The conveniences of the modern world were definitely a privilege we took for granted.
Electricity, clean water, fast transportation, heck you could have a fully cooked meal delivered to your doorstep whenever you wanted. I had no doubt in my mind as I looked at the technology on display around me that mirrored back home, that it wouldn't be much different here.
Of course, one could argue that the Pokémon world was a step ahead of us as far as technology was concerned if you were to look at the design of a Pokéball, and the science that had to go behind it for it to even be physically possible.
It made sense though when you put it in the context of the existence of Pokémon.
I just wondered if the need for the advancement of technology happened for Pokémon or because of Pokémon…
A need for control was certainly necessary in a world overrun by beings capable of large scale destruction.
In conclusion, I was thankful that I had ended up in this world instead of one of the more less… convenient ones.
I walked with Amber to a park that she informed me we would be able to train at, Poochyena and Sneasel flanking us on our respective sides. It was weird not seeing her in a maid outfit, being that all of our interactions had been with her at work.
She was wearing a pink cardigan sweater with a matching pink skirt and boots, a fashionable black scarf with red tips that were styled after Sneasel's feather-ear draped around her neck.
All in all, she looked very trendy.
As expected, Looker had been easily persuaded once my reasons for entering the tournament had been explained, and Amber's number had been given to him just in case he needed to reach me, since I had no phone.
When I first asked for Amber's number, knowing he would want it, she gave me no end of grief that I was now the one hitting on her. She even had the gall to put hearts on the piece of paper she had used to write her phone number down.
Looker had given me a raised eyebrow at seeing this, but made no comment on the matter.
I had a feeling she did this to get back at me for seeing through her ruse.
Note to self: Amber is spiteful.
One phone call later from Looker's phone and he reiterated to her my current condition, and that she should call him if I should show any unusual symptoms of memory loss.
We were currently going out the very same evening Amber made her proposal, as I wanted to get started on training, knowing I had a lot of catching up to do if we wanted a chance at winning the tournament.
Jubilife's night life seemed to be in full swing as you'd expect in a big city like this. It certainly wasn't as small and sparse as the game's portrayed it to be, which made sense considering that most of the cities in the games would not have been able to hold the countless number of people that existed in the Sinnoh region.
It was merely another reason why I shouldn't rely on my knowledge of the games too heavily.
Oh, did I mention that Jubilife City was in Sinnoh? Yup, my Palkia and Arceus theory is looking more and more likely right now…
I looked up above me as a gust of wind blew past me and noticed a Staraptor with a vest, some sort of logo emblazoned on a corner of it, carrying two pizza boxes by some rope. This was a form of delivery by a local chain no doubt.
Fly free, minimum wage worker, fly free…
Wait! Does this mean Pokémon are taking our jobs now!?
Best not to think about it…
"You think a lot, huh?" I heard Amber speak up next to me in a thoughtful tone.
I jumped at suddenly being addressed. I was mostly keeping quiet, as I figured she still hadn't gotten over our confrontation from earlier in the day.
I certainly didn't want to test the limits of Amber's spite.
"What makes you think that?"
"You get this weird look in your eyes that make your dead eyes look even duller than usual." She began. "Your eyes did the same thing when you asked for the flier…" She folded her arms in agitation.
Dead eyes? This was going to be a thing wasn't it?
I couldn't help but sigh at this.
"So I have a tell then?"
"Pfft, you have a lot of those. What's one more?"
"You mean I have more?!"
That wasn't something I liked to hear! I was definitely going to need to lie in the future!
Amber merely laughed at my distress, her Sneasel chuckling along with her. This reaction caused my Poochyena to growl lowly under her breath. Most likely sensing her loyal master was being slighted.
I will definitely pamper her when we get back to the hotel room.
"Yeah, you're an open book. Then again, I'm pretty good at reading people. But you'd know a thing or two about that wouldn't you?" She gave me a half-lidded smile that was sure to melt any man's heart if they saw it.
