"They're here!" May yelled, rousing Drew from his thoughts. The salty bay air and warm sunshine would've lulled him to sleep, had the bench they were sitting on been more comfortable. Across the parking lot, Norman helped Caroline out of a white Jeep. Here, they looked like a normal couple, far cries from the posters and professional shots adorning the walls of Petalburg buildings and Drew's twitter feed. Norman and Caroline were two of the most down-to-earth people Drew knew, and he really saw the true couple in moments where they weren't concerned with posters and magazine cover versions of May's parents were dolls, dressed as a stylist would dress them and saying what a PR rep told them to. To him, Caroline was Caroline when she excitedly explained her research to him while on the floor playing with her pokemon, or when she pretended to lose to him in chess, defeating Max the game after. Norman was Norman when they shared beers in front of the TV or when he listened intently to him talking about the inner workings of a pokemon contest, all quiet and contemplative.
"I'm glad I could drag you to brunch with them," May chirped, intertwining their fingers. "They both really like you, you know."
Drew didn't exactly have parents. He had an estranged father who would eventually be introduced to May and a dead mother. Solidad was similar to a big sister, having been his legal guardian for a few years until he hit 20. May's family had welcomed both of them into the fold and loved him and Solidad unconditionally. Drew knew he would be welcome around them even if May and him fell out of love. He had already asked the two of them if he could marry May, and they both were ecstatic to have him as part of the family. Drew wasn't sure when he was going to propose exactly. He was waiting for the right moment, and he wanted to ask May when he knew she was at the lowest stress level possible. They both were in the process of figuring out what they were going to do after college, anyway.
When they got closer to the porch, May nearly ran over and nearly tackled her parents with a bear hug. It had been a while since they had seen each other, with May and Drew both entering their senior years of college and traveling as much as possible. They had just gotten back from a nice trip to Kalos, and Drew knew May was dying to tell her parents about it.
Caroline hugged him next, smelling faintly of coffee and something fruity. She then turned her attention to May, who was already asking questions. Norman clapped him on the shoulder. "Been a while, huh?"
"Yes, sir."
"I've missed you. Been wondering when you were gonna come around again," he said, rubbing his chin. Norman looked like he was trying to grow a beard. "I've been watching May on TV, but I haven't seen you."
Drew shrugged. "We haven't competed in the same contest in a while."
"Well, tell me when yours are and I'll watch them too."
"How has work been?" May asked Caroline. Norman turned to pay attention to the two women, and Drew followed. They walked into the restaurant and got in line for a table.
"I finally have tenure! They've moved me into a nice office in this lovely renovated brownstone with the other anthropologists."
"Wow, congrats! How long have you known?"
"Oh, maybe a week? Max doesn't even know yet."
Not too long passed before they were seated and looking over menus. May was excitedly catching up with her parents while Drew listened on. He loved seeing her like this, happy and carefree. She definitely needed this break to catch up with family. The stress of college loomed in the back of their minds like an oncoming hurricane, and this was the eye of the storm. Even online university was hard, and that was something Drew learned the hard way.
"There's something I've never talked to you two about. It seems appropriate, given our upcoming graduations," Drew said.
"Hmm?" Norman said, not looking up from the menu. Caroline gave him her full attention, sliding her glasses on top of her head.
"College. I've never spoken to either of you about your college experiences. For example, what did you major in?" Drew asked.
"Oh, I would say it was quite typical," Caroline said with a wave of the hand. "Anthropology. I minored in music."
"Norman?"
"Business. I minored in Pokemon Care and League Management."
"Ah, seems like an interesting minor."
Norman laughed. "Not in the slightest! I almost removed it several times."
"Did that help you get a position as a gym leader, though?" May said, looking up from her menu. Her utmost concern was food, as usual.
"Partially. They care about education, but it's a combination of things. I was good at battling, conventionally attractive, and smart. I fit the mold of what they needed."
"Caroline, why did you pick anthropology?"
"I liked digging in the dirt as a kid." That earned a chuckle from the table. "No, I just like people. I found the coevolution of people and pokemon fascinating. Of course, I probably would have finished my doctorate in half the time it took me to if I hadn't have gotten pregnant, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Why did you minor in music? Seems like an odd choice."
