The last two months were particularly brutal for Shauntal. Nothing was wrong within her personal or work life, aside from a stubborn case of writer's block. She tried everything from meditating, taking a walk in White Forest, training her pokémon, listening to different music, and even taking up a different hobby. Nothing seemed to work.
Alas, Shauntal didn't want to drown in her own self-pity. For starters, she was a member of the Elite Four. They weren't supposed to wallow and cry about themselves over petty matters. Writer's block was something that happened to every writer many times. It always felt like the apocalypse when it started, but it passed by eventually, like the sad part of a story.
In the meantime, she was in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess she made from making homemade lemonade. Like the robot she wasn't, she threw away the used lemons in the trash, slightly annoyed at her sticky fingers. A quick wash of her fingers got rid of it, letting her focus on wiping down the counters.
When she finally finished cleaning the countertops, she found the top of the pitcher. The joining of the top and pitcher made the most oh-so-satisfying click.
That click turned on the lightbulb in her mind.
Immediately, she grabbed five plastic cups along with the pitcher, running at full speed to the study.
BANG! An awful crack of the book shelf and the door pierced the room.
BOOM! The sound of the closed door laid loud flat on their ears.
"Hear me out."
Not a speck of guilt touched Shauntal when she noticed their emotional situation.
Caitlin was sitting up straight, hand over heart, heavily breathing the life back into her. Grimsley's back was stiffly twisted in her direction, expression full of blank shock and confusion. Marshal apparently dropped a weight when she slammed the door, his mouth hanging open. Alder was barely holding his book from the top, shaking slightly from the sudden outburst.
"Us," she gasped, "In an alternate universe…as SPIES! Super. Secret. SPIES!"
Shauntal was met with the same looks again. A moment later, Alder started awkwardly laughing, motioning the others to sit on the center rug in front of Caitlin. They slowly made their way, taking a couple of steadying breaths along the way.
"So, you were saying," Alder started as he sat, "Super-secret spies?"
"Yes."
"Is this for a novel you're writing?" Marshal asked.
She shrugged, "No. It's just a silly story I thought of while making lemonade."
Grimsley took the lemonade and deformed cups from Shauntal, "You thought of us being super-secret spies while making lemonade?"
"I suppose so," she smiled to the ceiling, "I'm not sure how it triggered that idea, but I won't question it. Any inspiration is good, as long as I put it to use."
"Pray tell, it won't give me a heart attack, won't it?" Caitlin finally spoke, hand still over her heart.
"It won't! I'm sorry for scaring you awake, by the way."
"It's alright. I want to hear what you have in mind. It must have been exciting if you barged in the most peaceful place of this house."
The five friends chuckled, Grimsley pouring lemonade for everyone in the newly reformed plastic cups. Shauntal swirled her lemonade in her cup before taking a few satisfying gulps to clear up the mess in her mind.
"You can start, Shauntal," Alder said once everyone was settled.
"Okay. Here I go," she cleared her throat, "For the record, this story is absolutely ridiculous. This will also be the worst storytelling in the history of my life. Don't expect what you find in my novels.
"It starts out with us in a room with Looker over in a building in Castelia City. It's a sketchy room, but we're spies, and we need to be subtle with our appearances. Think of the International Police, but our faces are mostly unknown.
"Regardless, he is sending us on a critical mission. One that can spell disaster if we fail. The mission? We need to find and destroy Team Bad Guys. The catch? We must bring back the leader – alive."
Marshal laughed, "Team Bad Guys?"
"Don't question it. I couldn't think of a better name. After receiving our mission, we think of a plan to invade the building. It follows as such:
"Alder, our informalized 'leader', will go in first from the back with Marshal and Grimsley. Once the coast is clear, Marshal is going to let Caitlin and I know via text. We go in, catching up with the boys. What we do from there was going to be improvised because we don't know the layout of the building, or who's there.
"Is everyone following so far?"
