~{Author's Pre-Notes}~
(A Mimikyu in a dark cave mining some diamonds.)
So here we are yet again, continuing our adventure with our dear protagonist. Last time, Victor was going to address our favorite model's concerns, only to be interrupted by *gasp* a Milotic!? Well isn't this interesting? Let's see how our boy handles this situation! His bluntness and easy understanding of people shall contribute to this battle for friendship and more importantly, for the heart of a beautiful maiden! Not that he intended to earn it.
(Stores diamonds under rag and walks deeper into the mine)
Let's see just where the journey takes him next, hopefully you'll enjoy the good laughs and heart hugging feelings, if I actually manage to have written something that good... I don't know, I always just hope what I write its good. God damn insecurities... But anyway! (Pulls out book from under rag) Let's get to our comments today!
Answered Comments:
Astrogamer, Drago, InkBoyJay: Thank you all!
Lelouch of Zero: Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, Marnie needs all the precious hugs... But sadly the world won't give her that. So many people are judgemental... *Sniff* But Victor will always make her feel welcome! Our boy will be the one to be the friend she's always wanted! And... maybe more.
Mr. Wackoado: Hm... Well to answer your question, what kind of team does the Rainbow Rocket's leader have?
Cosmic Warrior: That's... a pretty good question. Victor is still 15 and all, so I feel like the harem is going to be mostly wholesome and won't really focus on fanservice (lewd moments) or lemons at all, it'd feel weird if I did include a lot of that. Buuuuuut there may be some awkward scenarios that happen at a few points. Nyeheheh. Sometimes things can happen, but can still be more on the innocent side.
Wolfy: Oho? So you're catching wind of my locations by following my messages? Hm, intriguing. Let's so how much you can keep up. But anyway, thanks for your longer comment, and yeah, you know someone is a protagonist anything and everything convenient happens to him, lol. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter and the events in it! It's meant to be just a wholesome one with plenty of funny events. Love your comments!
(Closes book and puts it away) Well then, let's move on to the chapter! Happy reading!
(Raises pick-ax and starts mining iron)
Hi-yah!
~{Pikaboo73- July 24, 2020}~
Nessa and Victor gazed at each other in shock that the other had immediately recognized the beautiful pokemon of Sonia's right in front of them.
"Wait, did you call that Milotic, Ariel?"
"How did you know she was Sonia's?" Nessa asked at the same time.
They both froze in silence for a moment, not knowing what to do after hearing this.
"OOOOOO! Was that a Milotic!? Quick, get the camera, look for it!" The director shouted.
His shouting helped snapped both Victor and Nessa out of their thoughts, but Nessa was the first to act. She put on a determined expression and stepped back, before then taking a running start and diving majestically off the boat.
"Miss Nessa!?" The female supervisor shouted in shock as the model splashed into the water.
Victor grinned as he jumped onto the railing with perfect balance.
"To infinity... and beyond!"
He dived off the boat after her.
"Young Gym Challenger!?" The supervisor shouted with her hands on her head as Victor splashed into the water.
Ace, Twilight, and Midori all went onto the railing and peered down below.
"R-Ra-Ra-!" Midori nearly lost balance and fell over, but Ace grabbed hold of his arm while narrowing his eyes at the ripples, remembering the goal his trainer had in mind for Sonia.
"Raboot... Boot." He made sure Midori was balanced before jumping back to Victor's backpack.
He paused for a moment as he saw Tesla sleeping in there.
Then cross veins of irritation formed on his head.
"Ra-BOOT!" He shouted, yanking the Charjabug out at the same time.
"Charja!?" Tesla flung back and flopped onto the ground, startled awake. He then turned back to Ace with his eyes sparking yellow in anger. "Charja! Charjabug!?"
Ace just ignored him and dug quickly into the backpack before pulling out a league card, "Raboot, Raboot!"
Victor's other pokemon turned to him and saw Ace point at the card, revealing it to have a ten-year-old Sonia.
And the team written on the card included a Milotic.
~{Under The Water}~
Nessa swam more in-depth into the lake as her eyes stared intently down for any sign of the Milotic she had seen. She saw Mantykes, Remoraids, Qwilfish, and many more pokemon swimming deeper down with her, explaining why they weren't on the surface.
She kept swimming until she saw the silhouette of a familiar pokemon come out from behind a large boulder. Nessa stopped and floated in place the moment she saw this, glancing around as the shape swam up and circled around her.
Suddenly some bubbles from the silhouette seemed to blast right at her, making Nessa instinctively close her eyes and shield herself with an arm as she was slightly pushed back.
When she opened her eyes again, they widened with her mouth forming into a big, open smile.
Floating right in front of her, staring directly into her eyes, was the Milotic she recognized as Ariel. This was the strongest pokemon of her bestie, not seen for so many years ever since her release. Ariel seemed to have recognized Nessa immediately, knowing her ever since she was a small Feebas.
The Gym Leader herself was taken aback as she was reminded just how beautiful the Tender Pokemon was, finding herself frozen in place as she stared at the sight of her floating right in front of her.
She only snapped out of her daze when she saw someone casually swim past her with a puffed-up mouth. Nessa blinked as she turned her head to see Victor swimming to be about two feet away from Ariel, his eyes brightened to see her.
He happily waved to Ariel excitedly, to which the pokemon curiously leaned forward and got a closer look at him, wondering who this boy was.
Victor reached a hand forward to her, and Milotic, sensing no ill intensions, let him gently rub her head.
The boy then turned to Nessa, the young lady surprised to see how instantly the boy seemed to connect to Ariel as he pet her.
Victor first pointed at Nessa and then pointed to Ariel, repeating to action a few times to communicate something to the water user.
Ariel seemed to understand what he was implying, even smiling.
Meanwhile, on the surface, everyone else was glancing down into the water, searching for any sign of their precious model or unique Gym Challenger.
But it wasn't long before the director saw a shadow coming up from the water, making his eyes widen.
"Get the camera rolling!" He shouted as he turned back to the stiff crew.
The moment he said that, something burst out of the water and majestically flew through the air, making him turn his head back in shock.
The director's eyes widened as he caught sight of the Milotic once again, but both Nessa and Victor were riding atop her back. They flew so high that they momentarily eclipsed the sun, seemingly floating in the air as they reached their peak.
Victor was sitting behind Nessa with his arms wrapped around the model's waist to hold on. Both of them had open-mouthed looks of pure awe as they starting to dive back down, feeling the air against their faces and blowing their hair back.
"YAHOOOOOO!" Victor shouted as Nessa laughed just as loud.
They plunged back into the water with a tremendous splash, but it was only a second later before they leaped out once more, this time with several pokemon joining them. The Mantykes that had helped Nessa blast Victor, the Mantine that had let Victor ride him, the Lanturn that Midori had landed on, and all sorts of other pokemon joined them in their diving and leaping spectacle.
With each leap out of the lake, water came up and sparkled beautifully under the sun, pokemon came out with shimmering joy, and the air felt powerful against all of their faces as they flew.
They jumped, dived, and twirled, laughing loudly each time they came up for air. At one point, Ariel leaped so high that she performed a flip, suddenly flinging the two humans upwards.
"Gyah!?" Victor and Nessa were sent up even higher than Ariel, the mermaid-like pokemon falling back into the water with a splash.
Victor and Nessa both dropped together into the lake after Ariel, sinking into the water for a few seconds before the Milotic scooped them up onto her back. Victor ended in front of Nessa and immediately grabbed hold of Ariel while Nessa instinctively wrapped her arms around Victor so she wouldn't fall off. Her arms ended up wrapping around his chest due to her being clearly taller than him, yet neither seemed to bother noticing and instead continued to enjoy the thrill of the ride.