"Pretty simple, I just like music. I grew up playing the piano and picked up the electric bass after my audition for jazz piano went really poorly. I haven't really done anything with it. I'm in a band now and post some of my playing on twitter."
"Wait! I knew you were in a band in college, but you're in one now?" May exclaimed.
"I thought you knew. I can send you the spotify link, but you'll be more embarrassed of me after you find it."
"It seems you both ran in different circles. How did you both meet?" Drew said, downing the rest of his cup of coffee. Norman rubbed the back of his neck.
"We were childhood friends," Caroline replied.
"Enemies," Norman piped up.
"Wait, I have not heard this enemies to lovers storyline. I thought you fell in love in college," May said, excitedly leaning forward.
"We did! That's not a lie," Norman argued.
"You really haven't heard this story?" Caroline said, politely motioning the waitress over. The waitress filled her coffee and Drew's coffee. Caroline thanked her when she left. Norman spoke up.
"I'm glad you all got refills. It was back when I was 12…."
. . .
Unova was way colder than Norman expected. It hardly ever dipped below 50 in Johto, but in southern Unova, it was snowing in mid-November. He tugged his light windbreaker tighter to his body and obediently followed behind Vigoroth, who held a torch in his left paw. Vigoroth was helping him find a suitable campsite for the rapidly-approaching night.
Norman missed Johanna and Delia. His traveling partners for the past two years had split off from him. Johanna was a year older than him and the brains and logistics of their operations. She kept him and Delia from dying on the road or doing anything too dangerously stupid. Delia was his age, full of spunk and curiosity. They kept up with each other's battling and challenged gyms with the goal of wiping each other out in the league finals. It worked great, but the search for new adventure tore them apart. Johanna went to Hoenn in search of contests, and Delia went back to Kanto in search of stronger league battles. He missed them terribly. There was only so much you could do to keep in touch on Xtrancievers and Pokedexes. He was beginning to regret his choice immensely, and not just for the selfish reasons of logistics. Vigoroth broke his train of thought, stopping and motioning to a light in the distance.
Ah! Another camper! Much more adequately prepared than him, by the looks of it. Maybe an older boy, 15 or 17, and able to tell him all about how to prepare for the harsh winters of Unova, or a grizzled old gym leader who hikes and camps for fun, able to provide a hot meal and a battle. He quickened his pace, nearly sprinting to the edge of the camp before the tent's occupant came into his view, a pot of water in hand. No such luck. It was a girl, not much older than him. Pale skin, freckled, dyed black hair. Her face soured as she caught sight of him. When she opened her mouth, what came out was complete gibberish.
Norman was taken aback. Everyone knew Napajian, right? The continent of North Acirema was one of Napaj's biggest trade partners. He had no trouble communicating in the big cities! When he didn't do what she wanted, she grunted out words in broken Napajian. "Unprepared. No extra food. Sorry."
That Norman got. It was a small tent, only made for one person, and being a trainer wasn't the best paying job. She seemed upset to be woken up. He would just have to tough it out and hike to the next town. Johanna would've made sure they were prepared, but she wasn't here right now, and pokemon center rooms were open for check-ins twenty four hours a day. They both prepared to go their own separate ways, until something in the air changed.
A loud roar from the woods, and the girl stiffened. She grabbed not a pokeball, but a can of mace. Unovans apparently went hard at everything. Out of the woods popped a white, sniffly monster, who trampled over the young girls bike and several expensive looking supplies. That pissed her off. With her other hand, she pulled out and popped open a pokeball and began shouting, waving her arms. The white monster caught sight of her and lumbered back into the woods, clearly deciding she was too much trouble to deal with. The girl turned back to him, fire in her eyes. She proceeded to lay into him for the next 20 minutes, in complete gibberish. Norman was only able to get away by the skin of his teeth, and he and vigoroth didn't sleep at all that night, in fear of the hotheaded teenager finding them.
. . .
"That was our first meeting," Norman said. "Not one of my finer moments-"
"My only mode of reliable transportation, gone in 30 painful seconds. It was arguably one of your worst," Caroline sighed dramatically, getting grins and giggles from the younger side of the table. "You brought the bear there by making a ton of noise and then sprinted off before I could even blink."
"In my defense, it was the middle of the night and I was being screamed at in Kalosian, a language I do not and did not know. Plus, I let you lay into me! Not everyone speaks three languages!" He said defensively.
