The end of this semester came very quickly and I found time to get one more chapter ready to publish. Here's a question, have you ever had a day that was s wonderful and full of fun and new experiences that you just didn't want it to end? It's sad that we tend to have less of those as we get older, but oh well. Anyways…
Chapter 7
With all that weight off his chest, Calem was able to open up more to Serena and somehow was actually able to enjoy his time in Lumiose more. She was a sweet girl, a little cocky at times but goodwilled and strong spirited. To him, she embodied the new and hopeful pokemon trainer who had just left home for the first time with every little thing being a step toward her goal. It was a nostalgic feeling to Calem, which was well and good, but he also wanted to learn more about her as a person.
Serena was glad to be caught up to speed on Calem's story. His arrival was still a mystery to them both, but the cuts and bruises found on his body before were now understandable. He had been in a fight for the fate of the Unova region and had been taking part in a prophecy against his will. From the description of the event, he had probably been fighting for his life as well. He seemed happy here in Kalos though. Some ghosts still followed him and he had a few skeletons in his closet but for now this was the happiest she had ever seen him.
She was studying his face while he talked about what Kanto and Johto were like. She hadn't really seen him without the hat ever. His medium, dark hair was obviously a little long at this point as if he hadn't had it cut in a long time. It stuck out at interesting angles, but it was undeniably something that Calem would like and she found it kind of cute.
"-the best part of Johto is the autumn colors in the trees around that time of…" He stopped dead in his sentence and widened his eyes at something through the window on the inside of the coffee shop.
Serena noticed this and glanced inside trying to see what he was looking at.
"No, don't look!" Calem said. "How long has he been there?"
"What is it? Who?" Serena asked as her gaze snapped forward.
"I met this man as I left the Professor's lab early, he's tall with flame orange hair. He's with some… older lady with wings? Or a dress? Hard to tell."
Serena glanced into the coffee shop. "Oh, you're silly. That's Lysandre from Lysandre Labs. He's super smart they say, and his company makes innovative products. But that lady is… Diantha?" Serena seemed more surprised by the older woman.
"Yeah well, the way he talks reminds me of team plasma and their insane worldview. Who is Diantha?" Calem asked.
"She's the Kalos champion! Come on!" Serena grabbed his hand and hauled him up from the table.
Calem hesitated but figured that if Serena was going to meet them, so should he just to be safe. They crossed the coffee shop together and mid-route Calem was able to catch some of their conversation around the noise in the café.
"You played a young girl so wonder… on the silver screen. Wouldn't you always… to remain young and beautiful forever?" Lysandre asked.
"What… strange question. Why would I want to play… same old… forever? Youth may be beautiful… but there is more to life." Replied Diantha
By that point, Serena and Calem approached, and both were close enough to catch something that sent a chill down Calem's spine.
"You were chosen to be a movie star and champion correct?" Lysandre said. "Isn't it your duty to be ever beautiful?
Diantha looked taken aback for a few seconds before Lysandre continued. "I can't stand the thought of the world becoming uglier, more stupid, and…. Oh, Calem."
They both turned and acknowledged Calem and Serena who walked up to the table.
"Are you another one of professor Sycamore's pupils?" Lysandre asked Serena.
"Yes I am! My name is Serena. You must be Mr. Lysandre." Serena said happily.
"Indeed, I am," he replied. "I would like you both to meet Diantha, one of the most accomplished movie stars and trainers in the Kalos region. She dedicates her life to making people happy." He looked back at Diantha. "oh, if only everyone were like her, what a beautiful world this would be."
"Again, a goal that is not necessarily evil but has the potential to be." Calem thought.
"Oh please, you flatter me too much Mr. Lysandre. Your company is responsible for technology that directly improves the lives of people. You must take some credit."
"Speaking of which…" Lysandre reached into his pocket and pulled out a Holo Caster. "I meant to give you this Calem, back at Sycamore's lab." Calem took the Holo Caster from Lysandre. It was a small silver disc with a blue screen in the center that could be used as a touch screen. The screen could also project an image upwards as a hologram, hence the name 'Holo Caster.' Beyond all the bells and whistles, it pretty much acted as a phone with the ability to record messages.
