Satori in Kalos
Chapter 20
Memories 1
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Remilia was being earnest. That much, at the very least, Satori was sure of. But she still didn't respond and simply stared at the cup of hot chocolate in her lap.
"I—" Remilia looked to the side. "I'm sorry for what you saw."
They were sitting in Remilia's mansion. After the police finished all of their reports and questions Remilia had brought Satori here as a gesture of thanks. An attempt to make her comfortable. It wasn't really working.
"My sister is..." Remilia paused and Satori heard all the words Remilia thought of to describe her sister.
"She's broken." Satori finished.
Remilia's face soured. "Yes. Did you look?" Did you learn something that could help her, satori?
Satori instantly picked up on Remilia's implication. "You know what I am?"
"I do." Remilia placed her hands in her lap. "I had a friend look into it after your first visit. We had a good laugh once we realized the answer was staring us in the face." Remilia paused. "Your name, I mean."
"Right." Satori wondered where exactly they looked into it, but decided not to press the issue. It wasn't the time.
"I'm sorry for asking, but did you look at her? At Flan. Did you look?"
Satori shook her head. "I... I was afraid to. I heard the surface thoughts but nothing deeper."
It was the first time Satori had ever been afraid to use her ability. She knew there were plenty of instances where she shouldn't use it. Things like morals and invasions of privacy sometimes made her hesitate. But she was never afraid to peer into others' hearts. Never afraid of the trauma they suffered.
But just looking at Flandre. Looking at her with her arm outstretched and people dying by her whim. Satori was afraid to even look.
"Oh." Remilia glanced to the side. There's no way I can ask. "Would you like Sakuya to refresh—"
"You can ask."
"What?" Remilia stared. "I—Are you sure?"
Satori nodded. Slowly. "She's your sister. You just want to help your sister right? I didn't look at her, but I looked at you." Remilia stayed quiet while Satori continued. "She is all you care about. Everything you do you do for her."
Remilia smiled. "You see right through me."
"Of course I do," Satori said. "Because I... well, I want to help."
"Are you not afraid of her?"
"I am, I want to help anyways."
Remilia nodded and didn't press it any more than that. Satori heard the thoughts asking why in her mind, but she didn't voice them. Didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sakuya joined them instantaneously and led them to the basement, Satori's hot chocolate left untouched.
The basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was deep. Satori wished she had brought her coat, the stone walls made it cold. She was led down a long flight of stairs to a single door made of metal. There were five separate bolts and bars keeping it closed.
Remilia undid each one and slowly swung the door inwards.
The room was lit warmly by a few candles on the wall, bringing out the color in its red interior. Satori's attention was drawn to a large toy chest in the center and numerous stuffed animals scattered in every corner. They were beheaded and torn with only one or two in good condition.
"Flan," Remilia called. A second later Flandre dropped from the ceiling. Satori jumped at her entrance.
"Hey, it's Satori~" Flandre smiled. "I never get visitors."
"Well, ahh, you two are friends right?" Remilia asked. Even she had a note of hesitation in her voice. Flandre nodded vigorously and took Satori's hand.
"Wanna play a game?" Flandre asked. She pointed towards a back wall where a television was fixed. It looked like a temporary setup, with a new-looking game console hooked up below.
"Sure," Remilia replied as Flandre turned on the console. Everyone except Sakuya sat down on the carpeted floor and grabbed a controller.
Do whatever you have to do, Remilia thought. She gave Satori a sidelong glance. If anything goes wrong Sakuya will evacuate you immediately. And I mean immediately, she can manipulate time. I'll keep my sister distracted as much as I can. Good luck.
Satori nodded. The game Remilia requested was something turn-based, which would give Satori the greatest downtime to focus on what she was here to do. To focus on the trauma of Flandre Scarlet.
Whatever that could possibly be.
...
"Sis, how long do I have to stay down here?"
"I'm sorry, Flan, but a very long time." Remilia held onto her sister tightly.