"More like 2 and a quarter. I only put effort into learning Napajian."
"Can you say something in Kalosian?" May piped up.
"Sure. Ma fille est une douleur dans le cul," Caroline said, flashing a playful smile. Drew could tell it was definitely something sarcastic. He knew where Max inherited his snark, too.
"What does that mean?"
"Google it," Caroline said, sipping at her coffee. May pouted.
"What happened next?"
"She learned Napajian and then made me battle to apologize for destroying her bike."
"I sometimes wish May would've done that with Ash instead of travelling with him for 3 years," Drew said. Norman laughed at that statement and began to speak, only to be interrupted.
"No, I'm going to tell you what happened next. He is getting everything wrong," Caroline said with a wave of the hand.
. . .
A few months had passed since Caroline lost her bike, and she was trying to scrape together money for a new one. She had started travelling with a guy her age, Meyer, who was friendly enough. He was short and skinny and wore glasses that were always breaking, and he couldn't really climb trees or keep up at her pace that often, but he was real smart. They talked about cute boys and she would point out cute girls, only to get a shrug from him. That was a kicker.
Caroline didn't really consider herself that smart, especially not smart like Meyer. She got good grades on the Digital Institute of Learning classes, but came from a podunk town in New Kalos where everyone eventually returned to weld or some shit. That was probably gonna be her calling too. The pokemon journey was just a rite of passage, although she was kinda good at battling, at least according to Meyer. Her dad was from Cebeuq, on the other side of New Kalos, so she was able to help Meyer out when he needed her to read something in Kalosian, but that was about it. She didn't know why Meyer chose to follow her after they met, but she was kinda grateful. It got a little lonely on the road.
They were sitting outside the museum in Nacrene City, shoving their faces with corn dogs. That museum was the best Caroline had been to in a while. Lots of cool skeletons and neat looking macroevolution pokemon fossils. Caroline did like archaeology, even if she wasn't that smart. Meyer knocked his leg against hers, breaking her train of thought.
"Isn't that the vigoroth trainer that fucked up your campsite?"
It sure as shit was! Just waltzing into town, without a care in the world, like he did right into her campsite. He had a map covering up his face and some sort of sloth following him. Very obviously not from Unova.
"Hey, out of towner!" Meyer tried to wave him over. The boy froze at the sight of Caroline, who was rapidly trying to prepare what she was going to say to him. She had picked up enough Napajian traveling around to argue with.
The boy nervously walked over, and Caroline shot up.
"Battle with me!"
The boy nervously looked to Meyer, who shrugged. He wasn't hiding his amusement very well. "That's how Unovans settle disputes, you know?"
"Shut up, Meyer! I have a score to settle," she growled. Meyer erupted into giggles, which grated Caroline's nerves even more.
The boy fumbled as he grabbed pokeballs out of his pocket. "I'm sorry for wrecking your camp, I really am. If you want to battle, though, I can. Just a fair warning, I'm pretty good."
Caroline stepped back and crossed her arms. She tried real hard not to pout. "Apology accepted. You know what would make me feel better?"
"What?"
"Beating you in a battle."
The boy laughed, fire in his eyes. "You'll have to try hella hard to do that. I accept your challenge."
. . .
"So you battled? Who won?"
"Me," both of them said at the same time. They both looked incredulously at each other.
"I knew you were old, my love, but is your memory really fading this fast?" Norman said.
"It makes sense you forgot me whipping your tail. It's probably very embarrassing and I don't blame you," Caroline said.
"You know, I never told you, but I am quite glad you quit dying your hair. Strawberry blonde is a better look than black," Norman said.
"You know, it's unfortunate, but I think you'll have to start dying yours. The Mothers for Pokemon are soon going to analyze your pictures for any signs of gray," Caroline responded. Drew shuddered at the mention of that abhorrent group of women.
"Do they have those little 3D printed figures of you too?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, t-shirts too. You should see how many of them have written fanfiction about me hooking up with the other gym leaders," Norman replied.
"And they'll tag him in it too. I've been a little traumatized. I think they don't know that I follow my Dad on twitter," May said. Caroline snorted.
"Did you read the one where-" She started.
"That's not an invitation, mother." May interrupted, holding up a finger. Caroline giggled.