"Um… Thank you?" Said Calem. He was a bit flabbergasted at this turn of events. Here he thought Lysandre was crazy or secretly evil, yet he was simply sitting down and having coffee with an old woman and handing out expensive pieces of technology for free while talking about bettering the world.
"Am I crazy?" Calem thought.
Lysandre spoke again. "the lab is calling me back, please, if you'll excuse me." With that he stood up and marched out of the café.
Diantha ushered the two to sit. "Hi, sorry I didn't catch your names earlier."
"My name is Serena and this is Calem. We are trainers Ms. Diantha and I personally am a huge fan of your work! Especially the pokemon battles."
"Many people are dear," Daintha said. "You two are both novice pokemon trainers, no?"
"Yes, we are and we are taking on the gym challenge." Calem spoke. "Do you have any advice for a non-native trainer and a rookie?" He pointed to Serena as he said rookie.
"Hey! I'm…" Serena thought for a second and then silently agreed with Calem's estimate of her skills.
"Not from around here? Hm…" Diantha thought long and hard "Find where you both belong and who belongs along side you. Your friends and pokemon will take it from there." She spoke with authority and wisdom.
Serena was wide eyed at this response.
Diantha's Holo Caster buzzed, and she dug in her purse for a second before finding it and looking.
"Well, I too must be going, but if you two are both trainers, I am looking forward to battling someday in the future! Goodbye Calem, Goodbye Serena." Diantha gave both their hands a squeeze as she gathered her things and left.
Calem took out the Holo Caster he had just been given. The act of generosity had been odd considering Calem's original interpretation of Lysandre. He found the button on the side and clicked it on. The screen glowed a blue and displayed a holographic image for a second. He noticed his name already registered on it.
"That's odd?" Calem said.
"Hm?" said Serena who was watching him. "Oh, it already has a profile created for you."
"Must have been Lysandre, right?" Calem asked.
"I suppose so." Said Serena. "Here add me! I can be your first contact in Kalos!"
They held the little silver discs near each other and the contact information from Serena was transferred to Calem's holocaster. She also went ahead and added Tierno, Trevor, Shauna, and Professor Sycamore for good measure.
"There, that should do it. I can't believe he just gave you a Holo Caster. They're very expensive." Serena said.
"I guess I was wrong about that guy." Calem said. He didn't believe that though. Something nagged at him. It was this nostalgic feeling for all the wrong reasons. Lysandre was trouble. Calem reserved his comments though as Serena didn't suspect Lysandre of any wrongdoing.
…
Calem and Serena walked down the busy boulevards and streets looking at the hanging baskets with flowers, the clothing boutiques, and other shops that line the very wide thoroughfares. The people and pokemon watching were great.
"What did you think about Diantha?" Serena asked just out of the blue.
"Well…" Calem thought about it for a second. "I wouldn't take her to be a champion, though I didn't battle her so neither of us know much about her strength. I suppose you've seen her battle on TV here in Kalos?"
"A few times, Diantha uses a Gardevoir from what I've seen. She says all the time that the tough pokemon battles keep her younger. She is very pretty and even more so in person." Said Serena. "I wonder where she got her necklace. I should've asked." Said Serena as they both stopped to gaze at the jewelry in the nearest store window. "Calem, would you buy me a necklace?"
"What?!" Calem said. He glanced back at the prices of the Jewelry in the window and turned a bright shade of red. "Uh, Serena?"
She laughed, "Just kidding! My goodness Calem."
"Ahem, to answer your original question, it appeared to be some sort of gemstone, but unlike one I've ever seen" Said Calem. He had his experience with fire stones, moon stones, and the sort but when it came to actual jewelry, he was a novice. The green and purple hues of the stone in Diantha's necklace certainly didn't match any of the gemstones here in the window.
"Oh well, it was pretty." Said Serena.
A buzzing in Serena's bag stopped the duo in their tracks. Serena took out her Holo Caster and a hologram of Tierno appeared.
"Hey Tierno, what's up?" Serena asked.
"You guys need to get to route 5 ASAP." Said Tierno. "Are you with Calem, Serena?"
"Yes I am." Replied Serena.