"THIS IS AWESOME!" Victor shouted as Ariel leaped the highest she could into the sky, then aiming her head straight down as she dived, making them feel as if they were going down a drop on a roller coaster.
Nessa had glanced up at the water flying upward, her eyes widening as she caught sight of a rainbow that had formed over them.
"It's so beautiful..."
She had a look of awe on her face as she fell back into the water once more.
Victor's pokemon all stared with widened eyes as they saw him on top of the Milotic. Ace still held onto Sonia's League card, gazing out at the smiles of not only the trainers but of the Milotic they were riding on too.
"Raboot..." Ace sighed and stuffed the league card into his pouch, then sitting on the railing and watching the beautiful rainbow ahead of him.
*Snap!*
The director took a picture with a camera while the rest of the crew were filming the event. He looked at how the image turned out and instantly felt warmth as he saw the trio's precious smiles.
"It's... perfect!"
~{A Few Minutes Later}~
"Phew... That was fun." Victor said with a satisfied exhalation.
By now, Ariel was gently swimming on the lake's surface, letting the trainers catch their breath after the liveliness they felt from the ride. The other pokemon that had been swimming around them had now gone off on their own, enjoying themselves on the lake.
"I guess they thought Milotic was dangerous. That must be why they all dived deeper into the water, to hide from her. I wonder if they came out because we came?" Victor pondered as he watched all the pokemon swimming around without any worry.
Nessa smiled as she gazed around at the pokemon, feeling the most ease than she's ever felt in a while.
She gazed back to Victor with a sweet smile, only to turn pretty red when she realized her arms were wrapped around him rather tightly.
She immediately let go of him and turned her head away in silence, trying not to bring any attention to what she was doing.
Nessa crossed her arms but felt her thoughts get confused, "Wh-Why am I feeling embarrassed? He's a kid! A KID!"
Victor didn't even seem to notice Nessa's flustered state as he just appreciated Ariel's appearance.
"I can see why Milotics are considered one of the most beautiful pokemon to see, they're so pretty. Yet they've also proved themselves to be quite the powerful pokemon."
Victor suddenly formed a look of realization, his smile lowering for a moment.
"Wait... Amazing and powerful? Beautiful and strong?"
He glimpsed back at Nessa, the young adult calming herself down and admiring the rainbow still above.
"Heh." He smiled once more.
"So, this Milotic is called Ariel?" Victor asked.
Nessa turned to him cheerfully, no sign of any red on her by now.
"Yup, Sonia picked out the name herself!"
"Oh, really? Why Ariel?" Victor asked out of curiosity.
Nessa giggled, "Can't tell you that, Sonia would kill me if I told an embarrassing secret of hers."
"Great, now I'm really curious. Can you tell me? Please? Please? Pleaaaaase?" Victor asked as he gave her puppy dog eyes.
"Hngh!" Nessa was caught off guard and felt a blush form at the boy's expression, feeling herself unable to refuse. "E-Er, um..."
"Pwetty Pwease?" Victor tilted his head.
Nessa's head steamed, "O-Okay, fine! But don't tell Sonia I told you!"
"Alrighty, I promise!" Victor said with an excited salute.
"Heh heh, Charm was super effective!" Victor thought jokingly.
Nessa sighed in defeat before saying with a smile, "Well... When Sonia was young, she loved Disney princesses. Having princess-themed parties, wearing dresses, you name it. When she took the Gym Challenge, she was still rather fond of them, so she named all of her pokemon after them."
"Oh my god, that is SO adorable." Victor thought, the boy turning red from how pure that sounded.
"She called her Milotic Ariel because she resembled the Little Mermaid, she called her Ninetails Rapunzel, and she called her Meowstic... PFFT!" Nessa muffled a laugh, "S-Snow White." She squeaked, trying not to break.
"Wait a second, aren't Meowstics Psychic-types, though?"
Nessa then bellowed in laugher, "Hahaha! Exactly! Of course they are! But Sonia had a white female one, so that's what she named her!"
Victor hunched over and grabbed his heart, taking a deep breath.
"HNNNNNGH!" He hoped his heart wouldn't burst. "I HAVE to bring this up later."
"A-Anyway-" Victor started, trying to calm himself. "What can you tell me about Ariel here?"
The Milotic peaked back at them with a smile.
Nessa calmed herself to keep from laughing more, "She was her strongest pokemon, always able to take hits and last for such a long time. But I never thought I'd see her again." She was visibly brimming with happiness, gazing past Victor to look at Ariel, who stared back at her with a smile.
"Heh, I didn't think I'd find her so soon either!" Victor laughed.
"Huh?" That piqued Nessa's interest, "What do you mean? Are you implying that you were actually looking for Ariel?"
The pokemon herself grew curious upon hearing this and stopped swimming completely, glancing the corner of her eye back to Victor.
He pointed a thumb proudly at himself, "I sure am! I'm looking for all of Sonia's pokemon so I can bring them back to her!"
Now, this was a shock for both Nessa and Ariel. For such a task of finding rare pokemon all throughout Galar would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Not only that, but from what Nessa knew, Victor and Sonia should barely know each other, so for him to do such a thing for her...
"Victor, do you know how large the Wild Area, no- how large Galar is? And not to mention Meowstic and Ninetails don't have a common natural habitat, they're unique to find. So what makes you think you can actually find them?"
"Hey, I already found Ariel!" The boy grinned.
Nessa somewhat frowned as she reached an arm to Victor and pinched his cheek. "You got lucky! There was absolutely no way you would've known Ariel was here!"
"Nwesswa, thwat hwurts..." Victor whined with comedic tears.
She let go and crossed her arms, not wanting Victor to go on a wild goose chase.
"Besides... What made you even decide to take on such a ridiculous task? You've only known Sonia for a couple of days, yet you decided to do something this... 'difficult' for her. Why?"
Victor rubbed his slightly red cheek with a hint of pain on his face, yet forming a small smile, "When she told me how amazing each of her pokemon are, she shined so bright! But the moment she talked about how she released them, she dimmed down... It's clear that she still really loves her pokemon. After all, the reason she released them in the first place was out of consideration for them... She didn't want them to be stuck with her in a lab, she wanted them to do a lot more with their lives. She smiles when we talk about them, but you can clearly see pain behind it."
Ariel lowered her head and stared at her reflection in the water while narrowing her eyes.
"Milotic..." She mumbled.
Victor picked up a sentence the pokemon mumbled to herself.
"Ah, I see..." He smiled again. "Ariel, you love Sonia deep down, don't you?"
"..." Ariel raised her head but kept from looking at Victor.
"Sonia told me that you were calm, mature, and caring. So I know that you might not even be that angry about her letting you go, but that she lost confidence in herself as a trainer, right?"
Ariel turned back to Victor, somewhat surprised.
"So I was right?" He smiled innocently.
"How is he able to understand a pokemon's feelings so fast?" Nessa wondered as she listened in bewilderment.
Victor changed his smile to one of sympathy. "I know it must've been frustrating to see her suddenly drop out of a challenge that she was working so hard for. You guys must've worked so hard to make her happy, didn't you? All of you fought for her, right?"
Ariel looked away from him again.
"I know you guys must've felt heartbroken when she released you. You didn't want to leave her, and I know she actually didn't want to leave you. Her decision to let you guys go and find a better trainer might've been... 'questionable,' but she was ten! I'm sure she didn't think she'd regret it as much as she does now, but I know you'll see how much she truly feels about you guys once she sees you again."
Hearing that, Ariel gazed up at the sky, thinking about her former trainer. She even formed a small smile, which Victor noticed and felt confident about.
He then turned back to Nessa, "So when you ask why I'm doing this, it's because Sonia misses her pokemon and they miss her too. It's because she's sad without them, and they're sad without her. I just... wanna see her and her pokemon smile the happiest they can be."
