PWT Arc: The Strange Stone
"Wasn't there something like a ranking list?" Mari asked, as they had gone back into the building.
"There is, indeed", someone answered behind them. Mari turned and looked into Chris' brown eyes. First thing to note about him when seeing him up close: He had pretty eyes. "There is a bulletin board in the entrance hall. A ranking list is posted there, made up of the judges' scores and the audience's bets.",
"The audience makes bets?" Jacky asked in surprise. Chris nodded. "That's a common thing. Yeah. Not that I'd ever want to lose my money over this, but to each their own, I'd say. I can show you if you want.",
"That would be nice of you.",
"Alright then. Follow me." He smiled at them before leading them down the hallway.
They were utterly surprised to encounter a well-known face on their way there. A girl with blonde hair and a ponytail wearing a helmet on her head was checking the bulletin board. She looked up when she noticed them approaching. "Ooooh, hello! You must be participants of the tournament, no?",
"I'm going crazy." Mari's mouth dropped open. "That's... Corrina! A gym leader from Kalos!", "I'm glad you know me." The girl smiled and stopped in front of them.
"What are you doing here?" asked Mari in surprise.
"Vacation," Corrina replied. "Even gym leaders have vacations from time to time, and I like to spend them in the Unova Region on occasion. My grandfather Gurkinn takes over my gym in Shalour City while I'm away. I also use that time to occasionally watch competitions and tournaments. I like to see young talent blossom. That's how I came to see your gym battles against Elesa.",
"Really?",
"Indeed." She tightened one of her gloves. "I have to admit that I really liked you guys in the battles just now. You seem to have a lot of potential, I just wanted to tell you that. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged. As for this fine young man...", she eyed Chris, "...you seem to be among the favorites of this year's tournament.",
"Is that so..." Chris seemed to be slightly embarrassed about being called a "fine young man". Mari noticed a colorful stone stuck in Corrina's glove. "Wait a minute... I've seen a piece like that before. Dino had that too, Jacky, remember?" Jacky looked at the stone. "Yeah, right! He had one of those in his bracelet! Corrina, what is that?" She pointed at the stone.
"Huh?" Corrina lifted her hand. "Oh, that. That's a key stone." She smiled. "You know someone who has one?",
"Key stone..." Jacky repeated. "And what exactly... does it mean? Is it something special?", "Indeed, it is something special. You see, these stones unleash..." She was interrupted by a beeping sound and pulled out a device- a Holo Caster. "Oh dear... I forgot all about the appointment I made! Sorry girls, we can talk more later and then I'll tell you more! Promise. See ya!" And with that, she rushed away. Jacky looked after her, puzzled. "Uh... okay...?", "Mm..." Mari crossed her arms. "She's gone...",
"She said she'd tell us more later", Jacky said. "So... that's satisfying.",
"What a peculiar stone..." Chris tilted his head. "It had a very interesting engraving in it.",
"What?",
"It looked somewhat similar to a marble. You know, those glass marbles with the colorful... whatever those are inside?",
"Right, I noticed that too." Mari nodded. "It looked a lot like a marble. Just with rainbow colors.",
"Yes. I think I might have seen them before on TV... just... not up close.",
"So it's rare?",
"I'd like to think so, yes. Well, it's not like thinking about it will get us any closer to the answer. Come on, let's go to the bulletin board.",
"Right. I can't wait to see where we stand." They went up to the board and checked it out.
"Hmm... Chris is in first place..." Jacky noticed as she checked the list.
"That was to be expected", Mari opined. "Congrats, dude.",
"Eh..." He scratched the back of his head. "It wasn't my intention to show off, actually... But... it's nice, I guess.",
"Are you kidding? You've made mince meat out of your opponent.",
"Yeah, I know... But... uh... Yeah. I don't know what to say to that.",
"Laslow is second place, look." Jacky pointed at the silver-haired boy's name. "Then Soleil follows, Mia very close before Viv, and the two of us are almost tied. Kattlea is last.", "Hmmh..." Mari tilted her head. "We didn't get a particularly high ranking.",
"That doesn't matter", Jacky commented. "It doesn't stop us from giving it our all, does it?", "Exactly.",
"I like your spirits." Chris smiled genuinely at them. "A ranking is just a ranking. It doesn't say much about a person's skill or talent. It's just a reflection of the perception other people have of you. I personally don't really understand how those rankings are made either, but lets just say I suspect they contain a lot of personal preference. If these things were made up by a computer AI, I suspect your ranking would have been way higher.",
"Why don't they use a computer for this sort of thing, actually?", Mari wanted to know.
"No idea. I think they haven't yet acquired such technology. It has been a point of critique the last two years, though, so I hope sincerely it changes soon."
"Say... If you had a choice, who would you like to compete against?" Jacky suddenly asked them out of interest. "Whew..." Mari scratched her head. "Maybe Viv or Soleil. Those two seemed interesting. Actually... I'd consider anyone not named Chris."
