Okay, I admit it, this chapter should have been up last week. But my projects and research papers were such that it made that impossible. I just invested over 24 hours over the past four days trying to complete one project! Thankfully, it's over now...
Now to this! Let's serve these hot Custap berry muffins to DaX0315 and the honoured Guest... Heh! We shall see later if Sophie can figure things out, or not. Things can happen to her, you know...
And now, please, enjoy breakfast.
Chapter seventy-three: Café Pokémon-Amie
The mood was very dull in the hotel that morning. After days of searching for Cynthia, no one had found her, despite their best intentions to help Steven.
Wallace figured it was time to go home. Not to Sootopolis City yet, but the time would come. With his bags packed together, he stepped out of his room with Winona and Lisia waiting outside, and then went to the lobby.
"Looks like it wasn't meant to be, huh, uncle?" Lisia said.
"Unfortunately. But then again, there are a lot of women out there for him, like that blonde-haired girl dressed in nothing but purple." Wallace sighed. "I guess he likes those types of girls."
"Wallace! That girl is a teenager!" Winona gasped. "She's not that much older than Lisia!"
"Then things are darker than we thought." Wallace said. He wore a long face. "If there are any women out there, he really likes the younger ones, doesn't he–?"
SMACK
Winona punched him. Even Wallace admitted Steven was a lost cause, so what was the point of making assumptions like that? While Winona wished Steven and Cynthia were together (after all, she had been pushed into the search too), she wondered if it was even realistic at this point. Besides, whatever Wallace was suggesting was quite freaky.
They took their bags to the lobby where they found the others looking especially tired. That is, the Gym Leaders, minus Clemont, and Diantha were there. Everyone wore at least a neutral face, but overall the mood was dull. Martine, Laurent, and Sophie were there too, but their faces were relatively more energetic than the others.
"I'm afraid there's not much we can do," Grant admitted. "I think we'll have to make do with going home and getting back to ordinary life."
Wallace nodded. "Now all we have to do is wait for the man of the moment."
"You may want to apologise to him for dragging him out here." Diantha said, shaking her head. She suppressed a laugh, having had a hunch on what happened to Steven last night. Besides, she wondered how many others knew? Not Wallace, that was for certain.
Still rubbing his cheek where Winona had slapped him, Wallace looked away. Thankfully, Winona had opted to slap him and not punch him in the face. From the way Winona had slapped or punched him without much care, he suspected Winona may have forgotten the difference. Where did all that come from again…?
But before Wallace could say anything, Martine chuckled, suppressing a laugh also. "Don't bother. He's not in the hotel," she said.
"Okay, Sophie!" Wallace pointed at the receptionist accusingly, with a flame in his right eye (but the left eye looked lazy). "If you love Laurent, you will tell me where Steven is!"
Sophie's cheeks flushed pink instantly. "Wh-what does that have to do with anything?"
Diantha, watching this from behind Wallace, rolled her eyes.
"Your love with Laurent depends on it! Otherwise if you don't tell me, your relationship will become misfortunate," Wallace said. Immediately he took Sophie's hands and guided Sophie to face Laurent face-to-face. "See? Look into his eyes! He knows that if you don't say anything, he will not love you anymore."
Wallace's bold claims, albeit unrealistic, would have been blasted by any reasonable person. Steven, Diantha, and Cynthia would have easily taken his words apart, and Martine would have thought of enough counterattacks and make his words like a joke. But to Sophie, this was quite personal! And Wallace had caught her in her unreasonable mind, which helped.
Sophie started to cry.
Laurent palmed his forehead. "Sophie? I…"
"You won't love me anymore, Laurent? Why? Why! WHY!" Tears were streaming down Sophie's cheeks and her sobs were making her speech inaudible.
It was a little before 8 AM, and Astrid hadn't heard from Steven for a while, but after all that had happened, she really wished she could talk to him in person again. She knew Steven had had to deal with the aftermath of the cook-off, but she hadn't seen him since his low and depressed state at the bar. Yet just so she could hone her skills, she returned to Lumiose. Perhaps she could set up a match at the Prism Tower or something, but none of her battles compared to her one-on-one training with Steven. He was, in her opinion, the best.
To spend her morning, she went on a stroll around the city's north boulevard before petit déjeuner. Businesses and cafés were lighting up to signal the start of a typical day in Lumiose. This was Astrid's agenda for today: train, do some homework at one of the plazas, and then train again before lunch. If there was time, she would phone Steven to see how he was doing, but she dared not do that yet. She had seen how bad he looked that night, so it was perhaps for better he had some time to himself.