To my credit I merely looked away and coughed into my hand.
"Is there a reason you pointed this out or did you just want to tease me again?" I dodged her question.
"Yup, while it's good that you're… thoughtful. A keen mind being great on the battlefield or whatever," She began as she rolled her wrist in a lackadaisical manner. "But Pokémon battles require action on the trainer's part, vocal commands. There have been too many trainers that I've seen who get too wrapped up in their own head and leave their own Pokémon to drown."
"You're giving me advice then?" I asked, skeptical.
It was a good tip all things considered. In the show, giving vocal commands were an important part of Pokémon battling. So much so, that if you can get away with giving commands without vocalizing them, it could throw your opponent off their game. The Anabel/Ash fight cemented this.
The battle was so memorable for me that I still remembered it to this day.
"And I gave it you for free! Aren't I the great—Oh we're here!" She interrupted her gloating when we arrived at our destination.
It looked a lot like the parks that I was used to seeing back at home. Perhaps a lot more spacious than what I was used to, but it looked like a park nonetheless.
There was even a pretty wide pond about the size of two neighboring houses. The most distinctive differences were the quality of the grass, which seemed to have a lustrous sheen that I couldn't quite place, and a couple of dirt-made battlefields that were outlined with white chalk. A Pokéball symbol was drawn into the two battlefields in the middle, probably denoting that it was the place for people to train or have battles. The fields themselves were placed adjacent to each other with around 20 feet or so of space between them.
There wasn't really anyone here at the park, besides us, at this hour since it was nearing dinner time. Amber had told me this would be the best time to visit as the park was usually pretty crowded during the day. The only person here was a boy who was playing with a Wooper next to the pond.
I saw Amber make her way over to one of the two battlefields that was farther away from the pond, most likely to not disturb the boy.
Not wanting to waste time, I followed after her. When she turned around, she crossed her arms and schooled a lost look on her face.
"So… what should we work on first?"
Excuse me?
"You're the one with experience here. I'd figure you'd have some idea." I said this, but she remained silent. "You said you'd entered this tournament several times, right? For both doubles and singles?"
She became flustered and turned her head to the side, one of her eyebrows twitching. This behavior only caused me more confusion. It didn't really make a whole lot of sense for her to lie about it. I just remained silent until I received an answer.
When she noticed I wasn't going to say anything else, she stomped her foot with a huff.
"Fine! All the guys who I got to partner up with me didn't really care about training together! They were either overconfident experienced trainers, or were inexperienced trainers that felt like they had something to prove about their masculinity or some other garbage!" She yelled out in anger, clearly embarrassed about having to admit this.
Ah, I see where this was going. I nodded my head in understanding and smirked.
"What you mean to say is you used your foxy charms to win the attention of seasoned trainers in hopes of an easy win. However, this proved to be a double-edged sword as their experience ended up being more a detriment. Add to that your beguiling words and having a cute girl by their side, caused an inflated ego." I began with a raised finger like I was giving a lecture to a class of students. "They were under the assumption they could probably just carry you to victory, thought they didn't need any training, and instead wanted to spend time with you. Because of this, they didn't realize you were actually a capable battler yourself… This caused anti-synergy between you and your partner during the tournament. And so, while you might have placed highly, you never actually won in the doubles format… Am I missing anything?" I concluded my long winded hypothesis.
My lack luster eyes were met with an agitated Amber, her own eyes narrowed and looking like they were trying to make me disappear with their gaze alone. I watched as her Sneasel give her a consoling pat on the leg while looking down at the ground with a sigh.
"Snea-sel…"
Thank you, Sneasel, that was really all the answer I needed.
"We can start by trying to figure out what moves Dusk knows." I said to get us started. While I could probably relish in her embarrassment, especially for the stunt she pulled with her number, I decided time was of the essence and got us back on track.
This seemed to work as she looked at me in confusion.
"Dusk?"
"The nickname I want to give Poochyena…" I explained, rubbing the back of my head.
