Oh my gosh! Sorry I'm taking so long with the updates! I've got a lot on my plate, as I've warned earlier, but I seriously thought I would've got this done a week ago. Meanwhile, I'm co-developing the next milestone of 'Culinary Rivals' (chapter 50!)!
I trust this chapter will be for your entertainment! It's been my pleasure to keep your appetites up with new chapters!
dawnleaf1234 and honoured Guest: you sure it's Astrid? ;)
NebulousFlygon: Milotic probably would be dead exhausted if she did that!
Pâté au vent, anyone? DaX0315, dawnleaf1234, StRAngE ToASt, NebulousFlygon, the hounoured Guests, that Anon(ymous, yes I know it's you), and QUEENSPELLER67, please have a serving! Even though some of you may not like pâté...
Chapter forty-nine: Irony of Intention
With business now grinded to a halt for the day because of electrical repairs, Steven found himself with nothing to do. James was managing the insurance issues so the Stone Bistro staff could get compensated with pay, but Steven essentially had a day of vacation. Fortunately, it was the end of the weekend, so it was normal for the regular weekday staff to take a break.
He sat alone in his villa thinking what he and Cynthia had argued about just yesterday. Long story short, he accused Cynthia of wrecking his power supply. Cynthia didn't deny it, but instead accused him of permanently damaging her water supply. When he didn't deny that, he and she got into an argument.
They argued so badly, and that was when Cynthia nearly smashed her shoe against Steven's head. Thankfully the strike didn't connect.
But now Steven was left wondering where he was at now, with her. It seemed like an endless conflict, and he would not rest until she surrendered. On the plus side, he did create some innovative dishes – but as always she would have something to even the odds.
He had to get his mind away from cooking. Again.
His phone rang.
"Bonjour," Steven greeted after picking up the phone.
"Bonjour, Steven!" a cheery voice greeted him on the other end. Steven almost smiled. "Um… Just wondering, tu as le temps aujourd'hui?" she asked. In other words, did Steven have time?
"Yes, j'ai le temps," Steven replied. "I'll see you soon, Astrid. Where shall we meet?"
They met at Route 8 where Steven normally went mining for rocks at the cliffs. For today, Steven was not here to do that. Instead, he found himself in the familiar atmosphere of Pokémon battling: a profession he had retired from and now was a mentor to this girl.
Unofficially, that is. The point was for Astrid to get more experience against highly competitive Pokémon, but meanwhile Steven could break from cooking and battle. Perhaps he could even train Astrid, so did that mean he accepted her as his student?
That was exactly how Astrid saw it.
"Dark Pulse!" she commanded.
"Too slow! Bullet Punch!" Steven said.
It took a fraction of a second for Metagross to deal a successful blow before Absol could counter or evade. Astrid looked surprised at the quick blow, as Absol recovered to stand on its feet.
"It's not just about strength and power," Steven said. "Anticipation and wits can get the best of anyone. I thought you would have known that."
Astrid slightly blushed. "Hey, it's not like I rely on brute force… mostly."
"Says the one holding a Mega Stone," Steven replied. "Meteor Mash."
His comment embarrassed Astrid, but she kept her form and commanded a Megahorn attack. The contact between the two Pokémon shook the air around them, but thankfully not enough to cause a nearby rockslide.
The battle was in Steven's favour. He had the power and the speed to do so.
"How well do you know Absol's limits?" he asked.
"I would say pretty well," Astrid replied. "Shadow Claw!"
"I wouldn't do that," Steven said, but it was too late. Absol shot at Metagross with full force with darkened claws. He credited Astrid was trying to get at Metagross's weaknesses, whilst probing for weak points on Metagross she could use to her advantage.
Still…
"For someone who made it to the semi-final, I was expecting more," Steven added. "You should have a measure of what kind of weaknesses Metagross has before you act."
"Kind of hard to do in the heat of battle…" Astrid replied.
Absol made contact with Metagross but the recoil caused Absol to bounce back. The damage done wasn't enough to slow Metagross down as it maneuvered above Absol and struck with Meteor Mash from behind.
"Your Absol is already exhausted, and judging from how you've battled last time and today, I can surmise your style is a little reckless," Steven added. "And you said you don't rely on brute force?! Unlikely."
Astrid, who took offence to this, shouted, "Keep pressing on, Absol!"
Steven sighed. If Astrid was really going to look up to him as her mentor, she should really start listening.
Absol loaded a Dark Pulse and shot it towards Metagross, but Metagross easily broke past the pulse with Meteor Mash and tore right through to Absol, and made a direct hit. Absol collapsed.
"I don't believe it!" Astrid shouted.
"That is where you fail…" Steven replied loud enough for her to hear, while facepalming, as Metagross returned to his side. "Well done, Metagross." Meanwhile, Astrid had stepped forward to check Absol's condition before recalling to its respective Poké Ball.
Afterwards, Astrid and Steven walked closer to the shore where they could find a place to sit on the sand. Steven, who had packed food, offered to share his lunch with Astrid realised she didn't bring anything to eat.