Playing with her Poké Ball in her hand, she walked by a certain place called Café Pokémon-Amie. Astrid knew Lumiose was famous for its elaborate cafés that served splendid meals, but this was in particular was rumoured to increase the bonds between Pokémon and Trainer. Maybe the atmosphere had something to do with it, but Astrid didn't know, since she seldom had time for things like this. Training was more important for her, anyway!
But as Astrid walked by the café, she noticed a familiar face sitting at one of the outside tables and recognised the face as that of her lovable and cute mentor. He apparently was staring off into the distance, as if looking for someone particular. Yet that wasn't what caught Astrid's eyes; instead, she noticed he was more awake and less depressed. He looked like a different man than he was four days ago. How odd.
She approached the table but Steven still did not notice her, so the only way to do so was to actually take a seat with him.
"Bon matin!" Astrid greeted with a very bright face, which snapped Steven out of his trance.
"Oh! Astrid, bon matin," Steven greeted back. "Comment ça va?"
"Je suis très bien!" Astrid replied. "But I should be asking you that! You're looking as bright as the stars since the last time I saw you! Did something happen? Come on, you must tell me! We can do more training, you know, but something happened, right?"
Astrid brought her elbows on the table so she could rest her head on her wrists. Steven sighed. Always the bubbly character Astrid was, and as inquisitive as Wallace and Martine. He waved the server to grab a specialty white chocolate mocha for his student, who was happy with that. In fact, Astrid was again beaming right at his face.
"Thank you thank you! I didn't think you would be that generous," she said.
"I'm in a good mood." Steven chuckled, but his smiled faded. "Uh… Okay, Astrid. Before I tell you what happened, I have a confession to make."
Still resting her head on her wrists, Astrid kept smiling like she was enticing him to keep talking.
"That time we had our petit déjeuner here in Lumiose, you remember that we had met Cynth- I mean, Cindy?" Steven's voice had lowered. He couldn't bring himself to say it. "Cindy… she…" His voice trailed to a whisper by then, and a blush started to rise in his cheeks.
"Aw, Steven. If it's too embarrassing, I understand. You may want to hold it off." Astrid grinned.
She patiently looked right into Steven's eyes as if anticipating something good would come out of it, even though he had blatantly just said he had a confession to make. Besides, given he didn't look as depressed as before, something had to have happened. When Steven still didn't say anything, Astrid waited for that specialty white chocolate mocha to arrive. It was served in a very big cup, which made it look too good to drink.
She held the cup up to her lips and sipped, but her eyes remained expectant.
Steven gave in eventually. "What if I told you that Cindy was actually Cynthia?"
To his surprise, Astrid started giggling and nearly spilled her mocha had she not slowly put the cup back on its saucer. Even after doing that, she kept giggling and she had to take a minute to settle down. "If that was true, I think it would turn your world upside down," she said (Steven shuddered to think that Astrid had guessed the truth). "I think it would be really funny since she was practically in disguise and neither you or I saw through it." When Steven's face remained neutral, Astrid snuck in another series of giggles. "As for me, I think we should train with her more often, and I want to watch you battle her! After all, I must learn from my mentor, who is the best."
Steven looked into Astrid's eyes, but Astrid had closed them and smiled brightly.
"You flatter me, you know that?" Steven said. "Do you always do that to people you like?"
Astrid lifted her mocha again to her lips. "Nope, this is just for my mentor." A thought struck her mind. "But judging from your question, Cindy has to be Cynthia. You two are perfect for each other, you know? No wonder you were so depressed if that was the case!"
Cynthia watched from the distance, seeing Steven and Astrid talking to each other. Oh, the nerve of him! To think he confessed his feelings for her, and yet there he was spending time with that adorable Trainer dressed in purple. Astrid's face was like sunshine. It was bright wherever she went.
She checked the time. It was a little after 8 AM, so she was late.
By then, Astrid had stood up and walked away but not before waving au revoir to Steven. Only then did Cynthia approach Steven at Café Pokémon-Amie. She felt a twitch of envy in her heart and clenched her fists as she approached him. After all that talk and the kiss they shared, and he was still seeing that girl.
"Bon matin," Steven greeted. He waved at Cynthia, but Cynthia said nothing and sat down. Her face was cold. Steven raised his eyebrows. "What would you like?"
"Anything is fine," Cynthia replied frustratedly.
The server who soon brought Cynthia a cup of Cheri berry tea then recognised the two former Champions. Looking at them closely, he bowed his head down. "This cup is on me," he said. "I'll pay for it… You two should have some time together."
