Hearthome City was a magnificent, sprawling center of commerce, but its natural beauty was not to be understated. The city was home to many blossoming families, and the host to visitors from all over the region, and its radiance was most apparent upon the first touch of dawn. The sun's rays were the cue for many residents to rise and begin their day, and some took special care to savor the gentle hours of the early morning.
The singing of birds could be heard from the surrounding trees, and the polished paved streets were empty, save for the occasional morning joggers, or those taking their Pokemon towards Amity Square before the rest of the city awoke. Depending on the weather, the number of pedestrians would increase over the next couple of hours, but it wouldn't be until mid-morning that the city's activity would reach its peak.
With that in mind, Aureia had no idea what had possessed Adrian into believing that now was the absolute best time to wake all of his Pokemon up and insist on leaving the hotel they had been staying at.
In spite of Adrian's preference for cutting costs whenever he could, there were occasional situations when this was not possible, for one reason or another. The young man often set money aside when traveling, for precisely these types of situations, and from what Aureia had gleaned from the previous evening, Hearthome had a strict policy forbidding humans from setting up camp within a certain range of the city limits.
She doubted there was a strict policy about kicking clients out of their hotel rooms before seven in the morning, because that was the only acceptable reason she could think of for being awake and walking through the City right now.
The Vaporeon yawned widely, and even a bit obnoxiously, if only to remind her trainer that she was not happy to be active, nor did she intend to appreciate the view of the rising sun if that was what his goal was. Avis was not making things any easier, as the grass lizard was probably the only one of the group that was fully alert, and she was delightedly basking in the morning sun. Ironically, she was also the laziest of the four, considering she was presently draped around Adrian's shoulders like a living scarf.
Adrian was leading the group with purposeful strides, pausing only to confirm that his pace was not leaving them in his dust. He was unquestionably alert and in great spirits. Aureia followed a half dozen paces behind him, making no secret of the fact she was still tired and more than a little irritated by the situation. Blaze followed dutifully on her left side, his smaller strides easily matching her shuffling, reluctant steps, and Ember trodded along on her right side. The Charmander was keeping pace easily enough, although her cerulean blue eyes were unfocused and weary, and her tail flame burned at half its usual vibrancy, a tiny fire that needed to be rekindled.
It really begged the question as to why they were all outside their Pokeballs. Adrian rarely kept them all active when traveling, and withdrew them if they were obviously tired out. Furthermore, Sinnoh didn't seem to encourage keeping Pokemon out nearly as much as Johto's culture did.
The answer became obvious enough as they approached the northeastern side of the City, where a decorative archway designated the upcoming gate as one of the entrances to Amity Square. Aureia rolled her eyes, but refrained from making a comment. She should have guessed that Adrian would opt to visit the park at least once before leaving the City, and it was only a shame he chose to do so while it was still considered sinfully early in the morning.
Adrian stopped just before the gate and turned to face them, doing a momentary double-take when he remembered that Avis was perched on his shoulders. Blaze immediately withdrew a half-pace, watching the youth warily.
"We've still got some time to kill before meeting up with Marcus," Adrian explained, a fond smile gracing his expression. "Knowing him, anyway. So I thought it'd be as good a time as any to come out to the Square and relax a bit. Sure as hell beats that swamp," he added, with the faintest trace of venom in his tone as he looked beyond them towards the southern route. Aureia couldn't resist a smirk, in spite of her present irritation.
Adrian had spent the better part of yesterday attempting to navigate the route between Pastoria City and Hearthome, and had severely underestimated how delightfully damp and waterlogged the entire area had been. He had completely soaked the legs of his pants within ten minutes, and his mood had only spiraled downwards from there. From what Ember had said, their trainer had eventually been forced to withdraw the Charmander entirely, because almost every step they took splashed enough liquid to pose a constant hazard to her tail flame.
Blaze had adamantly refused to let Adrian carry him, but the Eevee hadn't found the route any easier to navigate, so he had also gotten completely soaked, to say nothing of the struggle of simply walking in such an environment. Adrian finally relented and sent Aureia out of her ball specifically to aid Blaze in traversing the route. He was not amused to discover that Aureia absolutely loved the marshland, and his annoyance at the time only further bolstered Aureia's good mood, enough that she didn't even care that Blaze essentially had to cling to her tail the entire time. To his credit, the Eevee had been apologetic and embarrassed after the fact.