Flandre didn't seem to have a grasp of what was happening. "Why?"
"You're too dangerous."
"Oh." Flandre rested her head against her sister's shoulders. "Will you come visit me?"
"Every day."
…
Satori had gleamed some of Flandre's history from her inspection of Remilia, but seeing it firsthand was powerful. Locked away in the mansion's basement for her whole life. These two sisters were just as old as Satori was, if not more so.
And that was a long time.
…
"It's lonely down here..."
"I'm alone..."
I'm alone...
I'm aLone...
…
"It's your turn, Satori!" Flandre exclaimed.
"Ah, uh, sorry." Satori split her focus on the game for a moment to set her next move before turning her attention back to Flandre.
Sifting through that much history, a long, drawn out trauma of five hundred years. It was horrible, but uneventful. Satori couldn't quite find what could have possibly broken Flandre so. Locking her away hadn't helped but it wasn't the cause. She had been locked away for a reason.
She had to go back further.
…
"Sister, please follow!" Remilia shouted. But it was a younger Remilia, her accent was different. She and Flandre were running through an empty street. There were no street lights and it was a new moon, the night was pitch black.
"W-What's going on?"
A knife embedded itself into Remilia's arm, but she seemed not to even take notice.
"We have—"
…
No, that wasn't it. Another trauma, to be sure, but that wasn't it. That wasn't what Satori was looking for. There had to be something earlier, something at the very beginning, something at the...
...the...
…...
…oh.
Oh.
And Satori looked.
And she saw.
"S-Satori! What's wrong?" Flandre shouted. Satori keeled over and vomited. Her vision went blurry and she almost collapsed before Sakuya grabbed her and gently laid her down on the carpet. Satori couldn't even really process what was going on around her. Afraid. huRT. AfrAid. No, those weren't hers. Those thoughts weren't her own. It was hard sometimes to remember that. My wingshuRT. Her thoughts weren't hers, she didn't have any wings.
WheRE arE my wINgs?
Satori felt Remilia slide a pillow under her head, but her vision went black. aLone. No, she didn't lose her sight, she just refocused on something else. On her trauma. Pain. Pain. PaIN.
Her trauma?
—Suppress it—
—Induced amnesia—
Willful ignorance—
She did what her nature demanded of her. She was Satori, the mind reader. But she was so much more than that—when she used all the tools at her she wasn't limited by time, or by danger, or by fear, or by reluctance or friends or family or morals. When Satori could show the world what she could do, what she, Komeiji Satori, was capable of.
Pain. huRT. The line blurred. She wasn't sure whose thoughts were whose anymore. She suppressed and erased what she could. What she couldn't was probably her own. Her hand hurt. Was someone squeezing it?
sQueeZiNg IT?
Time went by. She never lost consciousness, she was just focusing on other things.
Make the badpeople go away...
—Until she was done.
Her vision came back slowly, and Satori suddenly became acutely aware of her surroundings. She was drenched in sweat, a wet towel was over her forehead and Remilia, Flandre and Sakuya were all sitting by her with worried looks.
"S-Satori, are you okay?" Flandre asked. "You suddenly fell down, and then started shaking and—"
Satori smiled. "I'm...okay. How about... you..?"
"Me?" Flandre tilted your head. "I'm fine, you're the one who... who..." She trailed off. "Umm..."
Remilia and Sakuya gave each other a look. "Flan, is everything alright?"
Flandre nodded. "Yeah, I just feel really calm for some reason. I dunno know why." She looked at her hands. "Hmm."
Satori smiled. "I'm glad. Can you—" She coughed, and Sakuya helped her sit up. "Sorry, can you help me up."
They got Satori to her feet and she leaned on Sakuya for support. "I think we should go to the study, mistress, Miss Komeiji." Sakuya said. "Miss Komeiji should get some rest."
Sakuya ended up carrying Satori back up the stairs and to the study, sitting her down on a comfortable couch. Satori sunk into the cushions and leaned her head against a pillow Sakuya had provided. Remilia and Flandre came up to join them.