Great. Not surprising, that they would be recognised.
"Merci," Steven muttered.
"Is this your first date? You seem awfully quiet…" the server said, looking in Cynthia's direction especially. "If it helps, you can always bond over letting your Pokémon roam a little in our café. We're known for that."
Cynthia said nothing.
"That's an idea… We might do that," Steven said as a way of thanking. After nodding back, the server took his leave after putting a small tray of milk, cream, and honey on the table. Steven helped himself to some cream, but Cynthia's hand beat him to it. She seemed oddly cold for some reason.
Next thing that happened, she was stirring her tea with her spoon furiously. Steven said nothing to her and wondered what was going on in her mind. She wasn't even looking at him and her eyes were showing either fury or frustration.
Her spoon-stirring became quicker and quicker.
And then the tea started spilling over the edges.
"Cynthia?! Are you okay?" Steven whispered urgently.
Cynthia buried her head in her hands. "It's… It's nothing. I'm just overthinking."
Steven took out a Poké Ball. Not sure what to say to her, he released Skarmory outside. "Hey, Skarmory," he said to the metal bird. "Um… Want to head inside for a bit?"
Skarmory lowered his head down to peek at the café and then nodded, but then looked at Cynthia. He made a soft screech like he wanted her to join the party. Steven understood and looked in the same direction.
"There might be some interesting things in there. Care to join us?" he said.
Cynthia made a face, but then brought out her own Poké Ball to send out her Togekiss. If Steven was going to go with a Flying type, she might as well match him. It seemed appropriate, right? Togekiss looked at his master and friend wondering what was going on. Sure, he had some idea of what Cynthia was here for and knowing what sort of romantic scandals she was going through (or so he thought), but even he was surprised to see Steven here.
Steven meanwhile scratched his hair nervously.
"So… Would you want to check it out, then?" he said.
"As long as it lets you focus on me, and not…" Cynthia started, but tried not to say too much. But Astrid should not be the only thing on Steven's mind right now. With Togekiss, she stood up and brought her cup back into the café. Steven followed suit with Skarmory.
Inside Café Pokémon-Amie, they were greeted by the standard setting of a Lumiose café. Tables lined up neatly on the floor and there was a kitchen making meals. However, that was only half of the space of the café. The other half was reserved for what looked like a playground, and was owned by the café, evidently.
Cynthia and Steven walked to the playground to check it out with their Pokémon. Upon seeing it, they understood why the café earned its name. It was a place for Trainers and Pokémon to grow closer to each other, and done with some activities and games, and even snacks from the patisserie! All for a fee, of course. Looking at Steven, who shrugged, Cynthia handed a handful of Poké to the bakery cashier. Apparently, the patisserie managed this playground. Steven did the same payment and then entered the playground behind Cynthia.
"So… what shall we do?" Steven said.
"For starters, let's talk," Cynthia replied. "I mean, we haven't had time to talk together, you know. That's the entire point of coming here! You… We need to talk about how we'll move forward."
"But so long as we're here, let's make the most of it," Steven replied. He looked at a game that involved picking out berries from a single tree and Trainers were hauling them to their respective Pokémon. That looked… amusing. Plus, Skarmory looked like he wanted to play, and so did Togekiss.
Groaning, Cynthia played along.
She spent the better of the half hour with Steven hauling berries back and forth while guessing what exactly the Pokémon wanted. After many minutes of getting the right berries, she sat down at a table, tired.
"I noticed you're still wearing heels…" Steven muttered. "Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine, thanks," Cynthia said. "But back to me. Come now, you said you would help me, right? You promised that. At least tell me how you're going to do that without a strategy."
Steven sighed at first but then smiled a little. "It wouldn't do me any good, but… I'd love it if you would come back to Cyllage City again, just for a little while. You could run your old restaurant just for a bit, and… we'll work on building together. Anything we profit from, we'll use to pay off your debts."
Cynthia made a face and stayed silent. At that point, someone from the bakery arrived with a plate of big Poké Puffs. They were freshly baked cupcake-like treats, of course, but neither of the two former Champions recalled ordering such.
"We didn't order that," Cynthia said.
"Complementary to any customer of our playground," the server explained. "Pokémon love them! And they'll make them a little more friendly to you, so please, bon appétit."
Nodding, Cynthia took one of the treats and offered it to Togekiss. Togekiss smiled widely and began to eat, and Steven did the same thing for Skarmory. The two birds savoured the sweet flavours in each puff, though they were eating different flavours. Togekiss had chocolate, while Skarmory had matcha. As they ate, Cynthia looked at Steven again. Her eyes looked like they tried to be soft and serious at the same time.