"Back to the topic at hand," Norman said.
"Ah, yes. I don't think we ran into each other much after that. Not that I can remember," Caroline said.
"No, there were a few times, but they weren't really noteworthy. We were rivals and battled each other a couple of times inbetween tournaments."
"Okay, what happened next? You didn't just like each other meeting occasionally," May asked.
"I don't like him," Caroline said. Norman rolled his eyes as Caroline giggled at her own joke. He continued.
"I did some gen eds at the DIL and went to the Orange Islands," Norman said, "Caroline went straight to university."
"That I did. I was offered a position on their competitive battle team in exchange for a full ride. I believe Norman got one too, but he declined it."
"Not necessarily declined. I just told them that I needed a few years before I was ready for college. So they kept tabs on me and sent me one when I did well in the Orange Islands League," Norman explained.
"The next part is quite boring. We recognized each other in a coffee shop and exchanged numbers," Caroline said.
. . .
Caroline slammed a stack of textbooks on top of the table she had chosen to study at. White Cabin Café was not the best place on campus to get coffee, but it was quiet and nearly empty and the perfect place to get some homework done. She had a Human Evolution exam coming up that she had to pass, and that would not be accomplished without several cups of espresso.
Caroline hadn't expected to go to college. She had always wanted to, but kids from her small town always returned after their journey, and she figured she'd do the same. Marry some boring guy she grew up with, have some boring kids, live in a boring house with a boring white picket fence. Growing up, she was a troublemaker, and that included her teens. After running into Alder Ray in an unfortunate moment, she was offered an internship at the Nacrene City Gym at 16. The gym leader, a grizzled old man named Russell Gill, was looking for his successor, and Caroline, a girl named Lenora, and a boy named Marcos fit his bill for interns. Russell helped her get her head on straight. It took a lot for Lenora and Caroline to both leave the gym and head to college. Marcos was a few years younger than them, so he stayed.
Now though, she had a full ride to college, made good grades, and called home regularly. Life was good.
"Oh my god, look who it is!" Caroline looked up from her textbook and into the eyes of a handsome and vaguely familiar face.
"It's me, Norman Mendoza!"
"Oh, hi! Wow, it's been a minute! Come, sit down!" Norman sat across from her and wrung his hands, nervous. It was kinda cute. He probably did not expect that reaction from her, especially considering their tumultuous past.
"So, you go to school here now?"
"The café? No. Striaton? Yes."
Norman rolled his eyes, loosening up a bit. "What are you studying?"
"Anthropology. I'm assuming you're a student as well?"
"Oh yeah, I'm studying business. I got a scholarship here so I took it. What are you planning on doing?"
"I want to be a paleoanthropologist."
"I have no clue what that is!" Norman smiled, leaning forwards.
Caroline furrowed her eyebrows. He had to know what an anthropologist is! He got into Striaton for something, and they usually didn't accept people just for their athletic prowess.
"I want to research long gone civilizations and people."
Norman nodded. He seemed to get that, at least. "What'd you get into Striaton for? I mean, I know it's one of the best unis in Unova…"
"Oh, a couple things. I made pretty good grades in high school, had a run in with the Unova champion who talked to the board on my behalf…"
Norman seemed a little shocked at that statement. "You got the champion to endorse you to come here? How did you swing that?"
Caroline felt her face flush. She really did not want to tell this almost-stranger that Alder had found her in the holding area of a juvenile detention center after she was caught vandalizing the Opelucid City Gym. "Uh, he offered me an internship at the Nacrene City Gym along with a few other kids. I stayed there until I was 18, and came to college. One of my friends from there, Lenora Nongauza, came here with me. She studies paleontology."
Norman nodded. "There's rumors that she's going to be the next Nacrene City Gym leader. How does that make you feel?"
Caroline shrugged, taking a sip of her awful latte. "She's better suited for it than me. I used to want to be a gym leader, but I think I like the behind the scenes aspects of running a gym better."
"I want to be a gym leader. I have no clue what I'll do if I can't, which is why I'm majoring in business."
"Ah, they say it's useful. I'm not sure why anyone would major in business, but if it's your cup of tea…"
"It's not, I hate it."