"Flan," Remilia said. "Could you help Sakuya make us all some tea?"
"But—"
"I'll stay with Satori." Remilia smiled, and Flandre nodded following Sakuya out. After they left, Remilia sat down next to Satori on the couch. "W-Well?"
"It's not really a cure," Satori said. "Closer to a band-aid. I covered up what the problem was, I didn't solve it."
"But I mean she's, ah," Remilia fumbled her words. "My sister, you..."
"Fixed her. For now. A relapse might—"
Remilia grabbed Satori and embraced her in a tight hug. "Thank you." She sobbed and buried her head into Satori's chest. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Her thoughts were all over the place, so Satori stayed quiet and simply returned the hug. "If there's anything," Remilia cried. "If there's anything I can do. I owe you everything."
"It's okay," Satori held Remilia tightly. The first time they met Remilia had been larger than life. But now she felt as human as anyone else.
Sakuya and Flandre returned with tea and treats. Remilia pulled away and smiled at them as the four of them all enjoyed their drinks and snacks. Flandre's personality hadn't changed, she was still childish and demanding. But she was far calmer. She didn't jump at anything, and let things go.
Less dangerous.
Saved.
Satori decided to take Remilia up on her offer this time and stay the night. It was, without a doubt, the most luxurious (and probably expensive) night she had ever spent. Sakuya had cooked a feast, her room was large as her entire house in Vaniville and the bath was like a swimming pool. Remilia was definitely going all out, but Satori still was in awe at what money could buy.
In the morning, Satori found a message on her Holo Caster requesting her presence at the police station. More questions about the previous day's incident, no doubt.
"Wait, before you go I have something for you." Remilia left the room and returned with a pokemon in her arms. She held it close to her chest like a stuffed animal. Satori tried to fight the trainer's instinct to pull out her Pokedex and scan it.
"There is nothing I can do to repay you for what you've done." Remilia scratched her Pokemon's head. "But this little guy has been living in my mansion for awhile, and I think he would like a better companion than me."
"What is it?"
"A Noibat. My mansion tends to attract them," Remilia said.
Remilia gingerly handed the Noibat off to Satori, who cradled it in her arms. It looked up at her.
Are you my new mom?
Satori scratched it behind its incredibly large ears. "Yeah, I guess I am." She looked back up to Remilia.
"Looks like you'll get along."
"Thank you," Satori said. "I'll treasure him."
"Once again, anything you need." Remilia stepped forward and hugged Satori. "I owe you more favors than there are stars in the sky."
"Bye Satori!" Flandre exclaimed as she and Sakuya walked in. Satori waved and bid farewell.
And with that, Satori made her way back to Lumiose. The police had sent a car so it didn't take too long. The drive was actually rather nice, and the driver had some interesting thoughts. Satori smiled. Today she was happy.
Once she arrived at the police station an officer led her to a small office. The officer offered Satori something to drink before they began, but she refused. He wanted to start at the beginning, and when he meant beginning he meant Ambrette-beginning. The conversation took quite awhile, apparently the police wanted a comprehensive report on everything that was Komeiji Satori.
Satori didn't say everything, but she divulged most of it. After the questioning, Satori was asked to head to Lumiose and stand next to Shikieiki during the press release, if she was willing. She wasn't, but it was the sort of thing that Valerie her manager would need to be consulted on. She got a reply to the email within minutes.
"Yes you have to tell everyone you saved the world. Again."
Well, that was that.
So Satori was faced with a dozen cameras again as Shikieiki gave a spiel.
"We're happy to report," Shikieiki said to the press, "that the situation with Lysandre is resolved. We will be releasing a full statement later, but for now I will say that Lysandre did indeed get his hands on a very powerful weapon. Luckily, thanks to the effort of our officers, but most notably Miss Komeiji Satori, that weapon has been destroyed. During that incident Lysandre and a number of other Team Flare members were killed, but there are still some on the loose. We urge you to remain cautious and report anyone identifying themselves as such to the authorities."