"There's a lot of trainers over here, testing their strength and battling. Seems like something you two would enjoy."
"Alright we are on our way. See you soon!" Serena said and turned off the device. "Looks like there's a bunch of trainers on route 5 that are battling each other." She stretched "You ready for some more training?"
"I guess we've goofed off enough. Breaktime is over" said Calem. For a fleeting moment, he was able to catch a pang of sadness in Serena's eye. He felt a little melancholy too. The day had blossomed like one of the many flowers along the streets of Lumiose. Calem had never really felt this connected with another person and he wasn't really ready to hit the road again. Serena must have felt similarly. It had been fun being… normal, even if it was just for a little while.
…
Calem and Serena stepped into the gate between Lumiose City and Versant Road. It was like any other gate besides two familiar faces who rushed up to greet them.
"Hey guys! Glad you could get here so fast." Tierno said.
"We figured this would be something you guys would enjoy." Trevor said, "Seeing as you like battles and everything."
"Yeah! Thanks for letting us know." Serena said. "Where exactly are these other trainers?"
"There's a skate park just outside! They're using it as a makeshift arena sort of thing." Said Tierno.
The four of them stepped out onto the road beyond the gate. Off to the right-hand side of the grey cobblestone pavers that made up the path, there was a skate park with a variety of grind rails, halfpipes and ramps. There was also a bit of flat space where a few dozen or so kids ranging from 10 to 18 practiced battling. They had small pokemon. The match now was a Flabebe against a Marill.
Calem felt his senses tingle as a blue blur jumped the fence of the skate park and rushed toward the group. Before the creature could get to them, Calem instinctually grabbed Serena's elbow and pulled her behind him. His arm was slightly extended for good measure. The whole event was just a split second in time.
Serena let out a gasp and Trevor and Tierno flinched. Calem realized it was just a Lucario.
"Hey there buddy." Calem said as he relaxed a little. The Lucario gave him little attention and instead focused on Riolu's Pokeball on Calem's waist.
"Lucario!"
A young girl, no older than they skated up to them. She wore a white helmet under which her blond hair poked out and a long ponytail protruded from the back. Besides the white dress she was wearing, everything screamed skater girl including the tall socks and elbow pads.
"Sorry about that, are you all ok?" She gave everybody a glance over.
"I think we are all fine here." Laughed Tierno. "Your Lucario gave us quite the scare."
"He doesn't typically do that; I was showing some kids a technique over here when he dashed off." the girl said. "Hi, I'm Korrina, the Shalor city gym leader.
"You're the gym leader?" Asked Serena.
"Yes! I specialize in fighting types." Korrina said. "Sorry about Lucario again. He's been very sensitive lately."
"I think he was after my Riolu." Calem said. He pulled out Riolu's pokeball and called him out. The little blue creature glanced around giving Calem a questioning stare until finally his gaze rested on Korrina's Lucario.
"That makes sense, Lucario likes to battle and he probably sensed your Riolu's strong aura. You want to battle Riolu don't you buddy?" Korrina asked Lucario who gave an affirmative nod.
"Why don't you and Riolu join us for some battles over here?" Korrina asked. "Actually, you can all come!"
"Sounds good to me! We could use the extra training." Serena said.
"Woah, I don't really… battle." Said Trevor.
"Nonsense, you'll be fine." Said Korrina. "In fact, lets make it a double battle. You two vs you two." She pointed at Calem and Serena and then to Tierno and Trevor. "Let's begin."
She turned and skated back to the rest of the children battling with the four of them following. "Hey class! Why don't you all take a break and watch this!"
The four of them gave each other a confused look and shrugged as they joined Korrina and the others in the skate park.
…
Serena had noticed him jump In front of her. Though the Lucario hadn't been a threat, did he mean to do that for her? Wait, Trevor had been in front of Calem too but he didn't step in front of him which means that Calem had thrown himself in harm's way specifically on her behalf.
Serena felt a little warm with the blood rising to her cheeks. The question still lingered as to why he had done that.
"I don't want him to feel like he has to repay me for saving his life earlier and dragging him out of the storm." She thought. "I hope that isn't how he feels."