And on and on. They talked until the cafe closed, at 9pm. As they walked towards Striaton's dorms, the conversation didn't slow. Norman shyly held out his hand, to which Caroline took it. When he left, she had sneakily stuffed a slip of paper containing her number into his leather jacket pocket.
. . .
"What kept us near each other was that we found each other on the same competitive battle team," Norman said, "The only deal was that if you competitively battled with the school, you had to be in some sort of athletic program with the university so you, and your pokemon, would stay fit. I played club baseball. Caroline was good enough to make Striaton's soccer team."
Drew raised his eyebrows. "How did you swing that?"
"I was a walk on. I played pick up soccer with a lot of trainers and always played goalie, and if I didn't want my team to lose, I had to get good," Caroline shrugged. "The seasons lined up perfectly, since our soccer season was in the fall, and comp battle is a winter sport. I'm still shocked they let me do it."
"I remember watching you at many a soccer game!" Norman nodded.
"Oh, do you remember the one where Johanna and Delia came to visit?" Caroline gave Norman a devilish grin. Norman shook his head in response.
Norman sighed. "Yes, I do. And I would not be telling you both this if it were not essential to the whole story."
. . .
Norman sat in the grass on the opposite side of Striaton, idly stroking Caroline's furret in his lap. Furret had wanted to watch the game, but Norman wasn't sure how much of it he could see. He watched Caroline warming up with the team, a blue jersey among the throng of red and white. Vigoroth lay in the grass next to him, claws grazing his thigh, obviously bored. Norman wasn't exactly sure why he agreed to be the pokesitter for his kind-of-almost-sort-of-girlfriend (dubbed so by Birch, his roommate). He did like watching her, however.
When they had first met, Caroline was a lanky, thin kid. She could outeat him in every way possible and still be hungry an hour or two later. Part of that was growing up poor, and part of that was genetics, he assumed. However, proper nutrition and a consistent workout routine had changed her frame. She wasn't only healthier, but she was toned. She had nicer abs than him! Norman didn't judge based on body type, rather, he thought that almost every woman he met was beautiful, but there was something insanely hot about Caroline being able to murder him but being too nice to. He watched her playfully bump into another teammate before jumping up and doing a pull up off of the crossbar of the goal. A yell from the coach, and she hopped down.
The game went well. Furret was much more interested in the game than Norman, who spent half of it watching Caroline. When she was bored, she'd cross her arms and look intently over at the other side, scrutinizing the plays. He felt a gentle smack on the head, and Johanna Berlitz flopped on the ground next to him. Delia gingerly sat next to her, very obviously pregnant.
"Answer your phone, dude," Johanna said, blowing a bubble out of gum.
"We did have to walk all over this campus to find you," Delia huffed.
"Sorry, guys. I thought I told you I was here."
"Negative," Johanna said, popping and blowing another bubble.
"So who's the girl?" Delia said, teasingly.
"Striaton's goalie."
Delia nodded, placing a hand on her stomach. "She's pretty. Doesn't seem like your type, though."
"And what is my type, Delia?"
"Probably a dude. I thought you were gay," Johanna interrupted.
"I'm bi, thank you. Just mainly into men."
Delia looked like she had decided to not get involved. The half time whistle was blown, just as Striaton's goal was being assaulted. Caroline jogged over, hair in a ponytail, so flushed that her freckles were almost invisible. Johanna and Delia waved as Norman stood.
"I didn't know you were bringing friends," she said, giving him a tight hug around the middle that made Norman short of breath, for multiple reasons. Caroline released him and held out her hand. "Caroline McConnell."
"Johanna Berlitz." "Delia Ketchum."
A whistle. "Shit, I gotta go. I have to see the AT. It was nice meeting you guys!" She sprinted off. Johanna nodded in approval.
"You do know how to pick 'em, Normie."
"Don't call me that! We're not officially dating yet. It's just…"
"You'd like to be?" Delia offered.
"Yeah…"
"Then ask her out, dummy. You saw how happy she was to see you," Johanna said.
They had chosen to go out after the game, all four of them. It was about 10 when they had actually met up with Caroline, because of the after-soccer shenanigans that had to take place. Norman knew she would be meeting with the athletic trainer (something about problems with her IT band), but he wasn't sure what else. After some well-needed catching up with Johanna and Delia, they met at a ramen place near campus. Caroline sat next to him and subtly held his hand throughout dinner, which made Norman break out into a cold sweat. Caroline didn't seem to notice, as she was animatedly talking to Delia. The beer in front of her had loosened her inhibitions. Delia just continued nodding and drinking her water. Johanna looked to him, sipping her beer. Norman shook his head fervently, knowing whatever was coming out of her mouth would be to his detriment.