Nessa seemed to be in a trance as she felt the pure innocence emitting from the boy. There was no real goal or gain he wished to obtain from doing such a nearly impossible task, he just wanted to see genuine happiness for them.
Victor closed his eyes and grinned.
"You too, Nessa! I wanna see you smile too! Just like the way you did earlier! Your eyes sparkled so brightly like they do every time you battle!"
"E-Eh?" Nessa felt some odd warmth from his words.
"You have a lot on your mind, thinking hard about what you're doing and what you should do. I know that even though Rose didn't start those thoughts, you claimed that he escalated them. But from what I can tell about Rose, he genuinely cares about people and pokemon alike, just like me! So when you tell me that he just straight up told you to quit one of your jobs, I find it hard to believe he implied that... I feel like there's more to it because I'm sure he'd be more considerate of what he says to you. So Nessa, what did Chairman Rose really tell you after your last battle?"
The model didn't seem to know what Victor meant about Rose, feeling her confusion grow. "Um, he told me that... I may need to think about how high I should be aiming for?"
Victor raised an eyebrow, "Is that exactly what he said?"
"Well, yeah! I mean- I'm sure it's close enough." Nessa muttered, annoyed.
That made Victor laugh, "Then I think I know what he meant! Nessa, I don't think Rose was telling you to quit one of your jobs. I think he was just telling you to lower your own expectations for yourself!"
"What?" If Nessa was confused before, now she was utterly bewildered.
Victor got to explaining, "From what I can tell, and so does Chairman Rose, you're doing really amazing! You told me yourself that your losses pale in comparison to your wins! But you don't really think that's enough. You continue working yourself to the bone and let a few losses or a bad day get to you."
He took the time to gently stroke Ariel, "I think you just set the standards for yourself too high, and Rose noticed this. So when he told you to rethink how high you should be aiming for, I think he meant that you should stop trying to force yourself to keep up such a high and stressful standard, to stop working and batting all the time. Relax a little, have fun, actually take some breaks from your gym battles and modeling! I know it's nice to work with what you love, but sometimes a lot of a good thing can be a bad thing, right?"
Nessa's eyes widened as Victor waved at some cheerful pokemon swimming past them.
"Like today! You laughed and had so much fun! Even if it did involve mercilessly chasing me around..." He awkwardly chuckled.
"Er, sorry about that, I got a little too into it..." Nessa interjected.
"But that's a good thing!" He said as he turned back to her, "It means you enjoyed yourself! So just relax like that from time to time and you'll be fine!"
Nessa looked down, thinking that what Victor said made sense to her. She hadn't ever taken off as much time for herself as she probably should've throughout her career. She was always vigilant and waiting in her stadium for new challengers (other than weekends), getting minimal sleep, and always keeping a tight schedule for modeling shoots and more.
She had never spent too much time with friends, in fact, she hadn't even been interacting that much with her fellow Gym Leaders to get to know them better. The only exception was Milo, who she considered a rival and fought against often. But Victor's right, too much of a good thing could sometimes be a bad thing, so maybe she should actually take time off everything and just spent more time with herself.
And all Rose had done was just offered friendly advice to her so she could balance her life better, so everything should be solved, right?
Not entirely, because Nessa couldn't help but feel some doubt. Doubt in herself, doubt in her abilities to keep up being both a Gym Leader and a model. Losing four times in a row would make a person question their own abilities, after all. Not to mention two years ago when everything seemed to be going wrong, so it was as if it was happening again. These thoughts still lingered in her, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to be the best, but in what? She would either have to focus just on training harder and shaping up her skill if she wanted to be the best Gym Leader, or would have to work on her acting ability, public speaking, and more if she wanted to be the best model.
"What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing the frown on the young lady's face.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just that... Well..." She sighed. "Can I really keep this up?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm... actually still wondering if I should quit one of my jobs..." She confessed, surprising Victor. "I'm thinking that I should focus on just being either a Gym Leader or a model..."
"You really think you have to choose?" Victor asked curiously.
Nessa nodded, "Yeah... But I don't know which one."
Victor frowned. He had thought that it was just the bad day Nessa had two years ago that was haunting her, causing her to keep up her overworked image without any breaks. Then her recent battles along with Rose's words had caused her to form doubt in herself. So Victor had assumed that clearing the misunderstanding of Rose, telling Nessa to lower her standards, and telling her to take time for herself would cheer her up and fix everything, but apparently, there was more to it.
He replayed their conversation quickly into his mind. He thought over it for a few seconds, wondering just what was having Nessa believe that she should quit a job.
His eyes then brightened with a hint of realization, "Wait... Is it that simple? Is THAT why?"
"Okay... I think I got it." Victor said aloud.
Nessa felt rather depressed. "So... You're gonna say what you think I should quit?"
"Yup!" Victor answered confidentially, already having an answer and looking a bit too happy about it in Nessa's eyes.
"Then... which one?"
"Neither!" Victor immediately answered, shocking the Gym Leader behind him.
"Huh?" Nessa didn't expect that. "What are-?"
"You're a strong trainer, a beautiful woman, and a wonderful person!"
"Wh-What!? Where is this coming from!?" Nessa shouted, abruptly turning as red as a Magikarp.
"You always appear graceful in your battles and photos, anyone can tell that you genuinely care about pokemon and have strong bonds with them, and you're good at captivating everyone around you with your bright personality. Not to mention-"
"WAIT! Hold on! Stop!" Nessa suddenly grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shook him, feeling the steam come from her head due to the sudden compliments. "Wh-Why are you saying-!?"
"Because I know you're just being insecure about yourself!" Victor smiled innocently answered before she could finish.
Nessa compeltely froze.
"The reason you're always striving to make yourself appear perfect, why you always push yourself without breaks, and why you're now thinking about quitting one of the jobs you love, it's all because you keep doubting yourself and your abilities! You don't think that you can be good as both a Gym Leader and as a model, so you're telling yourself that you can only choose one!"
The female's eyes widened, it was as if she realized this herself.
Victor reached over and pat Nessa's shoulder to comfort her. "You're thinking about quitting a job because you believe that if you just focus on one thing, then you'll do great and never fail at it. But you shouldn't have to choose something you love over the other." He turned back to Ariel, who actually seemed to be amused by listening to them. "Just take a look at Ariel! As a Milotic, isn't she a beautiful pokemon?"
"What does that have to do with-?"
"But's she's also really strong!" Victor continued as Ariel curiously leaned her head back to the speaking boy. "She doesn't choose to be beautiful or strong, she doesn't choose to either present her beauty or present her strength!"
He turned to Nessa proudly.
"So you should be just like her! Don't worry about choosing to be beautiful or being strong, just be both! After all, it's what you want, isn't it?"
Nessa suddenly saw her five-year-old self in a small, wooden boat within the lake.
"Nessa, don't get too close to the edge." Her father had warned her as he relaxed on one side of the boat while the young Nessa stared into the water.
She remembered reaching her hand out to a small Feebas that had curiously swum up to her looking rather sad. This Feebas was Ariel several years ago, just a small pokemon who many considered to look unpleasant.
"You're all bruised up... Did they bully you?" Nessa asked with a sad smile, gently rubbing the pokemon's injuries with her hand.
The pokemon just looked up, still looking troubled.
But Nessa looked pumped up and confident, "You can't give up though! You should evolve and get back at them! Just get stronger and show everyone how pretty you can be!"
The Feebas then smiled as she swam around in the water, even using a flipper to splash some water onto a laughing Nessa.
That memory faded and changed into another of when she was eleven, standing right beside a ten-year-old Sonia who excitedly stared up at a now evolved Ariel right in front of them in the water.
