"Quit fidgeting."
Despite the warning from Volkner, Besanii continued to shuffle in her seat, rubbing her hands together nervously as she stared at the back of her mother's head. Her parents had gone to fetch food, and so she was left to sit with the most unsympathetic people she'd ever known. Flint was babbling about how excited he was for her, and she'd given up listening to him. Volkner was far too busy being amused at Besanii's anxiety to comfort her in any way.
"Besanii." He said sharply. She stopped her bouncing in her seat and looked at him sharply.
He smiled slightly. "Calm down."
"I can't. I'm so nervous!" And with those words, she began shaking where she sat.
"Just leave her to it, Volk." Flint chuckled. "She won't settle until she hears the results."
"I will when you stop calling me 'Volk.'" He snapped back.
Flint laughed, punching his best friend lightly on the arm, which Volkner gladly returned, only harder.
"Here we go." Mrs Demery arrived, placing a tray of cakes and a tea pot with several mugs. Mr Demery shortly followed with milk and sugar.
"Thanks, Mrs Demery!" Flint grinned as she poured him a mug first.
Volkner nodded as he recieved his and uttered a thanks too. Besanii, however, had spaced, biting her nails.
"Get your hands out of your mouth, Besanii!" Her mother scolded, then softened when Besanii jumped. "Look, whatever happens, happens. There's no use in working yourself up."
Of course, it didn't help. It was not knowing that was getting to her the most, and then the horrible biting feeling that she could be going home tonight knowing she wouldn't be top coordinator this year.
Flint wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. "Listen to your Mom, she's right."
"Okay." Besanii said, just to shut them up. She could keep still for a little while, but she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it.
"Just ten more minutes." Mr Demery assured her.
They all went quiet for a minute, and it was her mother who spoke up again after eying her child nawing on her bottom lip. "Your Medicham has gotton a lot stronger."
"Yes, she has. All of my pokemon have." Besanii smiled weakly.
"And they will never let you down." Mrs Demery nodded.
"Never." The raven-haired girl said surely. Her heart felt lighter with the thoughts of her determined team trusting her entirely in leading them to victory.
"And the results are in!" The commentator chimed excitedly.
The board flickered sixteen cards around in a random shuffle, and then one at at time they began revealing pictures.
Besanii's face was shown first. She squealed with delight, clapping her hands together. Alyssa was fourth up, and there were others she recognised too.
Once all the cards had shown, they turned back and shuffled.
"Here are the second round match ups."
Besanii searched for her face again, and spotted it somewhere on the bottom row. Next to her, joined with a bar. The boy she was to face first was around her age, and she was aware he was experienced from other region contests. He was pale, with navy hair and a perfectly angular face. His picture was stoic, and yet there was a hint of passion that twinkled in his silver eyes.
"Excuse me."
She turned and smiled at the boy whose face she'd just been examining. "Oh, hello."
He grinned back at her and held out his hand. "I'm Jesse."
"Besanii." She took his hand and shook it gently.
"I just wanted to wish you luck with everything, and that I'll see you tomorrow." His eyes twinkled with excitement, and waved to her as he hurried off. She continued to smile as she thought about how kind he was, and it settled her mind.
At least he's not like Alyssa. No mind games, no bitching... Just a straight-forward battle with a good coordinator.
"There she is..." Flint sang, tackling into her.
She grinned, unable to reply due to restricted airflow.
"I told you that you'd be fine!" He laughed down her ear. She winced away from it, but smiled nonetheless.
"Yes, you did." She chuckled, now finally released from his grip.
"Well done, sweetie!" A hand came down upon her shoulder and she looked to see her father grinning at her. Two gentle arms wrapped around her torso from the other side, and she instinctively knew it was her mother.
"We must celebrate!" Flint beamed, throwing his arms in the air. He was receiving a lot of stares from the crowds around them, and it didn't help matters that he was famous.
Her parents nodded in agreement, ushering their daughter out of the building whilst Flint and Volkner followed. "Yes, we should go for a meal."
"Mmm... That sounds good." Besanii grinned.