"Are ya'll dating?" Johanna asked flatly. Delia gave her a look.
"No." "Yes."
Norman and Caroline looked at each other. Caroline seemed hurt. "Did I have the wrong impression? Because I thought you liked me."
Delia glared at Johanna. Johanna shrugged. "He's too shy to ask you out. I just wanted to clear the air."
Norman looked intensely at the ground. He loved Johanna, he really did, but she could be hella blunt. He wasn't too shy to ask Caroline out, he was just waiting for the right moment, which would come eventually. This was not the right moment!
"...would you like to be my girlfriend….." He muttered quickly.
"I thought we already were dating! We've kissed like 3 times," Caroline seemed confused, but she gave an amused smile. "But yes, yes I would."
Delia snapped her fingers in recognition. Norman sent a thank you to whatever god was above for interrupting the awkward moment he found himself in. "I finally know who you are!"
Caroline furrowed her brows. "I told you who I was?"
"No, you were Norman's rival, back when he traveled to Unova!"
"Dude, you fell in love with your rival? Simp," Johanna said, sipping at her beer. Delia laughed so hard she snorted, while Norman glared. "I kept you alive when we were kids, so now I get to make fun of you."
Delia clapped. "That settles it! You're dating now!"
. . .
A brief intermission to order their meals, and Norman spoke up again.
"It must've been destiny for you to be such good friends with Ash and Dawn," Norman said, smiling fondly.
"I am certainly glad Johanna embarrassed you enough into asking me out," Caroline said. Norman gave her a look.
May giggled at that. "I thought you were always confident when it came to anything."
"Your mom still makes me nervous," Norman said.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or offended," Caroline said, sipping at her coffee. "We certainly had some hardships that first year. Do you remember when Team Plasma raided the school?"
"How could I forget?"
. . .
Orion hall was in rubble, and Caroline was in the dead middle of it, cowering in a stairwell. The blast had come from the second floor, and they were on the first. The building was mostly deserted, aside from the 8pm calc study group that she and Birch had gone to. She wasn't keen on the reason Team Plasma had raided the campus. Maybe it was the recent research the school had been doing on Pokemon, but that was all ethical. The pokemon involved had even consented! Birch, Norman's roommate, was next to her, quietly following her through the destroyed building. He had helped free her from under a slab of concrete. Her arm was in pretty bad shape, but she was fine. The rest of her class were all alive and accounted for, luckily. Many of them were on the way to receive medical attention with a police escort.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Birch whispered. "Why would they do this?"
"It's Team Plasma. They do shit like this all the time," Caroline whispered, "Plus, I haven't seen any bodies. I think they chose this building for a reason."
"They thought it'd be deserted? So instead of murder with their terrorism, it's just attempted murder?"
That was essentially the gist of it. Caroline grew up with messages of Team Plasma's whereabouts. The Unova League often sent out advisories to avoid certain areas where there was suspected Team Plasma activity. It was kind of a fact of life for many Unovans and New Kalosians.
"Shh," Caroline held out her arm, stopping Birch from moving forward. They had come upon two grunts, chatting idly. Caroline grabbed Excadrill's pokeball out of her pocket. Birch followed suit, grabbing one of his pokeballs.
"Birch, I want you to go get help, okay?"
"I'm not leaving you-"
"Yes, you are. Go grab Officer Jenny. I'll keep these guys occupied long enough for her to come and arrest them," Caroline hissed. Birch shook his head and sped off. One of the grunts spun around, throwing out a pokemon. Their cover was blown, and fast.
"Zebstrika, discharge!"
"Excadrill, dig!" Caroline yelled.
Excadrill read Caroline's mind, popping up in front of the zebstrika and catching it off guard. He slammed into the horse pokemon, knocking it off balance. Zebstrika fired off another discharge, lighting up excadrill. However, excadrill had grabbed the pokemon in his claws, and he wasn't letting go.
"Gurdurr, use low kick on that excadrill!" The other grunt screamed. He had let his pokemon out of the ball while Caroline wasn't looking.