"A-Are you sure I can really catch her instead of you, Nessa!? I-I know I named her, but you know her better than I do!" The small ginger asked while bouncing in place from excitement.
The eleven-year-old Nessa laughed while the Milotic smiled, "Don't worry about it, she's yours! I had a talk with Ariel and decided something... I'm gonna be just like her! I'm gonna be the prettiest and strongest trainer in Galar! But mom told me that rivals bring the best out of everyone, so that's why I want you to have her Sonia! No one can fight me better than my bestie, so I want the two of you to help get me stronger!"
Small Nessa put her fist up with a bubbly smile.
"I'm gonna beat both of you and anyone else so that everyone pays attention to me! I'm gonna be the best at everything I want!"
The present Nessa then recalled Sonia's words over the phone earlier.
*What do you mean? Just do what feels right to you.*
She blinked, finding herself looking down, "What... I want? What feels right?"
She thought about everything she had wanted in her childhood, everything she worked so hard for. To become the model she dreamed to be so that she could connect to both people and pokemon alike. But then she first got a job as a Gym Leader and ended up enjoying it, especially since it did the same thing she wanted to do as a model, to connect to people and pokemon. She had ended up wanting to keep both jobs, to have people's eyes on her and test the strength and bonds of those who challenge her.
Victor noticed her deep in thought, deciding to add on just a bit more.
"So just do what you've always been doing! You're already as strong and convicted as you are beautiful! Everyone knows it, right, Ariel?"
The Milotic nodded and let out a sound that Victor guessed was a small giggle.
"So... What do you want to be, Nessa?" Victor asked once more.
The young adult didn't hesitate, raising her head to stare rather intensely at him. This allowed the boy to once again admire the blue eyes shining with the conviction that he had seen so many times on tv.
"I want to be the best Gym Leader and the best model!"
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Victor cupped his ear and looked rather smug.
Nessa's eyebrow twitched and she could instantly tell what he was doing, making her frown.
She reached forward and bonked him on the head, "You heard me."
Victor let out a whimper and wiped the spot Nessa hit, "Ow... Well..."
He looked up to her with a satisfied smile, "I'd love to see you do just that!".
Nessa turned away and crossed her arms with yet another blush. She felt a little frustrated and embarrassed, but it wasn't because of any other personal problems she had. Rather, she felt annoyed that a kid seemed to handle her situation more mature than she would've handled it herself. To think that she let out her problems to someone years younger than herself, but that boy ended up listening in to all of them so attentively and even knew exactly what to say to her.
And thanks to him, she felt like a load was off shoulders.
The corners of Nessa's mouth couldn't help but slowly form up as her eyes gleamed. She had been feeling so trapped for a day, trapped in making a decision about her future, a decision she didn't want to make but felt she had to if she wanted to be the best at something. But then this... 'young man' came out of nowhere and just spouted everything on his mind so innocently. Yet what he said made sense to her, from Rose's meaning behind his words, to the doubts she had in herself.
And all the compliments he gave her... From how he said everything without hesitation, she could tell that the boy meant all of it.
"I can believe I'm feeling happy to be praised by someone younger than me... I can't let this stand..." She pouted.
Nessa then had an idea to try to turn the tables to make Victor embarrassed, mischievously grinning as she scooted closer and had her head rather close to the boys.
"You really said a lot of nice things about me~" She giggled, "It's as if you've been watching me for quite a while now, haven't you?"
She expected him to get at least a little flustered, buuuuuut...
"As much as I could every Monday!" Victor boldly declared with sparkles in his eyes.
"Eh!?" Nessa turned comedically black and white, not knowing how to process this unexpected answer.
"I've noticed that on Mondays was always when you gave your best performance! So I always watched any kind of battles you have on those days! The way you twirl around and danced in sync with your pokemon, how your eyes shine blue as you fight, and how your movements flow naturally like the tides you represent! It's mesmerizing!" Victor was the one who moved his face closer to Nessa's to be only inches away now, yet he still had stars in his eyes and didn't look the slightest bit flustered.
Nessa had her mouth open with her pupils slightly shrinking.
"Geez, what's with this guy!? How can he say all those things with no shame whatsoever!? Isn't he supposed to be at that age when boys get more conscious around girls!? I know he was kept at home for his life, but would it really do this much to him!?"
Nessa felt awkward as she turned her head away and scratched her chin, "Do... Do you look at any of the other Gym Leaders?" She didn't know why this was the question she asked, but it was the one that came out.
"Well, I do look at each Gym Leader on a different day. Other than Piers..."
Victor frowned a bit as he thought about Piers not having his own channel for his gym battles.
"I might bring it up with Rose or Marnie later..."
But he smiled again, "I've always watched how amazing you guys were. And it always made me excited, thinking about fighting all of you one day!"
Nessa twirled some of her hair with a finger, still facing away from Victor. "Um... Who's your favorite?"
"Don't got one." He answered with no hesitation. "I don't like favoriting one person over another, it's like acknowledging that I view someone as less or more important than another, I think everyone is special."
Nessa turned back to him rather surprised, his answer was just so...
"Weird."
She put a hand to her mouth and muffled a laugh.
"He really is a weird kid."
Victor just stared at her with a bigger smile forming from seeing the model laugh.
"But..."
Nessa gazed into Victor's clear eyes, the corners of her mouth all the way up.
"I like that."
Ariel smiled somewhat mischievously as she saw Nessa staring more deeply into Victor than she knew.
"Miss Nessa! Challenger Victor!"
The trio turned their heads back to the yacht to see the crew waving at them.
"Whoops, I guess we should get back, we're pretty far from the boat." Victor chuckled.
He hung onto Ariel, turning to the pokemon and whispering to her.
"We'll talk later, alright?"
Ariel nodded, already having an idea of what they would talk about.
He then glanced back to the Gym Leader, "Hang on Nessa, we'll be back in a jiffy!" He said as Ariel got ready to burst forward.
Nessa smiled as she reached her arms around Victor's chest, embracing him.
"Victor?" She whispered.
"Yeah?"
Nessa pressed herself against him and rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed, slightly surprising the boy as his eyes turned to her.
"Thank you..."
Victor felt some pride hearing that.
~{Lake Of Outrage- 1:21 PM}~
Nessa and Victor were now back on board the yacht while the crew all excitedly conversed to them about how amazing they looked on top of that Milotic and how much good film and pictures they got from the event.
However, the model wasn't paying attention to them and was instead either absent in her own thoughts or peaking at the smiling boy sitting in beside her. She thought about meeting him just that morning, about how just how positively contagious he was, and about how he maturely handled her problem but still kept the goofy childish innocence he naturally emitted.
Nessa didn't have many friends to spend time with freely besides her bestie Sonia. This was because she was both a model and a Gym Leader, so she was busy most of the time and didn't have many instances to go out and meet new people. Not just that, but the people she did know were the other Gym Leaders that she always found herself unable to freely have fun around due to their unique personalities or just being busy to even be with her.
She had the most fun around Sonia, the two of them would go about carefree during their Gym Challenge and enjoyed each other's company so much in the past. However, when Sonia suddenly dropped out of the challenge, Nessa at the time found herself alone. She didn't notice, but little by little she was having less fun and focused on getting stronger, doing this by working harder.
This had Nessa wonder something.
"Maybe that was when I started to work so hard? When I lost Sonia in the challenge? I didn't want to fail or drop out like her so... I guess I really was pushing myself because I didn't want that to happen."
She concluded something else.
"Then... isn't that what I need to relax? Not time for myself, but time with someone? Someone I can have fun with but also understands me?"
This kind of person had always been Sonia, but now they barely go anywhere together to due how busy the two of them were. Even now Nessa knew she couldn't just call Sonia because her bestie was off researching whatever new pokemon she was trying to find.