The situation probably factored into Adrian's lack of complaint about staying in one of Hearthome's hotels that night. He had needed to wash his clothes and shower after that ordeal, and wouldn't have been inclined to camp out on the marshy route even if doing so had been permitted by the city.
As bonus entertainment for that evening, Adrian had also insisted that Blaze get a bath of some sort, because his fur reeked of the marsh water, but the Eevee was so paranoid of Adrian that this plan likely would have devolved into a pathetic game of tag, and an even greater ordeal to follow for all involved even if the youth succeeded in bringing Blaze anywhere near a tub of soapy water.
Aureia had resolved that situation by sarcastically offering to bathe the Eevee, reminding him that she could melt into water to become virtually intangible and invisible. This delightfully made him so paranoid to the opposite extreme that he allowed Adrian to wash his fur without much fuss, but first needed to confirm that Aureia was fully solid and in the other room before he would consent to being put near the water.
For some bizarre reason known only to the likes of the idiots running human society, entry into a park evidently required receptionists sitting behind counters, the sole purpose of which seemed to be forcing a conversation with prospective guests before entry would be permitted. No money was involved, so this requirement made even less sense to Aureia than most examples. Did cities really employ people just to sit in a small room and talk to visitors?
Perhaps the content of the conversation might have revealed the reason for employing people for this purpose, but Aureia was too tired and indifferent to listen, and even Adrian seemed minimally interested. After what felt like several minutes too long, Adrian gestured for them to follow, and led them through the gate into the park proper.
Aureia wasn't one to get her expectations too high, but even to her, the park wasn't that impressive. Sure, it was nice enough. The grass was vibrant and well-kept, a number of trees towered over the area, and apart from a number of lighting devices and benches scattered about the area, the park seemed almost devoid of artifical objects typical of most cities. The finest detail in her eyes was that there was a pool of water in the center section.
Adrian gently prodded Avis with his finger, and the Snivy got the message right away. She hopped gracefully from his shoulders onto his arm, only to immediately spring off and do an entirely unnecessary flip in mid-air before landing softly on the grass. She sprang upright into a triumphant pose, arms stretched skywards.
"Ta-da!" she squealed, red eyes scanning theirs for approval. Ember seemed mildly amused, Blaze was staring incredulously, and Aureia yawned widely. Adrian raised an eyebrow at the Snivy, but smiled and shook his head afterwards, guiding them along the walking path.
A number of other humans, accompanied by one or two Pokemon of their own, could be seen walking along their own routes, with a sense of familiarity, as if they came here every day. Probably did, if they lived in the city.
Aureia stuck to the side of the path, savoring the damp grass beneath her paws and tail. The only conceivable advantage to coming so early in the day was that the morning dew still lingered, and the moisture eased her into a more alert, yet relaxed, mood. Not quite as good as an early swim or soak, but it would do for the moment.
After a few minutes of walking, Adrian sat down on one of the park benches, and gestured for them to move about freely, cautioning them to stick close, as the Square did not permit Pokemon to roam freely from their trainer. He was probably bending the rules by bringing in four at once, if Aureia had to guess.
The Vaporeon started moving closer to the pool of water she had spotted earlier, only for Adrian to immediately call her back to him, earning a sour look from the water Eeveelution. He smiled, but his expression remained stern. "Sorry, girl, no swimming allowed," he explained, pointing towards a nearby sign clearly expressing as much.
"That's a stupid rule," Aureia grumbled, retreating back to the grassier section, and flopping herself down on the damp grass. Suddenly, the morning dew didn't feel as good as before, because she knew it couldn't compare to what she was being denied. Blaze cocked his head inquisitively at her, but she ignored him.
"Is she okay?" the Eevee wondered in a loud whisper to their other companions.
"It's just that time of the month," Avis said sagely, making no effort to conceal her words from the Vaporeon she was slandering. Blaze looked at the grass lizard uncomprehendingly, and Ember grimaced, clutching her forehead with her paw as if she had suddenly been struck with a migraine.
"Do you even know what that means?" Aureia demanded, part of her wanting to immediately follow that question by inquiring where Avis had even heard that phrase before, because it certainly didn't apply to any of Adrian's Pokemon, nor did it seem like something Adrian would ever say about a human female.