"Excadrill, dodge and use fury swipes on zebstrika! Do not let go of him!"
Excadrill did what was commanded, landing a few feet front in front of Caroline after. He had thrown zebstrika down onto the concrete after his fury swipes attack. Zebstrika had fallen, and the grunt was tending to his pokemon. Excadrill was breathing heavily, but he nodded, ready to continue. The other grunt held his pokeball tightly to his chest, obviously nervous.
"You're going to jail anyway. I'd just surrender, for your pokemon's sake," Caroline said, standing up out of cover.
The grunt shook his head, looking up to the sounds of footsteps. Birch came into view, Officer Jenny and Norman in tow. Norman was obviously hurt. The two grunts both held up their hands, knowing that they had been beaten. Officer Jenny began to round them up.
"Norman?" Caroline yelled. He awkwardly waved and limped over.
"I was worried about you. I ran into a few grunts on my way here. They messed up my leg," he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.
Caroline was livid. "What the hell? I can handle myself. You should've gotten to safety with the others."
"I tried, I just… needed to make sure you were okay!" He yelled back, his voice faltering. "I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt and I could've prevented it."
Was he crying? Oh, Arceus, he was starting to. Norman never cried. They had gotten into spats before, like all couples, but he was quite level headed. He must've been super worried about her. Caroline immediately felt her anger dissipate. Birch awkwardly stood in the background, shrugging. He didn't know what to do anymore than she did. She walked over and tightly hugged him with her good arm.
"I'm fine, okay? I shouldn't have yelled at you. I understand how you feel, and I probably would've done the same thing," she pulled away. "I was just worried because you could've gotten killed, Norman. I don't know if you know how dangerous these idiots really are."
"No, no, it's cool. I get it. Apology accepted," he shrugged.
Birch cleared his throat. "Are you guys ready to leave? I don't want to stick around and find anymore of these fine folks."
"Let's wait for Officer Jenny and see if she needs any help," Caroline suggested.
"I've got backup on the way. You kids are good to go," she said, not even looking up from handcuffing one of the grunts. Her arcanine sniffed the other grunt, appearing more threatening than it really was. Birch shrugged, and the three walked away from the scene of the crime and into a nearby staging area to receive appropriate medical attention.
. . .
"You know, I still have the picture that the university newspaper took of us in my wallet," Norman said.
"No way, I wanna see!" May exclaimed.
Norman pulled out the picture. He had taken the liberty of laminating it to preserve it, but the details were still clear. In the middle stood a dirty and much younger Norman, who was being supported by his friends. A grimy Caroline stood on his left, her right arm in an impromptu sling. She was awkwardly smiling at the camera. On Norman's right stood Professor Birch, who Drew almost didn't recognize without his beard. He was also smiling, more cheekily than the other two.
"I still have the nail in my arm from that surgery. It was not very fun," Caroline said, leaning forwards.
"Oh yeah, I was lucky enough for no scars. I tore my ACL though," Norman said.
"Still one of your dumbest decisions. I could handle myself," Caroline tsked. "Looking back on this picture, I do wish I was in shape like I was back then."
"I still think you're beautiful."
May pretended to vomit. Drew shook his head in amusement.
"You guys know the rest of the story. I proposed a few months after," Norman said. "And unbeknownst to us, Caroline was pregnant at the time, so it was a bit of a shotgun wedding."
"The scariest news I had ever received," Caroline said.
"Hey!" May interrupted.
"No, seriously! I was your age. I could barely take care of myself. I had no clue if I was gonna be a good mom or not."
"Valid," May said, "I think you did a pretty good job!"
"Well, I appreciate it."
"So, that's how we met. Pretty typical, I would say," Norman shrugged, smiling. "Sorry we don't have anything more interesting to tell you. We didn't save the planet or any of the shit you've done, May."
"Oh yes, I'm sure you'll have a much more interesting story to tell your kids," Caroline said with a wave of the hand.
"I don't know, one of Sinnoh's best coordinators calling you a simp is pretty interesting," Drew mused.
"Yeah, I liked that part! Can I call Dad a simp too?" May asked.
"Might be a little disrespectful," Caroline said, giggling. Norman shook his head and sighed with finality, knowing that his fearless, confident image had been shattered.