Poochyena would eventually evolve into a Mightyena and, thinking about how they looked with their black fur mixed with streaks of gray, it reminded me of the colors that were present during the night. Hence the name 'Dusk'.
Not exactly my most original name, but hey, I liked it and that's all that matters.
Right?
Amber seemed to disagree with this as she groaned with her face in her hand.
"Sure, Dusk then. Just remind me to never ask your opinion on what to name things." She said exasperated.
Geeze, you're acting like I just committed homicide, woman! I could feel one of my eyebrows twitching in annoyance.
"So what moves are you already aware of for Dusk?" She asked, taking me seriously once again.
I put a hand to my chin in contemplation.
"I've discovered she knows Sand-attack, which means she probably already knows Tackle and Growl…" I began with a thoughtful tone, looking down at a smiling Poocheyna. Her tail began to wag in happiness when she saw my attention was on her. "Can you use Bite yet?" I finished by making a biting motion, my teeth clacking, to emphasize this.
Dusk yipped at me and mimicked the motion, her teeth clacking together far more loudly than when I did it.
"So, Sand-attack, Tackle, Growl, and Bite." Amber listed off the attacks with her fingers. "That's pretty typical of a Poochyena her size."
I nodded my head at her appraisal as I didn't find anything out of place either. I wondered if there was a four move limit like there were in the games, but wasn't sure how to approach the topic with Amber without it sounding strange.
"Any other tricks up your sleeves?" I decided to ask another question to Dusk instead.
Dusk seemed to contemplate something as she stared at the ground in thought before perking up and nodding her head.
Really? So I don't need to worry about moveset limitations!? Heck yeah! The possibilities were endless. I had to stop myself before a manic grin spread on my lips at this revelation, in fear of Amber finding me weird, or at least weirder than she probably already thought I was...
I took a step back from Dusk just in case she needed the space.
"Go ahead and show us then."
Amber and I watched as Dusk opened her maw, her teeth shining in the evening sun.
Wait… they shouldn't be shining like that at this hour. I then looked closer to see blue sparks flying off of her fangs. I thought about what I was looking at, but Amber beat me to the punch.
"Thunder Fang, huh?" Amber said, crossing her arms in thought. "Not all that surprising around these parts. Her father must've been a Luxray. I was worried we'd only have Bite and Tackle to work with."
Egg moves confirmed then. Probably wouldn't be all the relevant to me in the long run since I wasn't sure I was all that comfortable breeding Pokémon. I'm sure it required a lot more work than it was in the games anyway.
I nodded my head in understanding to Amber's explanation.
"Anything else, Dusk?" If she had five moves then what was one more?
She let out a bark and, before I could command her to show me, she took the initiative.
What she did made my eyes widen in surprise, and this time I couldn't stop the manic grin that split my face as I thought about the implications of this move.
Amber showed no reaction, however, clearly not finding anything out of the ordinary about the move. When she noticed I wasn't saying anything she looked at me and took a step back in fear.
"W-what the heck?"
I quickly wiped the madness from my face.
The smile still remained.
"This is a doubles tournament, right?" I said with excitement dripping from my tone.
She still looked a little uncomfortable, but bobbed her head in confirmation.
"Then I might have a couple of ideas where we could start training." I explained, confidence oozing from every word.
My confidence seemed to wipe away any uncertainty as she lifted up a hand.
"Lead the way boss~" She said to me with a salute and a wink, her tongue sticking out to one side.
I looked down at Dusk to see my excited demeanor being mirrored by her. Her tongue lolling out of her mouth as her tail wagged in happiness.
It was time to put my Pokémon battle knowledge to the test.
"Are you sure you aren't some ace trainer with 16 badges under their belt?" Amber gave me a look of suspicion as she asked this.
We were currently sitting at a booth in a diner that Amber frequented. She said she wanted to treat me after all the hard work I was putting in.
It was a place that allowed small to medium sized Pokémon inside of the venue. Her Sneasel was next to her eating, what I recognized as, poffins in her mouth that the restaurant served.