"Oh! You're too kind, but seriously, I think I can do without lunch…" she said.
"If you insist," Steven replied. His lunch was made of fish fingers he cooked at home, which were coated in crushed onion-flavoured crackers and bread crumbs, and mixed with dill and lemon zest. They were pan-fried altogether and he made a lemon sauce to go along with it. To complement the fish, Steven also had pan-fried potato cakes to go along with them.
In short, he had packed the whole meal in a glass container and opened the lid now. The smell of dill, fried fish, and potato wafted into the air and the scent would have made anyone's mouth water.
That included Astrid's.
"Um…" Astrid shifted closer to Steven's side so she could look at the food more closely. Their shoulders touched. Her face looked bitter.
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Steven offered again.
"I'm sure, I'm sure. Go ahead and eat," Astrid replied.
Now in this uncomfortable predicament, Steven brought out a set of chopsticks to dip a piece of fried fish into the lemon sauce and then to his mouth. Biting on it, the crackle and crunch of the fish's batter rang through the air.
"Ugh…" Astrid groaned. She held her arms to her stomach.
Steven finished eating the fish and started on a potato cake. The texture of the potato was soft to look as it was to eat. It was fried nicely, but just enough that it wasn't hardened. Afterwards, Steven finished the potato cake and was about to start on another piece of fish when he heard Astrid's stomach grumble.
He couldn't help but laugh a bit. When was the last time he had laughed?
"Wait, what?" Astrid said.
Suddenly she found the lunch was in her hands. Steven pushed the chopsticks to her hands.
"You can't fight properly without a meal," Steven said. "It's all yours. I can make more at home."
Astrid, who looked touched, happily accepted the meal and started eating. It took one bite of the fish for her to realise how hungry she was, and another to realise the food was simply delicious.
"Oh my gosh! Steven! This is too good!" Astrid kept on eating the lunch until the fish was done with and she heartily ate a potato cake too. However, she found one was enough for her and she gave the rest to Steven. "Um… Sorry if I ate all the fish."
"What matters is that you had something to eat now," Steven said. He started on the rest of the potato cakes. "I would be a terrible mentor I didn't look out for my… uh, part-time student."
Astrid looked evermore touched and covered her mouth with her hands excitedly. She even rested her head on Steven's shoulder.
"Aw… So it's official! We're in a mentor-student relationship," she said.
Steven almost shuddered at the use of the word 'relationship'. Admittedly, Astrid wasn't too bad to look at, but that didn't imply he had feelings for her, right? But resting her head on his shoulder was kind of pushing the context of 'relationship' in a way he didn't expect.
"Um… Steven? You okay?" Astrid glanced up at him.
Her voice broke his train of thought.
"It's nothing, really," Steven replied. "One more thing. I wouldn't stress the word 'official' too much. After all, I've retired from battling now."
"But that's the point of mentoring. You pass on your skills to your student so your legacy won't die. For what it's worth, you'll indirectly be the new champion of Kalos!"
Steven had no idea how he was supposed to react. It seemed like Astrid was pushing the relationship like an avid fangirl. Still, who was Steven to argue when he just agreed to teach her? He would have his work cut out, but at least he could live like the old days (which, frankly, was not too long ago) once in a while.
He used his chopsticks to lift a potato cake to his mouth, and as he ate, Martine's question came to mind.
"By the way, how old are you?" he blurted out before realising it.
The question caught Astrid off-guard. Astrid looked at Steven curiously. "Why would you ask that? You're not implying something inappropriate, eh?"
"No no! Not in the slightest!" Steven quickly added.
But Astrid ended up laughing. "Oh my gosh, Steven. You're so funny! I can't believe how jumpy you are today. If you must know, I am sixteen."
She sat upright once more. "I'm glad you could share your lunch with me today, so it's only fair I give you something back."
"No no, it's fine," Steven replied. He packed away the lunch container and his bags. "I think you can repay me with another Pokémon battle. More mentoring wouldn't hurt."
Astrid walked around and kicked the sand as she was thinking. "Nope, Steven. There has to be something… I've made more than enough money from battling as a fighter… You treated me to lunch, and for free, no less. Oh, I know! How about I treat you to dinner? Maybe not today, but tomorrow?"
Steven stared back. Thankfully, he had swallowed his potato cake.
"What?!"
Normally in her free time, Winona would have taken to the skies as she wished to explore the location. However, dragging Wallace around was a price she had to pay, and in the end she resorted to walking instead. Whilst Wallace wanted to walk on the beach, Winona wanted to get out of the city.
So after a pointless argument and classic Wallace charm, Winona punched him in the face. Wallace, who complained to Winona that slapping was better, also asked why she had been punching him ever since Lisia made a harmless misinterpretation of her actions.
"My dear, this is all a misunderstanding!" Wallace said.
"Don't lie to me!" Winona shrieked. "I've always been punching you from the day we started dating! And then you had to go sweet on everyone!"
That reminded Wallace to never bring Lisia on his dates again.