The reporters, Aya included, started bombarding them with questions. Satori waited for cues from Shikieiki to see if she was allowed to answer some of them—information security was apparently very important to her, and Satori understood that.
Aya, at the very least, had colorful questions.
"Satori Satori, what are your three sizes?"
"Satori Satori, what badass one-liners did you utter while stopping Team Flare?"
"Satori Satori, what will you save the world from next time?"
She tried to answer those ones. Except the first. After the brief interview, Satori was escorted by the scary and intimidating Reimu to a hotel room. She was asked to stay in town for a few days until the aftermath had settled somewhat, and it was confirmed that the threat Team Flare posed was gone.
Apparently, all of the higher-ups were arrested or killed. The only ones left were the lower-level grunts and soldiers, but the KPD had gotten their information off of Lysandre Industries computers. Within a week, Team Flare was completely eradicated. Its members either dead or in jail.
There was some other news regarding the security of the Holo Casters and Lysandre Industries servers. Apparently private messages were stored on local servers, so the company could listen to them at will. Very illegal in Kalos, and the entire company came under major lawsuits.
Newscasters speculated that the company would pay out, downsize and change their name going forward in the future. But Satori turned the television off once it got to that point.
Once everything was squared away Calem and Satori decided to head back to Anistar and continue their journey. It was a long way away, but on the backs of Calem's flying pokemon it didn't take more than a few hours.
When they returned to Anistar, they immediately went to go find Rin. It wasn't too hard and they had been in contact through the police's network. With the fall of Lysandre industries, the Holo Network was abandoned by the public.
"I was so worried, Satori!" Rin exclaimed and grabbed her in a big bear hug.
"Sorry, sorry, right after it all started the police isolated us."
Rin released Satori from the hug. "I thought something horrible might have happened."
"It's okay now, though, right?" Satori held Rin's hand.
She nodded, and they spent a few minutes catching up. Rin had apparently run to the cops soon after Satori had gone missing, and was kept somewhat in the loop. They tried to get away from that topic though, and Calem announced he was going to the gym.
"To challenge or to train?" Satori asked.
"Challenge."
"Really? Are you prepared?"
Calem nodded. "It helped keep my mind off the impending doom to think about my plan."
They laughed at that and followed him to the Anistar gym. Several people came up and greeted Satori along the way, who just tried to smile and brush it off. They were polite enough so Satori responded in turn.
Calem went into the gym through the trainer's entrance, but Satori and Rin went to go seat themselves in the audience stands. A luxury Satori didn't get to experience often. The gym still did its best to provide a mesmerizing experience—the walls exploded and everything—but it was far more straightforward for the audience stands.
Calem performed admirably. Satori could see him falling for the tricks every now and then, but he snapped himself out of it shortly. She actually was a bit jealous, he fought with a lot of finesse. He emerged victorious in the end.
Afterwords they all met up for dinner to congratulate themselves. A high quality restaurant that sold various pasta dishes. Satori paid for the group from her large bank account.
"Next up, Couriway Town!" Calem said while punching the air.
"Is there a gym there?" Satori asked. She pulled out her case and eyed her six badges. "There should be two more, right?"
"One more," Calem answered. "And no, it's not in Couriway, it's in Snowbelle. Our missing badge is from Clemont."
"Oh, right. So how do we get that badge?"
"The forums say that he's hanging out in Snowbelle, only taking challengers he has to until his gym is reconstructed. I think only one or two trainers a month challenge for their eighth badge."
"Oh."
The table got silent for a moment. I don't really have to talk out loud, do I, Calem thought. It caught Satori off guard. Rin and Utsuho communicated that way all the time, but it was strange seeing it from Calem.
"Correct," Satori said.
This is weird.
"You'll get used to it."