"Um...yeah," Avis retorted, crossing her little arms across her chest and flashing a smug smirk at the Vaporeon, receiving naught but a deadpan look in return. After a few moments, when it became clear that the Snivy's knowing demeanor was not enough to convince Aureia, she giggled and uncrossed her arms. "That you're almost in heat, right?"
Aureia blinked several times, too surprised to be offended. She couldn't technically fault the Snivy's answer, because it did match up, at least contextually. Still begged the question of where Avis had heard the phrase, or why she thought to apply it here, but at least she confirmed that Avis technically knew what her words meant. Although it could probably be argued that her use of the phrase was implying heat came about on a monthly basis, which was too awful a fate to think about, while also not being a subject she really wanted to get into an argument over.
"No, I'm not," she answered blandly.
"But it's mid-April!" Avis insisted, quickly counting the tiny digits of her paw. "The...nineteenth, right?"
Aureia glanced at Ember inquisitively, and the Charmander gave a helpless shrug. With a sigh, Aureia sat up and gave Avis an annoyed look. "How do you even know what the date is?" she asked.
"I've been reading Adrian's notebooks!" the Snivy explained happily. "He dates all the entries! And the last one I read was three days ago, on the sixteenth! Besides, he's said before he has to cycle you off the roster next month."
"...is this a normal conversation for you guys? Girls, I mean?" Blaze wondered awkwardly.
"No, not even remotely," Aureia answered blandly. She suspected that the Eevee knew perfectly well that it was an awkward topic for everyone, and was just trying to draw attention to the fact so that they'd change the subject. Then again, she was probably giving him too much credit.
"I don't think anything we talk about really qualifies as a 'normal' conversation," Ember mused dully, sitting down on the grass and starting to stretch her arms and neck.
"That's just because when you two are moody, every conversation feels like a hidden mine field," Avis pointed out. Ember shrugged, although Aureia noted that the fire lizard drew her tail closer around herself. It was a subtle movement, one that might have gone entirely unnoticed if Aureia hadn't picked up on many of Ember's quirks during the two years they had known one another.
"Um..." Blaze's eyes darted around their surroundings, indicating that he was becoming more uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was heading in. "To be fair, I haven't really seen all of you at the same time very much, so I don't really know if it's normal or not."
"Avis is the one making things weird," Aureia said pointedly. Avis pouted at the remark, but recovered her composure almost immediately, even stifling a giggle in response. "And we usually prefer to interact one on one with each other. Keeps things simple."
"Yeah, I guess," Blaze said doubtfully.
"Ooh! Can I ask you something?" Avis asked, closing the distance between her and the male so abruptly that she was practically nose to nose with him before he realized what had happened. The Eevee recoiled, his fur bristling, but this reaction didn't seem to faze Avis at all, because she merely cocked her head at him, wearing the same casually curious expression she had when first meeting the Eevee.
"Mind his personal space," Adrian called out from the bench, frowning disapprovingly at Avis. Aureia blinked at her trainer, but made no comment. The promptness at which Adrian had reacted to Avis suggested that this was not the first time that Adrian had witnessed that sort of interaction.
"Whoops," Avis giggled, in a thoroughly unconvincing fashion, and her red eyes flashed subtly at the Eevee, for some reason sparking a twinge of aggravation within Aureia's gut. She was thoroughly mystified by the flicker of emotion, as it passed too quickly for her to identify. Anger? Defensiveness? Jealousy? It did not really matter, she supposed.
"What?" Blaze asked, eyeing the Snivy warily. His stance did not relax, although his fur was no longer bristling.
"I just was noticing..." Avis continued with a playful cooing tone, moving slightly nearer to the defensive quadruped. "That Aureia first introduced you as being chipper, flirty, and socially outgoing...but you're none of those things lately."
"Huh?" Blaze squeaked. Ember paused her stretching and looked up, frowning a little bit at the Snivy, but the Grass-type appeared almost oblivious, her eyes never leaving Blaze's face.
"I noticed it almost right away, when we first met," Avis continued, and Aureia took note of a strange tone to her words, as though they were carefully constructed with a hidden danger, like a thorny vine growing through a thick forest. Innocent at a glance, but painful if prodded. "You greeted us cheerfully, but then became nervous. Sure, I know they'll just say that I was making you nervous, or that you were being put on the spot, so I didn't think too much of it at first."
"Does this have a point to it?" Aureia interjected irritably. Her discomfort could probably be chalked up to simply being paranoid or in a poor mood, but Ember had similarly tensed, so it probably wasn't just her.
