Nothing prepares you for the loneliness of being the last of your friends to graduate.
Did Chase feel this way when they left in August?
Arven sat on his neatly made bed, Mabostiff dozing on the floor below. The 19-year-old student was staring at the calendar on his dorm room wall, willing the days of the new semester to go by faster.
It had been five months since Chase had graduated from the Uva Academy, having moved through their studies with exceptional speed thanks to their shared hyperfixation with Professor Jacq on indexing the biology of Pokémon. Chase had spent the last months of the year on an internship for one of Kalos' Pokémon professors, working on anthologizing studies of Pokémon capable of mega evolution. They were still in the neighboring region, researching Pokémon habitats that specifically differed from those in Paldea.
Maybe Nemona will want to come over for… Wait, what am I thinking?
Nemona and Penny, on the other hand, had finished school in December, just a month ago. Like Chase, both of them had similarly moved on from Mesagoza. Nemona had planned on staying local up until she had recently been called upon to help plan a Battle Frontier facility for Paldea, and Penny was, like Chase, in Kalos, helping modernize their Pokémon League systems after she'd interned for Geeta.
Now it was just Arven at the Academy, finishing his last semester in the Humanities track. He had various internship opportunities available to him for the summer, most of them culinary in nature, but he had to get through his final coursework first. It was only the first week of the semester but Arven found himself counting down the days until he would be done.
The clock on his bedside table read 9:30am. Arven only had one class that day, not until 11, but it had still taken a great deal of effort for him to wake up and get moving. Now he was stuck in a sort of catatonia brought on by his lack of desire to do what was required of him. His father used to, neither lovingly nor disdainfully, refer to this phenomenon as "Arven's Law of Inertia".
Arven was usually out of bed to make breakfast right away, but after the motivation of cooking for his friends had disappeared, the routine had become more difficult. Feeding Mabostiff was what got him up these days, which he has already done that particular morning. With nothing else on the docket for a while, Arven found himself stuck in thought despite knowing he should really get moving before heading down to class.
Ro-to-to~ A quick chime on Arven's Rotom phone notified him of a text message. He floated the phone in front of his face, Mabostiff looking up to its trainer in hopes of hearing one of his friend's voices. Upon seeing that Arven was simply reading something, the Pokémon laid its head back down on the rug.
Your turn, was Penny's text, along with a link to one of the turn-based games the two of them played in the texting app whenever they got the chance. Arven mindlessly opened the game and took his turn, thinking about what on Earth he would do with his Friday nights now that the squad had been broken up indefinitely.
He flipped back to his texts, opening the group chat with Penny, Nemona, and Chase.
Morning, guys! Anyone want to hop on RotoCord sometime this week? We need to catch up.
He hit send on the text, knowing that it had only been a few weeks since Penny and Nemona had left town, but that there would already be plenty to share about their new adventures.
After a couple of minutes without anyone opening the text, Arven put his phone away and finally felt able to get up and head out. It would only take about ten minutes to get to class, but he figured it would do some good to get some fresh air first.
"C'mon, boy, wanna go for a walk?"
Mabostiff leapt to its paws, giving a delighted growl and stretching its legs. Arven couldn't help but smile, grateful for every moment spent with his precious Pokémon. He thought of Chase and how they had teamed up with Arven, for Mabostiff's sake, and felt a deep ache in his chest. Chase always used to walk to class with Arven when their schedules had lined up.
I miss mornings with you, little buddy…
Nemona: Hmmm… Maybe! Im meeting with the Hoenn people this week and its gonna be a doooozy, but I should have some time on Thursday night?
Chase: I'm in the field this week. Can call but it might be spotty.
Penny: id be down for a game or two, but tues/thurs are booked
Arven sighed as he read their messages, realizing just how difficult it would be to coordinate their different schedules that semester. As the student leader of the after-school cooking club, Arven had commitments of his own multiple times a week. He was also working with Mr. Saguaro on figuring out an upcoming internship, curating a portfolio and researching different opportunities for jump starting his career.
"Hey, Arven!" a bubbly voice spoke from the desk behind him as Arven packed up his materials after class.
"Oh, hey Rico," he greeted, shuffling his papers to make it seem as if he were busy. The younger student was one of the kids in Arven's cooking club, a teenager who had found out about the club from the time Arven had made a batch of desserts for their entire history class. "What's up?"