Rin picked up what was happening immediately. The group finished up their dinner after a lot of experimentation on the part of Calem and Rin, although the general conclusion was even if Satori could hear them, Rin and Calem couldn't hear each other. Satori didn't really mind either way, it was actually easier for her to communicate through thoughts. It was a lot faster than speaking aloud.
They finished up dinner and went off to bed, deciding to head off to Couriway the next day. Before that Satori bought everyone an off-brand smartphone to replace the Holo Casters. Lysandre Industries had basically been shut down, which accounted for a lot of services, servers and devices. Satori was sure the implications were far bigger than she was paying attention to, but all she knew is she needed a new phone.
Rin was pretty distressed about it though.
"Uggg! I don't care if Team Flare was reading my crossover fics, that's no reason to shut the whole site down."
She made similar complaints during the journey south to Couriway. The scenery was nice, although most of it still covered in snow. It was the middle of winter, after all. Satori pulled her scarf around her face in the cold.
"It's cold."
"Not this again." Calem rolled his eyes.
"At least tell me we're not going sightseeing again."
Silence.
"Oh hell."
Calem laughed. "They have these waterfalls."
The route was short between Anistar and Couriway, and after about a day they made it to the halfway point. It was a large wooden suspension bridge, about fifty feet above the river. It wasn't a sightseeing spot, but its engineering was magnificent in of itself.
On the other side of the bridge were mines. They weren't currently in use, but the scenery wasn't nearly as pleasant. They stopped once they got close to Couriway.
Couriway was a quaint little village built at the base of a massive waterfall. Mist from the falls seemed to spray across the entire town, and the dirt roads were all a little damp. Despite the cold, the novelty of the experience was nice.
"Let's stay somewhere nice," Satori suggested. "My treat."
No one complained. They found a nice little mountain lodge close to the base of the falls. The mist was pretty intense, but there was also shielding around the lodge which kept it dry. The view from Satori's room looked right at the waterfalls, and Rin demanded photos be taken.
Satori released her Pokemon and let them play in the room while she checked the messages on her phone. After her involvement in the Ultimate Weapon incident, a whole new wave of emails came in. They weren't as personal as the last ones, disaster had never fallen. But there were still plenty.
One of them was actually relevant to her life. It was from the professor.
To: sacchan (helixnetwork)
From: Asycamore (Sycamorelabs)
Subject: Meetup?
Hey Satori, I heard you were close to Couriway Town. It's been a little while, I have something I want to discuss with you and Calem. I'll be in town tomorrow, let me know when and where.
Enjoy,
Sycamore
Satori thumbed the name of a cafe and a time into her phone and sent it off to the professor. She got a new email while she was doing so, although this one wasn't from Sycamore.
To: sacchan (helixnetwork)
From: valerie (pokeleague)
Subject: Time for another interview
Greetings, Satori. You were quick to return to your Pokemon journey after the events in Geosenge, but it is necessary for you to do another interview. You're in Couriway, which is an exquisite place for such an interview. I'll set one up with Aya if you desire, although there are other reporters I can tap if she isn't to your liking.
This is important.
May your days be peaceful,
Valerie
Satori sighed, and agreed to the interview. Looks like Couriway would be a bit longer of a stop than she anticipated. She made sure to let everyone know what she would be doing, but no one minded. Instead they started making plans for what to do.
The next day Satori and Calem went out to the cafe to meet with Sycamore. He had arrived first and was sipping on a cup of tea. There was a plate of cookies on the table, and he waved Satori and Calem over.
"Good to see you two," Sycamore said. A waitress stopped by as they sat down and took their orders. Satori just ordered a coffee, Calem a green tea. "Quite an exciting life you're living Satori. I hope you don't feel like you're in her shadow, Calem."
Calem's initial reaction was to deny that claim, but before he said anything he realized Satori could hear him. Then he realized she could hear his revelation she could hear him, and then he got embarrassed. "Uhh, I'll be honest," he said out of no real desire to be. "It kind of bothers me that we left Vaniville at the same exact time, yet our paths are so different. Not that I have any desire to go through what Satori went through, but still."