"I just was wondering," Avis protested, her eyes widening innocently. "See, it's a common trick to try to bluff your opponents into thinking you're bigger, scarier, and stronger than you really are. You put on a show, make yourself look bigger, all those things. You win by avoiding a fight all together, right?"
"Are we still on the same subject?" Blaze asked, bewildered.
"Yes," Avis answered promptly, fixing the Eevee with a gentle smile, but Blaze did not relax, and instead he retreated a partial pace further away. "But then I was thinking...you're doing the opposite."
"...the opposite?" Blaze repeated, furrowing his brow in bewilderment, and glancing around the area, as if seeking a place to hide.
"Mm..." Avis murmured with a nod. "When I first asked you about flirting, you claimed to be bad at it. If Aureia claims you're so socially outgoing, how come you're always so quiet, and nervous? I'm just wondering if you only act that way around me."
"No, he's pretty jumpy around Adrian," Aureia pointed out dully. "I'm sure that's in a bunch of his notebook entries and you've just missed them."
"I just think it's interesting," Avis insisted. "Almost everyone instinctively hides their vulnerability and insecurities behind a mask, a strong face they show to the public. But you...you're different from the others somehow. I just can't quite place how..."
The Snivy fell silent, gazing intently at the Eevee, stroking her chin absently. Adrian cleared his throat, breaking up the awkward tension, if only for a moment. Blaze moved away from Avis and closer to Aureia, although it would be more accurate to say that he was hiding behind Ember, as the Charmander ended up between him and the Snivy. Avis giggled, and waved her paw casually, as if the whole discussion had no importance to her.
Adrian caught Avis' eye and gestured with a finger for her to come over to him, which she did, albeit with playful flourish. Judging by the young man's stern expression, and how softly he spoke to her, it was definitely a reprimand of some kind.
Blaze inched closer to Aureia, and brushed against her foreleg, before recoiling as if expecting her to lash out at him. She blinked at him, but permitted the contact without complaint, averting her eyes nevertheless and gazing restlessly around the rest of the park.
What currently troubled her about the enigmatic conversation was that she already had a hint as to what Avis was puzzling over, in regards to Blaze. It was easy enough to follow the comparison of individuals concealing their vulnerability behind strong fronts, in an effort to protect themselves. Hell, Adrian's entire line of work revolved around caring for Pokemon who had developed such an impenetrable mask that it might never slip off, and the individual's insecurities and past wounds never willingly exposed to the world. For herself, the pain of abandonment and the insecurities it developed within her heart. For Ember, it was the wound not of being abandoned, but of having an emotional bond betrayed.
The idea of Blaze hiding his pain and insecurity behind a facade of his own was not only natural and expected, but Aureia knew with certainty it was true. She did not know the details, not at all, but she had seen the mask slip once before, the same evening she and Blaze had first met. When his compliments had rung hollow, and she had verbally lashed out at him, the mask had fractured for a moment, and within the Eevee's eyes, Aureia had glimpsed agonizing pain and hatred the likes of which she had only ever glimpsed from Ember.
There was the moment, several days ago, down at the lake, when she had inadvertently triggered his panic attack, but his eyes did not betray the same pain and hate she had glimpsed once before, although it did remind her of the original incident. More importantly, it reminded her of Ember, and the way she used to lash out.
Blaze was evidently not yet ready to reveal the nature of his past experiences. He had told her that he had been traveling alone, ever since being abandoned by his previous trainer for not being as strong in battle as desired, and that was enough for Aureia not to pry too deeply into his past. She could relate to that situation all too well, and had confided as much, creating a mutual agreement not to touch those subjects too much.
But what of Avis' own insecurity and vulnerability? If everyone hid their weakness in such a way, how was Avis doing it, and what was being hidden? To Aureia, the Snivy remained an absolute mystery. There was no clear sign of trauma or instability in the way she carried herself, but there was a disconcerting mixture of intelligence and child-like delusion in her words and thought process. She could pick up on things others seemed slow to grasp, and delighted in getting under people's skin, seemingly for the sake of harmless amusement, but the way she spoke to Blaze just now...it bothered Aureia more than she would ever admit. There was a peculiar tone to her words, like a snake creeping towards its prey. Most baffling was that, throughout the miniature discussion, Avis' playful mannerisms and innocent gestures seemed entirely forced and phony.
What did this mean about her?