"Not much, heading to lunch after this. But speaking of food…" Rico walked around to the front of Arven's desk, to which Arven kept parsing through his backpack to avoid eye contact. "...what spices did you use in that pasta dish you brought to club last week? I have to cook for a party this weekend and, well… everything I make comes out super bland."
Arven's eyes instantly shot up to Rico and he zipped up his bag, throwing it over his shoulders.
"Oh! That's a great question," he began to discuss the recipe, hands waving about in various enthusiastic gestures as the two headed out of the classroom.
"So, yeah, those ingredients are great but if you don't salt the water you'll be fighting a losing battle." Arven had just given an exhaustive lecture on the art of cooking pasta, and although Rico had been wide eyed and nodded vigorously throughout the conversation, Arven wondered if he'd been exhausting the kid.
"Yeah, you said that. That makes sense," Rico eyed the lunch line in the cafeteria, then looked back at Arven. "Do you want to sit with me and Gracia? We'll probably be watching videos for class but you're welcome to join us."
"Oh, um," Arven looked to where the other student was pointing, towards a table where a girl sat looking at her laptop. "You know, I wasn't even meaning to head down here until you caught me. I'm not super hungry."
"Are you kidding?" Rico floated towards the lunch line, Arven following for a few begrudging steps. "After all this food talk, I'm starving."
"Nah, I'm good. Next time, okay?"
"Sure thing, man. See you in class?"
"Yeah, I'll see you around. Remember the salt!"
Arven was in his dorm again, this time chopping vegetables while his Greedent watched with wide, curious eyes.
He hadn't been hungry, not when Rico had asked, at least, but as soon as he'd gotten back home Arven realized he had no other plans for the day.
I could've at least hung out with them for a bit. Now I'm back to boringness.
Arven tried not to let his thoughts wander too far as he diced the carrots. He had become so skilled and comfortable in the kitchen that it was hard not to zone out a bit during these menial tasks. Eyes narrowing, he forced himself to pay attention to what his hands were doing. It was chilly this time of year in Paldea, so he had decided to make a vegetable stew that would last a few meals as leftovers. Arven found himself still making batches of food large enough to feed multiple people, as he was so used to cooking for others that it had become a reflex. He found himself having to cook less often, as due to this habit he was usually left with extra food. Even so, he would sometimes just prep ingredients or make something small so he could fill his free time and avoid having idle hands.
But it was also, ironically, hard to cook without distractions. He could usually rely on Nemona or Chase to chat with or keep him company during meal prep, and even though Penny wouldn't have as much to say, it was still nice to have her as another person in the room to coexist with.
Arven stared at the cutting board in front of him, a bit impressed at the consistent sizes and shapes of the cubed carrot pieces. It was a rather large pile… Arven sighed as he realized he'd cut up two full carrots, the amount he usually used in a double batch.
"Okay Roto, call Chase," he said out loud. His Rotom phone flew out of his pocket and hovered level with his face.
"Video or Audio-zzt?"
"Uh… audio," Arven couldn't remember if he'd deigned to brush his hair well enough that morning.
He set the knife down and wiped his hands on a kitchen towel as the phone rang. It went on for a bit longer than usual before Chase's voice came through the phone speaker.
"Hey, it's Chase. I must be pretty busy if you're hearing this. Leave a message at the Pika and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!"
"Piiiikachu~!"
Oh, shoot. Voicemail.
"Uh, hey bud," he began, "just bored and wanted to catch up. Call me when you get the chance? Talk to ya later," he reached out to hang up, sighing. He knew that if Chase was too busy to talk, they must be up to something important. At this time of day, Nemona and Penny were likely booked as well.
Arven pocketed his phone and glanced back down at the piles of veggies on various cutting boards, wondering when and how he'd be able to adjust to this new life. Next to the counter, Greedent was still looking at him, tipping its head to one side. Arven knelt down beside his Pokémon and gave it a scratch between the ears. The creature cooed softly before burying its head in Arven's chest, as if it could sense the loneliness emanating from him.
This feels like the old days, he thought as he continued to pet Greedent, and I don't like it at all.
Arven found himself in his room again after delivering some meals to Rico and a few of their other cooking club classmates. He ended up making more stew than he'd known what to do with and figured it would do some good to share it with others.
"Aw, thanks, Arven!" the other boy had said when Arven had shown up at his door. "This'll be perfect to break up my studying with. Say, why don't you come to the dinner party I'm having this weekend? Right now all the cooking is covered but if you want to bring something, well…" Rico seemed almost embarrassed to speak so highly of another student, "...well, we'd be so glad! Your cooking is the best!"