Dusk was currently sitting in my lap as I fed her the poffins in-between bites of my own food.
"I would hope not. If I woke up in this city without a single Pokémon on me, then that draws some very depressing conclusions…" I lied, knowing that it couldn't possibly be true. This dismal thought appeared to distract Amber from any tell that she believed I had, as she looked out the window next to our booth uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I suppose…" She trailed off before looking at me with renewed vigor. "But still, I didn't even know that move could be used like that… How did you know it could do that?" She turned back to me to ask this.
"It was just a hunch I had." I shrugged indifferently. Amber didn't look entirely convinced, but she seemed to drop it and instead focused on eating her dinner.
We made a lot of progress today in our training. It was rough at first, as I had to get used to conveying orders to Dusk, and her learning how to react to them.
Amber assured me that was completely normal when you catch a wild Pokémon, and tried to get it used to battling.
It made sense as wild Pokémon were used to just doing whatever they wanted without worrying about the hows and whys of efficiently approaching a problem. Trainers had a third-eye on the battlefield, and could judge situations better with an appraising eye that Pokémon weren't exactly always privy to.
I was also still adjusting myself to Amber's battle style, seeing as she had one already defined with how much more hands-on experience she had than me. I was at least somewhat surprised to find out that I was getting a grasp on my own style when Amber mentioned it to me. Hence, the ace trainer comment from before.
"My my, what do we have here?"
I heard a giddy voice speak as someone plopped in the booth next to me with no warning.
Dusk and I looked over to our right in surprise to see a girl around my age with a pale face and shoulder-length white feathery hair. She wore an open zip-up black jacket, its insides a crimson red. Underneath she wore a simple white shirt, and a black muffler around her neck. Complimenting her ensemble was a black skirt with red ruffles and skin-tight black stockings that covered any exposed skin and reached down into her white form-fitting boots. Her hands had black fingerless gloves, and her nails were painted a vibrant red.
Her amused gaze looked between the two of us, her eyes a sparkling golden red hue.
She looked like the combination of a trendy girl and a goth.
"Amy, you didn't tell me you were having a date!" The girl exclaimed aghast with a hand to her mouth. She sounded offended, as if she should have been invited as well.
Amy? A nickname?
I looked over to Amber to see how she was taking this.
She looked annoyed, and her Sneasel seemed to shrink in on itself when the strange girl appeared at our table.
She seemed intent on ignoring the strange girl and only responded when she saw my inquisitive gaze.
"We're not on a date. Whisper, this is Aster, my partner for the doubles tournament. Aster, this is my cousin, Whisper." Amber introduced in a dull tone, clearly unamused with her cousin's antics.
Had Amber not pointed it out I wouldn't have known they were family. Besides their clear fondness for fashion, neither of them had any features that resembled the other.
Judging by Amber's distaste, and Sneasel's fear, they didn't seem to get along with each other.
"Yo." I casually greeted with a wave of my hand in greeting, and then pointed down at the hyena in my lap. "And this is Dusk."
Dusk gave a worried yip after glancing over at Sneasel.
I thought I was going to be assaulted when Whisper shoved her face right in front of mine, and locked eyes with me.
"Oh! Oh! You nickname your Pokémon too?" She asked excitedly like a kid who finally found someone who shared an interest with them. Dusk was growling lowly in my lap at this, but this didn't seem to deter Whisper as she continued to stare at me.
Sweat trickled down my brow as I slowly nodded my head, clearly uncomfortable of having my personal bubbled invaded like this. Her gaze searched mine, and before long, I saw a strange look in her eyes that left me confused.
It was like she recognized something in her searching.
After a minute of staring, she licked her lips, which creeped me out, and sat away from me on her side of the booth.
"He smells weird." Her smiled dropped a few centimeters on her face when she said this, her brow furrowed.