Sycamore shrugged. "I wouldn't feel too bad, Calem, you've already made it past the point most trainers do. In fact, I quite expect both of you to best the Elite Four."
"Really?"
Sycamore nodded and sipped his tea. "I rate the probability very highly."
Calem slumped his shoulders. "Well even so, I can't beat Satori's Yveltal. The seat of the champion is locked to me."
"Ahaha, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Calem." Sycamore waved his hand flippantly. "Perhaps not now, your journey is quickly coming to its close. If either of you take the seat of the champion in the next month, it will be Satori. But I daresay you could best her in time. Perhaps it will be something clever. Perhaps you will master mega evolution. Or perhaps you will find a legendary pokemon of your own, there are others rumored to be in Kalos besides Yveltal. If there's something you want, don't give up."
Calem nodded his head in understanding.
"Er," Satori interjected. "I'm right here you know."
"Ahh, Satori, my dear." Sycamore smiled. He waited as the waitress came back and served Satori and Calem their drinks. "And how is your journey going?"
"I got kidnapped, then Yveltal tried to kill me, then I got kidnapped again."
Sycamore laughed. "Right, well most trainers don't have to deal with that. All of those events were caused by Team Flare though, and Lysandre." Sycamore's expression faltered at the mention of the name. "I, I do apologize for him. He always held rather intense theories, but he was as good a scientist as the rest of us. I can't imagine what possessed him to do what he did."
"He was a friend?" Calem asked. Sycamore nodded. "Sorry."
"Yeah. In any case, I don't see anything else occurring unless some new team makes their name known. You should focus on the last legs of your journey and the Elite Four. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun though." Sycamore laughed. "Maybe best to focus on Wulfric and Clemont."
"Any tips?" Calem asked.
"Hmmm." Sycamore rubbed his chin. "Wulfric is about endurance and overwhelming force. Clemont is about knowledge. I won't give you any more than that."
"Fair enough."
They all finished off their drinks and snacks before parting ways. After the meeting they met up with Rin, who forced them all to go for a hike up the falls. They didn't end up making it the entire way, only about halfway up. They got a great view of the mountain Victory Road lied in, although it rose far higher than they did.
Valerie and Aya arrived a few days later, and began setting up the stage for the interview. It would be next to the falls and Satori watched as the camera crew tried to shield their cameras from the mist. Their thoughts were very frustrated, to say the least.
"Gahhh, damn mist, hell, dammit!" Aya cursed. "Who's idea was it to film in this horrible location?"
"Yours." Valerie said.
"Screw you. And the falls are too loud, we won't be able to hear each other. This won't work."
Valerie looked earnestly distressed. Satori raised her hand to interrupt. "Uh, is something wrong with inside the nice, warm lodge over there? I have a room and everything." Her voice was muffled by the scarf around her mouth, her massive coat and cap.
"We shouldn't," Valerie said. "The image we want to convey is you out and about, not sitting inside in an armchair. I like the coat by the way. Stylish but functional. I can get a better scarf that matches though, your current one feels tacked on."
"I'm not for indoor interviews anyways," Aya said. "Outside is where all the action is. I think we'll have to move farther away from the falls, though." Aya raised her voice so the crew could hear her. "Somebody find me a quiet place where we can see the falls in the background!"
There was a nice plot of farmland that someone found, and Aya moved the operation there. Nothing was growing—it was winter after all—so they didn't hesitate to set up an area in the dirt and snow.
Aya stood next to Satori and waited for the camera men to give her the signal. Valerie had switched out Satori's scarf and taken her hat. Aya was in a simple sweater.