The only other person who she's had fun with as much as her bestie was... the one she had met just hours ago.
Which was why she kept gazing at the boy.
Victor, in the meantime, happily answered and spoke to the crew about how amazing it felt to ride on top of the beautiful water pokemon, who was currently swimming by the side of the yacht back to shore. The crew liked him even more after leaving such an impression of a natural bond between him and pokemon like Nessa had. They were so into their conversation that they had forgotten all about lunch and had already gone back to shore.
By the time they arrived at the border of the lake, Victor and Nessa changed back into their usual clothes. The boy proudly put his gray beanie back on and equipped his backpack, where Tesla was sleeping in as usual. They got off the yacht via a ramp and saw a few Corviknights on Flying Taxis waiting for them.
When they all hopped on the soil, Victor immediately ran in the opposite direction of the taxis and towards Ariel, who had swum a good distance away along the shore so she and Victor wouldn't be in earshot.
"Challenger Victor, where are you going!?" The director called.
"Give me a moment!" The boy responded as he quickly ran.
His pokemon, besides Tesla who was in the backpack, all stood by the camera crew and watched their trainer rush over to the Milotic, already knowing what he was going to bring up.
"Ralts? Ralts?" Midori turned to Twilight.
"Corv, Corv." The bird told him, letting Victor handle this.
"Ah, I guess he's going to say goodbye." The female supervisor smiled. "You should too, Ms. Nessa."
Nessa was still twirling her hair rather embarrassingly while deep in her thoughts when she heard the supervisor, snapping her out of them.
"Hm?" She turned her head left to see Victor just up ahead with Ariel, mumblings coming from them from being somewhat far.
The crew all packed their things into a few Flying Taxi's before waving to the water user.
"Miss Nessa! We're behind schedule so we'll be heading back to the studio to develop the film! We'll leave you and Challenger Victor with one Flying Taxi back!" The director smiled at her.
"Ah, thank you." Nessa said as she watched them start leaving.
At the same time, Victor was face to face with the pokemon in the water with a big smile.
"I can understand you. Like literally understand what you're saying."
This random news surprised Ariel, making her lean closer so her head was only a foot away from Victor, curious as to just what this boy is. The trainer chuckled and took her head between his hands, gently caressing her as he spoke.
"I know, I know. Surprising, weird, rare, whatever you wanna call it. But right now I want to ask you something important, and I think you know what it is."
That made Ariel retract her head back while her eyes partially fell.
"Mi... lotic." She mumbled.
Victor reached closer to continue rubbing her. "Hey, do you know what Sonia asked me while we were talking about you guys?"
Ariel perked her head at him.
"She asked me if I thought all of you would ever forgive her... Not for sending you guys away, but for betraying your trust. She admitted to me that she didn't have enough faith in not just all of you, but in herself. And she's regretted that for so long, I saw it in her eyes, and I know you'll see it too when you meet her again."
Ariel sensed no lie in Victor's words, everything he said so far has been so genuine and with so much positivity that you just had to believe him. But even without him, Ariel knew her own trainer for many years. From meeting her with Nessa when the trainers were little, to taking on the Gym Challenge together, they were the closest of friends like any other trainer who loved their pokemon.
And even after being released, she had always wanted to go back home, her home.
Ariel closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Victor's hand.
"Mi..." She answered.
Victor closed his eyes as the corners of his mouth went up all the way.
"Thank you... I promise to find your other two friends. So... let's make Sonia happy."
Nessa had arrived in earshot and heard just that last line, finding herself in astonishment as it seemed that Ariel had agreed to something.
"Wait... Did you convince her to come back to Sonia?"
"GAH!" Victor jumped back and turned to Nessa while flailing his arms, "U-Um, how long have you been there!?"
"Huh? I just got here." Nessa was taken aback by the rare flustered state the usually composed boy had, but she didn't even know why he even got into that state in the first place.
Victor let out a breath of relief that she didn't hear him understanding Ariel, then raising his head and putting his arms proudly onto his hips.
"Technically, I don't think I convinced her! I think she's always wanted to go home! But now I just gave her an excuse! Heh heh!"
Ariel turned to Nessa with a visible smile, moving her head and rubbing it against the model's face.
"Mi, Mi." She cooed.
Nessa reached up and rubbed pokemon while still gazing at Victor.
"And you're still thinking of finding her other two pokemon?"
"Sure am! I got this!" He put an arm over his chest confidently.
Nessa formed a sad smile, letting Ariel go and walking close to Victor.
"So... are you gonna search now?"
The boy put a hand on his chin and looked up with his eyebrows furrowing.
"Well... I can't fight against you yet, so I think I might just go around exploring the Southern Wild Area again."
Hearing this reminded Nessa of the recent closing of her gym, making her flinch and feel a bit guilty that she was keeping Victor from continuing his challenge.
However, she just didn't feel like going back to her stadium yet.
She had finally found someone who she believes she can have as much fun with as she did with her bestie. She had so much fun with Victor being lighthearted on the water, and she wanted to continue this. Victor was the one to suggest that she should enjoy herself and do what she wanted until she went back, so it should be okay, right?
"I can't believe I'm gonna ask this..."
"Um... Victor?" She looked away while twirling some of her hair. "I'd be up to fight you..."
"Really!?" The boy was suddenly a few inches from her face, standing on his tippy toes excitedly with a gleam in his eyes.
Nessa stepped back and stiffened up with a light blush.
"Er... N-Not now though!"
That made Victor tilt his head confusingly.
"You see, I don't really think I'm ready... yet. I'm still feeling pretty stressed out, to be honest. And although you did tell me to find something to enjoy by myself... that's kind of hard. The most I've enjoyed my time was with a friend, and that was usually Sonia. But she's off doing her own thing right now, and I don't really have many other friends to enjoy myself with, so..." She looked away, feeling embarrassed in basically asking a kid to 'hang out.'
Victor looked down with a hand on his chin and seriously contemplated what the model was saying.
He then snapped his fingers and rose his head with a look of realization.
"Oh! I see! So you wanna go on a date?"
"NO!" Nessa bellowed immediately, comedically sending Victor flying while Ariel looked rather shocked. "I-I just wanted the two of us to go somewhere and have fun together!"
"Oh god, that sounds so cringy when I say it out loud!" Nessa couldn't help but think.
Victor got back up from the ground, his beanie all crooked and maintaining a look of pure confusion, "B-But isn't that exactly what a date is!? When a boy and girl go out somewhere to have fun and get to know each other better!?"
Nessa had a completely blank look to her face.
"Wait, that's right. He's THAT type of innocent. That's why he's so unfazed around me, and is probably the same with any other girl."
"Puh, puh, puh." Ariel giggled on the side, her tail covering her mouth to muffle herself.
Nessa's eye twitched when she heard Ariel, but she took a deep breath while closing her eyes.
"You know what? I'm thinking WAY too much into this, I'm just embarrassing myself at this point. So..."
She formed a smile in the corner of her mouth.
"Screw it."
Nessa opened her eyes back up with a new grin and crossed her arms, "You know what? Sure Victor, let's go out on a date!"
Ariel was quite surprised by the claim and turned to Victor, who had gotten up from the ground.
"..."
The boy clutched his own head in visible confusion.
"But then WHY did you yell at me!?"
"No reason! Let's just go somewhere and have fun!" Nessa said with a wave as if to brush it off.
Victor had several questions, but he decided to just go with it and cheered up. "Okay then! Just one thing first!" He turned to Ariel, "Do you live in this lake?"
Ariel nodded.
"Then I'll be sure to come back when I find the others! I don't want to keep you cooped up in a pokeball just to take you with me!"