"Anyway, I think you have been sticking around Steven too often," Winona said after rubbing her fist. "Why are we in Cyllage City again? I thought we were on vacation!"
Wallace grinned. "We were, but now my best friend is now in need of romantic support. I only have to model his relationship off ours, and he'll be sure to get Cynthia!"
"It's the sort that makes relationships not last," Winona muttered under her breath.
At least, she could get some sun and also enjoy quality food. If only the chefs weren't Steven and Cynthia, her vacation would have been more enjoyable. Plus, Wallace got to play around with Sophie and Laurent and by some miracle turned their co-worker relationship into a romantic one. She wondered how much more she could last when Wallace had practically the world as his oyster.
They continued walking out of the city to Route 8. After passing by the cliffs, Winona and Wallace were walking along the shore. It seemed that Wallace got his wish to walk on the beach after all. All Winona hoped was that she could put Steven's issues to rest, so that she could enjoy time with Wallace in peace.
Oh, how she wished.
"Do you see that, my dear? I spy my friend…" Wallace whispered.
"And I smell something fishy," Winona added sarcastically.
"How smart you are! I do smell fish in the air," Wallace agreed, which forced Winona to facepalm. As luck would have it, he and Winona saw Steven sitting down with someone who was not Cynthia. Rather, it was a girl who looked younger and more attractive; at least, that was how Wallace saw it.
It was that sort of opinion that was driving Winona mad, but at least Wallace held her back before she could explode.
"But let's be honest. I thought he had eyes for Cynthia, but now he's looking for someone younger? That's bold of him," Wallace added. "That's weird of him."
Winona was hoping Wallace could leave Steven alone for at least a day, let alone talk about him.
"Let's go get some ice cream," Wallace said.
"You can't. Cynthia closed down today, remember?"
"Then how am I supposed to break the news?"
For that reason, Winona slapped him. For her, it felt good. For Wallace, it was an improvement over the 'usual' punches he got. Nevertheless, they kept quiet and walked away to leave Steven with that girl. As far as Winona cared, Wallace was trying to ignite some sort of jealousy within Cynthia, and no way was she going to let Wallace do that at this point.
It did not take long for Winona to drag Wallace back to Cyllage City.
Incidentally, they passed by Laurent and Sophie who could not work today. As if Winona was annoyed enough already that Wallace was too easily distracted!
"My friends! How have you been?" Wallace called out to them. "What does it feel like to be out of work? It feels great, doesn't it?"
Both Sophie and Laurent stared at Wallace as if unsure what to say. Was Wallace telling a joke? Or did he have some ulterior motive to his enigmatic personality? The thing was that he was usually unpredictable, unlike Steven.
"If you mean–" Laurent started.
"– that you are enjoying quality time together, then I do not blame you at all," Wallace interrupted. "These things take time, you know! Go on, go on, no one's stopping you."
Sophie, uncomfortable as she was already, dragged Laurent away before something bad could happen. That painful memory of kissing Laurent, thanks to Wallace, burned in her mind and caused her to blush, and was more than happy to get away from Wallace.
Walking together with Laurent, Sophie talked about what to do with the club trophy they had won together at the Château. Laurent had possession of the trophy, and it wouldn't be long before they had to return it.
They eventually got to the edge of Cyllage City and were about to turn around when they saw, in the distance, their boss. Steven was his way back from Route 8 and he was talking with a girl, dressed in mostly purple, who looked younger than Sophie.
"What… Who…?" Sophie started.
Quickly, Laurent pulled Sophie aside to hide behind a lamppost. They kept quiet to take a closer look at the platinum blonde talking to Steven. For the first time in a while, Sophie and Laurent saw Steven actually smile. Did it have something to do with this girl?
Eventually, Steven and the girl parted ways, with Steven heading in the direction of his villa.
Sophie looked up at Laurent, who answered with an equally confused expression. What was going on with their boss?
And incidentally, Cynthia herself was passing by the boutique when she saw Steven and Astrid part ways in the distance. Suddenly, she felt a stinging cold ripple through her body upon seeing Steven. She felt she had every reason to be angry at him, and if closing his restaurant wasn't enough, Steven had found something else to do.
It had to do with Astrid again! Steven could find the time to exact his unrelenting attack on Cynthia, and yet could live worry-free. If Cynthia didn't know better, she was jealous of him; jealous that he could treat his life so casually.
Yes, the la pluie de chocolat had achieved its success in fighting off Steven, and to the point of even getting him to have some himself! But he had no reaction to it, and that poised to fuel her hatred against him.
In spite of his restaurant shutting down for a day, the irony was that Steven looked better off.
Cynthia's wrist didn't just convulse, but also grew tense from her hands clenching into fists.
Anyone can see the irony of Cynthia's earlier intentions, and look where that got her! Up next: the next milestone of 'Culinary Rivals'. Don't miss it!
Leave a review, and have a helping of Steven's boxed lunch! Onion-cracker-breaded fried fish with potato cakes and a lemon sauce to go with it, along with potato cakes. That sounds tasty, eh?