Her fellow friends grunted and nodded in affirmative, sipping on their lemonades, slightly more involved than originally planned.
"Great! Of course, nothing goes to plan. The Team Bad Guys Headquarters is an underground building with one entrance. That means there is no back entrance, so we must sneak our way around. Alder goes in first to test the waters. No alarm goes off. Grimsley goes in next and so on. No alarm goes off, much to our relief. We sneak around the lobby, gathering important information from the computers, notepads, and the like.
"Is everyone still following? Something interesting is about to happen."
Once again, they nodded in affirmative as Grimsley poured another cup of lemonade for Marshal and Caitlin.
"Good! Suddenly, we hear footsteps coming from behind the receptionist desk. Obviously, five of us can't hide in one open area, so we separate. Marshal and I run off to the left side while Grimsley and Caitlin run off to the right. Alder is…hiding in a box underneath the desk."
A burst of laughter broke the peace of the room as their minds were filled with the image of Alder fighting with himself to fit in a box underneath a desk.
"It must be a large box if it can fit me."
Grimsley put his cup down to avoid spilling it, "I doubt we're supposed to worry about the schematics of everything."
"Go on, Shauntal," Marshal didn't hide his excitement, "I'm invested in this story. I need to know what happens!"
She laughed, "Of course! The point of view changes to where Marshal and I ended up. We sneak our way into a large, suspicious room, filled to the brim with computers and other technology. Immediately, we start hacking the computer, stuffing as much information into the USB as possible. As that is going on, I start taking pictures of notes everywhere. Before we can get comfortable, a group of Team Bad Guy Grunts challenge us to a battle!
"Long story short, it's an intense battle, leaving Marshal's Mienshao and Sawk fainted along with my Froslass and Jellicent. We thought after winning the battle, they would run off, but they didn't. Instead, they start throwing punches. Lucky for me, I have Marshal by my side, who knocks them out easily. I knock some of them out too, but, if I'm being honest, Marshal's doing most of the work."
Marshal punched an invisible man in front of him, playing out the most recent part of the story. Shauntal joined in the theatrics, throwing another invisible man at him. Alder 'moved' out of the way as Marshal knocked out the second invisible person.
Caitlin 'shielded' herself from the chaos, "What's going on with Grimsley and I?"
"Good question! The right side of the underground building is trickier to navigate. However, Grimsley and Caitlin are smart. They make their way to a closed hallway, which they hack in. The hallway leads into this hidden room, filled with research materials.
"Before they can look around, Team Bad Guy Security Personnel storm their way in. Caitlin, being small, slips her way in a box. Grimsley, unable to hide anywhere or take on everyone, decides to keep Caitlin safe by willingly going along with security.
"During this entire time, Alder was still in his box, eavesdropping on the conversation happening outside. They finally leave after some time, letting him get out of the box. He looks at the message from Marshal and I, before texting us to meet him at the lobby.
"Is everyone still following?"
Her friends nod again, more invested than she imagined for a simple, messy story. The story wasn't meant to be great in the slightest, at best, mediocre, but if it humored her friends, then why wouldn't she tell it?
"Great! We're getting there, I promise!"
Alder chuckled, "You're all good, Shauntal. I want to hear the rest."
She smiled wide, "Thanks! Once Marshal and I meet up with Alder in the lobby, we get a text from Caitlin stating that Grimsley has been captured, and she needs our help. We head over to her location, only avoiding security because they are caught up with Grimsley.
"When we find her, she's all fine and dandy with a tablespoon of angry. After an exchange of information, we head out, starting the search for our friend. Turns out, he's at the security office, where the leader of Team Bad Guys happens to be. With the super-secret spy crew back together, we battle simultaneously with our pokémon and fists to knock out everyone except their leader.ok
"Caitlin, still mad at the fact that Grimsley was taken, gives the leader a satisfactory punch to the stomach.