"I know just the place actually." Volkner smiled gently. "A quaint little restaurant in the plaza Besanii lives in. It's usually quite quiet, but the food is brilliant.
"That sounds wonderful." Mrs Demery nodded, smiling to Volkner. "Shall we meet around eight?"
"I'll make the reservations." He concluded, bowing his head slightly.
Flint, who'd been quiet for quite some time, (in Flint terms, anyway) suddenly perked up. "I'm so excited for you Besanii! Come on, let's get ready."
She nodded excitedly. "I'll see you there!" She told her parents, who chuckled and watched them leave.
With her hair still immaculate from the Grand Festival, she only had to pick out an outfit from the many she'd worn for her contests. She pulled out her cream shirt that had gathered sleeves and an intricate design around the wrist, and a pussybow around her neck. She pulled out a black tulip skirt that reached her knees and then accessorised with pretty rustic golden jewellery.
Just as she had finished touching up her make-up, and pulling on her shoes, the doorbell rang. She tottered over with a grin forming on her face, and she opened it to flinch back at the sound of a loud bang.
"Congratulations!" Flint howled with laughter as he watched his sister turn ghostly white from the jump, then blushed bright red at the idiocy of her skittish nature. In his hands, was an overflowing bottle of champagne with the cork missing, somewhere in the room.
"Don't do that!" She scolded, stepping aside and holding the door open for them.
Flint was wearing navy trousers, with a stripy t-shirt and cardigan to match. Volkner stepped in after him, wearing cream chinos that were very clearly new, with a maroon polo-neck shirt and a black leather jacket. Both of them were equally handsome and stylish in their own way, and together that had almost certainly turned heads on their way to her home.
"Sorry sis, wasn't expecting it to pop!" He chortled, only to receive a disgruntled glare from the pint-sized coordinator.
Volkner was also rolling his eyes. "You shook the bottle, what did you expect?"
Besanii rose an eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently, and Flint sweat-dropped. "I was laughing!" He cried in his defence.
"At the thought of making Besanii jump." Volkner added, narrowing his eyes as Flint turned sharply on him.
"Stop being a grass." Flint muttered.
"Don't tell me what to do." Volkner shot back playfully. The two stared at each other until Besanii grew impatient.
"I'll get some glasses then." She backed away, but Flint shook his head.
"I'll do it." He said, wandering for the kitchen whilst running his finger through the bubbles that had poured over and licked it. His face lit up with delight.
Besanii chuckled, then turned to retrieve her light brown blazer.
"You look incredible by the way." Volkner complimented.
"Thanks." She beamed brilliantly, causing his breath to hitch. "Words can't describe how good you look."
He coughed in surprise, taken back by her bluntness. "Uhh... Thanks I guess."
"What do you mean, 'you guess'? I just complimented you like you did to me." She shrugged, passing him to change her shoes into something more comfortable. They were brown like her blazer, and the boots stopped just past her ankle. On the sides were three little material flowers of the same colours.
"I guess I'm not as glamourous as you when it comes to recieving compliments." He held his hands up in surrender.
"Well, you're welcome anyway." She smiled slightly, standing up and finding he was closer than she'd anticipated. Her eye level was at his collar bone, so she instinctively tilted her head back to find his eyes looking down to her.
"So are you." He breathed, the corner of his lip twitching upward as she was rendered speechless.
"Enough flirting while I'm around, please!" Flint whined, causing them to jump apart slightly. They both glanced to each other and chuckled as they took the champagne.
"Congratulations!" Flint cried once more, tilting the glass toward them. They nodded and tapped their glasses together, then sipped at the drink in cheers.
Once finished with their congratulatory drink, they left just a few minutes before eight, so as to be at the restaurant on time. It was only outside of Besanii's apartment anyway. Volkner led the way, whilst Flint held his arm out in a gentlemanly fashion for Besanii to hold as they followed.
"I've never been in here, but I've seen people leave with smiles on their faces a lot." Besanii mused excitedly.
"Yes, I have never experienced anything bad with them." Volkner replied over his shoulder.
"I hope they're fast, I'm ravenous." Flint added, clutching his stomach with his free hand.