"Okay, welcome to Bunbunmaru News!" Aya announced, holding up her mic. "Today, loyal viewers, we have the one and only Komeiji Satori back on the air. Now I know what you're thinking, it's been weeks since we've spoken. Months even. But Satori is very busy, far to busy to talk to the likes of me! Ha ha! She not only saved the world once, but twice. None of us can put that on our resumes. So, Satori Satori, tell us. What exactly happened down there in Lysandre's secret base?"
Satori raised her brow. "I sort of expected you to ask me about my relationship status again."
"Ooh, that is a better topic. So, any progress with Calem?"
She shook her head vehemently. Satori really regretted bringing that up.
"No? You've been on a journey together for what, a year? And no progress?" Aya slid up next to Satori and wrapped her arm around her. "Oh ho ho, now I understand. You swing that way? Getting all buddy-buddy with Remilia, are you? Oh ho ho ho."
"I-I don't think Remilia would appreciate you implying—"
"Appreciate it? So you do care about her." Aya's grin stretched across her face. "You heard it here first, folks!"
Satori couldn't help but think Remilia was going to murder her for letting that happen.
"But enough fun, we all want to know what happened."
"Well..." Satori nodded and recanted the story to the best of her abilities. She left out Flandre's presence, and she decided not to name Tenshi either. The rest she thought was safe to talk about, the non-disclosure agreement she signed wasn't all that comprehensive.
"Quite a story there, Satori," Aya said. "How did you manage to keep your cool during all of that?"
Satori shrugged. "I don't think I really did. You saw the footage of me in Lumiose. I was just as frantic." She scratched her head. "Plus, my solution wasn't exactly well thought out. I literally decided to smash up the bad thing."
Aya laughed. "Okay, okay, point taken. Anyone could have come up with that one. Not everyone could have done it though."
"Yeah."
"One question, Satori. Lysandre kidnapped you to take Yveltal, but why didn't he just steal the pokeball off of you? Wouldn't that be safer and easier?"
"Uhhh..." Satori didn't have an answer for that one. It would have been safer and easier on his part. "I honestly don't know."
"No theories?"
"I haven't the faintest idea what was going through Lysandre's mind." If only the viewers knew just how true that statement was. "Maybe he wanted to save me for his perfect little utopia, or whatever he was trying to build?"
"Courting you?"
"I hope that's not what he was doing." Satori smiled. Aya had this way of keeping the conversation lighthearted, even when talking about serious stuff. Satori wasn't much of a comedian, but it was easy to get caught up in Aya's foolishness.
The interview went on for a little bit, Aya cycling through questions about Satori's exploits and more general questions about her life. Eventually Aya made it to one of the bigger questions.
"Are you planning on gunning for the Kalos championship?"
"Yes, I am."
"Diantha is no pushover, Yveltal or not. Do you think you can do it?"
"Now? Not at all. But by the time I make it there, yes. I still have two badges to get, then Victory Road..." She trailed off.
Aya nodded and flapped her feathered wings a bit. "Any particular reason why? The championship is desirable of its own accord, but you don't seem the type to just want it because of that."
Satori got quiet. "This may sound strange, but I get the feeling that something is not quite right. I don't meant with Team Flare or any of that, it just seems... I can't put my finger on it. I'm forgetting something important, and I think continuing on is the best way to figure out what it is."
"Ominous," Aya responded. "So you're expecting another bad thing to happen to you?"
"I wouldn't put it like that." Satori said and shrugged. "Maybe we can just say I'm doing it to find myself."
"That," Aya said with heavy emphasis, "is far less interesting."
"You want me to be ominous?"
"Obviously! The stories are so much better that way."
Satori laughed. "Sorry to disappoint."
"And that's a wrap! You heard it here on Bunbunmaru News, you-can-also-visit-our-website-at-www-dot-bunbunmaru-dot-kal-please-review-thanks this is Aya, signing off!"
The cameras stopped rolling, and Aya trotted over to go over the footage. Valerie came over with a smile on her face.
"That went well, you seem to be understanding a bit more how this works. I am glad."
"I am?"