"Oh! Well…" Arven thought about all it would take for him to think of a recipe simple enough that most people would enjoy, but impressive enough to serve at a party. He shuddered at how much energy it would require to spend an evening conversing with people he rarely spoke to outside of class…But then he realized he didn't have any other plans and bit his tongue. "Sure! Just let me know the time and place, and I'll whip up something special for it." Despite the looming discomfort, Arven was glad to know he would have some plans to look forward to for once.
Back in his room, Arven shut the door and looked over at the clock. The digital display read 8:07, and although it was early, he decided to get ready for bed.
Maybe I'll read a bit before I doze off, he thought, taking off his backpack and vest before hanging them up neatly next to the door. Arven carefully untied and put away his boots, flinching at how cold the floor was even though his socks.
Ro-to-to-to! Arven instantly perked up as his phone rang. He answered it quickly, wincing a bit as he realized it was a video call. His disdain evaporated immediately as his best friend's face appeared on his phone screen as it floated in front of him.
"Hey!" said Chase, their eyes shining as always. "I got your call. I was super busy today, sorry 'bout that. Get this, I was checking out an old haunted house in some woods! So, like, the signal was really spotty out there. Oh, it was really cool, there were even wild Pokémon in this dilapidated old place!" Sure enough, Chase was already rambling, but they caught it as soon as they realized Arven hadn't yet spoken. "Oops, I can tell you about that later. How ya been, Arv?"
Arven couldn't help but grin, a spark of excitement bringing him out of the fog that had clouded his mind all day.
"I'm alright," he began, "a little bored without my little gumdrops hanging around."
"HA! I haven't heard that nickname in a while," Arven found himself pacing his dorm as Chase spoke, a habit he tended to fall into while on phone calls. "But hey, once the semester picks up you'll be super busy again and forget you were ever bored."
Arven let Mabostiff out of its Poké ball so it could relax. He paced over to his bed and the Pokémon followed bouncily, wagging as it noticed Arven was on a call.
"Oh, I'll be busy," said Arven, "but things sure are different with everyone gone now."
"Sorry, Salty," Chase tipped their head playfully, but their voice was wistful, "I'll be back in ol' 'Goza for my birthday next month, though! We definitely need to get together,"
At Chase's voice, Mabostiff lifted its head and let out a gleeful boof.
"Someone else misses you, too,"
"MABOBO!" Chase gushed and Arven flipped the phone towards Mabostiff so it could see them. "Oh, it's so good to see you! Bestest boy!" The Pokémon lunged forward to lick Arven's phone until he pulled it away, laughing.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you'll be back so soon," Arven continued, leaning down to pet Mabostiff so it had a chance to calm down. "It would be nice if the whole squad could get together. Maybe we can try to figure something out?"
"We can try," Chase mused, "I don't know about you, but it seems impossible to catch all three of you at the same time. If next month doesn't work for Nem'n'Pen, at least we'll all see each other this summer."
"That's true," Arven leaned back, cringing a bit that he was wearing his day clothes on his bed but pushing the thought away to focus on the conversation.
"Um, do you want to hear about the creepy house I saw?"
"Ooh, do tell. I could really use a Chase story right about now."
"GREAT! Okay so basically, I was going out to this forest, it's not far from where I'm staying actually, and when I got there it was really weird because…"
Arven let Chase enthuse, wondering if this is what he sounded like when he talked about his recipes. He always worried that he was annoying people when he talked about his interests, but Arven's fondness for Chase grew when they got like this. Their sentences tended to run-on, Chase obviously trying to pack every last detail into what they told him.
Even though they weren't in the same room, Chase was animated as ever as they described the Pokémon that had jumped out at them, acting out their own reactions. It was as if the two of them were hanging out in Arven's room, as they'd done so many times before, letting each other describe every little detail of a topic or event that had taken up their brainspace that day.
"Oh, you would have ADORED these Pokémon! They look like silly little squash, kind of like pumpkins! Arven, they were so you ."
After nearly an hour of catching up, Arven saw Chase look away at something in their room, then back at the camera.
"Hey, I'm an hour ahead of you over here and it's kinda late. I hate to do this, but I really should get ready for bed."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Arven responded, trying to mask the disappointment in his voice. "I probably should, too. Um," he looked over at his wall calendar, then back at his phone, "what dates will you be back in town? I want to make sure my schedule is open for your birthday."