"Can't you just take her back to Sonia now?" Nessa pointed out.
"Nah! I want it to be one big surprise reunion! So don't go telling her anything, Nessa!" Victor put a finger on his smile as a shushing motion.
Ariel once again rubbed her forehead against Victor while humming happily.
"I'll see you again Ariel! I promise!" The boy laughed while nuzzling his cheek against the pokemon.
Nessa walked over to Ariel and started to pet her, "Ariel... It was so good to see you again. You have no idea how happy I was to see you fly out of the water like you did so long ago. And now..."
She turned to Victor, "You have such a nice young man that's willing to go out of his way just to make someone smile."
Victor shone proudly, before then noticing some people missing on the shore. "Wait, where did everyone else go!?" He asked, catching sight of only his pokemon patiently waiting in the distance beside a lone Corviknight sleeping on a taxi.
"They went back to the studio, they're a little late on their schedule due to spending a lot of time here. So now it's just us."
"Oh, I guess we had fun for quite a while." Victor nodded in realization.
Ariel nudged him, "Miloitc. Mi, Mi..."
Victor listened intently as he heard Ariel warn him of Sonia's two other pokemon. With their stubborn personalities, they'll be much harder to convince to go back and they may even have a grudge against their trainer.
"Hm... I'll have to be careful."
"Anyway... Nessa! Let's go on that date!" He jumped with his arms sticking up in the air from excitement.
Nessa put a hand on her hip and grinned, "What do you want to do then?"
That made Victor pause and look up with a blank expression.
"Wait, what do we do on a date?"
Nessa comedically fell to the ground. "He got excited yet didn't even know what to do!?"
"All mom ever told me about a date was to go out and have fun with a girl..." Victor said, looking down with a hand on his chin.
"Well... How about think of something you've been wanting to do? Something enjoyable with someone else?" Nessa suggested as she got back up.
Victor thought about it for a moment before his eyes lit up and he grinned.
"All right then! I have an idea!"
~{Hulbury Pokemon Center-1:59 PM}~
"Well... If I'm being honest, I didn't expect this." Nessa said with a look of confusion, yet interest.
After making a quick stop, Nessa had changed into her disguise as to not attract attention, the same gray baggy sweater, black cap with some of her hair stuffed in it, and tight jeans that she wore when she had met with Sonia on an earlier day. Although this time, she wasn't wearing any sunglasses due to being indoors. She and Victor were inside the pokemon center standing right in front of a Rotomi, the station where trainers could switch in and out their pokemon.
But that wasn't why they were there.
Victor tapped away on the Rotomi station rather excitedly, the small Rotom infused device on the top smiling down at him.
"I've been meaning to make my League Card for a while but it kept slipping my mind!"
Nessa leaned forward over Victor's shoulder with both hands on her hips.
"But... I'm not sure what you're thinking about this being 'fun.'"
"Oh, this is why! Move your head back."
"Huh? What for-?"
*Snap!*
"Wha-!?" Nessa blinked as she saw the screen show a picture of her and Victor. However, Victor had taken the picture at such the perfect timing when Nessa moved that he got a rather funny face out of her.
"PFFT! You look like a Musharna tried to put you to sleep but you were sneezing at the same time!"
"Hey! You little-!"
*Snap!*
"HAHAHA! Now you look like a Snubbul! Man, I love taking pictures at the perfect time, it's like pausing a video or movie and getting the funniest frame!"
"STOP THAT!" Nessa became a mixture of flustered and annoyed as she quickly moved Victor to the side and deleted the photos while the Rotomi above chuckled.
"Let's take some together this time!" Victor laughed, not disheartened at all to lose those pictures.
Nessa turned to Victor with a pout, "I'd better see something funny from you then! Otherwise, I'll wash you away!"
A pokemart staff sweatdropped, "Erm, I'm pretty sure the Rotomi isn't supposed to be used like that-"
"Shhhh! Let them have their fun!" The nurse of the Pokemon center shushed the man, watching the boy and woman with a warm smile.
From there, Nessa and Victor took many pictures together in any way they could think of. From making funny faces, bizarre poses, and in the end, even winking while holding up peace signs the same way Nessa and Sonia did together.
They even dabbed, but deleted the picture after both cringing.
"I had way more fun doing that than I thought I would." Nessa giggled.
"Yeah! And doing that reminded me of something I saw, so now I got an idea of how to make my League Card look!" Victor declared excitedly.
"Oh? I forgot that was why we're here." The model said, backing up and waiting excitingly for the boy to make his card.
"Alright, here I go!"
"..."
"..."
"Well? Aren't you gonna start?"
Victor awkwardly turned like a robot to face Nessa, revealing himself to be sweating nervously with a light blush. "E-Erm... Can you look away? I-It's embarrassing posing by myself..."
Nessa blinked as she thought about what he said.
She then burst out laughing, "PFFT! Hahaha! That's what gets you embarrassed!?"
"I-I don't like doing stuff like this alone! I-It's weird! Like you're at a party but you're the only one dancing!" Victor stammered with comedically water eyes as he waved his arms up and down.
"Oh god, he looks cute when he does that." Nessa abruptly stopped laughing as she stared blankly with a blush at the boy.
She then smirked as she turned around, "Alright~ I can't wait to see what you've got in mind for your card."
"Th-Thank you..." Victor muttered behind her, setting the timer for the camera.
Nessa waited a few moments before she heard the *click* of the Rotomi again, then turning back to see Victor completely erase any previous embarrassment and looking rather happy now.
"What do you think!? I even added a background and decorations already!" He said as he pointed at the screen.
Nessa leaned forward and took a look.
In the photo, Victor was standing dramatically with his palms open in front of him and pointed upward. His legs were partially spread out and his knees were slightly bent, but what was most significant about the image was the domineering look on the boy's face. It had additional features such as a background of silhouettes of Dynamax pokemon behind Victor, a black frame around the top and bottom of the picture, the number 658 in the bottom left corner, and menacing purple symbols scattered around.
Nessa instantly burst out in laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA! What's with that pose!? *Wheeze!* Do you think you're in an anime or something!?" She held her stomach and continued laughing while Victor just chuckled with her.
"I saw Bede do it in the Galar Mines and thought it was kind of funny, but cool! He was all like, 'Oh? You're approaching me?' and made that pose!"
That just made Nessa laugh even more, "I can totally see him doing that! When I fought him he acted so mighty with that same look!" Her eyes were leaking with tears by now as she pointed at the screen.
Victor felt slightly embarrassed at his picture but printed a few cards out regardless, then handing Nessa one of them.
"Here! You'll be the first to get a League Card from yours truly!"
"Haha, phew... *pant* thanks. *wheeze* Sorry, still recovering." Nessa chortled as she wiped the corner of her eye with one hand while receiving Victor's league card in the other.
"If everyone reacts the same way you did to my card, I might have to change it..." Victor sweatdropped with an awkward smile.
"No, no, it's alright." She said while still catching her breath. "I just really wasn't expecting it. Here, I'll give you my card too. Even signed!"
Nessa reached behind her and pulled out her League Card with a pen, signed the card with a grin, and handed it to Victor between two fingers.
Victor took her card and his eyes widened to see Nessa in her gym uniform with a leg straight up while about to pitch a pokeball.
"Wow, I forgot how flexible you are!" He said without much thought.
Nessa just looked proud, "Comes with all the swimming and yoga I do. But anyway, I think we're done here now that we've got you card, so where to now Victor?"
"Oh yeah! We should do something you want to do this time!" Victor suggested.
"In that case..." Nessa smirked.
The pokemon nurse let out a pleasant sigh as she watched them.
"Ah, youth..."
~{Behind Hulbury Staduim}~
"This is really relaxing..." Victor sighed blissfully as he held his fishing rod in his hands.