"Indeed. You're leaving the fans interested, keeping your 'story' ongoing. People will be following you, waiting for you to become champion. Good work."
"If you say so."
Satori waited around for a little while, hanging back and chatting with Rin. They asked her to take a few pictures and whatnot, and then they cut her another sizable check. Satori asked Valerie why Aya was paying her so much money. She had responded that Aya was going to make a whole lot more off of her, and that was the business.
Valerie preempted her follow up question and told her Aya wasn't rich, most of that money went into production and the salaries of her crew. Celebrities are rich because they're treated like rare commodities: competition among people like Aya to get exclusives drive up their salaries.
Before she went on too much more, Satori said she didn't want to know any more than that.
After everything was squared away, Satori and company made their way to the outskirts of Couriway to train a little bit. Satori noted Aya planned on stalking them and snapping photos, but she didn't mind. This was her life now.
Satori spent most of the time playing with her new Noibat, trying to get a feel for how it fights and its capabilities. It was plenty strong, although they didn't work perfectly well together. Not nearly as well as Satori did with all her other pokemon.
That was to be expected, though.
A few days later the group left Couriway, having spent a longer time there than they reasonably should have. Satori straightened her scarf and got ready to head south towards Snowbelle. She wasn't looking forward to it, it was apparently the coldest place in Kalos and the only time it wasn't covered in snowfall was during the summer.
Route Nineteen was long. The main route traveled around the edge of a swamp on the cliffs, slowly descending into Snowbelle. There was also a long staircase that led directly down into the swamp, which Satori strictly opposed. No one objected to that, grim memories of the route to Laverre Town in their mind.
A few days into their trek they came across a large bridge. It really put the ones north of Couriway to shame. They could barely see the other side of it.
"W-Wow..." Rin said. She held up her camera and took a picture.
"Is it safe?" Satori asked.
"Should be," Calem responded. "People drive cars over it. I think we'll be fine."
The bridge was indeed sturdy, even though it was just wood. There was a railing on either side, although it would be easy to circumvent. Satori couldn't help but wonder how many people had fallen off it. It was a dark thought, but they were really high up.
"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Calem asked. Satori looked to where he was pointing. Off in the distance of the bridge were the figures of Shauna and Tierno. They waved, and the two groups jogged towards each other.
"You guys!" Shauna exclaimed and grabbed Satori in a big bear hug before moving onto Calem. Tierno then came in for his hug, which Satori just let happen.
"Long time no see," he said.
"What are you guys doing here?" Calem asked.
Shauna smiled. "Thought we'd head you two off before you made it to the Elite Four. I'd hate myself if I didn't come back and at least say hi before you went off to Victory Road you two!"
"Thanks," Satori said.
"Ohh, you're such a softie now Satori."
Satori grumbled. "Your eyepatch is looking nice."
"Nope, that won't work if you're trying to make me mad." Shauna laughed. Her eyepatch was red with a pink heart in it. She lifted it up to reveal a completely normal-looking eye. "Got myself a robotic one. Works better than those pesky little ones we have to grow ourselves."
"Woah," Rin exclaimed. "So you're like a cyborg now?"
"Uh huh!"
Satori brought her palm to her face in frustration as Rin and Shauna talked about cyborgs. They didn't stop, even as the group of five started walking again towards Snowbelle.
"So why do you still use the eyepatch?" Rin asked.
"It's stylish of course."
"Ah, I see." Rin danced in front of Shauna and stared at the eye. "So do you got like a HUD? Can you read my stats?"
"I do, a matter of fact. It interfaces with PichuMaps to give me live updates on whatever I'm looking at."
Satori tried to tune out the conversation, but her ability didn't let her. Not really. Still, she could at least provide most of her focus on Calem and Tierno.
"...very old song, so its actual origin is unknown. I prefer dancing to it in dorian, but the difference can be pretty subtle."
Of course, everyone is a fanatic about something. Satori decided to just give in, and join the conversations. The entire gang back together, heading to the last city on their long journey.