"Flint's been eating the dictionary again." Besanii muttered, earning a light tap on her arm from her brother.
"There they are!" A voice that greatly resembled Besanii's perked up, and they all scanned the room to find it. Her parents had already been seated by a large window that looked out onto a beautiful garden lit by small lamps. The waiter escorted them over to the table and handed out three more menus. The room was quiet, but not empty, mainly couples dating and one small family sat in the corner. The decor was quaint and modest, a deep red carpet with cream table clothes and seat covers, a light sash surrounding each chair and lined the edges of the table. On each table was a golden vase filled with cream tulips and on each plate was a gold napkin folded into a fan. Besanii's eyes twinkled at the beauty of it all, and it seemed her tastes came directly from her mother.
"You've certainly picked a fine place to bring us, Volkner. You live in a wonderful city." Mrs Demery commented, her silver eyes flicking up from the menu to smile at the blond man who sat across from her.
"I do, I'm very lucky to be a gym leader here." He replied, nodding back to her.
"But not for long, eh?" Mr Demery grinned. "We saw the news, congratulations on making it to the Elite."
Volkner smiled. "Thanks."
"What are they going to do to fill your place?" The middle-aged man asked.
There was no reply for a second. Volkner paused and looked to Flint, who shrugged.
"It hasn't been decided yet," Volkner explained; "I'm still gym leader until the end of the next season, so they have plenty of time to find a replacement."
Mr Demery seemed engrossed. Being a trainer himself, he was naturally more interested in gym battles than his daughter's contests. "Will it be another electric type trainer, do you think?"
Flint answered instead; "no. Volkner will only be a few steps away after the eighth gym badge is obtained. It would be unfair to him if each challenger already had an effective offense to electric types because of the gym battle before."
Mr Demery nodded in understanding, but Volkner was frowning. "I could take them on, no matter what. I've had plenty experience against all types of offense."
"True, but it would still be unfair." Flint countered.
"So where are they going to find a strong trainer who specialises in one type that isn't the same as the gym leaders and elitists of Sinnoh?" Besanii asked, considering the odds of it all.
"There's no strict rule in having one type of pokemon team." Volkner told her; "it's just a common occurance. Your friend's boyfriend has a mixed team, and he's a gym leader."
"Gary, of course." Besanii nodded, looking to her mother; "Scarlett's boyfriend."
"Oh they're still dating?" Mrs Demery smiled.
"-Anyway." Mr Demery turned to face Volkner and Flint, leaving the two women to chatter about girly things. "Are they going to be Sinnoh native?"
"Of course, preferably from Sunyshore, but it's not necessary." Flint smiled, knowing the ins and outs of the Sinnoh league perfectly due to his own role in it.
"Wow, well it's impressive that you've moved up so quickly Volkner, congrats again." Mr Demery grinned, his green eyes sparkling as his lids wrinkled at the sides.
"Thank you sir."
"So what made you choose electric types?"
The conversation went on.
With the meal coming to a finish, and several bursts of laughter coming from Flint's jokes and stories, the five of them ordered one final drink to wash everything down with.
"I propose a toast. To my daughter, " Mr Demery held up his glass. The rest of the party followed. "who made it through to the Grand Festival with no losses, a record I am proud to boast," he added loudly, glancing around the room to see people looking over, "and to her making it through the first round with ease."
All but Besanii cheered. "To Besanii!"
She blushed a bright red, but tilted her glass forward slightly to stop them from drinking. "And! To Volkner, who is the greatest gym leader I have ever battled."
He smirked knowingly as the other three chorused his name too, and they clashed their glasses and sipped away.
"So you battled Volkner?" Mr Demery's eyes lit up.
"Oh you should have seen her!" Flint cackled.
"I beat him, Dad!" Besanii grinned.
"No way!"
"I was already coming down with that illness..." Volkner mumbled pathetically.
"Lies!" Besanii laughed; "I beat you fair and square."
The group laughed together, their night drifting on happily into the early hours of the morning.
Meh. Majorly busy. You've heard it all before. Sorry!