Jacky laughed softly. "He scares me the most too... We should hope and pray that none of us have to go up against him.",
"Ohoho..." Chris chuckled. "My, my. Have I terrified you so much? You really don't need to be scared, I'm not almighty.",
"But you're hella strong. I am not sure any of us could hold a candle to you.",
"With that attitude, you might be right. But to be honest, I don't think so. When you believe you can do it, you will find a way, I'm sure. If you can remove your self-doubt and have faith in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible. Don't let that what you saw terrify you.",
"That's easy to say coming from you...",
"You may be right... But I mean it." He seemed so genuinely nice to them. "As for me... I'd definitely wanna fight Laslow. My old buddy looks like he's got a good fight to put up.",
"That's true. He looked like someone with promising talent", Mari agreed. "And what about you, Jacky?",
"Uhm, I would..." She thought for a moment. "...I'd prefer to fight Soleil, or Laslow.",
"Laslow, huh?" Mari gave her a meaningful look.
"Yeah, because, um... his Gothorita is strong." She nibbled on her lower lip as footsteps behind them fell silent. "You'd like to fight me?" Jacky winced, recognizing Laslow's voice even before she turned to face him. "Uh-uh... Yeah...",
"I'd be happy to, though we have no control over that." He looked at the rankings, but didn't say a word to them.
"So, we run into you again", Mari commented. "Did you come here to check out the rankings as well?",
"No, not really. I was just looking for Chris." He looked at Jacky. "But... I'm glad to know my partner remained in your memory.",
"It's really strong. You've got a lot going for you.",
"Hmm... That was nothing." Laslow shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary, at least. There are definitely more talented trainers here than me, ain't that right, Chris?",
"You... you're in second place!" Jacky reminded him. Laslow crossed his arms. "I can see that... However, it doesn't have to mean anything. Even the first-place finisher could get knocked out next round, even if it's unlikely..." He closed his eyes. "Anyway... I'd be happy to compete against you. You seem to have a few surprises in store for me." He smiled as he opened his eyes again. It was a charming smile, though Jacky didn't know if it was intentional or not. Probably more likely not. "Dude, you better take that back." Chris frowned. "Did you just say 'nothing out of the ordinary' and 'more talented than me'? Ugh, I didn't know the dent in your confidence was that deep. Or is it just your modesty speaking here?",
"Chris, really-",
"No." He shook his head. "You were awesome down there. Much like I expected from the tactical genius that you are. So don't ever dare saying that right into my face again, got me?",
"Tactical genius? You're giving me way too much credit.",
"No, I'm not. I know I've been 'just' in a parallel class, but even I heard our battle tactics teach praise you into the skies everytime he got the chance.",
"I was still average, though.",
"Ugh, because you didn't put your back into it! Seriously, you could've done way better than that. You know you could've, because that one time you worked really hard to get the approval for that school-internal event, your grades skyrocketed!"
It was barely noticable, but Laslow's gaze lowered for a few seconds. "...Yeah, that... is true.",
"So please, don't just go and talk down on yourself like that. It makes me wanna punch you into your pretty face.",
"...got it. Sorry.",
"Anyway... why where you looking for me?",
"I just wanted to invite you for a drink. There's a shop near the marketplace of Driftveil that sells really tasty milkshakes. Thought I'd treat you to one after such a long time apart.",
"Oh. In that case, I won't decline.",
"Great." He smiled again and waved at the girls before walking away with Chris.
"Such a fine gentleman", Mari murmured. "So modest.",
"Why does that sound like a bad thing?" Jacky wanted to know. "Laslow seems nice and decent.",
"Possibly. Who knows. You're only into him because he can smile charmingly and looks better than is legal.",
"I'm not into him at all!",
"That doesn't convince me", Mari teased her.
"You're the worst!" Jacky complained.
"Tell me something new. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria and get some food, I'm starving.", "Me too. That's a good idea.",
"Let's hurry then before you eat your own arm."
The two strolled to the cafeteria and spooned up some soup. There was no one else here but them. Jacky stared into her soup, lost in thought. "What are you thinking about?" Mari asked. "I'm thinking about the whole thing with Corrina's key stone. I'm really curious about it.",
"Surely, she'll tell us when we see her again, won't she? She promised, after all. Even if it was just a half-hearted promise. Maybe.",
"I hope so. The whole thing has piqued my interest.",
"I can imagine." Mari smiled.
"It just doesn't give me any peace..." Jacky admitted frankly. "Dino had a stone on his bracelet, but his Pinsir had one too. It was bigger, though, and had different colors. What's the deal with that...?",
"Don't torture yourself with it. We'll find out soon enough. Eat, or the soup will get cold.", "Ah, uh..." Jacky laughed. "Yeah, right." She quickly continued eating.