"Arven, is this your way of saying you forgot my birthday?"
"Huh?! No!" Arven felt his face grow warm, hoping Chase didn't actually think he would forget something that important. "February 22nd! Exactly five months before mine."
"Good. And with a reference point like that, you'd better never forget!" Chase giggled, and Arven sheepishly put a hand up to his face to obscure his blush. Chase only ever seemed to laugh like that when Arven had done something stupid or embarrassing and its saccharine tune only caused him to feel more vulnerable.
"I won't forget. I promise," Arven shook his head as vigorously as Mabostiff would, to which Chase laughed again.
"I'll be in Paldea from the 23rd through the 26th, so I'll already be 19 when I see you next! I'm spending Thursday and Sunday with my Mom, but any other day should work fine for us to meet up."
"Good, great. I'll block out that weekend."
"Great! It's been so good to hear from you, I'm so glad you called today. I'm gonna sign off, though, I'm sleepy." Chase yawned, eyelids drooping a bit as they smiled at Arven through the phone.
"Goodnight, sweet gumdrop. I hope you find even more cool stuff tomorrow. And send me a picture of one of those pumpkin guys!"
"I will. Goodnight, Salty."
"See ya, bud."
Arven hung up only after Chase did, turning to plug his phone in on the bedside table. It was nearly 10 and he was still in his school clothes. Arven shook his head at his one-track mind and carefully stepped over a sleeping Mabostiff to change for bed.
One year earlier
"Aw, Arvennnn!" Nemona whined as she jumped up and down in front of him. Arven had both of his hands over his head, holding the bag of candy out of reach of his three friends.
"Give those back!" Chase reached for the candy, straining on their tip-toes but still falling short.
"You're too damn tall," Penny huffed, crossing her arms and plopping down on the floor.
"Hey, I don't want you guys to spoil your dinner over some, er," Arven brought the bag back down to his eye level, reading the label, "variety pack gumdrops." He turned back towards the kitchenette of his dorm, placing the candy on a high shelf out of the others' reach.
"I bought those with my own money!" shouted Nemona as she ran towards Arven. He stiff-armed her and she bounced back, pouting at him.
"We can have candy after we eat dinner!" Arven shot back. Luckily Penny seemed to be disinterested in the gumdrops for now, but Chase was also looking up at Arven with sad eyes.
"Meanie," they teased.
"You silly gumdrops- wait, what, you sillies and your-" Arven tripped over the words, squinting as if it would help him speak more clearly.
"What did you just call us?!" Chase blurted out, beginning to laugh. "We're the gumdrops?"
"No! I didn't mean-"
"Ooh, I want to be a red one!" Nemona hopped up and down, forgetting how upset she was supposed to be acting.
"Nemona, you'd be a spicy cinnamon gumdrop for sure." Chase nudged her, grinning. "Penny, what kind of gumdrop are you?"
"What kind of a question is-"
"Penny's a sour one!" Nemona interrupted before Penny could finish. The other girl rolled her eyes but shrugged in agreement.
"I mean, somehow, that tracks."
"I want to be the sweet orange flavor," Chase mused, then scooted over to Arven. "What about you? Or is it just us who are the gumdrops?"
"Well, the three of you are the tiny and silly ones," Arven mused, feigning thoughtfulness. He pinched his chin to emulate a "thinking" emoticon, earning a small giggle from Nemona. "But I've always identified with the umami flavor."
The other three stared at Arven blankly, only Penny breaking the silence.
"You mean salty?"
"SALTY?!" Nemona blurted out.
"Oh, that is SO accurate!" Chase's giggles bubbled up like boiling molasses, to which Arven's cheeks grew warm.
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Nemona was doubled over in laughter, even Penny smirking as Arven blushed.
"Umami and salty are different, you guys!" he sputtered, diving into an explanation. "Umami is like, uh, more of a savory or meaty kind of thing.
"MEATY?!"
"DUDE, THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"
Now Chase was close to collapsing on the floor with laughter and even Penny was finding it hard to keep her composure. Arven simply sighed, giving in to the awkward hilarity.
"Okay, yeah. Yikes. Salty it is. Please… please forget I said anything else." He shook his head briskly, long hair swishing.
Nemona straightened up and puffed out her chest, giving a comical salute with her right hand.
"Sure thing, Mister Captain Salty, Sir!"
The laughter that ensued from all four of them was certain to wake up any poor soul who had decided to go to bed early on that particular evening in the Academy dorms.