I raised a brow of my own and, with all of the grace I could muster, I lifted my arm and sniffed. I watched as Dusk began to sniff the air, letting out a confused whine in response. I chanced a look at Amber to see her looking at me with disbelief, and a hint of disgust.
"Do I smell weird?" I asked her, confused.
She rolled her eyes at me and merely shrugged.
"I haven't noticed anything…" Amber trailed off, subtly looking over at Whisper to explain herself.
Whether she noticed or not, Whisper didn't seem intent on gracing us with her knowledge and instead stole a fry off my plate.
The hell was this girl!?
Whisper just showed up, teased Amber, invaded my personal space, called me smelly, and was now audaciously eating straight off my plate!
I could feel the atmosphere at the table become thick with awkwardness as no one seemed to want to talk to one another. This girl practically barged in and completely brought everything to a stand-still with just a few minor actions.
It would have been impressive if I weren't involved in it.
I watched as Whisper swiped another fry off my plate.
I rolled my eyes and pushed the plate towards her, so she wouldn't get any bright ideas about invading my personal space again. Her smiled only widened at this, almost like she was mocking me, before she started taking food from the plate with more fervor.
We sat there for a couple of more minutes with me glancing between Amber and Whisper who both seemed to be having an impromptu staring contest.
Amber's visage was unamused while Whisper wore her perpetual smile while she casually snacked on the remains of my meal. It was like they were having a silent conversation that went into far too many levels for me to comprehend.
Finally, Whisper looked over at me.
"Hey, would you like to be my partner for the doubles tournament instead?" Whisper gave me a charming smile that reminded me of Amber as she asked this.
Why in the world—
Before I could finish that thought, I jumped when I heard a slam come from Amber's side of the table. I looked over to see Amber had stood up from the booth and had both hands planted firmly on the table.
The expression on her face was absolutely livid.
"You little—"
"I'm joking! I'm joking! He's all yours, I promise!" Whisper quickly waved off Amber's anger with a laugh, probably used to teasing Amber like this.
Amber closed her mouth with a loud clack, not finding what Whisper said to be all that humorous.
I shrunk in on myself when I noticed that the diner had gone quiet, all the patrons and staff staring at our table from the loud disruption that Amber made.
"Amber…" I got the flaxen haired girl's attention and gestured around the room.
With a blush and a huff she got the message and sat down. After seeing that no more entertainment was going to be had from us, the other patrons and staff went back to what they were doing.
I began to sweat when I could still hear a couple of them whispering about us, however…
I looked over towards the source of our misery and began to analyze her.
When she had asked me to be her partner over Amber, unless she was a really good liar, I didn't feel any sort of dishonesty with the question.
Call it a gut feeling, but I think she genuinely wanted me for the tournament. If Amber hadn't had the outburst that she did, Whisper would certainly still be trying to coax an answer out of me. The only reason I could conceive why she'd give up was because she noticed how quiet the restaurant had gotten, and didn't want to make a scene.
This girl wasn't ignoring social cues out of ignorance.
She was ignoring them because she didn't care.
Her backpedaling demonstrated she knew what she was doing, and showed that she had lines she didn't want to cross.
Perhaps the only reason she had given up in the first place was because Amber was family…
But if she truly wanted me as a partner, the next question would be why?
Just because we both nicknamed our Pokémon?
Such a reason seemed far too minor. While she was certainly eccentric, I hardly wanted to believe that was the answer. Besides I haven't said much of anything for her to have any sort of—
"It's because you haven't said anything that I'm interested." I heard a whisper in my ear.
I jerked my head away in surprise, almost hitting the window next to me. I was so busy with my thoughts I hadn't noticed her lean in towards my ear.
Whisper just looked at me with an appraising smile on her face.
"Most of the 'partners' Amy like to hang around with have a fondness for talking…" Whisper began with an airy laugh. "Ya know, all bark and no bite. But you just sit there quietly, trying to figure me out. It's quite… alluring…" She finished with a manic smile on her face that sent shivers down my spine.
This girl was unhinged…
I heard a tired sigh come from the other side of the table.