"Do you know how hard of a proposal that is?" she said quietly.
"I thought you might say that, but… sorry, I…" Steven found it hard to speak. "It was the only way I could think of bringing you back… But I miss those days, you know, where we would cook up things no one has even heard of and that was what made us better. I'm sure you feel that too, needing something or someone to keep pushing you to innovate to stay alive. I understand, though, if it might bring you pain again."
Cynthia nodded. So he did understand. She waited for him to continue.
"But then again," Steven went on, "that's my proposal. I can keep operating there on my own, but at least I'll be doing everything to help pay off your debts, even though I don't have much money now that I bought back Vue sur la Lune."
Before Cynthia could say anything, Togekiss came and tapped her arm. Cynthia guessed he probably wanted another Poké Puff and fed him a pink-coloured one. As Togekiss ate, Cynthia said, "That doesn't sound too bad, you know. It might make earning that Richissime star even easier. But you're going back to Cyllage City today, aren't you?"
Steven nodded.
"Then… Sorry, I can't go back today. You know I have lots to do here," she said. "Plus, you have lots to do to manage Vue sur la Lune itself. If you were to just give that to me, I don't think I… No, I can't do it. That would be too hard for you."
"I'm glad you can think of that," Steven said, feeding another puff to Skarmory. "I wonder what your staff would think? Would they be okay? Let me know who your creditors are and what your debt is, if you're okay with that. And it's not just me helping. My staff will be happy to help. They share my vision after all, and they sort of forced me to help you."
That made Cynthia smile by accident and she couldn't hide that.
"That staff of yours really wants to force a relationship between us, don't they?" she said.
Steven chuckled. He could feel the mood had slightly lightened. "What can I say? They really wanted something to happen between us, and I can't blame them. When came in Diantha's place for dinner, I think you had to have been the most beautiful…"
He could feel heat rising in his cheeks and couldn't finish the sentence. It sounded so cliché!
Thankfully, the server came back with a tray of breakfast (complementary to playground customers, he said). Arranged fruit salad, croissants, blocks of LaBrie cheese, and slices of baguette decorated the two plates on the table. Feeling hungrier than he should have been, Steven helped himself to some fruit. Cynthia did the same, staying quiet.
Breakfast was oddly quiet after that.
They looked at each other, unsure what to say, but eventually they knew that they were being quiet for no awkward reason whatsoever. So instead, they started smiling at each other.
"So…" Steven started. "Would you consider coming back? Henri told me that everyone at Vue sur la Lune would welcome you back with open arms. Otherwise, you're free to drop by my restaurant. I'll… I'll be there for you."
"Now that sounded cliché, you know?" Cynthia replied, as she fed Togekiss one of the remaining puffs. "I'll think about that, Steven, for sure."
They continued eating breakfast as the Pokémon mingled with the other Pokémon. Thankfully, Café Pokémon-Amie was still quiet for now. Who knows how busy it would get later?
Steven quietly ate his croissant, and then something seemed to strike his mind. "While you're thinking about my proposal, what would you think about helping me train Astrid? She tells me she's itching to battle Cindy again."
Cynthia's face turned into a scowl. He had to bring the topic of Astrid up, didn't he?
"No." Her answer was automatic.
"Whoa, whoa, it was just a suggestion…" Steven raised his hands, and then lowered them to rub Skarmory's neck. "Do you have something against Astrid? She's really cute once you get to know her." He turned his wrist to look at his watch. "And… it looks like I have to meet up with the others. I'll see you next time?"
That was something Cynthia would look forward to.
"Of course," she replied.
Steven smiled and began to leave.
But before he could leave, Cynthia waved for his attention. "By the way," Cynthia added. "When I came in Diantha's place to have dinner with you… You probably had no idea how attractive you looked, did you? Diantha was practically head over heels for you."
Steven's cheeks started to flush a little bit, but he wondered something else, and it was the perfect counterattack.
"And were you head over heels for me?" he replied.
Cynthia's eyes went wide. "Ah…" Her mouth fell open. "I still am, I think. Wait. No. No no no. I didn't say that…"
Steven rolled his eyes and then left Café Pokémon-Amie with Skarmory behind him. Meanwhile, Cynthia buried her face in her hands again. What kind of an answer was that? Steven had practically tricked her into revealing her feelings again. Togekiss, noticing that, went to console her.
Review... and enjoy a breakfast from Café Pokémon-Amie!