridged version of Journey of the West, the Chinese opera about an infernape, an emboar, a golem and a Buddhist priest journeying to get the Buddha's sutras, is acted out. I swear to god I cried out of sheer joy throughout it. It was the best 2 hours of my goddamn life, because it was my culture! Being celebrated! I'd been made fun for it for so long as a kid, that it felt liberating to actually see it without some dumbass 10 year old twisting it into a joke.
As I recover from all this, shaking in my seat, a hush falls over the crowd. The French lady speaks again, followed by the English man.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the official Gyms of the Chinese Pokemon League!"
There's a loud cheer, and I naturally join in. The Chinese is read off, before the screen lights up with the list.
1ST GYM
上海市 - SHANGHAI
2nd GYM
成都市 CHENGDU
3rd GYM
宁波市 NINGBO
4th GYM
重庆市 CHONGQING
5th GYM
南京市 NANJING
6th GYM
乌鲁木齐市 URUMQI
7th GYM
天津市 TIANJIN
8th GYM
Pause for dramatic effect.
广州市 GUANGZHOU
Cheers from the crowd, and I clap along as I think over the cities presented. I'd expected Nanjing and Shanghai, those were pretty obvious places, with a high population already. But Urumqi? That was on the other side of China, towards Mongolia! They really do want us to travel through all of China… I rub my head with my sweaty palms.
As another event starts up after the cheering dies down, an attendant gathers all of us delegates and leads us down to the stage. I wave to my parents (and Guk-hyang), as I walk down the steps and they wave back in earnest. Guk-hyang acts like I didn't exist, her eyes focused to the stage. To be fair, she does have an excuse.
When we reach the backstage waiting area, Jessica walking by my side, we are seperated by country, and lined up in order of first to last in the Chinese language, the exclusion being Greece, which started the pokemon league tradition. This meant that Canada was 62nd in line, Ghana's 9 or so trainers were in front, Gabon's 4 or 5 in the back. I felt a little bad, because Canada's delegation numbered about 300, so it must've been intimidating for them.
One of the delegates from Ghana, a boy of about 15, with dark skin, a white suit, and a terrified look on his face, glances back at me, with a buizel standing by his side. I waved, and watch as he slowly smiles and waves back at me. I smile at him, before turning to a sulking Addy.
"Whats up?" I ask, eyebrows raised.
Addy sighs sadly, ruffling his dark hair. Bunie is by his side, bouncing impatiently.
"America is 139th! I can't talk to Conor now…" He complains, and Joon-ho looks over at him with an interested look. "Just my luck."
"It isn't your fault," I shrug, Jessica spinning around by my feet. "'United States of America' just has a ridiculous stroke count in the first character."
"Why couldn't it be shorter in Chinese!" Addy shouts, shaking his hands to the sky. I laugh loudly. "Damn you, Chinese language!
An official from the Canadian Trainer Organization comes and lines us all up, so we don't look like a total mess out there. Thankfully, I am both not the flag bearer, and not separated from my four friends. If I was made flag bearer, I'd probably get singled out as an example of 'nepotism' by people who didn't know any better, and if I was separated from the three North Koreans I'd probably have a violent panic attack. The flag bearer is instead a young man, about 18 years old, with long dark hair and tan skin. He seems very excited to hold the flag, visibly shaking as he swings it around.
While the other 61 countries walk ahead of us, with the intercom playing the announcement each time a country outside walks past ("Japon!" "Japan!" "日本!"), one of the other Canadian delegates, a young blonde lady with a squirtle clamoring on her shoulder, magically grabs a box of Uno from… somewhere, and passes it around to all the people there can be 6 cards for, me included. It quickly evolves from a fun way to pass the time, to an intense game where no one is safe from being backstabbed. I swear, I saw someone's friendship literally end right there. After a few rounds, in which I've been made an absolute fool of myself more than once, Seon-hyang crawls up to me to where I'm kneeling on the floor. I don't notice her until her lips are directly by my ear, and she's talking to me.
"Listen. If you use your 'pick two' card right now, you could finally win this."
"Huh?" I whispered, after shuddering at the feeling of her breath so close to my ears. "How?"
She gestures to three of the cards in my deck. I have a yellow pick two, a normal yellow card, then a wild card, and then two green. She was right! I wait my turn (of course), in which both no one wins or lands a 'pick two', and then I play my hand.
The reaction is swift, with people immediately reeling backward in shock and shouting curses, and Addy is glowering at me.
"That was evil!" Addy yelled at me, pointing straight at me, before making a cross with his fingers. "Evil! Evil! You're a demon! A DEMON!"
I laugh hysterically, Seon-hyang giggling with me. I'm about to say something before I hear something over the intercom.
"Ghana!"
"加纳!"
I stood up at that announcement, before I bent back down and helped put the cards away. All of us Canadian delegates followed the flag bearer out of the backstage and into the chattering of the crowds as we walked out into the stadium, Jessica and Seon-hyang on both sides of me. I wave with both of my hands, no one in the crowd looking particularly recognizable. Jessica mimics me, humming loudly and happily as she skips forward. I'm not sure what it is, but the announcers sound very triumphant when saying our country:
"Canada!"
"加拿大!"
The chatter evolves into a full on roar now, ringing in my ears. I'm smiling so hard my face feels like it's about to split apart, and a feeling of pride unfurls in my heart. I look over at Joon-ho to see that he's grinning intensely too, with a warm look in his eyes as Ggwek-ggwek walks beside him, hopping up and down slightly and swinging his arms to and fro. I briefly wonder what he's thinking, he looks happier than he did back in Pyongyang. He's probably ecstatic about his new lease on life, doing the thing he wants to do the most. I reach over to him, and rub his shoulder, lightly patting it. I get a smile in return.