"Did you just stop by to mess with us?" Amber finally spoke up.
"Nah nah," Whisper waved her off as she stood up from the booth, much to my relief.
I couldn't exactly run away with her blocking my only route of escape…
"I'll get out of your hair. Just wanted to say hello! See ya at the tournament, dead-eyes~" Whisper gave a little wave and left for the door of the restaurant. I heard the clinging of bells as the door open and closed.
Amber and I sat at the table for a bit. I looked out the window to see Whisper pass by us. She noticed me and gave another jaunty wave in passing.
That girl did come in here to mess with us.
She could see us from clear outside.
We were left with painful silence when Whisper left.
"So… are we not going to talk about that?" I spoke up, wanting to break the tension that was making me far too nervous for my liking.
"Do we have to?" Amber looked annoyed as she rubbed her Sneasel's head to comfort her.
Normally I'd just let it go but…
"I'd like some context, yes, since she is a possible opponent for the tournament on Saturday and all."
She clicked her tongue.
"Fine, as I told you, she's my cousin. And while she's weird, that whole you smelling weird thing was a bit much even for her." She pointed out.
Noted.
"So is she a dark-type specialist?"
"Yup, and we don't exactly get along all that well. We're less friends and family and more…" She paused looking for the right words.
I paused to think about it for a moment too.
Their relationship actually reminded me of…
"Rivals?"
"Yeah, something like that…"
Two Pokémon trainers who are rivals is not exactly all that unusual.
I kind of expected it in all honesty.
I'll pass on the rival package though. If my interactions with Whisper were any indication, I'd rather not deal with the headache that comes with having one.
"So there's a bit of back and forth from the both of you?" I asked an innocent question in an attempt to get Amber to speak more.
I instantly regretted it.
Amber looked really small in that moment, her bright eyes dull. Her Sneasel looked down towards the ground with a frown and a whine.
"No… not even one…"
I had to strain to hear her when she said that.
She hadn't won a single time?
Amber may not have been the strongest trainer I've seen, I mean, Cynthia is a hard bar to reach, but she wasn't a slacker by any means if my training session today told me anything.
"You said that a lot of the people I pair up with wanted to carry me because they thought they were really good." She began with a tone that bordered on frustration and melancholy.
I nodded my head to show I was listening, not really trusting my voice.
"She… She's the kind of person who can do that… She always picks up a partner at the last minute and sweeps through the whole tournament, whether it's singles or doubles."
I widened my eyes at this information.
"How many badges does she have?"
"None. She doesn't start her journey until I do."
I rubbed my head as I could feel a headache coming on. Is this the rival factor in play? I sat back in my seat and contemplated this.
So Whisper is an uncanny girl and an insane battle prodigy. She doesn't even need a partner to win a doubles tournament, is a dark-type specialist, and wanted to pair up with a nobody like me just because she found me slightly amusing.
Wait this might not be that impressive if she has some sort of overpowered Pokémon.
"What Pokémon does she use?"
"Zorua."
Is that boss music I'm hearing!? While Zoruas were probably considerded a rare Pokémon, it wasn't all that strong and its ability would be useless in the tournament. So, hearing that, it would not be an incorrect assumption that Whisper had been doing some serious training to make up for it, especially if she was winning every single time she entered.
Throughout all my lamentations, I hadn't noticed Amber gazing out through the window next to us with dull lusterless eyes. I could tell she wasn't even looking at the view and was instead staring back at her reflection.
Having Whisper show up like she did, and completely take control of the flow of conversation, must have reminded her of her countless defeats against her…
I frowned.
Losing isn't a bad thing.
Anytime you compete at game or a sport, most of the time, there can only be one winner and one loser.
Anyone who has ever won has also lost. That is an undeniable fact. Not a single soul in existence can claim they are undefeated. To say that would be the same as claiming you weren't human.
But losing also didn't feel good.
Go ahead and ask any random person on the street,
'If you had a choice, would you rather win or lose?'