"In the end, Grimsley doesn't have a scratch, and Alder drags the leader of Team Bad Guys to Looker. With the mission declared a success, we go out to eat ice cream."
Shauntal sat there for a minute, contemplating the ending of the story, "I don't like that ending. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I'll fix it up sometime. Any thoughts?"
They sat in their respective positions for a few minutes, asking more questions about the story, finishing up what was left of the lemonade, and relishing the fact that Shauntal was finally out of her writer's block. Five minutes later, they decided to move back to their favorite spots, resuming their tasks there.
Caitlin yawned, "I'm sorry that I leave you to some terrible people in an alternate universe, Grimsley. Worry not, I can apparently throw a punch when needed. I must find it more entertaining than my psychic powers."
Grimsley laughed, "No problem, Caitlin. It's good to see that you'll come and find me whenever I'm lost."
"It's certainly one of your more interesting stories, Shauntal," Alder said from the window seat, "definitely not what you usually write, but I enjoyed it nonetheless."
Marshal reclined his chair back, "You're also out of your writer's block, so you can write some more again. I much prefer seeing you in a better mood."
She mouthed a 'thanks' to the three men while getting comfortable in her desk, ready to jot down notes for her next, actual novel.
One year after Black & White 2
Almost everyone was in the main space in the break house. Shauntal and Grimsley were in the kitchen, making lemonade and sandwiches respectively. In the dining room, Caitlin and Marshal were having small talk while the news was humming in the background. Iris, on the other hand, was busy over in the study, reading something on her phone.
Suddenly, the door to the study opened brashly, but closed without a sound. Iris sped over the entrance of the hallway, hands waving excitedly in the air, catching their attention.
"Guys!" Iris practically screamed, "I found fanfiction! Of us! Well, not me, but of you four and Alder! It's so silly too! Basically, you guys were super-secret spies on a mission for Looker. Somehow, Grimsley got himself captured to save Caitlin the trouble, even though both of you can easily take care of some bad guys!"
Not a moment later, the four busted out in laughter, remembering exactly where that point came from. Iris also joined on the laughter, but because the story was a ridiculous but put-together mess as a whole.
"Iris," Caitlin called out, "Who wrote the story?"
"Uhhhh," Iris looked down at her phone, "Some x..X…krn…sugars…w…t…star…Xx670 person?"
The five friends laughed some more, one of them ready to embarrass the other.
"So Shauntal," Marshal sat up, "Is that your super-secret online pen name?"
She threw a used lemon at him, "Yes…"
"I can't believe you posted that," Grimsley said between laughs.
Iris stood there, eyes wide, hands on hips, "Whaaaaaaat!? Shauntal. Our Shauntal."
They nodded in affirmative, prompting Iris come to the bar, face to face with her Shauntal, "How is that possible!? You don't write like that! I've read most of your books too! You write so beautifully and full of passion! You don't even write about…alternate universes where people become super-secret spies! You write about your own adventures and pokémon!"
Shauntal simply patted her hair, "You see, it would be a terrible secret persona if my writing style was the same. Besides, I wrote that for fun. Take a seat at the table, and I'll tell you how the whole story came to be."
Iris hopped off the stool, skipping over to the table, taking her seat between Marshal and Caitlin as she gushed about the hilarity of the story. Within a few minutes, Shauntal and Grimsley walked over to the table, passing over sandwiches and lemonade, ready for story time to begin.
A/N: Hi there! It's me Lizzy, and before I go on, I'd like to say thanks! Thanks for clicking on this story and making it to the end. You can follow, favorite, comment/critique, and/or send good vibes (maybe bad vibes, I don't judge) if you'd like. Anything and everything is appreciated.
This idea came about while I was eating a terrible microwaveable chimichanga for dinner one day with my sister. I don't remember how it all played out, but what I do remember is making out the scene where Shauntal slams the door open and shut. Good thing the doors I used were imaginary, or else I would never hear the end of it from my mom.