"I know, right? I love fishing, especially in this spot! I love wondering what kind of pokemon I'll find in the water." The model responded with her own rod in her hands.
The two were sitting on a dock that was exactly behind the Hulbury stadium, a place Nessa had always gone in order to be alone. They both had fishing rods in the calm waters of the ocean and had soothing auras surrounding them.
"Do you usually keep the pokemon you catch?" Victor asked her curiously.
"No, I usually just release them back into the water after I take a look at them. I just like the sport of catching something and the thrill of guessing what it'll be."
"What kinds of pokemon have you caught on the line?" Victor tilted his head to her.
"So many different ones! From Wishiwashis, Arrokudas, to the plain old Magikarps." She declared.
"You think I'll reel in something you haven't yet?"
"Hah! As if! I've caught the same pokemon here over and over again! If you caught something new, then I'd kiss ya!" She laughed.
"That confident? Aren't ya? I'll catch something new just to prove you wrong!"
"Heh, good luck with that!" Nessa snorted with a roll of her eyes.
"Watch me! I'll do it with this next catch!" Victor declared with a proud fist.
As if on cue, he felt a strong tug on his line.
"Whoa!" He gripped his fishing rod tightly and shot up, firmly keeping his feet planted against the curbs of the while trying not to be pulled in.
"Oh? Looks like you caught a feisty one!" Nessa said as she pulled her own rod out and stood up to watch Victor. "Remember, tire it out the way I told you too! Then reel in, pull up, reel in, and pull up!"
"G-Got it!" Victor strained as he started performing these steps, tugging at his rod while Nessa couldn't help but feel excited.
"And if it starts to run, then let him run a bit before pulling again!"
"Hnngh!" Victor groaned as he kept tugging and reeling in.
"Need me to help you?"
"I got it!" Victor declared as he felt himself tugging the pokemon closer.
"He's got the strategy down and the pokemon aren't usually that hard to reel in, but why does he still seem to be having so much trouble?" Nessa wondered.
"I... I... GOT IT!"
With one last pull, Victor used his strength to yank a pokemon out of the water.
But both he and Nessa froze as a large shape eclipsed the afternoon sun above.
"Eh?"
The two of them turned comedically black and white with agape mouths as they saw that out of all pokemon, a blue and white one had been pulled out of the water.
A Gyarados.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Nessa screamed in her mind as she saw the pokemon glare down at the two as he reached the peak of his descent.
The Gyarados then started to fall menacingly down right at Nessa and Victor, clearly going to crash down on them and the wooden dock.
Despite this, one thing came to Victor's mind.
"HOLY HELL THIS FISHING ROD IS STRONG!"
~{A Few Minutes Later}~
"Erm... I'm really sorry about that..." Victor muttered as he followed Nessa through the streets of Hulbury, surprisingly neither of them wet.
"There, there. I'm not mad. I'm just glad we were able to run back inside quickly." Nessa awkwardly laughed as she glanced back and gently rubbed Victor's head with her hand.
"B-But, that was your favorite spot! And I end up getting it smashed!"
"It's alright, it'll be fixed, but quiet down, please. I don't want to attract attention..." The model calmed him as they walked together passed several people.
"A-Alright..." Victor muttered, still looking sad about what he did.
"Don't look so glum. More importantly..." Nessa suddenly stopped walking and grabbed both of Victor's cheeks, pulling his head up to look at her with excitement and inspiration in her eyes.
"You reeled in a Gyarados! A GYARADOS! I've never even seen that before!"
Seeing her shining happy, Victor felt his own mood brighten too, "Ha! I told you I'd reel in something you haven't got before!"
"But how did you even pull such a thing!? Was it your technique!? Your timing!?"
"IRK!" That made Victor flinch as he realized that he had indeed demonstrated something abnormal.
He raised a finger and thought quickly. "I-I was pulling hard, b-but I don't think I pulled him... her? Er, it out! That Gyarados might've gotten mad and leaped out of the water itself, it went too high for it to be because of me just yanking it out."
"Still! It's amazing that you weren't pulled into the water!" She let go of his cheeks and backed up, "We should go fishing somewhere else next time!"
"Next time? Heh." Victor smiled, "I'll look forward to it!"
*Growl!*
"..."
Victor slowly looked down at himself with a dead-looking gaze.
*Growl!*
Nessa put a hand on her mouth and started to muffle a laugh.
*GROOOOOWL!*
Nessa was the one to freeze in black and white this time, her muffled laughter abruptly stopping.
Victor rose his head up after hearing that even louder rumbling coming from the model.
He stared at her with a blank face.
She stared at him while turning red.
"..."
"Heh." Victor formed a smug grin.
"D-Don't look at me like that! Your stomach rumbled too, you know!?" Nessa pointed at him while comedically sweating.
"Well, I guess we never did eat because of Ariel coming out of nowhere." Victor chuckled, enjoying to see the woman embarrassed. "So... Want to eat then? I can make some great curry!"
That made Nessa start thinking before slowly forming a smile, "Actually, I think I want to take you somewhere."
~{Boat Restaurant- 3:05PM}~
"Wow! I didn't know they had something like this in Hulbury!" Victor said with sparkling eyes.
"This place is what I consider to be a hidden gem for my town." Nessa smiled.
She and Victor were sitting right next to each other in a restaurant that was within a large boat just off into the waters of Hulbury. Nessa showed Victor the place by having the two of them arrive on the boat via another Flying Taxi, surprising the boy. The restaurant had dark red carpet flooring, beautifully painted blue walls, several chandeliers scattered around the place, and had circular booths with a table in each of them, where the two of them were sitting together.
"Most of Hulbury's restaurants are mostly about seafood, but this place has quite a variety of different dishes."
Victor stared at the menu in complete awe while the rest of his pokemon rested in the remaining space of the booth.
"So many things to choose! What should I get!? Wait, do I even have enough to afford anything?"
"Don't worry about that, let me treat you." Nessa waved it off.
"I promise to pay you back later!" Victor said with a salute to her.
That made Nessa giggle, "Don't worry about it Victor, I make a lot from my jobs. And think of this as me paying you back."
He tilted his head, "Eh? For what?"
She leaned against Victor's shoulder with a sweet smile.
"Just for... talking to me. For taking the time to go with me to my modeling session just so you could cheer me up. You listened to all my problems and gave some nice advice and compliments. You... really made me feel better about myself."
She closed her eyes and rest her head against him.
"Thanks..."
Victor blinked as he could feel how happy Nessa was now. He didn't feel any tension from her, he felt her soft breathing, and he could see the blissful smile on her face as she just relaxed and enjoyed his company, the company of a friend.
He just innocently rested his head onto Nessa's while using a hand to gently rub her head.
"I'm just glad you're happy, Nessa. If you ever need me something, or just want me around, I'll be here for you."
Nessa chuckled, "There he goes saying things like that without much thought..."
But she opened her eyes and they flashed blue as she formed a mischievous smirk, "But in that case-!"
Victor was caught off guard as Nessa reached an arm over his shoulder and held him close to her.
"I expect you to keep your word and go on a date with me anytime I call you! If you don't, then I'll come over and blast you away with more power than a Hydro Pump!" She laughed.
"Heh, heh, then I'd better make sure my schedule is mostly open." Victor chuckled back, already adjusting to being casually hugged like an old friend from the older female.
"You'd better! But for now, let's order as much as you guys want!"
All of a sudden, each of Victor's pokemon had their eyes flash in interest, even Ace who opened just one of them.
"Oh boy..." Victor sighed as he noticed them.
~{Several Minutes Later}~
"Er... Can you guys be a little more... composed?" Victor sweatdropped.