What idiot wouldn't choose win?
Winning felt great, especially if it was against an opponent of equal skill. The satisfaction that you gain from that was on an entirely different level. Just the mere fulfillment you feel was addicting enough on its own. To finally know that all of your hard work, training, and preparation finally paid off was great.
Now, let's say you worked hard, you put in the time, and you even got a job just so you could get a head start on funds to help in your future endeavors, just so you could work even harder.
But in the end you still couldn't win.
Now that I realized it, I wasn't fully aware of what the prize pool for the tournament was.
If it was a sizeable amount, Amber wouldn't have even needed to get a job and could have just spent that time on training her Sneasel instead.
The phrase the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer comes to mind...
Anyway…
To know that all of your blood, sweat, and tears couldn't bring you to overcome an invincible wall that trounced you every single time…
Such a thing sounded suffocating.
Even with these lack luster eyes, I could see that Amber was just that thin line away from giving up on those selfish dreams she desired and plunging herself into the depths of misery's ever waiting arms.
I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it when I couldn't find the words I wanted to say. feeling like they would have just been empty platitudes...
I'm no hero, far from it.
I was just some helpless fool who had been pulled into a world he didn't fully understand, full of creatures I couldn't even fully comprehend, and mysteries that I wasn't even aware of that could swallow me whole and leave me gasping for air.
In the grand scheme of things, was a doubles tournament all that important?
No, not really.
It wasn't a league tournament.
It wasn't the Battle Frontier.
It wasn't a matter of life or death.
It wasn't even a contest spectacular.
But to Amber it was a roadblock, an obstacle that she just couldn't overcome. If she didn't triumph over this then there was the real possibility it would affect her confidence on her Pokémon journey when she finally hit the road.
Or maybe she wouldn't want to go at all.
Do I begrudge Whisper for winning?
Of course not, don't be ridiculous.
As I just said, people like to win. And sandbagging for someone's sake would just be seen as insulting.
Did I even have the right to comfort her?
I was just some intruder in a world where I didn't belong.
I shouldn't have even been involved in this.
There was probably someone here who could do a better job than me, someone who was more like a protagonist…
But even still I…
I swallowed the lump in my throat that had formed from me staring at the forlorn girl, and I steeled myself.
I opened my mouth to speak, only to see a tuft of grey fur sit-up from my lap and hop on the table.
The sudden jostling of the table grabbed Amber's attention as she finally looked away from the window. Her eyes fell upon Dusk, the blank look in her eyes still prevalent.
"Ruff! Ruff Ruff! Ruff! Grrrrrrrrruff!" Dusk said, her demeanor poised and unflinching.
I could tell her barks were made with purpose, with a goal in mind. I could feel strength and confidence radiating from them, trying to offer comfort for a poor girl who was at the end of a tight rope.
Even though I could feel all that, it didn't really mean much to me in the end.
Then again, the message wasn't really meant for my ears.
But Amber understood it.
She pulled Sneasel into her lap.
"Snea-sel?"
I could see the beginnings of unshed tears pool in her brown honeyed orbs, life returning to them.
Pokémon were truly wonderful if they could bring comfort to people without even really saying anything.
"Yeah, what she said." I spoke up softly from my side of the table. Amber looked up from Dusk to me as tears began to spill from her eyes. "And if we lose, well, we won't go down without kicking or screaming."
That was all I could give her.
I wouldn't sell her false promises. I couldn't guarantee we would win, to do so would be egotistical.
Perhaps her standards were low, but that small bit of hope from a useless person like me had been enough.
She nodded her head and buried her face into Sneasel's scruff, crying more silent tears.
"Sneasel! Sneas!" Sneasel cheered and lifted her paws up in the air with a smile.
I silently thanked Dusk as I rubbed her behind the ears. She crawled back into my lap, her tail wagging all the while.
I was happy that she had been the one to speak first.
Whatever unspoken promises she had given were better than any drivel that was going to come out of my mouth anyway.