We make it to the spot inside the center of the room where all of the other nation's delegates are gathered. I sit down and twiddle my thumbs, waiting for all the other nations to arrive. Which takes another hour and a half. I swear to god, I almost fell asleep sitting up 5 (or not thankfully), the pain in my upper back forced me to stay awake, along with Jessica slapping my face.
Around Australia, I feel a question bubble under my skin, and I itch it by speaking up.
"Seon-hyang." I whisper lowly, and the girl turns towards me.
"Yeah?"
"How'd you know how to play UNO?"
"Well," Seon-hyang smiled. "Once you watch a certain someone lose 4 times, you kind of learn what's going on."
"Hey!" I shout in mock offense, holding a hand up to my chest. "Losing is the first step to winning, alright?"
Seon-hyang laughs loudly, her nose crinkled cutely. The final country is called.
"République populaire de Chine!"
"People's Republic of China!"
"中国!"
The Chinese delegates file in, and I can feel the ecstatic energy flowing off of them. I can understand why, this was their league! Finally, after years of having to train in Japan or South Korea, and attempt the league there, they had one of their own to challenge. I grin happily, turn and wave to the incoming delegates, some of whom wave back. The french woman talks again, and after a minute…
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Global Pokemon Federation, Michel Forteau!"
I wait eagerly as the GPF officials pile on stage, and I spot my parents with Guk-hyang, who looks very nervous. My mother is holding her hand, and I briefly wonder why the took her on stage. I can picture the headlines now "Is the girl beside Thomas Jones his SECRET DAUGHTER!?"
Hopefully they'll be in Canada by the time they'll be asked those questions… Monsieur Forteau (as he made me call him when I was little) is talking, an older man with cropped salt and pepper hair who might have been a trainer in his prime, talking about battling fairly without using steroids. Or whatever.
My thoughts were interrupted by Jessica squeaking at me, before I feel the scratch of her claws on my face, and her foot on my collarbone.
"Ow! Not here!" I scold her, and she pouts, about to cry. "If you do that again, I won't keep you out."
My clefairy sulks, arms crossed and looking away from me. After a few moments, I take pity on her, and pick her up and hold her up weakly. She perks up immediately, and waves at my dad, trying to get his attention. I roll my eyes, and watch as my dad walks up on stage. French, then…
"Ladies and gentlemen, former Global Pokemon Federation representative, Thomas Jones!"
There's a roar of applause and cheers, some from the three by my side, some from the crowd, some probably from Jessica. Slowly, the crowd calms.
"My fellow trainers," My dad starts, placing both of his hands upon the podium. "Today is probably going to be one of the greatest moments in your life."
"When I left my home in Alexandria island on a boat in 1980, I did not know that I was going to be the one to break the Miami Gym's winning streak. I didn't expect to be enriched by my experiences traveling across an entire country. And I did not expect to meet the woman who would change my life forever."
I look over to see my mom smiling warmly as my father continues his talk, and I feel a surge of embarrassment. I rub my red face with my arm.
"That's the wonder of your journey," My father smiles upon the crowd. "Your journey will lead all of you to different places, force you out of your bubble to encounter new people that you may have never been able to meet before!"
"For many years, China and the Chinese people have not had that privilege that I grew up having. To be able to join their friends across the world in training their pokemon."
"But now, all of the people in China have the chance to travel their majestic country, traveling with their pokemon like all others can! And with that, a new set of possibilities open themselves, that is all yours to take hold of."
"I now have the honor of asking the president of the People's Republic of China to open the Official Chinese Pokemon League!"
There is loud cheering and clapping, and then silence. Jessica waves wildly to my father, who waves a little back. There is silence as Xi Jinping stands up, and steps closer to the microphone, speaking in Mandarin.
"I now pronounce the Official Chinese Pokemon League… open!"
The crowd goes wild.
notes:
kpop song - adult ceremony (or coming of age ceremony) by park ji yoon
the two songs performed at the opening ceremony:
ode to the motherland created around 1951, considered to be china's secondary national anthem, written by wang xin.
volunteer's march: created during japanese occupation in 1934, china's actual national anthem. the creator, tian han, was imprisoned during the cultural revolution and died there.
chinese opera: so china has a very unique way of protraying opera, much different the opera in the west. it mainly involves a lot of make up, fancy and gigantic outfits, and a lot of singing. journey to the west (described in the text) is one of the more popular ones, and you might have seen a certain adaptation with a monkey alien named goku...
so the chinese league finally opens after 13 chapters! its been a long while, but it feels good to have this part off of my chest. i struggled intensely to visualize and then write this scene, and i had to watch the beijing opening ceremonies around 50 times to capture it.
also marie and seon-hyang finally kissed! i originally intended them to kiss much later (around shanghai-ish), but i felt that there has been enough time bringing them together that they could do it! i was honestly expecting more backlash for having a lesbian romance in my pokemon story, but thanks for proving me wrong i guess!
i hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!
marie's pokemon:
varaha - m - pignite, nina - f - nidorina, jessica - f - clefairy, yifei - f - pangoro
joon-ho's pokemon:
ggwek-ggwek - m - magby, unnamed - scraggy - m
yeong-mi's pokemon:
n/a
seon-hyang's pokemon:
egg -unknown - unknown