He and Nessa watched as his pokemon basically ravaged through their plates of food rather... disturbingly. But when Victor pointed them out, they abruptly stopped and blinked.
"I know we haven't eaten anything since yesterday, but please don't go crazy. Especially since we're in a public place..."
His pokemon glanced around at a few people eyeing them, then sitting backing down and eating more slowly than before.
Surprisingly, Tesla was the most composed of the group as he ate, visibly savoring each bite he took from the mountain of food on the table. He went from spot to spot, sniffing around and being attracted to different kinds of meals.
"Does he have a good nose?" Nessa wondered as she put a spoonful of soup in her mouth.
She then turned to Victor who was moaning in enjoyment as he ate, "This isn't as good as what Gloria or Sonia can make, but damn it's still great!"
"Heh, would you prefer cooking from one of them more over the other? Maybe you want... 'more' from them?" Nessa hinted.
"I'm just happy to eat a girl's cooking on several occasions! Mom says it's the best because it's usually filled with lots of love! And I completely agree!" Victor squealed, completely missing the second part of her question.
That just made Nessa laugh as she put an arm around Victor once again, "Maybe I should cook for you sometime! I can make a mad seafood delight!"
"I'd love to try it!" Victor immediately answered while panting excitedly.
"Heh! I'll hold ya to it then! Maybe right after our-!" Nessa paused as she was reminded of Victor's Gym Challenge.
She looked down as her smile slowly faded, "That's right... There's only so much time for the Gym Challenge, after all... Aren't I just wasting his time? Taking advantage of how nice he is for my own personal enjoyment?"
"What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing the look of conflict on Nessa's face.
Nessa turned to him looking rather unsure, "Hey, Victor? When... When do you want to take on my gym?"
She expected him to say something like 'as soon as I can' or 'right now' but...
Victor just cheerfully went back to his food as he head, "Whenever you feel like you're ready."
Nessa was surprised by that answer, but then realized she really shouldn't be. Despite meeting Victor just for a day, she spent enough time with him to know what kind of person he is. He's completely selfless, always thinking about others more than himself, so of course he'd patiently wait for her to be ready. He might even wait a month for her if all she did was ask.
She instinctively whacked him on the head.
"Eh!? What was that for!?" Victor comedically cried as he let go of his spoon and clutched the smacked spot with both hands.
"One of these days, someone is really gonna take advantage of how kind and naive you are, you know that, right?" Nessa said with an annoyed look.
His pokemon, besides Tesla, all nodded in agreement.
"You guys..." Victor's eyebrow twitched.
He pouted, "Look, I may be called an idiot, but I'm not stupid!"
"Jiiiiiiii..." The group all stared.
"Hold on... I get the feeling I said something wrong." Victor said as he put a hand on his chin in thought.
He then shook his head, "Okay, whatever! The point I was going for is that I'll be fine! I can understand people pretty well based on what Mom taught me! She prepared me so that, in her words, 'I won't be tricked by any suspicious people asking if I want to have a good time!'"
Ace and Twilight narrowed their eyes suspiciously while Midori looked confused, but Nessa had a comedic look horror on her face.
"She didn't really think 'those' kinds of people would go for a kid, would they!?"
She then sighed while rubbing her eyes. "Well, your mother had the right intentions at least... I can't fault her for that."
"Yeah! I'm glad mom tied me to a chair to teach me all that!"
"Now he's spouting some scary stuff." Nessa sweatdropped.
"After all... Thank to her, I'm able to understand people easier and help them!" He playfully pushed himself against Nessa with a grin, "Just like you!"
"Oi! Don't act like you know me completely you brat!" Nessa used an arm to hold Victor's head while she used the other to pull off his bean and give him a noogie.
"Hey! Th-That hurts!"
"That's the point!" Nessa laughed as Ace rolled his eyes.
When she let go of the boy, she stared rather satisfied at him. So many things happened to her in such a short time. Feeling defeats several times since yesterday and then hearing what Chairman Rose said, Nessa had been lost. Then this kid, no... this 'young man' came to her out of nowhere acting so innocent, yet was still able to somehow understand her so fast. He told her everything that she didn't realize she wanted to hear, just that she can do both of what she loved.
Nessa sweetly smiled and closed her eyes, unconsciously hugging Victor tightly against her chest while caressing his head.
Victor was shocked as his face pressed against the softness of the perfect model's chest, his eyes widened while his pokemon all turned black and white with agape mouths.
"Charja?" Telsa turned from his food and saw what the others were looking at.
"..."
He shrugged and got back to eating.
Victor, in the meantime, just closed his eyes and smiled.
"She's so warm... And soft..."
But then his eyes shot open as his smile tensed up.
"Wait, isn't this bad!? No, it should only be bad if I'm having weird thoughts about it! So in that case..."
He closed his eyes again.
"AMNESIA!"
Sure enough, he temporarily emptied his mind and forgot everything, allowing him to relax right there without a problem.
"There we go, now I don't have to worry..." He thought in relief.
Only to open his eyes with a puzzled look and question mark over his head.
"Wait, what was I worried about?"
Nessa then pulled Victor off of her and brought his head to face her directly with a newfound fire in her eyes as she said;
"Victor! Let's battle!"
That had Victor instantly regain his forgotten thoughts, then making the most excited and adorable squeal a human can make.
~{Meanwhile-Galar Mines N.2}~
"Something is tingling."
Gloria had an emotionless expression as her body tensed up, the girl standing deep within the second of Galar's mines with all of her current pokemon out.
There was Bubbles, who had at this point evolved into a Drizzile that made her turn from a crybaby into a serious pokemon.
Bolt was still a happy little Yamper that ran all around his trainer, barking.
Ziggy, who at this point evolved into a jumpy Linoone, playfully chased Yamper around.
Plush, who was still a cute little Stufful that was as strong as he was fluffy.
And finally, Luna, who had remained cheerful for the entire trip ever since evolving, yet still remained in her trainer's backpack.
But when they noticed their trainer suddenly stiffen up, they stopped and gazed at her.
"I don't like this feeling... The last time I felt this was when Victor asked me to go into town to buy a gift a girl would like... I was stiff the entire time until I learned it was just for his mum."
Luna curiously tilted her head. "Kirl? Kirlia?"
"So it can only mean one thing..."
Gloria's eyes suddenly burst into flames that seemed to somehow brighten the dim caves they in.
"SOME FOOKIN BAMPOP MIST BE GETTIN' A WEE TAE CLOSE TAE MAH MAN!"
Her scream echoed in the cave, frightening all the pokemon in the area to hide.
"D-Drizzile!?" Bubbles and the rest of Gloria's pokemon were quite alarmed by this roar, shivering in place while swearing that Gloria erupted into comedic flames.
Bede was finding Wishing Stars in the same mines, but instinctively hid behind a boulder with his purple eyes widened to the max. He had heard someone coming from one path of the mines and had gone over to check it out, but then he heard the murderous roar of Gloria, scaring him out of his mind.
His platinum blonde hair reflected some light as he gulped nervously.
"D-Definitely not going that way."
~{Author's Post-Notes}~
(Walks down a mineshaft while avoiding webs)
OHO? What's this? Our boy is finally gonna have his gym battle against the master of the waves!? About time! Ooooh boy! I can't wait to see Tesla in action! And ah, I just do enjoy me a good old fashion date, just going out doing whatever feels right. To be we can't really have any in the world right now... DAMN YOU CORONAAAA! *Ahem* Anyway, next time on Galar's Secret Miracle! A conclusion to Victor and Nessa's time together, a conclusive battle in which the model feels like a new person! And who will be watching their battle, exactly? Stay tuned! Now its time for me to get these diamonds back and log off for the night!
(Hears menacing hissing behind him)
Ah... Well Shi-
*BOOM!*