*CRASH*
"Serena! You okay?!" Calem's voice rang out above the clamor of the battlefield. She refocused herself on the Pokémon in front of her. Charmander had just been knocked into Calem's Riolu by Tierno's Corphish.
"Sorry!" Serena Said. "Um… Charmander use Smoke screen!"
Charmander stood up a little beat up but relatively ok. He shot a plume of thick black smoke out of his mouth which concealed him and Riolu.
"That should buy us a few seconds." Serena thought.
"Bulbasaur use Vine Whip!" Commanded Trevor.
Bulbasaur extended his vines and viciously lashed out into the smoke. When it cleared, Charmander and Riolu were nowhere to be found.
"What?!" Said Trevor.
"Where'd they go Trevs?" Said Tierno.
Riolu suddenly was upon Tierno's Corphish. "Riolu, use Force Palm!" Said Calem. Riolu placed his palm upon Corphish and a blast of blue energy sent Corphish recoiling away.
"Charmander! Use Ember on Bulbasaur!" Said Serena.
Charmander reared back and let loose a barrage of small flames that impacted on Bulbasaur and sent him back to Trevor.
Serena and Calem won the battle.
"We did it!" Said Serena. She brought her fist up in a victory pose.
"I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from you guys." Said Tierno. "Good effort Trevs, maybe next time."
"That smoke screen saved us Serena. You're getting better!" Said Calem
The crowd of children watching had been absorbing the battle and upon the final blows being dealt, stood up and cheered.
"Well done to all of you" Said Korrina. "I really appreciate you all coming out to show us a thing or two."
Korrina skated over to Calem who was out of earshot of Serena. "Hey, I think Riolu has a lot of potential. Like, a lot of potential."
"Really?" Calem glanced at the small pokemon who was now running around and playing with Charmander. "He has gotten stronger in a very short amount of time."
"Exactly. I do hope that you and Serena eventually come to Shalor and challenge me for a proper gym fight. There, hopefully my Lucario and your Lucario can have an even fight because I can tell that is exactly what they want."
The two noticed Riolu stop running around. He lifted his ears and looked off to Lucario who was watching him from the shade of a nearby tree. The two made eye contact and a silent vow to face each other for someday.
"Maybe, he will be able to mega evolve." Said Korrina.
"Wait, what was that?" Calem asked, "Mega evolution?"
"Yes?" Korrina looked confused.
"If you know something about how to unlock it, you have to let me know. Let us know." Calem gestured to the rest of the group that was there. "Please."
"No, not here." Korrina lowered her voice mysteriously "Wait till Shalor."
"Korrina… why?" asked Calem.
Korrina paused "…because you aren't ready." And with that she walked away.
Calem was a little shocked and stunned at this answer.
"I am not ready? I am a pretty good trainer, at least I think I am? Why would I not be ready?" Calem thought. This whole exchange bugged him more than it should have. He looked off toward Serena who had been watching his conversation with Korrina. She looked puzzled as he approached her.
"Hey, what's up? You look like you've seen a ghost." Serena said.
"Please, don't shut down on me. You can trust me." She wantebd to say.
"What? Oh, its ok. I'll tell you later. I promise." He gave her a light smile.
Just then another buzz was coming from Serena's bag. She dug into it and pulled out her Holo Caster.
"Hello?" Serena answered the call. A very frantic Shauna could be heard on the other end.
"No we didn't leave you!" Answered Serena. There was more chatter on the phone.
"Yes… Okwe will see you soon." Serena put her Holo Caster away. "Guys!" She got Calem, Tierno, and Trevor's attention. "Shauna got us rooms at the Pokemon center back at Lumiose and is worried we left her behind. Why don't we go spend the night there and head to Camphrier Town tomorrow?"
The sun quickly waned in the sky setting the sky ablaze with yellows and purples. The four agreed that it would be the best course of action and set off back toward Lumiose.
…
End Chapter 7
Thank you for reading this part. Calem getting handed a Holo Caster is kind of like the CEO of Apple handing you an Iphone out of the blue just because you met at a coffee shop. A very odd occurrence indeed. Also, we are seeing some playfulness now from the two main characters but as I mentioned last chapter. Slow boil. Slow….